Nitin Gadkari: Confidence, teamwork and our culture will build great leaders, no one is born with it

Our culture and legacy is our strength and will make great leaders, said Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Speaking at the Dr Rajaram Jaipuria Memorial Lecture 2020, Gadkari said that teamwork is what builds a good leader. He was speaking on the role of leadership in turbulent times.

Be it Netaji Subash Chandra Bose or Chattrapati Sivaji, all our great leaders have led the country in times of crisis and their history will motivate us, said the minister. "A car needs fuel to run and just the same way, we need inspiration and motivation to fuel us. History, education and knowing the great leaders provide us the fuel to flourish our inner leader," he added. "Leadership is not a natural process. We are not perfect. If one feels they are perfect that means its the end of his life," he said.

Talking about humility, he shared a few stories about Ratan Tata. "We were on our way to a programme at Aurangabad. I offered him the best seat in the car but he refused. He carried his own bag everywhere. One day on his way to my house he called me for directions. I asked him to pass the phone over to the driver and he replied that he is the one driving. One does not expect such things from a man like Ratan Tata. But that's what makes a great leader," he said.

Confidence and team spirit are the two major aspects of a good leader. "You either lead the people or lead by the people. One has to have the conviction and confidence in them to even lead against the flow if needed. It shouldn't matter what the trend is," he said. Explaining the essence of team spirit, Gadkari used an example for which PM Modi was once trolled — only he explained it better. "If two values, a and b, are squared separately and then added, you get a²+b². But if you add a and be and then square them you get an extra 2ab. This only goes to show that if we combine efforts the result will be better," he added.