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Been here, done all
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Jogging, running marathons, writing and travelling to Antarctica are some of the things that keep retired Wing Commander Dinesh Kumar occupied
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PHOTO: MURALI KUMAR K.
SELF-BELIEF Dinesh Kumar: `One of the myths that I would like to break is that leaders are born. I say leaders can be trained to be leaders'
"You talk about passions and a lot of people have passions. In my case, a passion is something that I cannot program," says Dinesh Kumar, retired Air Force officer. At 70, most of us would be content just watching the scenery but Mr. Kumar, jogs, runs marathons, writes and has travelled to Antarctica.
After serving in the Indian Air Force as an Air Defence Officer from 1958 to 1978, he retired as Wing Commander and settled in Bangalore.
"When I first came to Bangalore I was told that to live healthily here you must jog. You know this place, the weather is cool and I have asthma. But on December 4, the day I landed here, I started jogging that evening. And that became my passion. I have rarely missed jogging after that. Now I have started doing half marathons," he says with an energy that defies his age.
Like many officers retiring from the defence forces, Wg Comdr Kumar decided to have a stint in the corporate sector and when he spent enough years doing that, he decided to turn to writing.
Writing as passion
"Ten years back I wouldn't have said that I am a writer. Then I started writing. Some would get rejected and some accepted. And in that way it became a passion. I realised I have years of experience and I could write. Soon, I would not leave my office without writing 1,000 words."
His writing soon produced Corporate Capers, a jolly take on the corporate world. In the book he takes the layman behind the glossy façade of corporates. He liberally quotes from his time at various boardrooms, without of course naming anyone. Written with emphasis on humour, a little bit of management funda also inserted in between.
Wg Comdr Kumar attributes his success as a corporate to the training he received in the Air Force.
"It's only when you leave the defence forces that you thank them for training you the way they did. When you are there, believe me, you curse them. I came into the corporate sector with hesitation. Will I be to manage?"
The key he says is decision making which is similar in both worlds — corporate and defence.
"At the end of the day you have factors. This factor, that factor, human factor... After taking all the factors in hand you take a decision. The same thing happens in warfare. Is he going to come from left, right or shall I surprise him from here or there. I have to say this. All present-day management systems came post Second World War. But things have changed now. Things are no longer so hierarchical."
Though he comes from a background that prides itself in following orders, Wg Comdr Kumar the corporate prefers a totally different style of management. "For too long we have believed that we can get things done by enforcing our ideas on others. It looks good but the moment you are not there, people tend to relax. It takes longer to enrol people to your idea. But if people buy into your idea, whether you are there or not, things happen. People sometimes say this is soft management, but I say soft is hard."
Antarctica is a dream destination for any traveller but the reason it is not there on the tourist map is because simply no airline flies there. Wg Comdr Kumar went with one of the few tourist ships that ply to the icy continent. And he managed to draw a parallel with management and Antarctic exploration.
"We went there in a ship and we had all the right equipment. But imagine the people who went there to explore. They didn't even know where they were going. And that is where you find leadership qualities in extreme circumstances. How can you just collect people who will come with you to explore the unknown? One of the myths that I would like to break is that leaders are born. I say leaders can be trained to be leaders. A leader has to be contextual to the situation. I subscribe to the fact that emotionally intelligent leaders in the long run cause greater differences than intellectually strong ones. A study done by Harvard Business School substantiates that. It said people with strong IQ go up to one level and they very often work for people with lower IQ but higher EQ."
He goes on to stress that leaders must be able to connect with people at human level to succeed. "My experience shows that leaders who have been able to connect with people, those who have been able to transfer their vision to others, have been more effective that those who have shouted at the top of their voice."
Multitasker
Multitasking is a word that is often used in management lingo and Wg Comdr Kumar can be rightly be called a multitasker. "I think multitasking was necessary all the time. You have to get rid of self-imposed limits. If you can do one thing, you can do another also. As you grow older all the parts in your body age. But I believe that the brain can get younger as you get older if you stay excited about something. Excited about doing your work, writing, jogging..."
ANAND SANKAR
Dinesh Kumar is currently the Chairman of Trident Powercraft Limited, a Bangalore company engaged in the manufacture of AC generators and DC motors. He is working on another book called Management in Etiquette. Corporate Capers is priced at Rs. 295 and is published by Response Books.
(This column features those who choose to veer off the beaten track.)
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