Leadership is not just about intellect and vision but also about getting results

The biggest concern impacting several organizations today is not lack of intellect or vision. Rather it is the inability to translate that intellect or vision into results which is becoming an all pervading phenomenon. The intellect, vision and thought help in creating the strategy. The deficiency plaguing several organizations globally does not lie there. It is the conversion of strategy into results which is called execution. And that is where there is a serious gap which is prevalent widely.

There are many who consider thought leadership, vision and intellect to be synonymous with leadership. They are not entirely wrong but they miss a very vital point. The point is that intellect and vision sans the ability to execute means nothing less than disaster and can actually turn out to be counter- productive. There are umpteen examples in history where leaders with incredible intellect and vision but lacking the ability to execute proved not just ineffective but seriously dysfunctional.

There are occasions when intellect and vision are given higher weightage than ability to execute while deciding on selection of leaders. However, that can prove counter- productive if the selected individual lacks ability to translate strategy into action irrespective of the individual’s intellect, thought leadership or vision.

Let us take the case of two emperors from medieval India- Both Muhammad Bin Tughlaq and Akbar were emperors with high intellect and vision. However, the former is considered as an emperor with perhaps a fickle mind and the latter is known as perhaps the best emperor India ever had.

Muhammad Bin Tughlaq ruled over the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent and the Deccan from 1324 to 1351 AD. A learned man with an open mind and a unique streak of intellectual creativity, Tughlaq was well versed in poetry, astronomy, religion and philosophy. A ruler whose real expertise shone in the times of war, Tughlaq took some very bold and strong measures to reform the administration during his chequered reign as the Sultan of Delhi. Muhammad-bin-Tughluq next to Alluddin Khilzi was the greatest sultan of Delhi who is best remembered for his bold experiments and innovative thought in the field of administration as well as in agriculture. He was one of the most remarkable rulers of his time. He was highly educated and was well versed in Arabic and Persian language. He was well read in the subjects of religion, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, medicine and logic. He was also a good calligraphist. Further from military point of view, he was an excellent commander and during the time of Sultan Mubarak Shaha Khiliji he was promoted to the rank of the master of the horse from an ordinary soldier. And again during the time of his father Sultan Giyasuddin Tughlaq he led the imperial forces to Telengana and Warrangal. He was highly ambitious and was a man of high moral character. He was very much faithful to his own religion and obeyed the religious rites and was regular at his daily prayers. He abstained himself from drinking in public. It is said that he was indeed very kind and generous to the poor.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq was well known for his wisdom and character. People had a lot of expectations from him and he on the other hand, had the desire for more valuable contribution for his countrymen than his predecessors. That is why right from the beginning of his rule; he decided to take some bold reformative measures for the improvement as well as safeguard of the country.

In 1329 AD, he shifted his capital from Delhi to the more centrally located Devagiri in Maharashtra, which was renamed Daulatabad. He had many motives for doing so – other than saving his capital from recurring Mongol raids, the move would cement his control over the rich fertile lands of the Deccan and ensure access to the busy ports on the Gujarat and the Coromandel coast. While there was nothing fundamentally wrong with Tughlaq’s pragmatic decision, his blunder lay in ordering the entire population of Delhi to move to the new capital (instead of just shifting his official court). Despite the many arrangements that were made for the convenience of the travellers, the suffering of the people was terrible and many people died on the way. However, no sooner had the Sultan reached Daulatabad when trouble broke out in Bengal as well as on the northwestern frontier. Tughlaq realized that while his new capital was distant enough to be safe from Mongol invasions, it was also too far away to protect northern India. So, the mercurial ruler re-ordered his people to return to Delhi. Thousands died in the punishing 1500 km return march to Delhi. While Tughlaq did try to make amends by abolishing multiple taxes and organising relief measures, the financial loss was immense and the consequences for Delhi grave.

However, Tughlaq was a ruler who delighted in administrative experiments. When famine-like conditions and frequent revolts began straining his coffers, Tughlaq found it difficult to maintain the supply of gold (dinars) and silver (adlis) coins on a large scale. So, he introduced a token currency system and minted vast quantities of new copper and brass coins (tankas) that could be exchanged for fixed amounts of gold and silver. While this decision helped the Sultanate’s finances initially, it also proved to be lucrative to forgers who began issuing a large number of fake coins. Loopholes like a simple design (the coins just had some inscriptions) and no royal seals made the task easier for forgers. Every house became a mint for copper coins while gold and silver coins were zealously hoarded. Soon, the market was awash with fake coins. As good money was driven out of circulation, the token coins became practically valueless, leading to hyperinflation. Foreign traders also refused to accept them, paralysing trade. Realising that his scheme had failed, Tughlaq withdrew the currency in an attempt to stem the economic chaos.

