Leadership quality 9/9

It was not yet 2 in the morning. Millions of Indians were awake. It was September 6th, 2019. Most Indians were either following news in the Television or watching YouTube. History was about to be made. India was about to soft-land a lander on the Moon. It was a proud moment for all of us. Prime Minister Modi was also watching this with much anticipation. I too had set an alarm, sat with my eyes watering in front of the TV.

This was Chandrayaan 2. It had four important components. First the Launcher, GLSV MK III is India’s most powerful launcher – completely designed and manufactured in India. Second, the orbiter, this will orbit the moon, relay information between the third component and the earth. The third component was the Vikram lander (named after Vikram Sarabhai). The fourth was Pragyan Rover, an AI power vehicle which can collect information. On this day, I was watching India attempt landing the Vikram lander on the moon.

This day didn’t happen just like that. This was based on long-term planning. The then Prime Minister Manmohan singh approves Chandrayaan 2 mission in 2008. It took another 11 years to launch. The launch happened on July 22, 2019. On September 6th, 2019, Vikram’s soft landing will be attempted. After all this hard work, within minute or seconds before it could land, we lost signal from the Lander. In December 2019, the lander’s collision site was discovered.

The mission head K Sivan was seen in tears hugging the prime minister. It is easy to lose heart. Crores of rupees were put into this, decades of effort had gone into this, a billion hearts could have felt sunken on this day. But none of this really mattered. After it had crashed, I didn’t think it was a failure at all. I felt a sense of pride in what we had attempted.

Soon after this, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a fitting speech to the same feeling we all had as Indians seeing this. In heart-felt 25-minute speech at ISRO centre Bengaluru, Modi sought to boost the morale.  He said, “Sisters and brothers of India, resilience and tenacity are central to India's ethos. In our glorious history of thousands of years, we have faced moments that may have slowed us, but they have never crushed our spirit, we have bounced back again, and gone on to do spectacular things.”

Modi on that day was displaying a key leadership trait. Before we see what it is, let us look at the couplet again

Where king is easy of access, where no harsh word repels,

That land's high praises every subject swells.

“The whole world will exalt the country of the king who is easy of access, and who is free from harsh language.

‘Kadum solan allan” means one who does not speak harsh words. It is just not about avoiding punishment and harsh words. It is about speaking inspirational and encouraging words to your team when they are down.

It is about not mistaking results for the process.

A mature and hardworking team would already be sunken because of the result. If the leader further admonishes the team further, it will result in lost morale. This will stop them from trying something new again, which is detrimental. There are two important things a leader should do at these times.

First, identify that the process is right (not the result), appreciate for the fact that the team followed the process well. Second, give the team hope that we can bounce back and this is just a stepping stone for future success.

This was exactly the message from Modi on that day. This post is dedicated to all the leaders of India who motivate their teams during times of despair to stay focused. If you like this post, more than just clicking on the like button, tag a leader who you has inspired you.

If you like this post, you will also like my other posts in the series.

Post #1, Post #2, Post #3, Post #4, Post #5, Post #6, Post #7, Post #8, Post #9