I take this opportunity to
wish you all for “The 71st
Independence day of India”.
Being a Management Graduate,
I was taught to look at everything as Business. Today, I am going to talk about
a Business which had one Vision, few Missions, unstructured decentralized organization,
No technology used, Operated in PAN India with zero Finance and Human capital as
the only asset. But still it managed to acquire a historical success.
Do
you feel this topic is irrelevant? No, I will make it relevant!
I
am going to tell you the management lessons I have learned from the Indian
freedom struggle.
Vision
The seed of Independence was
spread in people mind even before the reported freedom struggle started in the
year 1857. People had one vision that was “Independent India”. The leaders who
emerged in the movement were watered, fertilized and confirmed that the seeds grow
as trees.
Mission
Our
leaders had different missions to reach the goal, like Mahatham Gandhi employed
Non-Violence movement were as Mr. Nethaji created Indian National Army to fight
against British Rulers. There were leaders started and adopted various methods
even before Gandhiji like Mr. Tipu Sulthan, Ms. Rani Lakshmibai, Mr. Hyder Ali,
Mr. Bhagat Sing and others.
Organizational
Structure
It
is always thought to management graduates that, an organization has to be
structured for better business operations. But this theory was failed when it
comes to freedom struggle. There was no centralized organizational structure,
nobody identified as common leader, no unity of command and people followed the
leader they like the most. Since the vision was clear, it helped people to
reach their goals.
Strategies
There are few strategies I have
identified from the freedom struggle.
Lead
by Example
All the leaders in the
freedom struggle demonstrated the ethical and principled behaviour; they have led
the people by showing them as an example. Even though there are many successful
entrepreneurs in corporate world, but still we remember few of them like Mr.
JRD TATA, Mr. Narayana Moorthy and others for being an example for their
employees.
Brand
Building
It
has been 71 years; we still remember some of our great leaders take part in
freedom struggle. Because, they have built their brands in the Nation with zero
finance. The companies should learn that, if your business does something noble
to the people; the people will brand your business.
Thinking
out of the Box
There
was N number of leaders who lost their life in the struggle by directly
attacking the monsters. But leaders like Mahathma Gandhi, Mr. Nethaji were
adopted different strategies like Non-Violence, Civil disobedience,
Non-cooperation, using domestic products, creating an Army and etc. They
survived only because of their out of box thinking. I am sure this out of box
thinking is essential for everyone to win the game of life.
Team
Building and Motivating
Every
business owner is aware of team building and its importance in the success of business.
Likewise, Indian Congress Party besides Gandhi had a number of other
accomplished leaders. Namely, Mr. C. Rajagopalachari, Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, Mr.
Vallabhbhai Patel, Mr. Subhash Chandra Bose and more. These leaders were all
had different personalities and ideologies, however worked for a common cause.
Leaders
in the movement engaged, encouraged and empowered common people to be part of
the freedom struggle. Especially women were motivated to being part of the movement
and this made the difference in the movement.
Mahatma Gandhi in his speech
on the evening of Dandi March said -“Wherever
there are local leaders, their orders should be obeyed by the people. Where
there are no leaders and only a handful of men have faith in the programme,
they may do what they can, if they have enough self-confidence”.
Competitive
Advantage
In Management we always talk
about the story of “How Shepherd David managed to defeat warrior Goliath”. In
the Freedom Struggle movement, I could witness how Indians with no funds and
support defeated British Empire who had all the facilities. Mr. Nethaji brought
weapon support from Germany for INA, were as Mr. Gandhi practiced Non-Violence
which required no weapon.
Union
is Strength
British
rulers knew the importance of “Divide and rule policy” and they have
implemented the same in India. Indians were already divided in forms of regions,
religions, casts and etc. This becomes strength of British Rulers to take over
India. Our leaders attempted to unify the country from all the diversification
and made sure that people of India work for one cause.
In
a nut shell, there are lot to learn from the Indian freedom struggle. History
is the best teacher, if we are willing to learn from the successes and failures
of others.
Once
again wishing you all a very happy Independence Day
Thank You!
Jai Hind
Reference:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/
- https://soniajaspal.wordpress.com
- http://www.ranker.com