Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and his Activity

Peace is one of the universal values humankinds have failed to grasp adequately. Because of this, there are still conflicts in almost every area, and individuals prefer means of offense with violence, instead of listening to the opinions or creating an intellectual common ground. Our lacking empathy and universal values have become more obvious with these sorts of approaches. It is a bitter truth known by societies that in the course of history, violence and conflict occur in certain areas in certain times like World War I and II.

However, in the face of mundane issues, humankind continues to exhibit far away from peace and universal values, ignoring all the tragic events. In this paper, I aim to present “Mahatma Gandhi”, a leader who is globally accepted as a role model with his personal characteristics, meaning and view of life, way of struggling with the problems he encountered, universal understanding of peace and tolerance. 

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an eminent freedom activist and an influential political leader who played a very dominant role in India's struggle for independence. Gandhi is known by different names, such as Mahatma, Bapuji and Father of the Nation. In this paper I will be focusing on how and why Mahatma Gandhi proved to be a strategic and an influentially effective leader. Gandhi is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen. As a pioneer of Satyagraha, which is resistance through non-violent civil disobedience, he became one of the major political leaders of his time. Leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela were inspired by the philosophy of nonviolence. Many writers have acknowledged that Gandhi was a true servant leader. Albert Einstein referred to Gandhi as ‘a beacon to the generations to come.’ 

In early 1915, Gandhi returned to India, where he supported the Home Rule movement, and became a leader of the Indian National Congress. The Champaran agitation in 1917 was the first major success of Gandhi after his arrival in India. In 1918 the peasants of the area were forced to grow Indigo, which was a cash crop, but its demand had been declining. Farmers asked the British Landlords to relax the payment of taxes as Kheda was hit by floods in 1918. When the British failed to pay heed to the requests, Gandhi took the case of the farmers and led a protest. Gandhi had also agreed to support the British during their fight in World War I. But the British failed to grant independence post the war, as promised earlier, and as a result of this ‘Khilafat Movement’ was launched. 

Non-cooperation Movement was one of Gandhi’s most important movements against the British. Gandhi’s urged his fellow countrymen to stop co-operation with the British. He believed that the British succeeded in India only because of the co-operation of the Indians. As the World War II progressed, Mahatma Gandhi intensified his protests for the complete independence of India. He drafted a resolution calling for the British to Quit India. The 'Quit India Movement' was the most aggressive movement launched by the Indian national Congress under the leadership and direction of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi’s greatest quality was to walk his talk in every way and at every level. As leaders, we must lead by example to the most possible extent. 

Through simple small ways, leader can exemplify their leadership by putting their individual interests after the organization’s interest and following the ideas they propagate. A critical success for Gandhi was garnering the right kind of support from the nation and from the international community. He could achieve this primarily due to his extraordinary persistence and articulation of his vision and his methods. His determination to follow through his preaching was often at the cost to his own health but that didn’t deter him from his struggle. Ideas spread in a jiffy and especially when it comes from a fascinating and influential figure. 

Gandhi was a wonderful strategist, showman, and leader with remarkable public relations network and the right relationship with the press. In situations where all the existing methods and tactics had failed, Gandhi reinvented the rules of the game to deal with tricky situations. He broke tradition and followed unconventional approach like non-violence and Satyagraha to deal with the British when he realized that brute force won’t help. Resource constraint did not deter him as he believed to have the courage to invent the means. He advocated having leadership styles that were circumstances dependent to use relevant and effective approach to deal with a problem. 

Gandhi’s success and sustained reputation makes him a leader worthy to follow and seek inspiration from. He always advised people to lead authentically for the greater good. As a Project Manager or Scrum Master the one practice that I would borrow from Gandhi is the way he implemented his strategies and how he used them to get his work done. Ideas spread in a jiffy and especially when it comes from a fascinating and influential figure. Gandhi was a strategist, showman, and leader with remarkable relations. As a project manager you should have your strategies and you should know how to influence your team mates thereby just not getting work done but also building a good and healthy relationship. 

Strategic project management helps a manager focus on achieving business results. Operationally managed projects tend focus more on just getting the work completed. By focusing on improving the overall customer satisfaction, beating the competition and analyzing market data, strategic project managers can ensure long-term success and profitability. Instead of focusing on short-term results, such as meeting deadlines and operating within the budget, strategic project management helps to maintain and achieve a long-term goal.

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