Sonia gandhi - Good in management! We should give it to her - Part 2

What is a role of a manager in a company? I was trying to research and draw a view on this role definition. However in this context of analysing Sonia, i understood it is going to be difficult. However if I try to define a ‘Street-smart’ manager then I could outline a lot of views. I am sure we all have had good and bad managers and I am going to simplify the definition in a Politics context - can be applied broadly too.

If I can simplify, typically our experiences can relate to a manager who supports our development as well his/her development and by the process deliver the shared objective and such a case is “Good management” and “Good Manager”.

I am looking at it from the perspective that if given an amount of wealth or a piece of an asset be it knowledge or process or a new invention, it is up to an individual to put ‘good’ use or ‘bad’ use. I quote the bad and good – coz’ these are relative terms and qualifiers. So with this definition, I am about to see SG. I am about to outline a set of techniques that she may have put to use to deliver the shared objective.

In my opinion, hers' and Congress (I)’s shared objective is to be in Power and govern India. Let me qualify that the actual results of governance may be bad/good, but as far as the objective goes – she has managed to put Congress (I) in power for 10 years! – So is she not a good manager?

How do you uplift and motivate your team?Managers use different techniques, some define a threat or some put forward a Vision, or some inspire using ‘Hope’, some define an economic profit i.e. a monetary goal or a few philosophise for a dream or a few evoke empathy and play victim to rally people around and create a hope.

On 26^th May 1999, “A combative, impassioned Mrs. Gandhi, who quit as president of the Congress Party a week ago after three party leaders had opposed her candidacy for Prime Minister because of her foreign birth, said an outpouring of support from party members had persuaded her to withdraw her resignation. In a voice choked with feeling, Mrs. Gandhi, 52, staked her claim to being an Indian patriot. The country adopted her 31 years ago when she married Rajiv Gandhi, she said.”

She recalled the assassinations of her mother-in-law, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, in 1984 and her husband, a former Prime Minister who was 46 when he was slain in 1991. And she witheringly noted that the same three men who were raising the questions about her origins had a year ago asked her to head the party, then in a slow dance toward oblivion. ''I became a wife here, a mother here, a widow here, too, right before your eyes,'' she said, speaking in Hindi. ''The greatest daughter of this country, Indiraji, breathed her last in my arms. Every drop of blood in me says this country is mine. This country is mine.''

Apologies if it reminded you of Rahul Gandhi’s recent speech. But here Sonia chose to sympathise and create a dramatic entry. (I still wonder if it was stage managed with Sharad Pawar – look they are all one, even though for namesake he calls it NCP)

How do you show you are Strong – Play the victim, but show that you are a fighter?She defiantly said she would not reply to those who questioned her patriotism. She was apparently alluding to critics who have asked why she waited until she had been in India for 15 years before becoming a citizen and suggested that she might not have renounced her Italian citizenship, a contention that her friends say is false. ''The people will give a resounding reply to that,'' she said.

Choose words and attack enemies, de-stabilise and create a negative brand for your enemies.1999 - The Congress president said that ''the people doubting my credentials as an Indian would get a befitting reply in the coming election. All these non issues are being raised by the Bharatiya Janata Party to divert the people's attention from their 13-month misrule,'' she said.  ''The very people who targeted the minorities, made them suspects in the country are asking proof of my nationality,'' she said in a direct attack on the BJP-orchestrated criticism.

2001 - A normally reticent Ms. Sonia Gandhi today blasted the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, for ``unfairly attacking the Congress and trying to sermonise to it''. In a rare display of emotion, the Leader of the Opposition launched an onslaught after the Lok Sabha adjourned sine die and the members were leaving the House.

Manager needs to grasp the Situation and Politics1999-2002 Her major emphasis has rightly been on political stability as the country goes into a third election in three years. The Congress party's emerging strategy of contesting the Lok Sabha polls on its own for the most part and making stability the key campaign issue makes complete sense.

Sonia Gandhi has in recent weeks proved how unequal she is to the task of providing leadership; she even needs a written text to say yes or no to a straight question from the Press
Emerging from a 40-minute meeting with the President, Sonia admitted that she had so far mustered the support of only 233 MPs. ``I shall talk again with all the colleagues who voted against the confidence motion. It is for the other secular forces to see that the BJP Government does not come back,'' she told waiting correspondents.

Take full controlThe AICC left it to her to overhaul all the party organisations from top to bottom with people of her choice. Indira Gandhi had the backing of her father, Nehru, and 25 years of their service to the party. Sonia Gandhi has achieved the position without lifting a finger.

Manage your networks and growQ, Hinduja brothers, Ahmad Patel, P.C. Chacko, Datta Meghe, Prafful Patel and Prabha Thakur, MMS, Pranab, Arjun Singh and so on

Managing PerceptionsEven the faces are familiar. Those who saw Jawaharlal Nehru in Narasimha Rao and found Kesri's `home-spun' qualities endearing, are now singing Sonia Gandhi's praises. Not even once did she make any gesture or observation to indicate that she felt embarrassed. The secrecy about her health also goes into this mix.

We all know how the media co-operates and Times listing etc. However recently I read a tit-bit, that she was in UP and a prepared speech given to her had omitted a senior Congress(I) member’s name and in a flash, she picked the miss and reworked the speech. – This was in the news… The incident highlights her individual management style as well as the perception management to ensure this news is published in Media.

New York Times published an article that Sonia Gandhi reclaims congress party and its members’ devotion – did Advani do it? Jayalalitha has done it, Omar is better, Modi is trying hard, Mamta struggles, Yeddy is already becoming a teddy, Stalin is way off in comparison to Karuna, Sena has split, AP’s Reddy is in Jail – so that many people struggling at State level, where as one lady has managed to hold 29% of national votes to Congress (I) – isn’t she a good manager? I have largely focused on her initial days in Congress as these are the crucial days for any manager! But the history as people often say provides a lot of answers! - In fact a quick comparison to RG's recent speech can tell you the template was from SG's initial speech.

However I leave with a parting thought – is she a good leader? Await part - 3