Review this management scenario below and answer the following questions
R. Seshasayee of Ashok Leyland
As managing director of Ashok Leyland, a leading transportation company in India whose buses carry 70 million people a day, R. Seshasayee was faced with reinvigorating the company to restore its performance after a few down years. An interview with Seshasayee suggests leadership in an Indian transportation company requires many of the same abilities as it does anywhere else in the world, or in most any workplace situation.
Seshasayee asserts, ” Outstanding leaders are those who set audacious objectives and get people to own and achieve them.” He continues by suggesting that leadership requires three essentials:
(First is) setting a goal which seems impossible or needs a fundamental leap; second is to communicate to people and inspire them that the task is not so daunting; and the third is to be a living example of what can be done so that followers can refer to the leader's life and his actions and see the way to behave in given circumstances.
The leadership practices of Seshasayee go beyond the “big picture” issues described earlier. One of his favorite practices is to use small notes as motivational tools. He describes a habit of using pink notes as recognition tools. Example:
There was this employee who wrote a good report on something. I sent him a note saying that it was a “great delight to read this report. Good show.” Later, this person left us and went to West Asia. Many years later, I ran into him in an airport and after chatting with him, he brought out his wallet and showed me the pink slip– he had preserved it all those years! The message is that little things can have a tremendous impact on people. The basic issue is to be able to relate to and touch people.
Write a note or card to someone who did something that you appreciate. The person might be a professor who encouraged you to achieve a goal you didn’t believe you could accomplish. Or the person might be a classmate who went above and beyond on a class project.
Ensure that the message is in writing on a piece of paper or card so that the person can keep it – these messages tend to mean more to us than emails.
Describe what this person did for you.
Explain why you appreciate it.
Describe how it felt to write a message of appreciation to someone.
Describe how the person responded.
Describe a time when someone expressed appreciation to you for something you did.
Explain what it meant to you.
Identify which transformational leadership behaviors R. Seshasayee demonstrated.
Explain why Seshasayee said that leadership in his company in India requires many of the same abilities as leadership anywhere else.
Explain why you do or do not agree.
