By Anuradha Srivastava:
People may be a staunch supporter or a hard core critic of Mr. Narendra Damodardas Modi, the next Prime Minister of India. Whatever be it, he is the talking point of the entire nation. On one hand, he is a magician who knows very well to play with words, on the other he is perfect blend of a shrewd politician and astute businessman. His making it to 7, Race Course Road is not merely by luck or a coincidence. It reflects the strategy formulated and the commitment put into the campaigns to achieve the milestone. There are various leadership lessons to be learnt from this man who pulled the nation out of indecisiveness and a phase of leadership crisis to give a clear mandate in the recently concluded elections.
1. Set clear objectives
Modi’s clarity of thought makes him a self proclaimed leader. While the opposition was tip-toeing as who should be the Prime Ministerial candidate, Modi had clarity of thought that he wanted to lead the nation. He clearly stated what he wants and what he plans to achieve on being given this opportunity. Moreover, he set clear goal of 272+- for the entire team which brought focus in terms of what had to be achieved.
2. Stretch your targets
At one point of time, the goal of winning 272+- seats seemed overambitious. But, setting of such high targets had been done to ensure that the team had no time to wither due to internal petty politics and has to rise to live up to the expectations.
3. Inclusive approach
The inclusive approach taken by Modi ensured that the leader and every party worker were on the same foot front. Each karyakarta was instilled with the feeling that this is their battle and they are fighting it for their own cause. Nothing can bring the same level of motivation which was brought by this strategy.
4. The art of communication
All the possible ways to connect with people and engage with them was tried and implemented by Narendra Modi. Be it twitter handles or 3D projections — Modi used it all and wooed the voters. He knew very well the topics to stress upon and how to build a connect with people. Whether it is the use of Gujarati in Gujarat or the rapturous Maa Ganga rhetoric, a leader must master the art of communication like he did.
5. Meticulously plan
No doubt Modi is a good orator but in spite of this, a lot went into planning his every speech. Whenever he spoke he ensured he talks about facts and figures and a lot of data crunching went in the process by his professional team for that. A specialized IT team exclusively toiled to create the social media buzz. A leader, howsoever sure about the success of the project must plan meticulously.
6. Never expose your weakness
Modi very carefully avoided questions related to 2002 riots as that was the only sin maligning his image as a future leader of the nation. His strategy of giving interviews to only friendly interviewers worked in his favour and he wasn’t caught losing his cool apart from the India Today conclave in 2013. Likewise, a leader must recognize the weakness and try his/her best to cover it up.
7. Lead by example
Leading from the front is something which is imbibed in Modi’s personality. He lets his work, his “good” governance model do the talking. During the months of election campaigns he worked for 20 hrs a day and addressed over 450 rallies in every corner of the country. The level of dedication and commitment he showed towards the goal inspired the team members to give their best shot.
It’s said by Jack Welch that “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others”. Let’s hope that under Modi’s leadership the nation grows by leaps and bounds. You may love him, you may hate him but you can’t ignore him.