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8 Management Lessons from Indias Freedom Struggle

by Manu Mayank on September 6th, 2010 Guest Post by: Sonia Jaspal

We recently celebrated Indian Independence Day on 15 August. I cherish the freedom and celebrate Indias growth towards global recognition. Going back in history, Indian freedom struggle lasted nearly a century. The last 25 years of the struggle was lead by Mahatma Gandhi on the concept of non-violence. India is one of the unique countries which gained freedom without much bloodshed. I think there are lot of management lessons which corporate world is implementing presently which were prevalent in the freedom struggle. In this post I am exploring Mahatma Gandhis leadership and management style, and linking it to the current management practices. 1. Walk the talk Mahatma Gandhi preached the concept of simple living and high thinking, although he came from an affluent Indian family. He came up with various austere living standards and requested his followers to adopt them. His kept his life open to public scrutiny. People may debate regarding his personal choices but no one would raise questions on his ethics and integrity. Irrespective of the difficulty involved, he always was able to take the high moral ground and never compromised on his personal values. In the present corporate world we respect the leaders who are able to walk the talk, demonstrate ethical and principled behavior and lead by example. 2. Think out of the box The strategy and tactics adopted during the Indian independence struggle were unlike any other countrys revolution. Some of the concepts were: Non-violence A war fought on the basis of principles without any bloodshed. Civil disobedience- Court arrest if the British officials are threatening imprisonment for demanding your rights. Non-cooperation- The message given was maintain your jobs with the British Empire, however do not support it regarding its practices against Indian people. Managements today are advocating out of the box thinking and competing strategically. The organization which implements a unique strategy generally wins the market. 3. Brand building Mahatma Gandhis personal brand has lasted 60 years after his death without any investment. He created a brand of a simple moral man living life on the principle of Ahimsa (non-violence). His home spun cotton clothes, wooden shaft, leather slippers, vegetarian meals and home at the

ashram all embodied his personal brand. His character and communication depicted his core values to the masses. We must acknowledge that fact that very few leaders in history have as strong a brand image as Gandhi. The corporate world is spending huge sums on advertising to build the corporate brand. We hear Tom Peters and other management gurus talking about building the Brand You. 4. Competitors size doesnt matter The Indian freedom struggle gained ground by the idea of a few committed individuals who wished to bring about a change. They envisaged taking on the might of British Empire who had the resources, funds, weapons and management capability. The Indian leadership team acknowledged the strengths of the British Empire and devised a strategy which minimized those strengths. They built a strategy on the following: Non-violence which required no weapons; Asked masses to contribute for the independence and live frugally, hence survived on minimal resources; Developed local leadership across all regions under Congress banner. Using a similar strategy Barrack Obama won the American president elections when he had no funds and support. Also, one notices small IT companies (e.g. hotmail) which developed into big names just by pioneering a unique product and leveraging the market properly. 5. Build dream teams Indian Congress Party besides Gandhi had a number of other accomplished leaders. Namely, C.

Rajagopalachari, Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose and others. These leaders all had different personalities and ideologies, however worked for a common cause. Gandhi and Nehru complimented each other tremendously and mostly operated as two in a box. Senior leaders acted as mentors for the younger generation. The party had leaders at grass root level, and people were encouraged to develop leadership traits. Business world is focusing on building dream teams with leadership at all levels. The Human resource Departments are focused on concepts of two in a box, alternate leaders, chief mentors and succession planning. 6. Engage and empower people Mahatma Gandhi in his speech on the eve of Dandi March said -Wherever there are local leaders, their orders should be obeyed by the people. Where there are no leaders and only a handful of men have faith in the programme, they may do what they can, if they have enough self-confidence. He encouraged common man to show leadership and commitment under the

overall umbrella of Congress. He united the people by specifying the mission, vision and code of conduct of Congress. The masses were committed to the cause and in all his symbolic protests he involved people participation. The corporate worlds biggest challenge is of disengaged employees due to actual or perceived lack of empowerment. It is becoming apparent that success or failure of the organization is increasingly dependent on a healthy organization culture which encourages employee participation. 7. Accept and encourage diversity

