Connected Leadership

This is not an article airing my political views.

The elections in the world's largest democracy has just finished and the government was sworn in yesterday. Narendra Modi, the incumbent, was re-elected with a significant majority win for his party. The majority was greater than the last election in 2014.

While I do not live in India, I follow the development & progress and I can still relate to the emotions around the politics in India. While I prefer to remain neutral in my political views and I am not taking sides of either party, there is a leadership lesson for many of us to learn from two individuals who were leading their respective parties. And what that meant for the 1.2 Billion Indians.

1. The elite Vs the common - Out of the 1.3 bn people living in India, 59% live below the poverty line. The problems they face are very different from the middle class, which accounts for 40% while the rich & elite are only 1%. Modi grew up from the bottom of the ladder, no family name, no foreign university degree or large inheritance from the family. This also meant he started with no godfathers. He is the "self made" man. 99% of Indian population could relate to him, could see a piece of themselves in him. Rahul Gandhi started with an entitlement - he is where he is because of the family he was born into. 99% of the population cannot relate to it because that is not something you can aspire to be - one cannot be born into the Nehru-Gandhi family.

This relates so well to organizations as well. Leaders who have grown up the ladder, with no entitlement to start with. This creates a connection with the people, you see the connection in your  leader. As a leader who has traveled the same path, he/she understands the problems and what needs to be addressed. The elitist leader excludes himself/herself. If you do not understand problems, if you do not listen to the problems, you can never address it and without that you cannot form a connected leadership.

2. The glasshouse -  Modi not only grew from the bottom, he also made sure he never left the connection with the ground. He was present in both rural and urban areas and took decisions based on what he learned from the ground. He did have advisors no doubt but he did not only rely on them. He had an inclusive team, people with different backgrounds, from different regions and included women. The other camp, took decisions from the glasshouse - family and thinkers as advisors.

I have seen it so many times, and I have seen so many organizations fail when thinkers are rewarded. An idea is an only an idea if not executed. You need a completely different skill set for execution. You have to get your hands dirty. This also tests the strength of the idea. Leaders who have no clue of what is happening beneath, in the dark corners and rely on thinkers typically based in headquarters and from elite schools, take decisions that eventually never get executed. Keeping the ear to the ground, and eyes scanning the darkest corners, gives the best ideas that can be executed and create an impact. Impact at the ground level creates and sustains connected leadership.

3. Authenticity - Something that I am proud of as an Indian is the authenticity of Modi. He has never shied away from his "Indian" accent of English or kept it a secret that he practices yoga. He in fact glorifies the Indian attire, the vegetarian diet and his austere lifestyle. It is only the 1% of Indians that cannot relate to austerity. Rahul on the other hand, has never led a frugal life, studied in foreign universities yet tried to be someone who appealed to the common Indian. He failed in being authentic.

Authentic leadership is the mantra behind connected leadership. if you are not authentic, there is no way people can connect with you. Unless you are accepting to change, it is not possible to change your core. if the core remains unchanged, there will always be a disconnect between what you speak and do as a leader. There are very few leaders who remain authentic and are hence successful in establishing connected leadership.

4. Have a vision - And have the courage to follow it up. Modi has a vision. He did not limit himself thinking short term on the vote banks. With several of the bold steps he took like demonetization, there was always a short term threat. He kept his vision, and had the courage to stand by it. Unfortunately, Rahul did not have a vision for the country.

In the times of activist investors and managing shareholders, there are very few leaders who have a vision and the courage to follow the vision. Payback from a vision is always long term. Anything short term is tactics. Connected leadership requires a long term vision, with a strong purpose that everyone can understand and live by it. Short term gains are just a consequence. Putting the purpose and vision before your personal gains is sure way to get to connected leadership.

5. Growth Mindset - Modi grew up with not much and in the later years earned a livelihood selling tea. Unlike Rahul he did not study in any elite school. Yet he remains adaptable and a learner. With 34 million followers, he is the second most followed leader in the world. Rahul never learned what he did not know - the Indian population. Having grown up with the silver spoon, it take courage to hit the ground and learn from life's lessons & adapt to the changing world. India is changing, the family charisma is fading away. Had he learned to move out of the family name and create a name & place for himself, I think this election results would have been a different story.

There are so many examples from history - Nokia, Kodak, Yahoo - all of which met their fate because their leaders had a fixed mindset. They were unadapt able. Your past has no bearing on your future in the strict sense, you can write the future by learning & adapting. As leaders we need to stay so agile that we can learn, imbibe and make the change.

As I said, these are not my political views but observations on the leadership styles. I would love to hear your views on leadership styles and read your comments!