In the present day, Mahatma Gandhi is viewed as much more than a mere political leader who played a vital role in Indian independence. Gandhian concepts of non-violence and morality are the principles that need to be emulated by today's leaders for an advantage in the global market. He is considered an exemplary strategist and leader whose strategies are significant for corporates worldwide, especially in India.
Mahatma Gandhi is a true leader, and leadership is a crucial aspect of every organization. Gandhi excelled in leadership; he planned strategies, set achievable targets, and studied the opponents accurately. He displayed true leadership by associating himself with the masses, living with them, dressing like them, and empathizing with them. As a result, he successfully gained the support of the masses who followed him, listened to what he said, boycotted foreign goods, and submitted to beatings from the British government but did not retaliate with violence following the Gandhian principle of non-violence. Considering Gandhi's achievements and management expertise in the Satyagraha movement, the Harvard School of Business Management takes notes from his principles and considers him the Management Guru.
Gandhi is also considered a great marketing Guru; He knew his opponents and competitors well. So he employed the weakness of his opponents against them. Business leaders must incorporate his principles of self-reliance and morality in the present-day scenario. The leadership model of Gandhi remains relevant even today. Gandhi was able to gather the support of the rich upper castes and also maintain the trust of the poor population. This model needs to be adopted by leaders in organizations in today's world; this will help increase their credibility and build trust amongst the masses.
Gandhi had excellent PR skills; he knew how to make his events catch eyeballs; along with this, he had an excellent understanding of human psychology and social skills. What present-day managers need to learn from Gandhi is that a manager should not be overconfident under any circumstances and also take the needs of the followers into account. Another key aspect of the Gandhian principle is looking for alternatives for the resources that are not available. The lack of support did not bother him much; he gathered support from people and replaced the lacking resources with human resources.
He effectively tackled resistance from the outside with internal resistance, like efficiently facing the opposition of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Motilal Nehru against the Dandi march, giving a lesson to present-day managers to face internal and external opposition effectively without resorting to violence or coercion.
Few individuals may realize that Gandhi displayed exceptional managerial skills while leading the Indian freedom struggle. He believed in trusteeship, which meant that wealth should be equitably distributed, and the wealth of the rich, which is collected as taxes, should be used for the welfare of the poor. He knew how to gather the support of the masses and take everyone along through his ability to communicate effectively with everyone.
Mahatma Gandhi displayed excellent leadership and managerial skills during the Dandi March, Non-cooperation, and Quit India Movement. He could gather the support of large masses, negotiate with the opponents and achieve his goals without resorting to violence.
He displayed excellent financial skills during the Dandi march, in which he decided to march for 241 miles along with his supporters against the tax imposed by Britishers on salt production. Another economically appealing movement was the Swadeshi movement, where British goods were boycotted, and the Charkha was used to produce Indian cotton. This movement is the motivating factor of the Make in India program initiated by the Indian government recently, increasing employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled laborers in India.
It is not enough to list a leader's qualities and skills, nor can they be grasped by looking at the leader in isolation. His significance consists of relationships with others. A "follower-oriented" strategy is necessary to understand these relationships because it pays attention to the traits and interests of a leader's followers and articulates these traits in a way that aligns with the leader's personality and attractiveness. However, nobody ever follows. Several people are related to the leader in varying degrees of closeness and bring to that connection the demands of varied psyches, roles, and social and political interests.
While it may be useful in any study of leadership, a follower-oriented approach to the analysis and understanding of leadership is of particular significance regarding Gandhi. Gandhi was keenly aware of his followers' inner moods and potentialities, unlike a more rigidly ideological leader who would anticipate that the human material with which he interacts would conform very exactly to his movement's normative and behavioral standards. He continued to lead the movement and was devoted to molding men. However, he tailored the molding to fit his followers' logical and character traits while being aware of the limitations of their flexibility. This was only sometimes the case. With his wife and boys, whom he tried to mold beyond their tolerance, and with important public leaders like Jinnah and Ambedkar, his sensitivity let him down. However, it was accurate enough to serve as a defining characteristic of his leadership.
Gandhi's mass following was less interested in his ability to service the many strengths and needs of individuals close to him than his religious adherents and political allies were and his skill and adaptability in molding his answer to each. His leadership and teaching abilities were particularly crucial for residents of the ashrams, which stand for the institutionalization of his spiritual teaching. The co-leaders who joined the nationalist movement in reaction to Gandhi's revitalization of it also gave them substantial weight. His capacity to be the Mahatma, Bapu, and Gandhi and his psychological and aesthetic diversity contributed significantly to his success in promoting himself to larger audiences in India. The next section explores the adaptability of his mass following and the ashramites, two different follower categories.
The term "mass following" refers to an ambiguous category that can be defined in various ways. By questioning who became involved and in what capacities during "movement moments," one can reach the mass following. Gandhi's interaction with his large following is an example of a certain sort of followership and a suitable method of communication. Gandhi appears to be a universally holy presence in this connection, and this perception of sacredness is based on his reputation for saintly behavior. Gandhi and his supporters do not form a specific two-way link due to this acute impersonality; instead, the follower may create an abstract bond from his own mental and symbolic resources.
Gandhi interacted considerably differently and far less abstractly with the residents of the ashram, who were looking for the discipline, order, and authority that a quasi-monastic environment affords. The group of people known as "ashramites" was made up of men and women who came to him with a religious purpose and looked for an opportunity to practice their faith there.
: Mahatma Gandhi is a turn-around specialist if we talk about the present-day context. A turn-around specialist is the one who brings back the lost glory of the company that did exceedingly well in the past but eventually drowned and also helps the company reach new greater heights. Gandhi displayed this in 1915 when the freedom struggle initially initiated in 1857 was not a success; he initiated it again in 1915 with greater vigor and was eventually a success.
: It is very fundamental for corporates to take calculated risks in the present day, to help the corporate reach greater heights. Gandhi displayed this quality when he visited South Africa in the 1890s. He took the risk of getting involved as the attorney's deputy when the originally planned person was not allowed in South Africa. This turned out to be a success and was a calculated risk that he took.
Creating an organizational structure is supremely important for corporates. Gandhi developed an effective organizational structure within the congress government when he led a freedom struggle under the banner of Congress but by not joining it as he was well aware that he would be able to influence the party from a distance. Although Gandhi did not directly join the party, the party's vision is still aligned with that of Gandhi.
Despite language constraints and barriers across the country, Mahatma Gandhi could gather support from people throughout the country by effectively speaking with them. This shows the importance of effective communication between leaders and followers for the success of every organization.
Though Mahatma Gandhi is a name that belongs to the past, his strategies also hold importance in organizations today. Leaders need to strive for high standards of morality, and their belief in non-violence is a principle that needs to be adopted by all project managers. Just as Gandhi was against the caste structure, organizations must restructure themselves to ensure an equal and fair workplace. Various management organizations and schools have a newfound interest in Gandhian principles; although They have contemporary relevance, they will be successful only if interpreted correctly.
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