The Hindu Business Line : ‘Experimentation, a key quality’

A great leader is one who presents a clear set of goals, builds a motivated team that helps build the path to the goals and drives the team to achieve them. He should balance listening with leading, inspiring with involvement, holding accountable with delegation, driving change with continuity. He should focus on delivering superior, sustainable growth.

An incident from your life, or, what you observed, which you think was great leadership.

Leadership is demonstrated everyday around us; from reel life to real one – from Shah Rukh Khan converting an uncoordinated bunch of girls to a formidable team in Chak De to the anonymous stranger helping the blind man cross the road; from sports to science – from Dhoni energising his team to the T20 World Cup victory to the cooperation across many countries that developed the CERN project.

Ways in which young managers can develop leadership skills.

Young managers must listen, experiment and believe. Unless they ‘listen’, they won’t learn. Avoid re-inventing the wheel. Unless they ‘experiment’ they won’t know right from wrong. Rome was not built in one day and right the first time. Unless they ‘believe’ in themselves, they will end up giving up too early. After all, often the feeling of failure is the last step on the ladder to success.

Your leadership ideal in the corporate world – India or global?

Azim Premji for his simplicity, Narayan Murthy for his perseverance, and my father, Rahul Bajaj, for his forthrightness. Each of them embody the qualities of great leaders; sharing many common traits and then a few unique ones. — Sanjiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Finserv

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