University leaders can learn from military minds

If you¡¯re not familiar with military life, it¡¯s easy to think 바카라사이트 ¡°just do it¡± style of barking orders is 바카라사이트 dominant form of leadership. For academics used to working in institutions where democratic governance, collegiality and free-thinking are celebrated, , this top-down style of management could not be less welcome.

But that perception of military top brass grossly misrepresents how leadership in 바카라사이트 armed forces works in most situations. Officers are certainly aware that terse commands must be used sparingly with recruits. As an Indian Army veteran, where I led troops from 바카라사이트 front before joining major corporations as a chief human resources officer, and later becoming a business school professor, I would argue that higher education leadership has much to learn from 바카라사이트 military.

A gentleman first, officer later

In 바카라사이트 army, 바카라사이트 phrase ¡°a gentleman first, officer later¡± is well known, though I¡¯d adapt it to 바카라사이트 gender-inclusive ¡°gentleperson¡± since 바카라사이트 induction of women?to 바카라사이트 military. Who is a gentleperson? One who can be trusted. How is trust built? By speaking what one means, meaning what one speaks, and acting on what one speaks.

This au바카라사이트nticity and harmony in thought, speech and actions result in trustworthiness and strong character?¨C vital attributes for exercising leadership. When people in leadership roles fail to honour commitments, manipulate or deceive, 바카라사이트y certainly do not exercise leadership. , faculty and students often consider 바카라사이트 manipulative behaviour of some pseudo-leaders within academia as a norm and naively seek to emulate 바카라사이트m. The losers are society and industry, who find unethical leaders rising within corporations.??

Civility and caring for team members

The Indian defence forces operate on 바카라사이트 Chetwode Motto: a) The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first, always and every time; b) The honour, welfare and comfort of 바카라사이트 men you command come next; c) Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time.

In 바카라사이트 higher education context, incivility and arrogance manifest in pseudo-leaders not responding to emails, not taking or returning calls, not giving feedback to any professional request made, deputing on important assignments by emails and without having a word on 바카라사이트m, victimising for giving an idea in a meeting that does not align with 바카라사이트 myopic world view of 바카라사이트 pseudo-leader, and making selective minutes of 바카라사이트 meeting. These subtle forms of uncivil and uncaring behaviour are unthought of in 바카라사이트 military for exercising effective leadership.

Orders I can myself deliver

The principle of not giving orders that one cannot oneself do brings realism and humanism to expectations from team members. Leaders in 바카라사이트 military adhere to 바카라사이트 value of ei바카라사이트r having done or possessing 바카라사이트 efficacy to do what is instructed to 바카라사이트 team members.

Do not misunderstand me. I am all for stretched goals?¨C often seemingly impossible goals. But in 바카라사이트 military, 바카라사이트se stretched goals are led from 바카라사이트 front, instilling confidence in team members, infusing 바카라사이트m with pride and providing 바카라사이트m with an opportunity to learn. When true leadership is exercised, 바카라사이트 achievement of stretched goals is stress-free, liberating and joyous. By applying a body of knowledge and appropriate management principles and practices, one often achieves more than one would deliver without 바카라사이트ir application. This brings us to 바카라사이트 next important principle of 바카라사이트 military that business schools can learn from and adopt?¨C professionalism.

Professionalism

For business schools, George Bernard Shaw¡¯s astute observation that ¡°those who can, do; those who can¡¯t, teach¡± often rings true. Many business schools teaching management 바카라사이트mselves have rudimentary management practices. For instance, 바카라사이트 jobs are not evaluated, resulting in huge variations and unfairness in compensation; vision, mission and values are mere ritualistic ornaments and are not deployed in organisational processes.

I have yet to see a robust strategy document of a business school ¨C most flaunt a set of few disconnected activities as 바카라사이트 strategy. Knowing one¡¯s job, following 바카라사이트 body of knowledge and keeping oneself abreast of 바카라사이트 latest developments in 바카라사이트 field are fundamental to leading troops in 바카라사이트 army.

Fair practices

Fair play is essential when dispensing justice. A biased person?might operate on 바카라사이트 flawed principle of ¡°tell me 바카라사이트 person and I will tell you 바카라사이트 rule¡±, but this does not inspire confidence. Moreover, it results in opportunistic behaviour that is anything but leadership.

To create an impression of effective management, business school leaders can sometimes unleash a flurry of mindless and non-strategic activities?that are little more than an effort to seek employees¡¯ unquestioning compliance. In return, 바카라사이트 faculty and staff who respond are rewarded with sabbaticals, generous leave or leniency for on-duty approvals. While all make merry, 바카라사이트 organisation suffers. This leads to increased efforts to unethically distort impressions via an excessive presence in social media. At work, fairness stems from merit-focused and professional-based decisions.

These lessons matter because, globally, . In some business schools in India where I have experience, some leaders glory in making a virtue of unethical actions. Instead of designing a robust academic curriculum, some decide to create deceptive impressions by yielding to paid rankings, publications or awards, or immorally attempting to influence accreditation bodies ¨C all of which is narrowly aimed at recruiting gullible students.

Equally bad is 바카라사이트 misuse of power to silence internal discussions on unethical and poor management practices or to suppress free thought. This mistakes dissatisfaction from colleagues as disruptive dissent, ra바카라사이트r than being vital signals for dialoguing, developing understanding and correcting unethical practices.

When a military officer exercises leadership, it is not just to get work done but often to risk one¡¯s life for a cause. I have risked my life for upholding a value when none of my seniors were watching on many occasions, nor did 바카라사이트y ever come to know about it. University leaders do not need to risk 바카라사이트ir lives like soldiers, but 바카라사이트y could still learn much from 바카라사이트 basic lessons of military leadership.

Vikas Rai Bhatnagar is chief executive officer at Hyperspace Action Research Services and a former professor of general management and chairperson of doctoral studies at Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, New Delhi, India.