From Verghese Kurien To Abdul Kalam: Leadership Lessons From Amul Chief’s Reading List
Amul’s chief RS Sodhi talks of books that have honed his leadership skills.
What are the qualities of a leader? Empathy? Time management? Grit? A little of all these, according to RS Sodhi.
“Respect people’s time... creativity, intelligence and talent aren’t as important as grit for outstanding achievements in life. Even if you don’t lead a team, you can still speak up for the good of it,” Sodhi, managing director at Gujarat Co-Operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd., the maker of Amul branded milk to ice-creams, said.
Sodhi spoke to BloombergQuint about the books that have inspired him the most. Here’s his reading list...
I Too Had A Dream, By Verghese Kurien
Dr. Kurien set up a co-operative structure, where the organisation is not owned by an individual but by all producer members and they are stakeholders and decision makers at every stage.
This book talks of “how to make a big business from scratch, if one has a vision”. “This book taught me the following things—it eliminated middlemen which were a cause of misery for the farmers and consumers. If we need to give better returns to farmers, we need to remove middlemen; a person who does not have respect for time can achieve very little; find the right people and trust them to get the job done; put the fate of the people in their own hands.”
The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, By Stephen Covey
1. Be proactive: “Don’t sit and wait in a reactive mode. Don’t wait for problems to take place; instead start taking action at the earliest to avoid problems.”
2. Begin with the end in mind: “An individual should have a clear goal in mind and needs to use imagination to develop a vision of what she wants to become and use conscience to decide what values will guide her.”
3. Put first things first: “We must have the discipline to prioritise our day-to-day actions/activities based on what is most important, not what is most urgent. The challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves.”
4. Think win-win: “Think win-win isn’t about being nice, nor is it a quick-fix technique. It is a character-based code for human interaction and collaboration.”
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood: “Before we can offer advice, suggest solutions or effectively interact with another person in any way, we must seek to deeply understand them and their perspective through empathetic listening.”
6. Synergise: “By understanding and valuing the differences in another person’s perspective, we have the opportunity to create synergy, which allows us to uncover new possibilities through openness and creativity.”
7. Sharpen the Saw: “Always have the desire to learn new things and listen to the individual.”
Wings Of Fire, An Autobiography Of APJ Abdul Kalam
Never give up: There are only two kinds of people in the world: those who give up and those who don’t. It is very hard not to give up when you are confronted with tough times, struggles, failures, rejections and disappointments.
The ones who don’t give up have grit. The ability to persist is rare and a phenomenal quality that is the hallmark of all great achievers.
Be passionate about what you do: It’s almost impossible to excel at something you don’t like. The most successful sports persons, professionals, programmers, athletes, musicians and artists love what they do.
Sachin Tendulkar: Playing It My Way
Grab every opportunity to learn: Be observant. You can learn from each individual. Surround yourself with people who have something to teach you on how you can be better at doing what you’re doing.
Adapt: You, too, must learn to accept change. Adapt. The road will be bumpy, but not always. Keep going forward.
There are different ways of leading a team: You may not always become the leader of the pack, but that shouldn’t keep you from speaking up for the benefit of the team.
Don’t be impacted by criticism: There are times when you will make mistakes. You must then accept and acknowledge that mistake, and find ways to better yourself. Some people will criticise you even when you’re doing well — take that with a pinch of salt.
The Animal Farm, By George Orwell
The Animal Farm by George Orwell is an allegory about how animals take over a farm through a path of revolution to all out corruption and tyranny. “It concludes that all forms of governments ultimately perish because of excess of it’s own basic principles.”