True Leadership Qualities to learn from our PM - Mr Modi in COVID Times

• Dr Swadeep Srivastava

It’s not just a fluke or via Advocacy that our PM Mr Modi was rated as No. 1 amongst Head of the States from top Global Leaders as the one who earned the most Positive Ratings (57%) for the handling of the Pandemic (COVID 19) and here’s a few points what we can learn from a True National Leader like him (& please remember, this Post is completely Apolitical):

1. Best Communication & Behaviour Change Practices: In the situation of a Calamity been declared in form of COVID 19 Epidemic, he was the first one to come forward & make planned announcements of Mobilising (his own Govt Teams at all levels) & Motivating all his countrymen to #unitetofightcarona & his clear cut messaging on Do’s & Don’ts were very well accepted & followed across the cross section of the society.

A symbol of a True Leader who Leads from the Front, is communicating ‘Proactively’, & is doing in the Language & a way that makes the target population understand as well as feel motivated to follow instructions! Otherwise, many a Leaders (including a few of his Predecessors) were unwittingly ‘shy’ & had poor communication skills & also slow & less proactive, that’s why Mr Modi stands much taller & better accepted as the LEADER of a country with such diverse cultures & religions, castes & languages.

2. Organised Working/ Governance with Clear Cut Roadmap is the True Hallmark of a Successful Leader: for the first time such aggressive & proactive Contact Tracing Teams were formed & Mobilised to reach any suspect who left the airport from a risk zone.

Also the Districts & Talukas were divided into various categories as per their Risk Proposition & the density of COVID infected per population, into Red, Yellow & Green Zones and the instructions of Lock Down & any other policy implementation was divided as per the Zones, which was an Herculean affair but helped the States & Districts to implement Policies with much ease & accuracy. This was unique and done for the first time at this scale, but this Module can become a Foundation for any such National level Policy Implementation wherein Local Administration needs to get involved in Implementation, particularly in case of any Future Pandemic. This & few more Steps make India ???? much better prepared now for handling any Healthcare related Calamity in Future!

3. Responsible & Non-Discriminate Practices towards the Pupil: though he is many a times christened as staunch Hindu Leader but be it COVID Management or any other Govt Practices (you can also deep dive into Padma Awardees list every year since Mr Modi has taken over as PM, you will get the answer yourself), he may be partial -in favour of his Partymen or the as States BJP Rules, but he as a True Statesman & the PM of the country has never Spoken or tried to Flare Up any such initiative of Discrimination to a particular Religion (be it case of Tabliki Jamaat bashing) or any Caste and that has helped his whole Team at Centre Level & the Sates Heads who have stood together & mostly abided by the Govt Policies to come as a Winner together even in toughest of the COVID situations including handling & rehabilitation of Migrant Labourers. He has very clearly worked as the “Leader Who Unites” in spite of his biased (unfortunate) portrayal at global fronts & comes out clearly as a Unity Symbol for the country, uni-vocally.

4. A True Leader who Leads by Practice: be it showcasing himself as a ‘Mask Wearer’ (folding Gamcha as a locally done Mask) & quite different from his US Counterpart, or following Physical Distancing (Do Gaj Ki Doori), he Leads from the front, even not hesitating going on the Borders & celebrating Festivals with our Soldiers for their Motivation or visits the Scientists & the Developers at their Site of Vaccine Development in various parts of the country, to push for early delivery & motivate them to do the best. An exemplary Leadership Quality of Demonstrating from the Front.

5. Hard work & Accountability if Hallmark of a True Leader: one who is even distantly in know how of the current working style of PMO, will vouch for his Hardwork (16-18 hours a day with no holidays) and establishing & practising a system for high Accountability for the Leader & his Hundreds of Thousands of Teams working under his Umbrella, who are directly accessible & fully accountable as the Leader feels fully accountable to his Pupil & his Country, in this case.

He asks for a Report Card from all his Teams & doesn’t Hesitate to present his Report Card to the people whenever asked for!

6. Last but not the Least, A Leader working with a Large Vision to achieve something BIG for himself: (to achieve a recognition while achieve somethings impossible, even if it means getting it done in a disruptive way) as well as for the country, for the future of the young generation and the countrymen at large. Be in quick tracking Vaccine availability or pushing for indigenous development of Drugs, Vaccines & Medical Devices or overall thrust on ANTMA NIRBHAR BHARAT, which may seem like a distant dream! But a Leader's Vision & Passion to achieve the impossible had all the chances of moving towards achieving the impossible.. and that’s much required in a Leader to bring in exceptional growth of any organization or a country like ours. 

Mr Modi has scored well on almost all the fronts & thus gives us a few very important learning for Leadership, even when we Lead a small 10 people startup to a more than 10,000 people large conglomerates, particularly in such a tough COVID Times...

Salute to this Impeccable Leader in this new year 2021 which is the year for HOPE & Revival for the MSMEs, Corporates & for our COUNTRY too. And this battle can be won only under Truly Strong Leadership.