Former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam has said that every
leader must have a vision and also have passion to realize the vision.
Delivering the first Defence Estate Day Lecture on ‘Creative Leadership for
Transforming Societies’ here today, he said leader must have courage to take
decision and should be transparent in every action. Following is the text of
speech delivered by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam as First Defence Estate Day Lecture:-
I am indeed delighted to deliver the First
Defence Estates Day Lecture organized by the Defence Estates Department commemorating
the Defence Estates Day every year. My greetings to the Director General,
Defence Estates, IDES Officers, former IDES officials, Officials from the MOD,
young probationers from other all India services and students from
Cantonment Board Schools.
Challenges of DGDE
Friends, I
understand the mandate of DGDE is to run the civic administration of
cantonments and manage defence land spread all over the country. They also
manage 204 schools and 82 hospitals and dispensaries for the residents of the
cantonments. Over the last decade or so,
pressure on defence owned land has built up tremendously. Initially cantonments
were established well beyond the towns and cities but over a period of time the
cities have expanded and literally encircled the cantonments. This phenomenon has lead to encroachments on
defence land. With the sky-rocketing of cost of land, in and around
cantonments, holding, managing, preventing encroachments and defending
government rights in courts of law have become the biggest challenge for
officers and staff of DGDE. It is heartening to note that, in order to face
such challenges, and in the quest for excellence, officers and staff of DGDE
have continuously endeavoured to upgrade their skills and expertise in the
field of land and cantonment management.
My best wishes to the DGDE and other officers.
Friends, I have selected the topic “Creative Leadership for Transforming
Societies” for my address
today.
I
have been involved with the defence services for more than four decades in various
capacities. I have interacted with many defence scientists, leaders from
defence services, Defence estate officials, cantonment boards and soldiers who
dedicate themselves completely to the nation and its people. I have witnessed
multiple occasions where the defence services have gone beyond their call of
duty and actively participated in missions of development and relief, often in
the most difficult terrains. The men and women of Indian Armed Forces are vigilant
safeguarding the nation’s interests, ensuring peace in the nation so that the
Nation can concentrate on economic development.
India’s vision: Economically developed nation (2020)
Friends, it is said that at the best of times, as well as
at the worst of times in India,
the Civil Service of the nation, keeps the nation going. When I see you all friends, I remember my unique experience in
mid 1990s on formulation of India
vision 2020 strategies. I was given the task of chairing Technology Information
Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC). I recollect, that in the first
meeting of the Council itself, we took a decision that TIFAC must evolve a plan
of how India
can be transformed into an economically developed nation by the year 2020. At a time when the economy was growing at
around 5 to 6% per annum in GDP, we had to
envisage a growth rate of at least 10% per annum consistently for over
10 years for realizing the development vision of a billion democratic people of
multi lingual, multi religious and multi cultural characteristics. This really
ignited the minds of all of us in the council. The members of TIFAC Council at
that time included: Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Nine Secretaries
to the Govt of India, Chiefs of CII – ASSOCHAM and FICCI, Chairman of IDBI –
ICICI - IFCI, Chairmen of Public Sector of Corporations and Chief Executives of
number of Private Sector Institutions, Vice Chancellors of different
Universities and Scientists from DST. We debated and arrived at 17 task teams
with over 500 members who had consultations with over 5000 people in various
sectors of the economy. Committees
worked for over two years resulting in 25 reports which we presented to the
then Prime Minister of India
on 2 Aug 1996. This is an excellent
example of how different departments and organizations worked in an integrated
way with system thinking for national development.
Of course, the India 2020 vision was also discussed in
the Parliament. We are now left with
seven years to realize the target of India getting transformed into an
economically developed nation. I am
sure, each one of you will be remembered if we all work together with a single
minded purpose and accomplish the goal of India transforming into an
economically developed nation by 2020.
It should be remembered, “A nation without a vision will perish”.
Let me give a visualization
of Developed India
by the year 2020.
Distinctive profile of the developed nation
1. A
Nation where the rural and urban divide has reduced to a thin line.
2. A
Nation where there is an equitable distribution and adequate access to energy
and quality water.
3. A
Nation where agriculture, industry and service sector work together in
symphony.
4. A
Nation where education with value system is not denied to any meritorious
candidate because of societal or economic discrimination.
5. A
Nation, which is the best destination for the most talented scholars,
scientists, and investors.
6. A
Nation where the best of health care is available to all.
7. A
Nation where the governance is responsive, transparent and corruption free.
8. A
Nation where poverty has been totally eradicated, illiteracy removed and crimes
against women and children are absent and none in the society feels alienated.