The British are generally blamed for implementing divide and rule policy in India. On the contrary, India already was already divided into various regions, religions and castes before the British rule. Mahatma Gandhi in his struggle for independence attempted to unify the country. He encouraged the princely states to join hands, brought Hindus and Muslims on the same platform and removed caste barriers for joining the freedom moment. He supported gender equality and encouraged women to actively participate in the movement. His wife, Kasturba Gandhi played a pivotal role in getting womens participation. With less than 10% women in senior management positions in the corporate world, the mantra today is to bring more women on board. With globalization the concept of accepting and encouraging diversity has taken hold. 8. Dont make it personal In the Quit India speech in 1942, Mahatma Gandhi stated- Then, there is the question of your attitude towards the British. I have noticed that there is hatred towards the British among the people. The people say they are disgusted with their behavior. The people make no distinction between British imperialism and the British people. Deal with the issue and not the person; this is the corporate mandate today. Mahatma Gandhi pioneered this thought process. In all his communication and dealings he stood up against British Imperialism. He however, had friendly relationships with Britishers and never made a personal attack in his speeches. On the other hand, he continuously advocated decent and humane behavior even towards ones enemy. His thought process was- address the issue at hand and keep a positive attitude towards a person from the competing camp. In nut shell, there is a lot to learn from the Indian freedom struggle for the corporate world. It had unique dimensions which are gaining hold now as corporate best practices. History is the best teacher, if we are willing to learn from other peoples successes and failures. Sonia can be reached at: soniajaspal[at]sify[dot]com From Advice

5 Comments

1. Mandar Sunthankar permalink Excellent analysis by Sonia, and thanks for forwarding Manu. I would like to add a couple of my thoughts. First, Gandhi understood the pulse of Indian masses, i.e., by nature and culture most Indians were, and are, not for killing anything, let alone the British. That means, picking up guns was out of question for successful struggle. In addition, India was not a country, and united as such, until British put it on the map with borders. British brought law and order, administration, education, equality, and so much new thought to the nation that they were better than anything Indians had seen before. So there was a certain amount of admiration among the masses. That is the reason, all violent struggles failed since 1857. Second, being a lawyer, Gandhi understood how to take advantage of British Law to maximum without staying in jail for a long time. Only non-violent means would have survived against the regime. He may have taken some clues from the fact that former leaders such as Tilak spent more time in jail than the struggle itself. Gandhi minimized the conflict resulting in masses getting short sentenses and punishments. It should be noted that only under the British democraic, Parliamentary rule, all Indian leaders survived. In contrast, under ruthless Portugese, French or Dutch rule, they would have been shot long before they could become leaders. May be there is some lesson here in management.

2. Kennedy Samuel permalink Sonia, wonderful, excellent & a perfect write-up. If I may add, another point or too (though none have not learnt, this aspect, well) 9. Execute & oversee the mission till completion. 10.Win masses by example not by populist / via religion. Mahatma Gandhis mission was an Independent India, which is a dream even today. Mahatma Gandhi, I believe, would have made the best Prime-minister of an independent India that stretched across Islamabad to Arunachal Pradeshhad he continued to head the congress or handed over the baton to a fellow Gandhian..and not handed over the baton to just any rich or affluent personality. Gandhi would never, I repeat never, have had India partitioned, because Mahatma Gandhi never needed to win the masses or minority via religion. Mahatma was a real leader, and the masses followed him and his teachings irrespective of caste, sex & religion. USA leader, supports a religions structure at ground zero. why, Why are US leaders deviating from running a country via economic, socio-political & cultural reforms see & learn from India, even today India is suffering 1947

India a wonderful country, I am proud of my India, but I am not proud of those Indians giving my country a bad name. BUT I can only love India, if I can do a little bit and be a good Indian and say no to corrupt leaders. 2010: major news headlines addresed corruption of scams valuing over 6 to 8 digits & a one big joke : inflation in single digit..

3. Kennedy Samuel permalink Sonia, wonderful, excellent & perfect write-up. If I may add, another point or two (though we have not learnt this aspect well) 9. Execute & oversee the mission till completion. 10.Win masses by example not by populist / via religion. Mahatma Gandhis mission was an Independent India, which is yet a dream even today. Mahatma Gandhi, I believe, would have made the best Prime-minister of an independent India that stretched across Islamabad to Arunachal Pradeshhad he continued to head the congress or handed over the baton to a fellow Gandhian..and not handed over the baton to just any rich or affluent personality. Gandhi would never, I repeat never, have had India partitioned, because Mahatma Gandhi never needed to win the masses or minority via religion. Mahatma was a real leader, and the masses followed him and his teachings irrespective of caste, sex & religion. USA leader supports a religions structure at ground zero. why are you deviating from running a country via economic, socio-political & cultural reforms see India, even today suffering 1947 India a wonderful country, I am proud of India, but I am not proud of those Indians giving my country a bad name. Check news headlines through 2010: 1. Scams (read theft) reported in 6 to 8 digits. Scamsters smiling into TV camera 2. Just one Joke: Inflation reported in single digit.

4. Sonia Jaspal permalink Thanks for the appreciation. I would agree with you that there are a number of points which one can learn from Gandhi. I had a long list, but then thought people may not appreciate such a long post. So the next eight points comes on 2 October. You can visit my blog and enjoy reading the same. Kind regards, Sonia

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