Kumar Mangalam Birla on Leadership

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PLUGGING INTO PEOPLE'S MINDS AND HEARTS

The criticality of the human element is today more pronounced than ever before. What sparks and sustains the success of an enterprise is its people. This is a universal truth. It’s no different in India.

Leadership is all about plugging into the minds and hearts of people, about rallying them around to a compelling and exciting vision of the future. It is about upping the quality of imagination of the organisation. It is about encouraging a spirit of intellectual ferment and constructive dissent so that people are not bound by the status quo, and mavericks are given space and free play. It is about building the highest levels of empathy, without compromising on fairness and running a popularity contest.

As I look ahead, I believe the war for talent will intensify and that could become a major speed breaker. There is an acute competition – rather a scramble for inducting and retaining people with the competencies apposite for a globalising corporation. When a company globalises, its internal demography transforms into a socio-cultural potpourri. There is an inherent instability. Corporations that embark on this growth trajectory will face churn and uncertainty amidst change. On such a journey success will come to those corporations where the leadership is alchemical and values-driven.

Source: AlumniNews, London Business School, Issue 112 July - September 2007, pp31

Comments

Saurabh Sinha said…
Comments by Bonya Mukherjee

Read Kumar Mangalam Birla's viewpoint on leadership skills. But for that kind of leadership skill, one needs to have an in-built risk taking ability and also the innate ability to repose faith in the human capacity to surpass his/her potential. How many leaders have that kind of strength, do you think?
October 16, 2007 at 9:57 AM
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