We need second and third line of defence. As the first line will not always remain. In the presence of first line of leaders itself the second and third line is to be well-groomed. Today,we need more of thought leaders and action heroes.As recently the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Mr. Raghuram Rajan has recently said that India lacks Economists, Theorists, Planners and Executors of highest calibre & skills , who can formulate better economic policies. Transformational, democratic and exemplary leaders are the best. The real , true and great leaders can only groom skilled and competitive leaders. We need today leadership institutes as we have our branded globally competitive IIMs & IITs. We need to make wide and deep studies and researches in the field of leadership practices, skills, models etc. This factory is unlike any other factory manufacturing goods & services. The values and skills need to be passed on the second and third line so that they gradually takeover the charge from the first line leaders and prove to be successful successors. Today we find in many places the leadership crisis because there is leadership gap and vacuum because the second and third lines were not taken care of and strongly groomed. The historical defeat of congress since independence has been due to the leadership crisis.
Take the case of any institution or organization which stays and survives because of strong foundations. These foundations are non-compromising values and principles. Foundations are not only material but non-material too. The strong values (non-material) are as much significant as the quality building materials. Whether leadership like success is in our DNA / GENES? However there can not be 100% single approach. It is definitely blended as some % genetic ans some % acquired. Many great leaders and men had inborn traits such as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela etc. The living legends in such category are contemporaries Dr. Manmohan Singh, Dr. Raghuram Rajan etc. We can say that a major % of leadership traits is inborn. The great leaders not only update / sharpen / polish their skills with the times but anticipate future leadership requirements. A great leaders makes deep studies in FUTUROLOGY. Many factors play significant role in emerging as a great leader. A great leader is known not by the strength of its followers but its capacity to groom more leaders like him. Such a leader transforms the psyche and bring a sea change in the life of his team members. He displays his skills and makes others follow him by his exemplary style of leadership. One gets easily inspired and motivated by such a leadership. Today the leaders must have multi-faceted and multitasking skills. He must have an inclusive, interdisciplinary and multidimensional approach to issues and must stick to great values. There must not be any room for compromise and complacency.
A great leader needs to be both THOUGHT LEADER & ACTION HERO. The leadership lessons can more be learnt on the field than off the field. Of course theoretical insights and inroads are must.
Ashok Aggarwal, DELHI
