LinkedIn power profiles for India has featured the Prime Minister of India, Mr Narendra Modi in a post shared by Mr Sachin Kapoor, Head India Business Development, LinkedIn. This post featuring Mr Modi has coincided with his 94 min speech on Aug 15, India’s 70th Independence Day, from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Delhi. His speech went under the hammer no sooner than he spoke the last word. Even while he was interacting with the school children in the blue-yellow formation of #Azadi70Saal (70 years of Independence) his speech was being hailed and assailed in equal measure by the people motivated by their affiliations.
This post is not about the politics of his speech. It is about work culture, leadership lessons and deep branding of the country emanating from the PM’s speech and leadership. There are five very important lessons for leaders. Read below:
1. Work Culture: The Prime Minister reiterated that he will focus his speech on the transformation his government has brought about in the way it functions; the work culture. Important ingredients of any organizational success are the vision, process, accountability, and outcomes. To this work culture, we may add efficiency and transparency and set new standards for “good governance”. 2. Inclusive Leadership: Organizations today are diverse, multi-cultural, multi-vertical and catering to a diverse group of consumers. India as a country embodies all this. The Prime Minister is talking and demonstrating inclusive leadership. His repeated reference to the entire populace of 1.28 billion Indians, his vision of extending the reach of his governance to the last person in the queue, his focus on village sanitation, electrification, and connectivity, are aimed at inclusion. Any growth, prosperity, and accomplishment mean nothing if it is not egalitarian. Inclusive leadership is important also from the standpoint of the consumers. Every consumer(citizen) has her aspirations. Only an inclusive leadership stands a chance to respond to people’s diverse aspirations. 3. The Big Picture: Leadership at its pinnacle must focus on the big picture. Micro issues should be left for administrative-managerial exercise. Innovation, creativity, and big ideas describe the big picture. New initiatives in Skill India, Make in India, Swachha Bharat, Empowering the marginalized are the exemplars of that thought process. A leader’s big picture thinking leads to elevating him and his organization to the level of influence. That is precisely what is happening around India; its expanding influence. India is seizing initiatives in clean energy production, cybersecurity, manufacturing, and digitization as an outcome of the big picture visualization by the leadership.
4. Deep Branding: Every organization craves for a good reputation and a brand value in the eyes of the people. The brand value is a sum total of the idea, attributes, essence and positioning of the product and services. The PM is endeavouring to brand India as a nation, culture, democracy, economic power and as the land of opportunities. Aligning 1.28 billion people with the vision of “One India, Great India” is an exercise in deep branding. The fulfilment of the promises made and creating a niche in the hearts of people are keys to deep branding. 5. Do Not Procrastinate: Most organizations falter in their mission on account of an absence of
sustainable work culture. Most alarming of the cultural deficiencies is “procrastination” The PM was eloquent in his assertion that his Govt does not believe in procrastination but taking the challenges head-on. Any organization in the service of its people (read customer) cannot afford to push issues under the carpet, nor can it afford not to attend to the grievances, issues, expectations and concerns immediately. For an organization customer is a king, for a country it’s the people. The organizational leaders and the Heads of the Govt must acknowledge it.
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