Remembering A.P.J. Abdul Kalam: Leadership Lessons from a
‘People’s President’
A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam was a space scientist. He was a key driver of India’s space and
missile programs. After he retired, Kalam tried to bridge the gap between
rocket science and politics. A popular president (2002-2007), he accepted the
proposal to run for a second term. He laid down one condition, however; the
choice had to be unanimous. Some political parties didn’t agree. Politics (and
politicians) did not win; the country lost. A popular president had to go after
only one term.
In the
U.S., the president has executive powers. In India, though every bill is sent
to the president for his approval before its conversion into an act, he merely
has a red-flag role. If parliament sends the same bill to him again, he has no
recourse but to sign off on it.
Indians
tend to see Kalam as a father figure, but not as one in authority. He was not
just a father figure. An outsider in politics and free of political
affiliations, he redefined and demystified Indian presidency. From India’s
Missile Man, he became the People’s President.
In a
2008 interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Kalam explained his view of
leadership. He emphasized that leaders should have a vision and not be afraid
to go down unfamiliar paths. Most importantly, Kalam said, they should know how
to manage failure.
A
teacher till the very end, on July 27, Kalam, 83, collapsed while delivering a
lecture at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong. Below, some
Wharton professors and Indian business leaders explain what they admired about
the late president:
“President
Kalam was an inspiration to all of us,” says Jagmohan Raju, Wharton professor of marketing and vice dean of
Wharton Executive Education. “A man of science, equally adept at designing
ballistic missiles and coronary stents, nuclear devices and tablet computers,
writing computer code or poetry. When it came to leadership, [he] relied more
on faith, humility and integrity. We all fondly recall his visit to Wharton
where he charmed one and all equally with his wit and wisdom. [He was] a
teacher who cared about students and young Indians all his life up to the very
end. All of us who teach at Wharton, and all over the world, salute you Dr.
Kalam. You will continue to inspire us all.”
Saikat Chaudhuri,Wharton adjunct professor of management and
executive director of Wharton’s Mack
Institute for Innovation Management, says he is deeply saddened by Kalam’s death
not only because he was a “fine human being with multiple talents,” but because
“his departure is a huge loss” for India. “The country needs many more
inspiring visionaries like him to realize [its] full potential on the world
stage,” says Chaudhuri. “Dr. Kalam was a ‘People’s President,’ and ignited
those he met with a passion not only to contribute to India’s growth, but to
aim for world-class standards in their pursuits and be the best on a global
platform. He was a true nationalist, who was motivated purely by a desire to
contribute to a better India and world, upholding the utmost integrity. For
India to reach her potential as an economic, political, and sociocultural
superpower, we need many more leaders to follow in the footsteps of Dr. Kalam.
He pushed the country to reach new heights and to aspire to lead the way in its
global rise, rather than aim to merely catch up with the developed nations.”
Jitendra V. Singh, dean and professor of business at The
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and emeritus professor of
management at Wharton recalls: “I was privileged to meet President Abdul
Kalam not once, but several times…. In the time I spent with him, I was struck
most of all by his simplicity, and almost childlike curiosity. He was extremely
alert, and a great conversationalist. As I sat near him through the ceremony
[when Kalam was awarded an honorary doctorate at the Nanyang Technological
University in Singapore], I remember thinking to myself, “What a remarkable
life story; what a remarkable Indian.” We have lost a remarkable Indian. While
born a Muslim, he truly embraced the spirit of being Indian, quoting, as he
would from time to time, from Hindu scriptures. He will be missed, but his
ideas will live on, even as India takes its rightful place in the world. This
is the India he dreamed about.”
Manish
Sabharwal, co-founder and chairman of TeamLease Services, India’s leading
staffing company, believes that Kalam did for Indian science and politics
what the IT industry did for Indian business. “He raised aspirations by catalyzing
a demonstration effect. By showing that it was possible to think big and look
far, he did what the best leaders always do: recalibrate what people think is
possible. He was also one of the first in public life to reaffirm that you
don’t have to be Western to be modern, but that India must work hard to come up
with our [own] definition of modernity, which must include science, technology,
innovation and equality of opportunity for all.”
Allwin
Agnel, founder of education network PaGaLGuY, says Kalam taught
leadership to people the way it always should be done: humbly. “By humbly,
leading. To touch lives by doing what is right, by never saying no to any
good deed and by simply stepping up and being more.In a world of alpha leaders, he was
the servant leader. Twitter A million people
followed him because his words and actions always reflected his passion and
willingness to help the world be a better place.”
Rajat
Kumar, vice president of SnapDeal, says: “My grandparents used to
tell me stories about Dr. Rajendra Prasad (India’s first president) and Lal
Bahadur Shastri (India’s second prime minister), and the faith they inspired. I
was looking for that inspiration from our [current] leaders, but was not really
sure whether I would ever find it — until Dr. Kalam became our president. He
was a great scientist, an epitome of hard work, but most importantly, a human
being who was untarnished by the trappings of power. My fondest memory of him
is of a speech when he was addressing some children. When a child asked
something, he sat on the steps to hear what the question was, and answered it sitting
right there — on the steps of the stage with the child. This was a President of
India who commanded respect for the human being that he was, and not because of
his title.”
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/remembering-a-p-j-abdul-kalam-leadership-lessons-from-a-peoples-president/?utm_source=kw_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2015-07-29
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