How to become a leader – Lifestyle News

This book is as much about leadership as it is the autobiography of the academic who transformed IIM Kozhikode from an obscure regional school to an institution with national influence and global recognition. However, this book seems to lean towards the latter as it shares insights from Debashis Chatterjee's personal and professional journey spanning nearly three decades.

Therefore, although this aspect is covered in one chapter, The Leadership Chronicles is not a book about the qualities of a successful leader. Nor are there many examples of different leaders who rose to the top with amazing qualities, or who failed because they lacked those qualities. It is the author's view on how he transformed the field of education, be it IIMs or his IMIs, and how everyday life changed. Ordinary people's experiences provide insight into what it takes to be a leader.

Chatterjee begins by saying that you don't need to look into the towers of a company to know what leadership is or all that is required of a leader. For example, his grandmother was not very educated, but she showed selfish characteristics and was respected by those around her. This is a clear example of what a leader should have. It's a simple and simple trait that rarely happens to us. In fact, the prudence we display at home when resources are limited is a good tip for running a company where leaders need to learn how to make do with existing resources. This trait is rarely observed in leadership classes. So the eternal question is: are leaders born or are they learned along the way?

The author is very spot on in advocating the view that the true test of a leader is when the economy is in a downturn. It's not going up, it's going down. In fact, every story we read about leaders involves doing extraordinary things when things are going well. But what happens when the chips go down? What is important here is the person's ability to demonstrate in times of adversity.

Too often, leaders succumb to pressure and end up being mean to those around them. This is a lesson that can also be learned from the everyday life experiences of men on the street. What stands out here is how well they deal with adversity. He gave the example of Panasonic, which had the choice of selling the company when it was in trouble or paying half of its employees' salaries and asking them to rebuild the company. Founder Kanosuke Matsushita offered the company to his employees, and as the employees took on the challenge of reform, remarkable changes were seen. He described the act as offering umbrellas to employees when it was raining.

The unique way it conveys its message is why this book is a must-read. Fields like education may seem like big edifices that people cannot change. However, the author's desire to bring about change is something he believed in and was able to implement with success, so these practices are now being adopted by other institutions as well. He consciously brought about gender diversity in IIM-K. This was the first educational institution where the proportion of women in its MBA course was 54%. Recently, this is an aspiration pursued by several similar institutions. Even the micro level can make a difference, as seen when the author focuses on restroom conditions to ensure campus-wide cleanliness. Currently, this is something that is rarely considered even in the best educational institutions.

In his book, Chatterjee points out three rather unpleasant behavioral traits to avoid that emanate from what he calls the boss's “ego center.” These are certainly interesting and are common in the organizations I work for. The first is flattery. This goes into the head of the leader. Leaders often attribute their company's success to themselves. This is because the people around you are doing it. Interpret their glory. And such people, the authors write, are often those who had traumatic childhoods that led to this level of anxiety. The other is what he calls “bitchiness,” which he says has nothing to do with gender. Again, you'll see traits like his boss snooping on what you're doing at the office and may get distracted by Facebook. It sounds very familiar. The last one is “cowardly” and does not want to make bold decisions, so he hides behind power games, precedents and prejudices.

Now, a fairly relevant example that he brings up and that almost all cricket-loving readers agree with is the case of Virat Kohli.. Everyone agrees that his contribution to cricket has been overwhelming and he was able to blow away opposing teams with his aggressiveness. But he rightly points out that we have promoted a brand of leadership that is too strong to last. The author points out that leadership is about “taming the galloping horse of talent with the reins of temperament.” He continues this theme and concludes that following your passion without discrimination can get you stuck in a quagmire, as many leaders have discovered. This message is very shocking and may be relevant to some cases in the corporate world.

Chatterjee provides some useful insights into leadership, even though the route chosen is quite different from other expositions. It takes a lot of self-reflection for leaders to actually ask themselves if they are on the right path. This is important because the author states that leaders not only grow within a culture, but also carry that culture within themselves. He talks about his five qualities: vision, reflection on self-learning, teamwork, calmness of mind, and a state of self-actualization. It may be rather philosophical, but it definitely worked for the author in showing the changes brought about in the world of education. Certainly, this can be done in all other business areas as well.

The author is Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda.

Book: Leadership Chronicles: My Experiment in the Globalization of Indian Thought

author: Debashi Chatterjee

the publisher: penguin random house

256 pages, 599 rupees