Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel can be regarded as one of the greatest Indian leaders of the twentieth century. Hailed as the Sardar (meaning Chief in English) and the Iron Man of India, he was a freedom fighter and a great statesman whom history will remember for his contribution to India’s freedom struggle and for India’s political integration. Awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously (in 1991), he served as the first Deputy Prime Minister of India, and the first Minister of Home Affairs of India from 15th August 1947 to 15th December 1950.
As the first Home Minister of independent India, Patel was instrumental in unifying the 565 princely states into the Indian federation. One can say he gave shape to the Republic of India as we know it today.
Table of Contents
Persuasive Skills, Diplomacy and Force
For achieving this monumental task, Patel displayed exemplary persuasive skills, foresight, political insight and astute diplomacy along with force. When diplomacy didn’t work, Patel didn’t hesitate to use timely military intervention in Junagadh and Hyderabad to make the princely states of Junagadh and Hyderabad a part of India.
Today’s and tomorrow’s leaders in business could get inspired by Patel’s remarkable persuasive skills, vision and diplomacy in running their enterprise and sprinkling it with the use of steely firmness when it is absolutely needed.
A corporate leader today needs to act as the unifying force across diverse locations, operations and human resources and in giving her/his organisation a common goal. In this regard, Patel’s leadership skills can act as their inspiration. A corporate leader, like Patel, needs to combine wisdom, insight and diplomacy and occasional force to take her/his organisation to success by wading through intense competition.
Patel is known for his decisiveness and timely action, which are important traits of a great leader. These traits are very much useful for today’s and tomorrow’s entrepreneurs for succeeding in the corporate world too.
Overcoming Impediments
Patel was born on 31st October 1875, in a family of humble means and cleared matriculation at a much later age, at 22. He had to even borrow books from other lawyers for his law study.
However, all these impediments didn’t deter him from becoming a successful lawyer, and eventually a barrister. In fact, he went on to become one of the successful barristers of Ahmedabad.
Today’s and tomorrow’s entrepreneurs can get inspired by Patel to achieve one’s goals despite the hardships and impediments.
Following One’s Goal
Despite being a successful barrister, Patel took the risk of leaving his practice and plunging into the uncertainty and dangers associated with the freedom movement. His life should be an example for the entrepreneurs and can give them the courage to take the plunge into the enterprise they are passionate about, irrespective of the risk or uncertainty associated with it.
Moreover, Patel’s integrity and honesty in politics can be translated to business practice too for the running of a completely ethically run organisation about which its management and staff can be proud of.
Inspiring Movements
As a freedom fighter Patel managed to often enthuse the masses with his inspiring speeches. Prior to the start of the Quit India Movement, Patel’s inspiring speech generated an electrifying feel among the nationalists, thereby giving momentum to the movement. In Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) too Sardar showed his inspiring leadership of the farmers of famine affected Bardoli in fighting non-violently against the unjust tax rise, which gave him the title Sardar.
Like Patel, entrepreneurs also need to have the ability to inspire their team and motivate them to achieve the desired goals. Without inspiring words complemented by inspiring action as displayed many a time by Patel, it is often very difficult to urge your team members to go the extra mile.
Strengthening Administration
Patel played a crucial role in the creation of All India Services, which include Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service, which in turn bolstered India’s administration and gave it a total impartial dimension, away from political influences.
From him, entrepreneurs should learn to develop an impartial administrative framework for their company; a framework comprising committed personnel who would neither favour the rank and file and nor the management but would be involved in the impartial and dispassionate running of the day to day operations of the company. A company where top management and the lowest ranking personnel would be subjected to the same law or regulation, thereby contributing to a sense of unity among the people of the concerned company.
