Journalist-turned-author Sankarsan Thakur is not known to be a leadership guru. But in a recent interview to a Web portal, he brought up an important point related to leadership, which is very relevant to the Indian political scene as of today. He says, "I think it is important for leaders to be decisive. But in a democracy like ours, it is equally important for leaders to consult and build consensus. Another important issue relates to party and organisation building. Too many of our political entities revolve around individuals or a set of individuals and I think that is not healthy. I see that already happening with the fledgling AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) as well. Arvind Kejriwal [has] already become a cult figure around [whom] everything is beginning to revolve. Leaders should be able to build institutions and leave a legacy behind. Sadly, that does not happen too often."
A decisive leader who takes firm action, even unilaterally, is generally rated higher than a consensus builder who delays decisions by trying to take everybody along. But such leaders are not necessarily good for their team, whether a business organization or a political party. Self-belief and decisiveness are important in a leader but equally important is the ability to convince those around you, including dissenters, about the correctness of your decisions. Otherwise you end up steamrolling all opposition by the sheer force of your personality (or the image your PR team has built for you). This weakens your team in the long run by preventing the emergence of new leaders with their own points of view. While Sankarsan is right about the cult of Kejriwal, the cult of Modi is even more dangerous, for being more powerful and yet more intolerant of criticism.
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