Military Leadership – Its Relevance for CEOs in the Corporate World

 

Military Leadership – Its Relevance for CEOs in the Corporate World. 

Dinesh K Kapila , Chief General Manager, NABARD (Retd).  
The characteristics of Military leadership at the senior level are often not considered as a useful tool for replication in the corporate world. The two worlds, specially in the Indian context are viewed as two exclusive separate streams with a minimal element of commonality. However one has to distinguish between the stereotyped swagger, the spit and fire image prevalent in India of a military leader and search for its essence. It is this essence which this article seeks to explore as also its relevance for the corporate sector. This has been attempted by studying the characteristics and views of military leaders such as Marshals Zhukov & Rokossovsky of Russia, Generals Eisenhower & Patton of USA, Field Marshal Montgomery of the UK and our very own Field Marshals Carriappa and Manekshaw, both astute leaders and seasoned military men.  Personally. I have a high admiration for our military leadership, with scarce resources, they have usually delivered, though we could debate the over cautiousness of some.

My own father, a Brigade Commander in the 1971 War in Bangladesh, the first Indian Army Officer to lead a long term reconnaissance of the Aksai Chin plateau in 1952, Commandant IMA, social worker and writer taught me a lot by example about what true leadership means, whatever be the position and field one may be in. I simply put it as, if your team excels consistently, is committed to the mission and objective, stands by you, as you stand by them, and radiates positivity and a can do attitude, you are leading well. This is what I  seek to explore through this article.   

 

It’s pertinent to note that as the economy expands rapidly, the challenges for CEOs shall only multiply manifold. This particularly applies to maximizing the potential of human resources. The maximization of the potential of human resources is a sector where the military has excelled generally. Major General Rajendra Nath in his book “Military Leadership in India” remarks that the ‘short & swift wars of today call for a leader with a far superior moral & intellectual fibre that tempers itself in peacetime so as to stand up to the duress of s brief but intensive war in which no mistakes are acceptable”. The fast changing economic environment we face up today requires CEOs who can lead effectively for enabling sustainable success to be achieved. It is pertinent to remember that the battle for market share with profits leaves little on the table for the average performers of the corporate world.

 

The trait approach is adopted in this article for enabling this viewpoint to be explored. This article was first written  by me in 2009-2010, it remained somewhere in my laptop. Years later, I find the essence is the same, the leaders may change as older generations fade, like Satish Dhawan who built up ISRO, Narayanan Vaghul, who was mentored RK Talwar of SBI and later went on to mentor a entire leadership team at ICICI. Prakash Tandon really brought to our mind space Hindustan Lever, as did Faqir Chand Kohli guide TCS to what it is today.  It’s a concern that so few know about them today, they were low key, effective, had a strong ethical and moral fibre and did not seek publicity. RC Bhargava of the Maruti Suzuki is another stalwart.   

 

 Character & Integrity – Field Marshal Montgomery was of the view that it was the strength of character of a leader, whether noble or evil; to inspire others and so enable them to place their trust or confidence in him and his ability to lead them to success. Integrity gives rise to moral strength and intellectual honesty which is the main characteristic of a man of character; he also possesses transparent sincerity and takes full responsibility for his actions. During the advance to Messina in Italy in World War II, General Patton told General Trescott, that if he (General Trescott) succeeded he would get the full credit, but if he failed, ‘I will take the blame”. The requirement of this trait applies equally to corporate leaders; The House of Tata’s attracts respect and goodwill for the character and integrity exhibited by its top leadership once they gained stature. Mr Ratan Tata is a respected leader for leading the Tata Group effectively as it transitioned to being productive in a market economy.  The late Mr. Aditya Birla earned tremendous respect for his exemplary qualities of character. This enabled the groups to build a band of dedicated, highly effective professionals with unswerving loyalty to the group. In the Indian context, Field Marshal Cariappa demonstrated the highest qualities of character all through his career. And a loyalty to his nation in 1948 even if it meant by passing his Chief, who was British. As a college going youngster, he guided me  on character, standing by your thoughts and ideas when needed to; when my father invited him to Dehradun. To him character and ethics were top of the mind in leadership.   

