Management Lessons.

 We have been inundated with the messages about The Late Queen Elizabeth. And some have tried to draw management lessons from her life.

But, without taking anything away from the such accolades and  Leadership Lessons from the life of The Queen of Great Britain, please take a moment to ponder on our own Desi, Homegrown, but equally valid Indian examples.

The Taj staff gave up their lives to shield Taj guests on 26/11. And we were left wondering about the ethos and the corporate culture of the Taj, and the Tatas.

Our Indian leaders, PMs and Presidents, and lesser well placed Indians, left memorable legacies in Leadership Lessons.

Nirja Bhanot, Airhostess, defended the air passengers, at the cost of her Life . And went beyond the call of duty.

The Incredible Indians TV series are eye opening. These are all showing Indians who raised the bar for themselves and the community, and left valuable imprints on the sands of time.

Some Rajasthani rulers, were courageous and outstanding leaders. They fought to the last man.

Shivaji was an outstanding leader, Rani Laxmibai, another, Subash Chander Bose another outstanding Indian leader .

In the Ladakh, Bangladesh, and other Indian battles, young officers gave up their lives.Captain Batra,a young Army officer, gave a cry that resounded across the nation. Yeh Dil Maange More.

The Battle of Saragrahi was an epic one, that epitomised the Sikh ethos, of Never Surrender.

Incidentally, the unprecedented display by Taj staff, of  safeguarding of Taj Guests on 26/11, resulted in a scrutiny of the corporate culture of the Tatas. What explained it all?

The famous Dabbawalas of Mumbai have developed their own indigenous management system, delivering over 300,000 Tiffin boxes daily,to locations all over Mumbai,with a precision unmatched by even modern day start-ups like Zomato, and Dhelivery.

The Harvard Business School was quicker in documenting the above event, to compile a Case Study for MBA students, at HBS. 

So what explains all these indigenous systems of Leadership in Action? 

Team Spirit? Most Certainly. Nationalistic motivation? Certainly. 

But what is that X-Factor? The Secret Sauce?

There is no one size fits all explanation. The answer lies in a unique amalgam of all these elements that go to make up the quintessential Indian character, rooted in the Indian Mitti.

In short, we do not need to go to the Life of the Queen of England to draw any management lessons.  We have plenty of homegrown case studies that need to be compiled.

M.P.Singh