the new hr

Inculcating leadership skills is what b-schools do best. Can they do the same
for building strength of character?
J Philip, Xavier Institute of Management and
Entrepreneurship
Leadership
Building tomorrow’s
leaders
“A
fields, where the leader’s task is to provide a new
leader is a dealer in
hope”, said Napoleon
Bonaparte. It is a terse
but apt description
of the rationale
and legitimacy for
leadership in many
vision and make followers aspire and work for it.
This is especially true of fields like trade unionism,
politics, and religion. Trade union leaders keep their
members motivated by instilling in them a hope for
a better work-life. Politicians do the same for the
country, promising better lives for all. It is, perhaps,
religious leaders who make maximum use of hope,
as they deal with the other world about which
nobody knows anything for certain.
In essence, therefore, a leader’s real job is to
create that hope for something better, convert it
into a vision for tomorrow, share it with followers,
and make them transcend their individual desires
and work to the fullest of their capabilities
to accomplish that superordinate goal for the
common good.
In a resurgent India—a competitive, confident,
and young India, driven by dynamic leaders in every
sector—we need to create effective leadership at every level, in every
institution, and in every sector. We need a wide range of leaders—from
the panchayat to the national level; the shop floor to the CEO; the school
headmaster to the Vice–Chancellor; the primary level social worker to
the head of an NGO, and so on.
India is estimated to occupy third position among nations in terms of
their GDP by 2030. To make this projection a reality and for continued
and accelerated growth, the country needs leadership at every level, just
as we need the latest technology. The primary responsibility of developing
leaders lies with our education system, which is not well-equipped in
this regard. ‘Leadership development’ needs to be included as a critical
component of b-school curriculum since these institutions shape the
leaders of the country.
Definitional diversity
While the word ‘leadership’ is part of everyone’s conversation, it is
understood differently by different segments of people. Also, there is no
complete agreement on its definition, even among scholars.
John Kotter, the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership,
Emeritus at the Harvard Business School says, “Leadership is about
coping with change”, and adds that the leader develops a vision and then
aligns the followers to it. According to Robert House, former professor
emeritus of management at the University of Pennsylvania, leaders are
builders of strategies and vision. Stephen Robbins, professor emeritus of
management at San Diego State University, uses a simple definition—
“leadership is the ability to influence a group towards the achievement of
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