Some Thoughts on Leadership by Civil Servants

Civil Servants are associated with the task of nation building - both at policy level as well as implementation. 

A Civil Servant is expected to be a Karamyogi. Shri K Srinivas, Director LBSNAA defines a Karamyogi as one having qualities of austerity, ability and anonymity.

  • Austerity means discipline of body and thoughts. It also means both effective and efficient use of resources.
  • Ability means competence to do tasks successfully. It requires an attitude of lifelong learning.
  • Anonymity means giving credit for a successful task to people, democratic processes, people's representatives, team members. It is putting "We" before "I".
Dr R Balasubramanian, Member, Capacity Building Commission in his book "Leadership Lessons For Daily Living" has shared his learnings about meaningful leadership from lives of common people who are taking lead to address challenges facing people.

His learning: a selfless attitude and a central focus on public good are powerful enablers in being a leader.

Swami Vivekananda jee says that selfish motive dissipates our energy. It does not return to us. The key is to be unselfish and wait. Let the unselfish energy work its way.

The best example of it is the practice of "Langar" which has spread to all corners of the world and more touchingly to areas affected by disaster, Covid, war where organisations distribute free food to needy people on an unselfish basis.

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