Lt Gen KJS ‘Tiny’ Dhillon’s language carries the fragrance of our soil (mitti ki khushboo, as he will put it). Even as he quotes world’s renowned management thinkers and gurus, his own interpretation of their wisdom is wrapped in rustic, colourful language. This is why he connects with his readers. Like his first book Kitne Ghazi Aaye, Kitne Ghazi Gaye, his second book too carries this strong streak of native wisdom. It is not surprising that all the chapters of this book carry Chanakya’s quotes.
This book – Wafadari Imaandari Zimmedari is a management treatise on leadership, primarily based on the writer’s experience in forty decades of his military life – beginning from a fresh teenage cadet to reaching the top echelons of military leadership. So, most of his lessons are based on his life as a commander. He presents it in a way that it has lessons for corporate leaders and entrepreneurs too. Afterall, both the facets of life are battles of domination and urge to win. But unlike Western model of management and leadership, Bharatiya model of leadership has a vital component missing in corporate life – spiritualism and compassion. This comes out time and again when you read Tiny Sir’s new book.
The book is an essence of his life lessons turned into a structured treatise with the help of his reading of leading management thinkers. The book is very well designed. It has well defined chapters and crisply defined sub-heads. They are so crisp that you keep turning pages without feeling overwhelmed by the ideas.
It is a book that you can rush through in a few days as it is neither a big tome, nor is the language complex. Other way of reading it is to savour it chapter by chapter, and absorbing and imbibing the lessons. The ideas are illustrated by lived incidents that make it easier to understand and connect. One always remembers the anecdotes, not necessarily the assumptions. Stories make it easier to remember the theories.
Writer’s control over his language and his notes about real life from across Bharat and the world amaze you. In one of his outstanding sections – Habits of Eagle Leadership, he quotes an ancient African proverb – ‘A cat that dreams of becoming a lion must lose its appetite for rats.’ This is so graphic that it sticks in your mind.
Three of the chapters help you understand why Indian Army is so different from the armies of other nations. While the earlier chapters help you peep into the world of training of our soldiers blossoming into gentlemen officers, three chapters in the latter part tell you the actual secret, why it is not just the best professional army, but also the most humane one, why it wins the hearts, not just the battles.
Unlike Western model of management and leadership, Bharatiya model of leadership has a vital component missing in corporate life – spiritualism and compassion. This comes out time and again when you read Tiny Sir’s new book
While I was reflecting upon the book on finishing, it stuck me that the genteel persona of our Generals has a warmth that you don’t see in the officers of other armies. Sometimes, you wonder, how could these benign uncle-like generals be so fierce on the field. I remember a relative of mine by marriage who retired as a Brigadier. I always wondered how this soft spoken gentleman could be an officer who led his troops on the front! Infact, I once asked him hesitantly about his real life war experience, and he shared a couple of them. Upon reading the book I can understand now, why our Brigadier saheb is so gentle, yet so fierce. Steel in velvet gloves.
These qualities come from treating the force and the paltan (platoon) as ‘my family’. Here every member of the paltan is the responsibility of the Commanding Officer and in his absence, his juniors. Lt Gen Dhillon’s many stories touch your core. The trust in buddy, the warmth in gruff behaviour, everything exudes this sense of being a family. Second is the role of ‘Memsahibs’ – wives of the officers who become the ‘mother’ or models of ‘mother shakti’ to the families living in an army station. It is as if the paltan thrusts heroism and courage onto the memsahib by virtue of her being the wife of their senior, which she later owns. This kinship makes the bond unbreakable.
The third is the primacy of Dharmic ethics of Indian Army. I have deliberately used the word ‘Dharmic’ (not religious), because only Bharat has enshrined moral code of conduct or ethics of war in its ancient scriptures. Tiny Sir recounts the stories of returning the lost citizen of Pakistan even at the cost of breaking army protocols, honouring the brave officer who fought against them unflinchingly just a night back but lost his life; standing with the army officers as brothers in arms in UN peacekeeping force whom they have faced on the other side of border as an enemy all these years are some of the examples that make our forces unique. These qualities stand in good stead in theatre of business battles too.
Any young man or aspiring leader or CEO can read this manual of being a successful leader for its pithy simple explanations, meaningful anecdotes, and warmth that carries our mitti ki khushboo rooted in Bharatiya ethos, despite being presented through the thoughts of great leadership coaches and thinkers. The book is a treatise written by the warrior thinker, KJS ‘Tiny’ Dhillon. By the way, there is nothing tiny about this giant of a man. I will end by quoting two inspiring lines from the writer himself and you will understand why you will enjoy the book –
‘Tootna buri baat nahi, toot ke bikharna bhi buri baat nahi,
Toot ke judna himmat hai, aur judke udna himmat hai.’
(There is nothing wrong in falling apart, what is uneccceptable is to allow yourself to disintegrate if you fall apart. Summon the courage to get back after a setback, and rise like a phoenix from the ashes of failure.)
