Mahatma the CEO

In Gandhi, a modern leader will find various tools that could work well even today

The Mahatma probably visited a business enterprise only once in his lifetime, when he went to a chemical and pharma start-up on the eve of World War II. But he knew several businessmen like Jamnalal Bajaj, G D Birla and Dr Khwaja Hamied, whose start-up he visited. Many were impressed by his swadeshi movement and supported it arduously.
 
So how would the Mahatma have fared as a CEO? His body of work of nearly five decades has many clues.
 
When he returned from South Africa in the early 20s, he already had the credentials of a “political activist”, having fought for the rights of Indians living in South Africa. His leadership training had been seeded. In India, he met Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who mentored him to accept a bigger leadership role — that of “liberating Indians in India”. This “induction” included a nationwide tour of over a year, travelling the villages where the “real India” lived. He returned with a simple vision that “India was one and it must rule itself”. Gandhi had realised Tilak, Gokhale, Lajpat Rai and others had laid the ground in various parts of the nation. He had to only integrate these, simplify it for the masses and create a common uniform movement around it.

 

To build upon this vision, he came up with a very unique and differentiated strategy that had three pillars — civil disobedience, boycott of foreign goods and non-violent resistance. He had tested some of these in South Africa and saw the opportunity to leverage them. But it had no precedent — all previous movements for “territory” had been based on armed resistance. The world was also in the grip of the WW-I. A good CEO must weigh his options and resources before nailing the plot down. He knew the country’s people were still fragmented. The British had been clever with their divide and rule strategy. He also knew a high moral ground had a better chance of success and it would also give time to unify the people. Gandhi made a contrarian call. It takes a CEO of considerable strength of character to go against the grain.

 
Gandhi brought an astounding array of brilliant people together — Nehru the dreamer and visionary, Patel the disciplined executor, Maulana the unifier, Bose an out-of-the-box renegade, to name a few. Such was his influence and belief in a culture of meritocracy that many were “ready and available” to take on the governance of free India. The maxim, right man for the right job, was evident even later, when he was the only one to support the nomination of Dr Ambedkar, his fiercest adversary, to the post of India’s first law minister.
 
Should a CEO encourage alternative views or dissent? That a leader needs the best thinkers, even if they differ, is a no brainer. What he or she chooses to do with it is important. Nehru, Patel, Bose and Jinnah were as different from one another as chalk and cheese. Some found common ground with Gandhi’s vision and went on to realise it. Some didn’t. He accepted it as the natural order of life.

 
How did Gandhi react to adversity? Long spells in prison were spent in writing about his experiments with truth and spinning the wheel. Both were central to staying connected with the people. When WW-II dawned, he realised it will delay independence, but like a consummate statesman he saw an opportunity to “help” the British, with a possible promise of total freedom. He even used fast unto death to bring adversaries like Ambedkar around to his way of thinking.
 
Creating a simple vision that all could rally around, displaying values of truth, fairness and integrity, crafting a differentiated strategy, bringing the best talent to believe in this vision, mentoring them, finding opportunity in adversity and finally delivering the audacious goal in his lifetime — a modern CEO will find many tools that could work well even today.  Views expressed are personal