Sri MMS ji will be remembered for his significant contribution for India’s development as a good soldier (finance minister) in the direction of then daring prime minister Sri PVNR garu during the most challenging times in India’s economy.
Following are some of my thoughts in a free wheeling discussion with few friends this morning.
Let me state up front that whenever i refer to the leaders further in this post without the honorific titles of Sri, Ji or garu..it’s only for brevity and by no means reducing the honor of such great personalities.
Now, first and foremost it’s a moment of great respect for the departed soul for all his positive contributions towards the development of India.
Having said that, i personally think MMS was a great professional who excelled in the guidance of a great leader. But not an inspiring leader who set the agenda, inspire and drive an entire nations imagination for future.
Every organisation faces very similar situations . Some people are very good professionals but are bad as CEO.
MMS needed a visionary experienced politician like PVNR as a leader(CEO) to excel but once he bacame the CEO(PM), the organisation(country) lost the way as it lacked a good direction. Like few bad CEO, he was accused to have gotten surrounded by useless coterie which guided him in the wrong way. Speaking of bad advisory boards even in professional organisations.
Coterie was put in check during PVNR time. MMS appeared to have not been able to do the same with his leadership and hence failed as a CEO.
Like in every organisation, different people have different expertise, and the best outcomes are achieved when people are in the correct roles. Then they excel in their roles and the overall organisation succeeds.
During PVNR time , focus was on bringing the nation back from the financial bankruptcy and dire economic challenges. It needed bold revolutionary measures to get it back on its feet to survive and move forward. PVNR and MMS jointly succeeded in that effort. PVNR used all his political leadership and diplomacy to achieve the same and had the audacity to appoint the right people like MMS for the important change that was needed at that stage. He provided the all important political cover shield for an expert like MMS to implement the change.
But by the time MMS became PM, country needed a leadership that can strengthen internal mechanisms for longer term growth. It needed leadership which focused on building the culture of the nation. The need of the hour was to instil confidence to this young aspiring nation and to inspire a billion people. In my humble opinion, MMS failed in that critical aspect. He created a perception that he wouldn’t be able to provide the inspirational direction that was very much needed.
Whether someone likes or hates Modi, i think he provided leadership to the now aspirational young India by building this cultural fabric to bring back confidence and pride in its citizens. He provided the inspirational leadership that young India was looking for. Culture is an important mechanism for long term success of any organisation or nation.
Every organisation needs different leadership qualities at different stages. I felt MMS as the CEO was certainly a bad choice and failure at that stage of the country. As a professional he was excellent , but not as a CEO.
No magic was needed to happen at that stage of the country . What it needed was for the common citizen to believe and feel respected on a global stage about their culture and history.
Once the culture is established, the teams will work towards the goals and that was an important element of leadership at that stage.
Countries and societies are also a macrocosm of the organisations. Similar to the need for different leadership qualities at different growth stages of companies, larger macrocosms like nations need the same.
One good thing about this land in my opinion is that at different stages of its history it was fortunate to have gotten some good leaders who set it in the right direction at it’s crucial times from millenia of it’s history . that’s why iam an eternal optimist on the progress of the humankind .
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम्॥
in search of truth 
Leave a comment