VISION OVERLOAD

VISION OVERLOAD

* Ravi Kumar PIllai

“If only we had a leadership with vision” is a refrain heard in many democracies. In the hardball political playout, it is often pragmatism and populism that win the day over long-term perspectives. Political parties and leaders tend to prefer short-haul and quick-fix solutions rather than transformational journeys.

Once in a while a leader with rare clarity of thought, eloquence of articulation and ability to inspire the masses emerges on the scene. “Here comes the messiah who would deliver us to the prosperous future, our true destiny”, his followers would vouch. Many free-thinking souls may levitate towards the new-found charisma. An aura gets created around the new hope. A leader is coronated in style.

This may sound straight out of some literary classic, but something close to such fictional ecstasy was visible among the youth, at least in the heartland of India, when Narendra Modi arrived on the staid political arena. Six years have passed since the summer of 2014. Though it looks like the raging pandemic would make a fodder of  the ongoing financial year, it is nevertheless appropriate to ask a plain and simple question. Whatever happened to the dream that our leader painted for us?

Strategic leadership is critical to transform the status quo. The leader should be able to articulate a vision, lay out a roadmap with timelines, excite the citizens and ensure execution. Vision, Talent and Execution make successful change management happen in organizations or the society at large.

Let us examine India’s current state of readiness in terms of each of these three critical success factors for transformation to a globally competitive and confident nation.

Firstly, Vision is quite simply articulating where you want to go. The leader has the responsibility to formulate and convey the message of change powerful enough to excite and engage the citizens.  The effectiveness of leadership is in ensuring that people at large feel ownership of the change program. But if policy formulations are done in the backrooms, away from visibility and devoid of wide participation,  even the best of ideas can fall through in the execution. If people see  the agenda as crafted and imposed from above, their engagement and enthusiasm drop to tepid levels.

It is not grandness of vision or catchiness of slogans that ensure success of transformation. It is the passion that people at large feel from within that motivates ordinary humans to achieve the impossible.

A leader in a hurry could be pushing for newer and newer ideas at breakneck speed. The immediate core group quickly converts them to execution agenda. As the Japanese saying goes, “ If you want to cut the woods in a day, grind the axe for several days to make sure it is sharp”. Half-baked ideas and tentative implementation schedules could lead to  a policy grid-lock. Unbridled power and low engagement of stakeholders could result in a nagging disconnect in the execution pipeline.

The past few years have generated a vision overload in governance. We seem to have hurtled from one initiative to another with little patience to follow through and bring them to sound closure. Skill India, Start-up India, Make in India, Beti Padao Beti Bachao, Atm Nirbhar Bharat. The list is rather long. Just like power overload would trip the grid, excess of programs would result in lack of engagement, blurring of focus and ineffective monitoring.  In management parlance, it is better to focus on a handful of initiatives and execute them well than spread our attention, resources and efforts too thin. Focus and prioritization  are critical success factors for any program.

Reform is key to realizing the vision.  Reforms should cover the four areas that the PM highlighted in his policy pronouncements - land, laws, labour and liquidity. Again, the prescription is fine, but who would deliver, how fast and how firmly. All these, especially Land and Labour, are sensitive and have political overtones. The Government would be called upon to demonstrate political will, courage of conviction and the ability to absorb shocks if structural reforms are to be implemented seamlessly. In the Indian political structure, major reforms are possible only by building consensus and working hand-in-hand with the States.

Vision therefore needs to be tempered, refined, focused and supported by the structure and processes to ensure inclusive and participative implementation. A task that requires outreach, accommodation and empathy.  

Talent is the second strategic pillar of transformational governance. Competence at both political and bureaucracy leadership layers need to be enhanced and aligned to the vision.  Howsoever imaginative and clearheaded the individual at the helm may be, governance effectiveness would greatly depend on the expertise, agility and pro-activity of the administration tasked with translating the vision into action.  

Independent observers have commented about the lack of administrative experience in the current political leadership team at the centre. Except a handful of individuals with originality, guts and creative thinking, there is a discernible gap in talent at the top. A number of leaders with vast experience, courage of conviction and creative thinking have been left out while forming the cabinet. With the aggregate talent of political administration spread rather thin,  we have been having a largely presidential style of governance at the federal level.  Collectivism, collaboration and respect for opposition have been given short shrift.

The situation is broadly akin to contemporary US where the vertical political divide is so pronounced that consensus building is almost impossible. From one-upmanship to accommodation is a retrieval in style that both ruling and opposition sides need to traverse.  

A strong layer of planning and detailing is required in between visioning and execution to ensure smooth and effective transmission of ideas into action. In governance this crucial layer comprises of the Ministers, Secretaries and their immediate teams. The flip-flops in policy formulation and flaws in documentation as reflected by many instances of amendments and corrigendum on key notifications are  symptomatic of a misalignment between political leadership and bureaucracy. We need to beef up the mid-level bureaucracy by inducting talent from academics and industry.  

Government needs to pursue the recent initiative of scouting for external talent for strengthening the depth of bureaucracy.

Thirdly, and most importantly,  execution seems to be the Achilles Heel of the Government. The key difference between Modi, the successful Chief Minister and Modi, the all-powerful Prime Minister apparently is the uncharacteristic slackness in implementation that has befallen his stint at national leadership. Vision overdrive coupled with execution fatigue is the twin aliment that seems to pullback the dispensation from realizing its full potential.

Leadership is not a solo race, definitely not a 100 meters dash. It is more of a relay race. Collaboration ensures that stakeholders are aligned with the vision and strategies. In a democracy, there is need for healthy interfaces and pursuit of synergies between Centre and States, Ruling and Opposition parties, Government and Industry as well as Business and Academics.

A course correction is not something that a truly transformational leader fights shy of. If you are pursuing to transform a nation of 1.3 billion people in the current situation of unprecedented crisis, change should start at the top. And the most difficult of the changes is the willingness and openness to admit the need for change to start with own style and messaging. That is the challenge that confronts the very top.

The destiny of the ordinary citizens of this country depends on this single choice that the leader will make.

The author can be contacted at hello@ravikumarpillai.com