Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, rightly given the title of Mahatma,was one of the greatest leaders India

has ever produced and the world has ever seen. He is considered as the father of the Indian
Independence movement. But Gandhi was not a born leader, his personality was influenced by many
incidents and experiences that he went through in due course of his life. Let us glance through the life of
Mahatma Gandhi and realize his personality traits. He went through various ups and downs, happy and
painful experiences from which he kept on learning and improving himself.

Gandhi was born on 2nd October 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat. He was a shy and soft-spoken boy during
his childhood after which he went to London to study law. He tried his hand at living an exuberant
English lifestyle but within few months he realized that it was a waste of time and money. He then
started leading a simple life following a strict vegetarian diet.

After completing law, Gandhi got an opportunity to practice in South Africa. In the initial days only, he
was thrown out of a train when he refused to move to 3rd class in spite of having a ticket for the 1st class.
He realized that such discrimination was prevalent in the society. At that time, he had to make a choice:
Either to return back to India or to stay back and fight against the discrimination. He chose that latter
and that was the beginning of his transition into a mass leader.

He spent the next 20 years in Africa fighting for the rights of Indian people, many times he had to suffer
assaults as well but that did not deter him. His activism made him popular as far as Europe and India.
During this time he also studied deep into religion and spirituality. He was highly influenced by the
teachings of Bhagwad Gita and tried to imbibe them in his life and values.

Gandhi developed the concept of satyagrah coupled with ahimsa, which is a method of protest against
injustice using non-violent resistance. According to the principles of satyagrah, one should fight against
injustice but peaceful non-cooperation, never using violence and always being truthful. Gandhi applied
these concepts successfully in Africa and repeated the same after returning to India in 1914.

By that time, he was already very well known in India because of his work in Africa. Gandhi travelled
around India for a year to acquaint him of the conditions and connect with the people of India and their
problems. He educated the people about satyagrah way of peaceful protest. The people of India also
viewed him as a Holy man and attributed him the title of Mahatma.

Gandhi also advocated self-reliance as a means to gain independence from the British. He asked the
people of India to boycott British goods, cloth and even the language. He popularized by using a
spinning yarn on his own. He led the people in the form of the famous Dandi march against the salt tax
imposed by the British. This was instrumental in uniting people from all over the country. As a
consequence, the British had to roll back the salt tax. This amplified the belief of the Indian people in
Gandhi’s non violent means.

Gandhi was a firm believer in equality of people. He could not tolerate the racial discrimination that
happened in Africa and neither the religious differences between Hindus and Muslims in India. When
India was on the verge of getting independence, the Muslim community feared that their rights will be
compromised in Independent India as they are in a minority. Therefore they demanded that a separate
independent Muslim state be made. Tension and riots erupted all over the country. Gandhi toured India
and made efforts to curb the violence, but he couldn’t stop the carving out of Pakistan from the Indian
state. Even during the partition there was widespread violence which he couldn’t stand. To stop it he
went on a fast until death unless the violence stopped. Taking note of that both the Hindu and Muslim
communities came together and assured Gandhi that violence would end.

Shortly after independence, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948 by
NathuramGodsefor being supportive towards Muslims even though he was a Hindu.

Leadership

Now that we have touched upon the personality of Mahatma Gandhi, in this section we will analyze his
leadership style. On a whole, there is no particular leadership style that can fully describe Mahatma
Gandhi. He showed different qualities in different settings, For example, Gandhi was a Transformational
leader while he dealt with the masses, empowered them and motivated them, He was servant leader in
the way he worked all his life for the people, selflessly and with full dedication, He was follower centric
in the sense that he always shared his ideas with his followers and had a two way communication with
them. He invited criticism and was reachable to them, He lead by example by being the change he
wanted to bring. He first practiced the ideals of protesting through nonviolence himself and proved to
the world that it is more effective than violent means.

Gandhi was an ethical charismatic leader. He was driven by a set of high moral values and code of
conduct which he followed throughout his life. He had an internal locus of control, he inspired others
with his views and convinced them by reasoning, he encountered many roadblocks on the path to
independence but that did not stop him in fighting for freedom and in spite of having a position of
immense power, his attitude towards life and moral principles remained unchanged.

“Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such a one as this, ever in flesh and blood,
walked upon this earth.” - Albert Einstein

MK Gandhi was the face of Indian freedom struggle and a preacher of protesting through non-violent
means. The fact that he was able to force the British out of a country which they had ruled for 300 years
without using any kind of violence speaks volumes of his extra-ordinary leadership and the people’s
belief in his methods. Many other world leaders and intellectuals like Martin Luther King, Nelson
Mandela and Albert Einstein were also followers of his doctrines.

“His simplicity of life is child-like, his adherence to truth is unflinching, his love for mankind is positive and
aggressive. He has what is known as Christ-spirit.” -Rabindranath Tagore

His massive fan following was a result of many factors, one of them being his selfless dedication towards
the service of humanity. Right from his setting foot in Africa till the Independence of India, all through
his life he fought for the betterment of the people. He fought against racial discrimination in Africa. He
fought against social inequalities, caste system and exploitation of women in India and worked towards
ending the social malaise of untouchability and promoting dignity of labor. Due to these acts, he was
able to win the trust of the people from all over the country. He was authentic in his efforts and that’s
why people were ready to do whatever he said.

“Be careful in dealing with a man who cares nothing for comfort or promotion, but is simply determined
to do what he believes to be right. He is a dangerous uncomfortable enemy, because his body, which you
can always conquer, gives you little purchase upon his soul.”
- Professor Gilbert Murray

Despite being a famous activist, Gandhi was very humble and down to earth which helped him in making
a strong bond between him and the people of India. He identified with them and kept a low profile.
Instead of elevating his status above the people like other leaders did under power, he wore simple
khadi cloth, took voluntary poverty living with just basic necessities of life and shunned all luxuries and
used to spin a yarn by himself. The people of India could connect to him as an ordinary Indian, someone
who is from between them. They tried to imitate his ways trying to bring about a positive change. They
started making their own khadiclothes and burning the ones which were foreign made. Gandhi became
the face of the masses.

“There can be few men in history who, by personal character and example have been able so deeply to
influence the thought of their generation.” - Lord Irwin, India's former Viceroy

Gandhi was not only a preacher but he was a person who put his ideas into practice. Whatever he
believed in, he reflected it practically in his life. He had a proclivity towards serving people so he worked
for it all his life. He was against any kind of discrimination, he fought for equal rights. He did not believe
in violence, he followed satyagrah. He wanted freedom for the people of India, he spearheaded the
struggle for independence. This was a path of fire, he was assaulted and sent to jail many times, but he
never gave up his quest for bringing about the change he wanted. These actions show the clarity of
thought and the willingness to deliver as a leader which in turn strengthened his position as a people’s
favorite.

“And it was shown that very large groups of men and women could be trained to respond to the most
brutal treatment with a quiet courage and equanimity that profoundly impressed the public opinion of
the whole civilized world.” - Aldous Huxley

Gandhi was very good at empowering and energizing his followers. He empowered the people of India
with weapons of satyagrah and ahimsa which were effectively used against the swords and bullets of
the British. Such was the belief of the Indian people in his method that they took the blows on their
body without even raising their hands in defense. He directed the Indians to follow civil disobedience
against the British. He restored self confidence in the people of India that they are capable of living
independently and do not require goods made from abroad. If the people had not cooperated in
masses, the British would have never come under pressure to exit India and the struggle would have
been a much prolonged one. Gandhi chose issues that would directly touch the lives of the common
man for example the salt tax issue. Even many of the fellow Indian leaders were skeptical of the Dandi
march but Gandhi was confident and went ahead with it. The march was a huge success and sent a very
strong message energizing the whole nation. It proved to be the spark which ignited the struggle for
independence. He also sat on a fast to prevent the clashes between Hindus and Muslims. Though he was
able to bring temporary peace, this was not enough to stop the partition of India and Pakistan.

Learning Outcomes

Mahatma Gandhi through his work and life has inspired not only the people of his time, but also the
current generation and many more generations to come. There is something to learn from every facet of
his life. From the point of view of the corporate world also there are many lessons that we can learn.

