Lessons from Bapu

All of us might have read and know a lot about Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Many agree with his ideology and some don’t. A few say he divided our nation and most believe he saved our nation. But today, I would like to share what we can learn from this one leader, fondly given the title “Bapu”.

Leadership cannot be learnt; it comes naturally, When he decided to give up his flourishing law practice and come back to serve his nation, he never imagined that he would be part of the Indian freedom struggle. His only aim was to fight slavery and create a feeling of unity amongst all Indians. He did this in style by first being a strong follower of his own values and beliefs. He practiced what he preached and that was one of the reasons he always had a large number of followers. He used non violence as a technique to fight injustice. The famous Dandi March to fight for a basic necessity like salt , clearly shows that he cared for people and fought for their rights to win their trust. He being a lawyer had the skills to negotiate with the British Raj for what he thought what be the best for India. He created a feeling of unity by promoting the use of khadi as a textile which is made in India, by Indians and for Indians. As a leader, I believe he had the strong quality of foresight and the ability to influence masses.

All these skills and attributes displayed by Gandhiji are signs of a true leader and are applicable in today’s context too.

1. Leading by Action : Your team would follow you only if they see you practice it. If you are punctual then your team would imbibe that quality form you.
2. Team Unity: A leader is responsible to create a sense of belongingness amongst all team members. They need to feel united and should stand up for each other in the time of crisis.
3. Persistence: A leader’s core responsibility is to inspire each individual to never give up. The team must always strive for success in all its endeavors and never give up.
4. Decision Making: Being a leader you must be able to make decisions that will benefit your team. But, what is equally important is that you empower the team to make the correct decisions.
5. Forgive & Forget: As a leader we may experience our teams not supporting us and we are not able to get their buy in our decisions. But, what is essential is that we forgive people for their mistakes and forget the negative criticism we have experienced. What is important is being positively focused to your goal.

Thus, leadership is the ability to lead from the front with your positive actions and a goal to be achieved.

Gandhiji, with his leadership style had a huge impact on the Indian public who were suffering from the British Raj. So today, let us all start living the 5 principles and become better leaders.