Understanding Lead India !

When problems arise in an system or a society, different individuals will necessarily have different values guiding their proposed solution to the problem. Bolman and Deal refer to these differing perspectives as frames. Skilled leaders are adept at understanding others’ perspectives and at adjusting their own frames in a manner best suited to specific situations. Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal identify four primary frames prevalent in a sysytem: structural, human resources, political, and symbolic frames.

The structural frame is taken up by those who, valuing order and rationality, believe that systems must have clearly defined roles and structures to function efficiently. Their response is to reorganize to eliminate confusion. People with the human resources frame emphasize finding a match between personal and systemal interests. Citizens and employees should feel confident in their ability,good about their job, and pleased with their system.

Persons coming from a political frame are most concerned with the power aspects of the system. They see the system as a competitive arena where limited resources mean they must develop and maintain power.Finally, persons adopting the symbolic frame tend to emphasize meaning. Because they value the system’s history and tradition and believe in what it has come to represent, their work has acquired symbolic as well as practical importance. Less inclined to value rational order, individuals operating out of the symbolic frame see systems as cultures, propelled more by rituals, ceremonies, stories, heroes, and myths than by rules, policies and managerial authority.

Sanjiv Kaura( one of the Lead India’s Aspirant ) wants to lead India too, but in his own way! From a NRI corporate CEO to leading a mass movement and serving as a part-time soldier, Sanjiv has seen life through different lenses. Perhaps that is why more than one jury member remarked that Sanjiv was the perfect blend of experience and idealism.That was ironical because Ranchi-born Sanjiv has always kept his eyes open for new experiences and pursued them relentlessly.

Take the 3,660 km cycle yatra – staying in road side dhabas and village dwellings - that he undertook to understand rural India for instance . Or his Territorial Army association for that matter. This former country CEO of a multinational abroad, who did his Masters at Harvard after quitting the corporate world to work in the NGO sector, applied for the territorial force thrice. Thrice he was turned down. These diverse experiences have made Sanjiv’s life a rich mosaic of varied colours.

As the country CEO of ICI, based in southern Africa, Sanjiv was a jet-setting corporate head who had risen quickly after passing out from Shri Ram College of Commerce and qualifying as a CA from PriceWaterhouse Coopers. At 28, he was one of the youngest CEOs in the ICI world.Then, came a life-changing decision. ‘‘In 1998, I quit and returned to India. I gave myself a two-year ‘break’ for working in the field of education.’’ Sanjiv joined Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and initiated a civil society-government effort, chaired by the Delhi CM, to improve the 1,000-odd Delhi government schools in the Capital. By 2000, Sanjiv’s two-year ‘‘break’’ was over. But his work wasn’t.

He threw himself into NAFRE (National Alliance for Fundamental Right to Education) and as its National Convenor, led a movement across 26,500 villages in 14 states that helped amend the Constitution to make education a fundamental right. For 15 days a month, traveling in a second class compartment, he used to be in the villages consolidating the movement. breaking into fluent Bengali, which he picked up while studying at St Patrick’s School, Asansol. Sanjiv is has created a public policy development model focusing on imparting all round education and vocational skills. This is a model capable of replication across the entire country. The model has been created through 40 kendras in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh.

This is what he(Sanjiv Kaura) has to say on his life and vision:

Corporate CEO, Marriage and Return to India

Thanks to the karm yogi philosophy ingrained by my mother, I did well in SRCC, CA and as an NRI: at 28, became of the youngest CEOs in the ICI world, a British MNC.

I was still unmarried. Unlike my sister, Suneeta didi, fell in love, I was the arranged marriage type. She took two months off to find a match. Many declined because of my desire to return to India. Ultimately, I was lucky to be married to Ritu, an army officer’s daughter, a lady who did not even ask me how much I was earning! Choosing our marriage date was ticklish. I desired 15th Aug; pundit ji declared it inauspicious. “How could 15th Aug. ever be inauspicious?” I wondered. Ritu smilingly supported me and thus, with an Army band playing in the backdrop, we got married on 15th Aug, 1995.

Life as a CEO abroad was good - at least materially. It gave Ritu and me our momentary pleasure. But then I felt a vacuum, “Could my leadership skills be applied for a better cause?” I wondered. I discussed the subject with Ritu who was on the family way. This gave an additional reason to return: our baby would be born on Indian soil.

So in 1998 we took a leap of faith and returned to India for good. Soon, our son, Lakshya, (named before the namesake film was made!) was born in Ahmedabad where Ritu’s father was posted.

I was not sure what I would do but my inner voice told me that I would need to spend lot if time in the villages of India. Drawing inspiration from Gandhiji’s India yatra to understand India and its people better I, along with scores of youth, cycled from Kalka to Kanya Kumari (3,660Km). We stayed in dwellings of village folks, sometimes slept under the skies, wore clothing of the state we were passing and took “afternoon siestas” under road side semi - constructed buildings.