9. A
Nation that is prosperous, healthy, secure, devoid of terrorism, peaceful and
happy and continues with a sustainable growth path.
10. A
Nation that is one of the best places to live in and is proud of its
leadership.
Integrated Action for developed India
To achieve the distinctive
profile of India, we have the
mission of transforming India
into a developed nation. The five areas identified in the Technology Vision
2020 are; (i) Agriculture and food processing (ii) Education and Healthcare
(iii) Information and Communication Technology (iv) Infrastructure: Reliable
and Quality Electric power, Surface transport and Infrastructure for all parts
of the country, PURA and (v) Self reliance in critical technologies are
correlated and progressed in an integrated way that will lead to overall
national progress and development.
Leadership is the essence of good governance
Friends, how to make the
governance system of the country most effective and ensure development of the
nation which will make and sustain the nation as an economically developed,
prosperous, happy and peaceful society in the world? For that what we need is
to have creative leadership at all segments of the governance of the nation.
Friends, I have seen three
dreams which have taken shape as vision, mission and realization. Space
programme of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), AGNI programme of DRDO
(Defence Research and Development Organization) and PURA (Providing Urban
Amenities in Rural Areas) becoming the National Mission. Of course, these three programmes
succeeded in the midst of many challenges and problems. I have worked in all
these three areas. I would like to
convey what I have learnt on leadership from these three programmes:
a. Leader
must have a vision.
b. Leader
must have passion to realize the vision.
c. Leader
must be able to travel into an unexplored path.
d. Leader
must know how to manage a success and failure.
e. Leader
must have courage to take decisions.
f. Leader
should have nobility in management.
g. Leader
should be transparent in every action.
h. Leader becomes the master of the problem, defeats
the problem and succeeds.
j. Leader
must work with integrity and succeed with integrity.
Passion to realize the vision
Friends, now let me describe
to you an example of how passion to realize the vision has facilitated the
successful and on-time implementation of a two billion dollar metro rail
project by the Managing Director of a public sector organization.
The Delhi Metro Rail Project has given to the
nation the potential of executing a fast transportation system using high
technology with reliability through a time bound mission mode operation. Delhi,
the Capital of the country with over 20 million population, has the distinction
of having a world class metro rail with frontline technologies. The work on the
metro rail commenced on 1st October 1998 and the first phase with three lines
covering 66 kms has been completed by December 2005. Today over all route
length created by Delhi
Metro is around 190 Kms. Everyday, metro handles minimum movement of 2 million passengers.
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
has brought to the country, the most advanced rail technologies for the first
time. Here is a leader who has passion and passion for excellence. The notable
gains to the country are, light weight stainless steel, sleek, modern trains
with pneumatic springs, regenerative braking, public information display, wide
vestibules and automatic doors. The sophisticated coach technology which was
not available in the country so far, has been transferred to M/s. Bharat Earth
Movers Ltd., Bangalore,
which is now assembling these trains with progressive indigenization. BEML is
now in a position to supply train sets needed for Phase-II of Delhi Metro Rail Project and meet the
requirement for Metros coming up in other cities of the country.
Mr. E. Sreedharan, the
Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has ensured that, all the
scheduled sections were completed by their target date or before and within
their respective budgets through his programme management skills. The dedicated
and transparent leadership backed up with professional competence of Mr.
Sreedharan has given to the nation, one of the best transportation systems of
the world at the most economic cost. He is a recipient of many national and
international awards. Also, he is in demand for undertaking the development of
metro system in different countries of the world which he has politely declined
due to pre-occupation with committed Indian programmes.
Now let me talk about
nobility in Management.
Nobility in management
Friends, the next leader I
would like to discuss is Prof Brahm Prakash. When I was the Project Director of
SLV3 programme, Prof. Brahm prakash - a great scientific leader with nobility,
was the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), which integrated
multiple institutions based on the advice of Prof. Kamala Chowdhuri, a
management guru from IIM. Prof Brahm Prakash took hundreds of decisions for the
growth of space science and technology. One important decision which I will
always cherish was once a programme such as SLV3 is sanctioned the multiple
laboratories of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and also the multiple centres of
ISRO including the Space Department have to work to realize the stated goals of
the programme as a team. Particularly during 1973 - 1980, there was a
tremendous financial crunch and competing requirement from many small projects.