Courage - At higher levels, it is just not physical courage but moral (with spiritual elements) courage which matters. This acts as a motivator for the troops and enables a senior commander to stake his career & future in the judgement of what he thinks is right or wrong. Way back, the then Chairman of ITC had said in the 84th Annual report; ‘the leadership of tomorrow will have to focus on courage. There will be many testing times & intelligent rationalizations but without courage, it is difficult to build, with only knowledge; it is difficult to build on people’s commitment”. Mr. Narayan Murthy of Infosys stands out as a leader with courage who has dared to dream and succeeded, even though perceptions have changed somewhat now. A stand out example is the late Subir Raha, who as Chairman of ONGC had the courage to stand up to then powerful Union Petroleum Minister for his organization. Such leaders inspire. As a very junior executive in SAIL, I was enthralled by Shri V Krishnamurthy, a leader who comes by rarely and who could inspire an entire large PSU company, we youngsters hung on to every word he uttered, as he communicated well and alongside pushed through a strong change in productivity and attitudes. .  

Ability to Motivate - This implies a senior leader’s ability to make his juniors appreciate their responsibilities, to build their self belief and confidence, to believe in his men and the ability to achieve the objective with the team no matter how tough the challenge. As Thomas E. Cronin observes in ‘Military Leadership – In Pursuit of excellence’ “Optimism and high motivation count for a lot. They can lift organizations. Most people are forever waiting around for somebody to light a fire under them. They have not learned that ultimately you are responsible for yourself. You don’t blame others. You don’t circumstances. You simply take charge and move the organization forward”. Jack Welch at GE and V. Krishnamurthy at SAIL demonstrated this amply by simply taking charge and turning GE and SAIL around. Jack Welch would often say, “control your destiny or someone else will” and “don’t manage, lead’. These simply demonstrate the essential commonality in the leadership models in the military and the corporate world, shorn of the jargon but accepting the factors which set them apart. Young Army Officers demonstrate ever so well in combat, nothing life throws at you can equal combat, being resolute, pressing home the attack, yet being aware of your environment and the developments. Young corporate leaders ought to learn by silently imbibing these lessons by reading about such young leaders. We learn from all levels, its the leadership which counts, even that of a NCO in battle. Effective Leadership down the line pays and always will. You have to nurture leadership and inculcate it.  

Self Confidence, Steadfastness, Calmness - An effective military leader has a belief in his own abilities based on sound professional knowledge and devotion to his profession. Coupled with this he has the ability to generally take sound decisions even in the chaos of war in a measured analytical manner. Mr. K.L. Chugh, the then Chairman of ITC in quite tumultuous times described it as mental toughness and emotional maturity which provides confidence and not panicking when presented with bewildering choices. He put it as “keeping your head while others are losing theirs”. The commonality of views is self evident and striking. The late Lt Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, who led the successful Israeli commando strike on Entebbe Airport in 1976 (he died in action) slept and rested for an hour on the tense long flight to Uganda. It had an enormous calming effect on his team. When a unit broke under a well planned counter attack, my father said I just stood in my jeep, it was not planned, you do what you need to do, officers regrouped, our own tanks moved up, status quo was restored. Nobody was hunting for glory, it was just what they had trained for and drilled into their minds.  

Decisive, Analytical, Ruthless – Field Marshal Montgomery has said that the measure of one’s ability to lead is twofold. Firstly, it is in his will to dominate the men and events which surround him, the will to drive himself and his men to the limit of their powers for a specific purpose and the refusal to allow anything to divert him from his aim. Secondly, it is in his character to inspire others to trust him. Once a target is logically decided upon, a determination to achieve it, even against all odds and even accept a certain degree of casualties and collateral damage is acceptable, this could be termed as ruthlessness; General Patton and Marshal Zhukov exemplify this trait the maximum. Harvey Golub, formerly CEO, American Express used to stress the need to be candid and straightforward as also the need to set unattainable objectives because no objective was worthwhile unless it was beyond reach. We Indians uniformly score high on adaptability in Transactional Analysis, this needs to be balanced with the achievement of the goals set for the orgainsation. This trait somehow is a challenge for us, specially in the PSUs and Civil Services.  

