‘Leaders and teachers have to inspire by example’

Dr. Viswanathan Raghunathan, CEO, GMR Varalakshmi Foundation

Having worked on both the sides, Dr. Viswanathan Raghunathan knows the common threads between a good leader and a good teacher. He talks to TimesJobs.com about where the two roles unite…

1. How will you define the role of leaders as teachers/mentors in today’s complex and uncertain business environment?

A good leader, whether a teacher or a mentor, always regards his or her role as that of a role model in all aspects of conduct. The expected conduct could be simple or complex depending on the context. In today’s complex reality of business environment, where there are many stakeholders and each pressure group applies its own pulls and pressures on leaders, it becomes all the more important for leaders to place a premium on uprightness of conduct. This includes maintaining equidistance from such pressure groups, from a relatively constant set of values which do not change with time and circumstances. Though, the temptation to take short cuts is very high during difficult times, I suppose a real leader is one who resists that temptation in such times.

2. What do leaders need to do to become good teachers?

A good teacher is an excellent communicator of prevailing extant knowledge (teaching); contributes to the development of the knowledge (research) and finally, applies the knowledge gained to real-life problems (consulting). And this is what a good leader needs to do at the very least. They should be able adhere to established norms and codes of conduct and push the boundaries of norms and conduct to a more enlightened plane for the overall improvement of the organization, institution or society. Finally, they should be able to apply the norms of high conduct to their everyday functions. And, both the leaders and teachers have to inspire by example.

3. What is the biggest advantage of having your leader as your teacher/mentor?

Feel lucky if you find a leader who is good enough to be your teacher/mentor. It is like having found a Guru. More often than not, leadership attributes are like a menu card. No one person may necessarily have all the attributes on the card. So, often one needs to go a la carte, having one leader as a teacher for one set of attributes and another for another set. It is only in a kindergarten that one has a single teacher for all subjects. As you go up, you have a different teacher for different subjects. The same logic applies with leadership also.

4. Do you think all leaders are good teachers? Give supporting reasons.

In general, an outstanding leader is almost invariably a good teacher. A Gandhi, a Patel, a Vivekananda, a Rajagopalachari – they are all examples of outstanding leaders who would have been outstanding teachers as well. This is because a true leader and a true teacher are both transparent beings and both roles involves leading by example. Also, true leaders are powerful communicators. Because of these overlapping aspects of their roles, I would imagine a good leader would also be a good teacher. But the reverse need not always be true, if you take a teacher in a very literal sense. This is because a leader is usually charged with inspiring a lot more number of people at a time than a teacher.

5. Which is the role you enjoy the most – a leader or a teacher?

As I see it, there are times when a teacher has to be a leader and there are times when a leader has to be a teacher. To be honest, I enjoy both roles, especially because more often than not, they merge into each other.

- See more at: http://content.timesjobs.com/interview-of-the-day-leaders-and-teachers-have-to-inspire-by-example/?fromsite=toi&utm_source=toi&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=toi-tj-whitelabel#sthash.qxZM3Jxr.dpuf



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