The Gym of Leadership
Indrajit Gupta Facilitated Insightful Fireside Chat With Three Leaders
And (saluting the inimitable Busybee) here are a few thoughts and feelings, all mine, on the publication event of Dr Anil Khandelwal’s book ‘The Gym of Leadership’:
Like everyone knew that Dr Khandelwal, the former MD of Bank of Baroda, had great insights in finance as well as in leadership development; however, his humour and quick repartees was a pleasant surprise.
Like he explained in simple words ‘the quest of being and the quest of becoming’, the former being a learning experience while the latter being a dangerous experience, and that it will take a long time for me to fully grasp the meaning.
Like Mr Ajay Piramal was reflective, open and insightful in his speech and I realised that we did not associate these qualities with the rich and successful entrepreneurs (Oh, how wrong we were!).
Like Ajay Piramal addressed 3000 workers during the infamous textile strike, which was a bold move and a hallmark of a great leader.
Like Ajay Piramal mentioned that we should be aware that our lives will be full of hurdles, noting that Lord Krishna faced death threat from the moment he was born, and it was such an effective way to explain the truth.
Like Mr Nitin Paranjape (HUL Chief) said that leaders create followers and subordinates should not be mistaken as followers, and we know that bad bosses confuse between the two.
Like Nitin Paranjape said that good leaders are followers of their belief system; another gem of wisdom for me.
Like Nitin Paranjape argued that two necessary conditions of being a leader are authenticity and compelling point of view which surely is a food for thought.
Like developing one’s leadership abilities is beautifully explained in Dr Anil Khandelwal’s book ‘The Gym of Leadership’ using the metaphor of exercising in a gym, and that ‘not going to the gym’ defeats the very purpose of existence.
And finally, Growth they say, is automatic, but development is a choice. ‘Exercising’ that choice begins with reading of ‘The Gym of Leadership.’
Vivek S Patwardhan
What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others/ All work copyrighted.
Sir, it was a great privelege attending this event alongwith Shri Sathesaheb.
Sir the essence of the event have been highlighted by you in a very Comprehensive way.
Fantastic. I always admired two great people from the banking sector who are alchemist and did turnaround – OP Bhatt and Mr. Khandelwal. I certainly missed this opportunity.
When I read your line
“leaders create followers and subordinates should not be mistaken as followers, and we know that bad bosses confuse between the two.”, I fully resonate this with it. I know one of the manager (won’t call leader) even at offsite, the individual ensured that the team members or subordinates do not do anything without permission.
Thank you for sharing..
Nicely put.
Good to note: Subirdinates are not the followers. (They may fake to be one)
Sir, that’s a very interesting book review , “Growth they say, is automatic, but development is a choice. ‘Exercising’ that choice begins with reading of ‘The Gym of Leadership.’” These lines are indeed so powerful! I am sure the session was powerful and impactful with all the esteemed speakers .
Excellent review Vivek and sorry to have missed it as knowing Anils style is exhilarating
An excellent read, Vivek! Feels like testing the essence of a fruit. Your capture of wonderful thoughts is inspiring!
How I wish I was there
Dear Vivek,
Many thanks for an excellent summary of the Book launch event. The Panel was open in sharing their Experiences and dilemmas too. In many ways, it was a Masterclass on Leadership.
TFS