ArindamChaudhary in his book, Count your chickens before they hatch writes that,
"Mahatma Gandhi's example to me is a perfect case of adopting styles to suit the culture. The country
today stands divided on whether what he did was good or bad... I just know one thing: there was never a
leader before him nor one after him who could unite us all and bring us out in the streets to demand for
what was rightfully ours. To me, he is the greatest leader our land has ever seen. It is 'Theory 'I'
management' at its practical best: productively and intelligently utilizing whatever the resource you are
endowed with,"

In business, it’s very important to understand the human psychology like Gandhi did. Whatever struggle
he started, he took his people into confidence and ensured that they could identify with it. He made
every single person realize the value of his contribution. This also demonstrates his amazing people skills
and ability to empower and motivate them. It is the people that are regarded as the biggest resource of
an organization and increasing number of companies are realizing this fact. The focus is now shifting
from just profits towards the interest of the various stakeholders and employees. Companies should try
to emulate such connect with their employees and implement motivational programs which would help
in its sustainable growth.

Mahatma Gandhi had a vision (Independence) and a plan to achieve that vision (satyagrah and ahimsa).
He executed his plan beautifully by travelling across the country and spreading his view. He made sure
he made his point through in the direction he wanted and was always open to queries and criticism. He
always had 2 way communications with his audience. This shows his strategy and planning skills which is
also very crucial from corporate viewpoint. Every company aspires to grow, they should have a well-
defined target comprehensive plan to achieve that target. They should also share this vision with their
employees and not limit it to the walls of the boardroom.

Another important learning we can take from Gandhi is that of Innovation. The British had ruled India
for around 3 centuries at his time. There were revolts previously but they had failed to convert into a
nationwide movement. At this moment Gandhi devised an entirely new way of protest. Instead of
suggested people to lift guns he asked them not to lift even their hand in protest. This was totally
unexpected by the British and sent their strategy haywire. In the rapidly changing market scenario,
Innovation and thinking out of the box is the key for the survival of an organization.
Corporate Parallel

Gandhi was such an exemplary and outstanding leader who had a phenomenal reach transcending all
barriers. A leader of such stature was never seen before and probably won’t be seen in the times to
come. No one can parallel Gandhi in its truest sense, but we can find some people who imbibe qualities
like him. One such person in the Indian corporate scenario is N.R Narayan Murthy, co-founder of one of
India’s biggest IT companies, Infosys.

A brief background of Narayan Murthy, He was born on 20th August 1946 in Mysore. He pursued
electrical engineering at National Institute of Engineering and graduated in 1967 and completed his
masters from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 1969. He started his career at IIM Ahmedabad as
a chief systems programmer. He had begun a startup which failed and after that he joined Patni
computers in Pune. In 1981, Murthy along with 6 others founded Infosys which is now a $30.8 Billion
enterprise today. He served as a CEO till 2002.

Gandhi was called the Father of the nation, Murthy is called the Father of the Indian IT industry by the
Time Magazine for his contribution. Fortune magazine has listed him among the 12 greatest
entrepreneurs of our time. He has also been honored with Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shree awards.

There are many leadership qualities of Narayan Murthy that overlap with Mahatma Gandhi. He is an
innovator and a man of action. He not just founded Infosys but created the outsourcing model which
steered the Indian IT industry. Infosys did face turbulent times but he kept faith and drove the company
out of it. One of his famous quotes states that, “In god we trust, rest must come with data”. While
taking decisions, he tends to rely on data.

As Gandhi led the huge Indian population, Murthy also leads a company with a huge employee base.
Despite having billions of assets, Murthy has also kept his life very plain and simple. He has kept a low
profile and lives in a simple, middle class house and flies economy class. He remains accessible to the
people. Like Gandhi took to voluntary poverty, Murthy took a pay cut when Infosys was started, while
other shareholders got a 10% increase. Even now when he has joined back in Infosys, he will take only 1
rupee as compensation for the next five years. He has also donated millions of dollars in philanthropy
and promoting research.

Narayan Murthy also believes in empowering his employees. He and the board of Infosys had given
shares of the company to the employees to give them a sense of ownership and motivate them further.
Also, high performers were given extra shares to give them a sense of achievement. Infosys has
allocated stocks worth Rs 50,000 crore to the employees.

Murthy has a high degree of honesty, he believes that – “when in doubt, please disclose.” He has tried
to keep the company financial as open and transparent as possible. As the time of the company’s
inception, Murthy decided that only one among him and his wife would join the company. He also said
that none of the children would join the company keeping no chance of nepotism. He also set high
ethical standards for the company and wanted to make money but with honest means.