Two Lessons From India’s Greatest Leader – Gandhi

Anyone's list of inspiring leaders in the 20th century will have the name of Gandhi. This week Pradeep Chakravarthy, of the Infosys Leadership Institute, and I will suggest two key leadership lessons from Gandhi. I think it very good for us in North America and Europe to look more and more to outside our own ranks for inspiration.

How important is Gandhi? Well, more than a 100 nations have chosen to release a stamp of Mohandas K Gandhi (1869 - 1948). He is revered as the father of the nation by the world's largest democracy and has been an acknowledged inspiration for many other leaders who have fought successfully for the improvement of humankind. All of this continues even more than 60 years after his death. For leaders and managers looking at making lasting impact, Gandhi surely presents some ideas to ponder. Gandhi's ideology and its implementation were crucial in India's fight for independence in 1947. His ability to be both a transformational leader and a transactional leader has been studied and commented on by many. Fortunately, we have several written works and some audio recordings that help us get a clear idea of what forces saw him emerge as a leader and do so successfully. In itself, this should serve as a lesson for leaders and managers to constantly document their own journey not only for personal self-reflection but also for their followers to learn from...

-Article by Karl Moore

Read full article: Forbes, August 22, 2011