The Hindu Business Line : Leading from the front

A few years ago, I had the privilege of hearing our President, Mr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, talk about leadership and what it really means. He narrated an incident that had deeply influenced him as a leader. This was when he was in charge of the Indian Space Research Organisation's SLV3 rocket programme. His team had worked under serious constraints to design and manufacture the rocket, intending to propel India into the elite league of countries with rocket launching technology. But on the big day, after a flawless lift off, the rocket burst into flames and crashed.

This was a disaster of the highest magnitude since the country's prestige was involved. A press conference was due shortly after the launch and Prof Satish Dhawan, the then head of ISRO, summoned Mr Kalam. Mr Kalam told Prof Dhawan that he would try and explain the issues involved to the media. Instead of accepting Mr Kalam's suggestion, Prof Dhawan told him that he would address the media himself. He explained the complexities involved to the media and then told them that he was responsible for the way things had turned out.

A few months later , the flaws were rectified and this time around, the rocket was launched successfully. At that juncture, Prof Dhawan told Mr Kalam to address the media.

Mr Kalam told us that he had then learnt a powerful lesson in leadership. As a leader, always step forward to take the blame when things go wrong and always let the team take the credit when things go right. The other powerful example of this kind of leadership was the decision of Lal Bahadur Shastri, who was then India's Railways Minister, to resign owning moral responsibility for a major train accident. We only have to look around to see how seldom such a simple, but powerful, philosophy is practised by leaders.

Many day-to-day issues do not obviously demand the kind of heroic leadership qualities that we saw Satish Dhawan and Lal Bahadur Shastri exhibit. Nevertheless, leading from the front, even on minor matters, establishes the power of a leader like nothing else can. Leadership is about reinforcing the positional power with respect that accrues out of leading from the front.

Today's business leaders perforce need to be able exist in the public gaze for many crucial reasons like communicating the company's various facets to its stakeholders, brand ambassadorship and so on. Given this need, the leader should still strive to find as many opportunities as possible to share credit with the team, both on external and internal platforms.

This calls for maturity and control over the desire for personal ego gratification that transcends the needs of the organisation. At all times, the leader has to be mindful of the ultimate objective that is sought to be achieved through coverage by the media — building the company's brand . Attempts at personal projection may probably yield short-term benefits. True long-term benefits accrue to the company and the individual only if the company's strengths are projected well. The leader is at his best when he shares the glory with his team in public and gives each member of his team an opportunity to present themselves at their best. The cabinet form of government, where the Prime Minister is deemed to be the first among equals, holds equally true for corporate teams.

(The writer is corporate advisor to 3i Infotech Ltd and Manipal Education and Medical Group)