In order to bring an improvement in agriculture, Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq decided to undertake a number of measures and he, therefore established a department of agriculture called Diwan-i-kohi. The department’s main work was to find out uncultivated lands and make all sorts of arrangements for the cultivation of horse lands. At first a large area of land say sixty square miles in area was taken up in the project.

A large number of peasants were engaged in the work of cultivation. They were supplied with all sorts of agricultural instruments and seeds. They were asked to grow different crops in rotation. A large number of officers and guards were appointed to look after the project. The government spent over it more than seventy lakhs. In spite of this, the scheme failed miserably. The target amount of production could not be achieved. The expenditure in it outstripped the income from it. It was due to several reasons.

Firstly, the land chosen for cultivation was not fertile. Secondly, the officers lacked experience which accounted for bad planning or faulty implementation. There were also some corrupt officials who misappropriated a huge amount of production and money.

Lastly, it was a novel experiment, therefore, required more time and attention on the part of the Sultan which he could not give. He could have tried more to improve it. Though the scheme failed disastrously during his reign, yet it had a long term impact. But he was misunderstood by the people.

Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq’s experiments were not confined to internal matters only; it was also down with external affairs. His Khurasan project was the first of them. In-order-to fulfill his ambition of a great conqueror; he planned to conquer the kingdom of Khurasan which was then ruled by Iraq. He recruited one lakh soldiers for this purpose and paid them one year’s salary in advance.

He spent nearly three lakhs of rupees for this mission. But this project was dropped because he did not get the help of the Persian emperor who had assured him to help in this mission. Ultimately the Sultan incurred a huge financial loss and his reputation as a conqueror hampered much.

Muhammad Bin Tughlaq had the best of intentions and his moves were bold for his time but were poorly implemented. Also, in his hurry to realise his dreams, he severely punished anyone who opposed his hasty moves. This, combined with his habit of acting without assessing risks and without providing for unforeseen difficulties, resulted in his administrative gambles ending in disaster. It’s small wonder that historians refer to Tughlaq as the ‘wise fool’.

Now contrast this with Akbar’s reign about two hundred years later:

In order to control his vast empire, Akbar instituted a highly efficient bureaucracy. He appointed mansabars, or military governors, over the various regions; these governors answered directly to him. As a result, he was able to fuse the individual fiefdoms of India into a unified empire that would survive until 1857. Akbar displayed remarkable respect for his Hindu subjects and their faith. Probably even more importantly to his ordinary subjects, Akbar in 1563 repealed a special tax placed on Hindu pilgrims who visited sacred sites, and in 1564 completely repealed the jizya, or yearly tax on non-Muslims. What he lost in revenue by these acts, he more than regained in good-will from the Hindu majority of his subjects.

The policy of vigorous conquest started under Bairam Khan was maintained. In 1560 Malwa was annexed, and four years later Akbar conquered Gondwana. Akbar now turned his attention to the conquest of Rajputana. In 1567 he reduced the fortress of Chitor, and this was soon followed [[145]] by the surrender of Ranthambhor. Gujarat was annexed in 1573. Akbar now was free to turn his attention to Bengal. Akbar was personally based in Lahore from 1586 to 1598 to neutralize the threat of invading Uzbegs. While he was in Lahore, Kashmir was added to the Mughal empire in 1586; Sind followed in 1593.

Akbar was the real builder of the Mughal empire, and he laid down the principles and policies which, but for occasional modifications and minor adjustments, remained the basis of the Mughal administrative system. The detailed measures which Akbar took to build up an efficient system of administration are no less indicative of a great constructive genius. He adopted what was vital in Sher Shah's administrative system and greatly increased its effectiveness. He insisted on maintaining a high level of administration, and for this purpose drew on talent from all available sources—the Mughals, the Uzbegs, the Rajputs, and other Hindus like Raja Todar Mal, and, of course, the Turanis and the Persians. By a judicious selection of personnel, their training in different fields, and by providing suitable opportunities to them, he was able to build up an efficient officers' cadre. Satisfactory arrangements for assessment and recovery of land revenue, and their integration in the general administrative system set the pattern for revenue administration which has been followed ever since. Akbar also preferred payment of cash salaries to the grant of jagirs. These measures, coupled with the general improvement in education and a brilliant spurt of expansion and conquest, enabled him to build up an efficient administrative machinery, centralize administration, and unify the country to an extent which had not been possible hitherto for any length of time.

Thus while both Muhammad bin Tughlak and Akbar were emperors with high intellect and grand visions, there was a remarkable difference in their abilities to execute their visions. While the former continually faltered in execution miserably, the latter had it all in place as far as execution is concerned. That, in reality, made all the difference.

We do have Tughlaks and Akbars even today- while they can both rise to positions of prominence thanks to their superior intellectual prowess and grand visions, whenever organizations fail to differentiate between the two in selecting their leaders, they can end up endangering themselves immensely and irreversibly.