He converged all scientific and technological work to be focused towards SLV3
and its satellite. When I say that Prof. Brahm Prakash is famous for the evolution
of management with nobility, I would like to give a few instances. He enabled
for the first time evolution of a comprehensive management plan for SLV-3
programme towards the mission of putting the Rohini satellite in orbit. After
my task team prepared the SLV3 management plan, in a period of 3 months time,
he arranged nearly fifteen brainstorming meetings of the Space Scientific
Committee (SSC). After discussion and approval, this management plan was signed
by Prof Brahm Prakash and became the guiding spirit and working document for
the whole organization. This was also the beginning of converting the national
vision into mission mode programmes. During the evolution of the management
plan, I could see, how multiple views emerged and how, many people were afraid
of losing individuality due to the main mission, thereby throwing anger in the
meetings. I could also see how Prof. Brahm Prakash radiated with smile in the
midst of continuous smoke coming from the cigarette continuously being lit one
after the other. The anger, fear and prejudice have all disappeared in the
presence of his nobility in thinking. Today, the space programme, launch
vehicle, spacecraft, scientific experiments and launch missions all are taking
place in the centres of Indian Space Research Organization in a cohesive and
cooperative manner. I learnt the hard way from this great mighty soul
"before starting any programme, it is essential to have the project
management plan with the details of, how to steer the project during different
phases of the project and foresee the possible critical paths and possible
solutions and keeping time, performance and schedule as key factors." I
thank this great mighty soul who evolved the concept of management with
nobility and was a very famous professor in metallurgy at the Indian Institute
of Science. He was also a pioneer for giving the country - nuclear material by
establishing the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC).
Managing success and failure
Friends, three decades ago
while I was working at ISRO, I had the best of education which won't come from
any university. I will narrate that incident. I was given a task by Prof.
Satish Dhawan the then Chairman, ISRO to develop the first satellite launch
vehicle SLV-3, to put ROHINI Satellite in orbit. This was one of the largest
high technology space programmes undertaken in 1973. The whole space technology
community, men and women, were geared up for this task. Thousands of
scientists, engineers and technicians worked resulting in the realization of
the first SLV-3 launch on 10th August 1979. SLV-3 took off in the early hours
and the first stage worked beautifully. Even though all stage rockets and
systems worked, the mission could not achieve its objectives, as the control
system in 2nd stage malfunctioned. Instead of being placed in the orbit, the
Rohini satellite went into Bay of Bengal. The
mission was a failure. There was a press conference at Sriharikota, after the
event. Prof. Dhawan took me to the press conference. And there he announced
that he takes responsibility for not achieving the mission, even though I was
the project director and the mission director. When we launched SLV-3 on 18th
July 1980, successfully injecting the Rohini Satellite into the orbit, again
there was a press conference and Prof. Dhawan put me in the front to share the
success story with the press. What we learn from this event is that the leader
gives the credit for success to those who worked for it, and leader absorbs and
owns the responsibility for the failure. This is the leadership. The scientific
community in India
has the fortune to work with such leaders, which resulted in many
accomplishments. This success generated great happiness among all my team
members. This is an important lesson for all youth who are aspiring to be tomorrow’s
leaders. The great lesson we learn: the leader in any field, political,
administrative, scientific, education, industry, judiciary, or any other human
activity, should have the creative leadership capacity and courage to absorb
the failure and give the successes to his or her team members. This is a
important lesson I learnt from him.
Work
with integrity and succeed with integrity
Friends,
on 22nd Nov 2011, I went to Jorhat for addressing the World Tea
Science Congress. There I addressed the Administrative and police officers of
Jorhat and Dibrugarh district which was organized by Mr R C Jain, DM Jorhat on
21st November evening. There
I administered an oath to the participants “I will work with integrity
and succeed with integrity”. The decibel level was very high when they said
“work with integrity” and decibel level went down when they were repeating
“succeed with integrity”. But next day, I saw a very beautiful situation in the
World Tea Science Congress in the presence of CM of Assam and the Jorhat Administrative
team. I saw in front of me the Chairman of Tea Board Mr MGVK Bhanu an IAS
officer, giving the introductory speech to the participants of World Tea
Science Congress. Mr Bhanu said, “Yesterday, Dr.Kalam administered an oath to
all the IAS and IPS officers including myself”.
I would like to assure you Dr Kalam that I have worked with integrity
and succeeded with integrity during the last 24 years as an IAS officer in
different parts of the State and the Centre. Now I am in the Tea Board. I was
Secretary to the CM of Assam”.
