Value Of Degrees In Leadership
You would be aware of the news piece doing the rounds about our honorable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. Some groups claim his degree/s to be not fake while some support him unconditionally. Well, I will not get into the debate of whether he possesses the degrees or not. Rather, I would like to raise a question to all Indians out there – Do degrees really matter to you?
And why restrict ourselves to politics. Leadership is an integral component of business.
One of the most successful Indian business tycoons – Dhirubhai Ambani – could just study up till matriculation and did not get the chance to study further. Inspite of this,he went on to set up of one of top 500 companies in the world. When the company went public in 1977, his education did not come in the way of its investors, nor did it hamper the company’s growth in all these years.
This is just one example. If I list successful entrepreneurs globally who have been college drop-outs at some point of time, it’s not going to end so soon; but to name a few - Henry Ford (Ford Motor Company), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Amancio Ortega (Zara garment company), Steve Jobs (Apple), Ralph Lauren (Ralph Lauren), Subhash Chandra Goel (Zee Tv), Gautam Adani (Adani Group). But apart from being drop-outs, there is one thing that is common among them – Leadership. And that is something that either comes naturally or through relevant experience.
So what are these qualities that we have been talking about? Let us explore some :
1) Belief in one’s ideas and a clear focus on the goal, along with a well-laid plan for execution as well as personal supervision are few things that separate an efficient leader from good leaders. Knowing how to remain insulated from the external environment or being thick-skinned helps a great deal in maintaining focus.
2) Being well prepared for a crisis is another quality that makes a leader exceptional. According to a website www.quora.com when the biggest quake hit Nepal last year, even before the Chief Ministers of Bihar and UP could summon a meeting for assessment of the situation,a call to provide help by the Prime Minister had reached them. At around 11:56 am, the quake hit and within five hours, he had finished discussing the matter with his core team. Now that’s the kind of promptness we require in our leaders even in times of emergency.
3) Level-headedness in all situations is another core quality that can boost a team’s spirits in bad times and prevent extreme actions in times of success. In a recent cricket match with Bangladesh, 2 runs from one ball were needed to win. When Indian supporters were biting their nails in sheer nervousness, our captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was calm. Few seconds later when India finally won, while the fans were jumping with joy Dhoni just simply smiled. This leaves us with a great lesson – no excessive joy during highs and no excessive sorrow during lows.
4) Being a good leader does not mean being best at whatever your team or organization does. One can’t practically be the jack of all trades; even if you are it is not possible to cater to all the demands just by yourself. There comes the role of a good picker – one with a keen eye for talent. An example could be Steve Jobs[1], who conducted over 5000 interviews in his lifetime. It does not mean the leader is offloading work; it clearly makes room for him/her to strategize further growth plans.
By Deeksha Monga
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