After recently addressing the outgoing students of IIM Nagpur, D Shivakumar, Group Executive President, Corporate Strategy and Business Development, Aditya Birla Group, gave the convocation address at SPJIMR. He spoke to the graduating students on the topic of ‘Courage and heart’.
The speech
This institute is a great example of it. It showed courage when it moved out of the University system. It showed courage 20 years ago by partnering with NGOs for summer internship. It shows heart by working with underprivileged students and it is showing heart by having a unique management degree for women who have taken a break. That’s a lot of courage and a lot of heart. You are a unique, awesome institute.
As individuals, all of us crave to be courageous. I have seen courage displayed almost on a daily basis by some people and in some people, I have never seen courage. In my career, I found it difficult to define courage, but I could easily recognise courage when I saw it.
The different combinations
What should I tell you about courage and heart as you start your careers? There are four possible combinations of these two values.
The first is someone who has the courage, but not the heart. The second is someone who has no courage but has the heart. The third is someone who has no courage and no heart and the fourth is someone who has both.
As you start your career, you will see all four types in an organisation. And each type will have its own unique fan base. Let’s look at the four groups:
~ The first group : Someone who has courage but no heart. This person would be labelled bold, reckless, warrior-like or ruthless. This group has high self-confidence, is action-oriented and fearless. They have unshakeable conviction.
This type of person would be task-oriented and do everything to get the job done. Organisations tend to support this lot when they are pushed to a corner or want a turnaround. This type of manager invariably burns his team out and too many of them in an organisation creates a toxic atmosphere. To this type of leader, all I say is the mind forgets, but the heart always remembers.
~ The second group: Let’s look at the second group, someone with no courage but a lot of heart. The label for this person will be kind, sympathetic, emotional. This person does not display courage for a variety of reasons — possible lack of confidence, overbearing boss, seeking security and maybe preferring collaboration over confrontation.
They are good listeners and compassionate. This group is normally well liked and they are non- threatening. This group is a great sounding board. Showing heart is both a strength and a vulnerability in this group. For this group, showing heart is living beyond the values. This type of leader is liked but not seen as an inspiring role model.
~ The third group : No courage and no heart. This group can be labelled indifferent, rebel without a cause or a cynic. I have always wondered why organisations tolerate this group. This group is a cancer that needs to be weeded out in any team.
They are good to hang around for a laugh or for the lampooning they do of the boss and the organisation. This group does not inspire anyone in the organisation, and cribs about everything without finding an answer to anything. I believe this group fears accountability. Don’t ever become a member of this group through your career. My health warning for you — cynics are injurious to your career.
~ The fourth group : People with courage and people with heart. This is an ideal combination and I am sure that our deepest individual desire is belong to this group. This is what I label the responsible leader or enlightened leader or purposeful leader group. In any organisation, leaders have a title that the organisation gives them, for example Director, VP, GM, etc.
However, this group, which has courage and heart, has a huge following and leadership is bestowed on them by the people. The Buddhists call this enlightened leadership. There are three elements to enlightened leadership — wisdom, courage and compassion. Your accumulation of wisdom does not stop today, it starts today. You will need a different set of capabilities every few years. Invest in life-long curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat but it will give you nine promotions!
This group is not brash, this is an authentic group. There are a number of people who are great role models for this group.
The examples
Nelson Mandela would be a great example of a courage that did not seek revenge on people who imprisoned him for 27 years. That is a rare courage and a rare heart that forgives someone who has done your life so much harm. Mandela courageously united a divided South Africa. Mandela also courageously stepped aside after his term as President. A Mandela quote on courage always buzzes in my head: ‘Courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to overcome it’.
Rahul Dravid is another person who would be a great role model in this group. Dravid displayed courage by not being aggressive or via bold behaviour, but by being firm and good. He showed us decency and an aspect of a gentleman’s courage in a game that has stopped being gentlemanly. He played his heart out for India from opening the batting to keeping wickets and now coaching the Under-19 team and accepting the same prize money as the average support staff member. That’s amazing heart and courage.
There are a number of parents here. Your parents showed a lot of courage and heart as they nurtured you through school, college and life. Parents have fierce pride in their children and their hearts always beat for their kids. We cannot thank them enough.
Four Fears
All of you are wonderful human beings. What will hold you back is a fear of ‘something’ as you start your career. I will discuss four fears with you.
~ The fear of being junior : I had a number of fears at the start of my career and I realised that they were not letting my inner courage show. As a junior member, I wasn’t comfortable expressing my views in meetings. I realised that I was afraid of looking foolish or inadequate in meetings. I took away the fear in the early part of my career by coming to meetings really well prepared and knowing all the numbers and details. This let me speak up at any point and let me answer any question that was asked. A few good meetings added to my courage and courage bred courage. If you are prepared, then don’t let fear hold you back.
~ The fear of change: Every change situation you are in has an opportunity and a risk. Evaluate the risks and think more about the opportunity. I have found through my career that risk does not mean danger; risk means there is a probability of failure attached to it. I have seen leaders paralysed by the slightest risk and their answer was counterproductive — they want more and more analysis.
The extra analysis always drains energy and the courage of people. Stay optimistic and you will be courageous. Procrastination is the worst behaviour in a situation; you let yourself and the team down. My view — take responsible risk.
~ Fear of rejection : We want to be liked and hence, we end up trying to do things that pleases people or makes us popular with people. This fear makes us put on a game face and not be authentic. This typically happens when we are asked to lead a new team. We fall into this trap to get quick acceptance of the team. A good career is not built on being popular but on being authentic. Being authentic means being you and not trying to be someone else. Authenticity inspires people. People who watch us closely can figure out if we are authentic or not.
~ Fear of transformation : There are many inequalities in this world and you are not going to solve them immediately. Wherever you can, drive transformation. In a fast-changing world, companies need to transform, society needs to transform and individuals need to transform too. Transformation needs both courage and heart. You transform others by showing heart, giving them respect, listening to them, valuing their feedback. Leading with a heart means connecting with everyone who matters and earning their respect and trust.
You are a rare, talented lot. People will give anything to be in your situation today, sitting where you are with a successful degree. You are one of India’s best. Have the faith and the courage to succeed. As you progress, be good and do good. Formal education makes us use more of our mind to look at everything. Use your heart too, you will make a big difference. If you have courage and a heart, you will go far.