- I am certain the majority would concur with the subject statement read in conjunction with what is happening in the world. Of course, Indian citizens are taught how to lead a life full of morality, loyalty, ethics, integrity, and clear-minded thought processes. Every teacher from our parents onwards has extolled these virtues inculcating in us the necessity to survive life’s challenges encountered along the way with our heads held high. No questions asked. However, the hurly-burly of life always presents us with such unanticipated challenges that the external veneer of being gentle personified gets challenged often testing our resolve. How can one overcome those testing times unscathed remains a question of conjecture. Let’s delve into this.
PC: Business Standard
- Yes, one can be an effective leader by showcasing nice gentle manners despite pressures to assume brusque, authoritative, aggressive, and intimidating characteristic traits, even in a sporting arena. Indeed, nice guys don’t have to lose, provided rules are laid out and implemented fairly. This falters only in politics. We know it. Yes, a cricket captain under whom India wins a World Cup is bound to be celebrated in the country. But what’s unusual is the leadership quality for which Rohit Sharma is being saluted – niceness. Popular wisdom is that nice guys finish last, not necessarily as Rohit showed us. Nonetheless, the common belief is that getting to the top takes a large dollop of jerkiness. Can one beat the competition without being a bit of a brute and a bully?
- Without some crookedness? It all depends on how the rules of the game are laid out. On how these are framed, but also on how these are implemented. Gone are the days when it used to be said that to be successful in football, one must be a bit nasty. Then, new rules and tech made the refereeing more just, and the play most honorable. For that matter, consider British colonialism, which was just business by unequal means. Only once a rules-based global order leveled the playing field, could Indians start building their commercial empires. Today, from sports to business to science, in almost every sphere there are many success stories of the Rohit leadership style of agreeableness, positivity, and even-temperedness. No overtly aggressive style, you see.
PC: Times Now
- Sadly, politics alone maintains a big difference. There are two key elements to this. One, any attempt to regulate the aggro in the electoral field runs against the invisible line defending free expression. Two, its incentives diverge a lot. People want the business to deliver good products and services, and sportspersons to deliver wins. Only in politics are its ugliest moments often its most popular. It’s effectively as rules-free as voters will tolerate. So, it looks like a no-holds-barred fight in most countries, most of the time. Everyplace else, nice guys and gals can now finish first. Except politics, we are seeing right now in the Indian Parliament’s monsoon session how the treasury and opposition adorned with seasoned politicians are aiming for the other’s jugular.