I would like to assure Dr. Kalam that I have tried to create a brand of moral
uprightness in all my tasks”. Shri Bhanu also mentioned that he was thinking
for the whole night “what he should be remembered for” he said he would like to
be remembered for making India the largest producer of tea, and largest
exporter of tea in the world. I am very
happy to share this unique experience. If every functionary of Govt of India has such
a vision and mission, I am confident that we will get transformed into a
developed nation well before 2020.
Role of Leadership in a Knowledge Society
Friends, the world in the
21st century will be a knowledge based society with multiple opportunities
naturally in India
and we have to become knowledge driven. A book by Denis Waitely, "Empires
of the Mind" describes the type of the new world, “What was yesterday and what is today” and specifically emphasizes
on what worked yesterday will not work today. Following points give the role of
leadership in a knowledge society.
1.
Yesterday - natural resources
defined power
Today - knowledge is power
Leadership should empower
itself with knowledge
2. Yesterday - Hierarchy was the
model
Today- synergy is the mandate
Leadership will be enabler
for intersection of multiple faculties
towards mission goals
3. Yesterday - leaders commanded
and controlled
Today - leaders empower and
coach
Leadership will enrich
itself through exposure to the needs
of sustainable development
4.
Yesterday - shareholders came
first
Today - customers come first
Leadership should inculcate
sensitivity to the needs of all the
stakeholders
5.
Yesterday - employees took order
Today
- teams make decision
Leadership will promote
team spirit
6.
Yesterday - seniority signified
status
Today - creativity drives
status
Leadership will be judged
by innovation and promote creativity
7.
Yesterday - production determined
availability
Today - Competitiveness is the
key
Leadership will constantly
evolve as more competitive with
knowledge, management and technology
8.
Yesterday - value was extra
Today - value is everything
Leadership will have the
priority to inculcate value addition
at every level
9. Yesterday - everyone was a
competitor
Today - everyone is a customer
Leadership will value
feedback and action based on that.
10. Yesterday - profits were earned
through expediency
Today - Work with integrity
and succeed with integrity.
Leaders will have to work
with integrity and succeed with
integrity and act as promoters of such a
culture in their subordinates.
Conclusion: Linkage between National Development
and
Creative Leadership
To keep the aspects of 21st
century in mind which will facilitate the Youth of our nation to evolve the
learning process for meeting the demands of the 10 components of knowledge
society. For that, what is needed is the creative leadership. The economic
development of any nation is definitely linked with the creative leadership.
The linkage between national economic development and creative leadership is as
below:
1.
A nation’s Economic development is
powered by competitiveness.
2.
Competitiveness is powered by
knowledge power.
3.
Knowledge power is powered by
Technology and innovation.
4.
Technology and innovation is
powered by resource investment.
5.
Resource investment is powered by
return on Investment.
6.
Return on investment is powered by
revenue.
7.
Revenue is powered by Volume and
repeat sales.
8.
Volume and repeat sales is powered
by customer loyalty.
9.
Customer loyalty is powered by
Quality and value of products.
10. Quality and value of products is powered
by Employee Productivity and innovation.
11.
Employee Productivity is powered by
Employee Loyalty.
12.
Employee Loyalty is powered by employee
satisfaction.
13.
Employee satisfaction is powered by
working environment.
14.
Working Environment is powered by
management innovation.
15.
Management innovation is powered by
Creative leadership.
For success in all the
missions, it is essential to have creative leaders. Creative leadership means
exercising the vision to change the traditional role from the commander to the
coach, manager to mentor, from director to delegator and from one who demands
respect to one who facilitates self-respect. For enhancing enterprise value, we
need a large number of creative leaders.
A nation's strength
predominantly resides in its natural and human resources. In natural resources,
India
is endowed with a vast coastline and valuable minerals like titanium, uranium,
etc. India
is also endowed with a rich bio-diversity and human resources, particularly a
young population. Knowledge-based value addition to natural resources would
mean more earnings for India
in the form of exports of finished products instead of merely raw materials. India is a
secular country and has very good diplomatic relations with its neighbours. Be
it trade or political or economical, India maintains a positive approach
and good relations. With our civilization heritage and core strengths of large
natural and human resources, with value addition and launching of mission
projects, the desired goals of food, health and social security, economic
prosperity and national security can be achieved leading to a developed India
in a decade and will attain its rightful
place in the world. This moment will define India as a ‘Developed Nation’.
Let me conclude with an inspiring message
from Yoga Sutra by Maharishi Patanjali :
"When you are inspired by some great purpose,
some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds. Your mind
transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you
find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties
and talents come alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far
than you ever dreamt yourself to be."
With these words let me wish all
the Defence Estates officers and other civil service officers success in your professional
career.
HH/