Professionalism, Discipline, Training - General Rajendra Nath said in his farewell address as Commandant Indian Military Academy that an officer could perform his duty well only if he was professionally sound, stressing that their duty demanded self sacrifice both in peace time as well as during wars. General SLA Marshall in Mainsprings of Leadership was of the view that not only are effective military leaders self disciplined; they have a marked tendency for inculcating discipline and rigourous training in their formations. Their leadership stems from ‘the fruit of application, preparation, thoroughness and the willingness to struggle to gain the desired end”. Amongst the corporate world leaders, the late Dirubhai Ambani and now his elder son Mukesh Ambani exemplify this trait the best. JRD Tata is quoted in his biography, Beyond the Last Blue Mountain – “Nothing worthwhile is ever achieved without deep thought and hard work. That one must forever strive for excellence or even perfection; in any task, however small and never be satisfied with the second best”. This thought process has enabled such corporate leaders to deliver world class quality and services / products consistently as also to grow their organisations. The RBI has consistently delivered on its intellectual acumen and knowledge, which very few realise.

Sense of History & Mission - Senior military leaders such as General George Patton or Field Marshal Rommel were driven by a sense of mission & a keen awareness of nation building. They also studied the achievements of great military leaders of the past and imbibed their philosophy and strategy. JRD Tata was of the same viewpoint and said ‘no success or achievement in material terms is worthwhile unless it serves the needs or interest of the country and its people and is achieved by honest means”. General Rajendra Nath describes it as “the primary requirement for developing the full potential of a military leader is for him to have a goal higher than himself”. Jan Timmer, the architect of the turnaround of Philips at one time said much the same while stressing that each organization and its people must have a dream, a vision, to sustain them and to strive for. Effective corporate leaders, if they develop a sense of mission and are devoted to it, can develop an effective strategy around it. A deep sense of history enables seasoned CEOs to understand the possible scenarios and implications of actions they could be planning and the context.

Team Building, Communication Skills, Organization Building - These traits are best described within the forces as the creation of the ‘buddy spirit’, the spirit of oneness. A quality of generosity of heart is another characteristic of great military leaders. Field Marshal Slim is the greatest example of this trait, as he built up his team and command by his inter – personal and communication skills. The Japanese corporate world and Maruti in India exemplify this the best, the building up of pride in the company, the belongingness and devotion to the company mission and targets and a belief in the company’s values and ideals. The employees of the companies in the Tatas world also demonstrate often such traits.

Above all these traits, an effective military leader has a drive and strength of character, and ability to lead from the front (junior levels) or an ability to show a high degree of visibility & interaction (at senior levels) so as to make the formations feel they operate behind a leader who himself is a man of courage & conviction. More important, an effective military leader creates an aura and environment of victory. A certain degree of flamboyance does accompany the process of communication as also to project his personality for motivating the troops. The effective military leader also welcomes with self assurance and aplomb the triumph and glory of war. CEOs of today can learn valuable lessons from them as strive to build self sustaining organizations which will last after them and attract the best of talent the nation has to offer.


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PS - My father, late Major General Rajendra Nath, PVSM (Retd), 1947 Commission from the IMA, 11 GR,  commanded 62 Mountain Brigade in the 1971 War on the Eastern Front, Magura, Suadih, Faridpur, Jiban Nagar and Madhumati being his major Brigade level battles. after one pitched battle, he went to the Medical Post in the front lines where the Doctor told him a young Captain was dying, he was wounded grievously. The young officer had led the attack, very bravely, pressed on though wounded, my father had seen it go through as he preferred to be up close. He knelt down and shouted in his ears, Son, you will live, fight, damn you, Son fight. You have the fight in you. I know it. The Doctor looked on and just shook his head sadly. well, Dad, as he told me, went to the other side and shouted his encouragement again, Son, you will live and dance, I will see you dancing, dance you will, there was no reaction. Praying silently, he left after attending to the other wounded. a day later, he was conveyed over the radio set that the young officer was still alive, though barely. After the war, 62 Mountain Brigade returned to Kanpur, among the last to pull out. The young officer had survived, his young wife was with him. He called upon my Dad, simply placed his Gallantry Medal in my mom's lap. He and his wife wanted to say more but they were all quiet. The young lad said, I had given up, I lay badly wounded and was sure of death. Sir, his  words will ring in my ears forever.  His shouted out words gave me hope. I wanted to live. My late mother has remembered this always with emotions and so did my father. 

Call it what you will, in my words it is motivation.