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The Smart Techie was renamed Siliconindia India Edition starting Feb 2012 to continue the nearly two decade track record of excellence of our US edition.

March - 2008 - issue > Leadership

Where Leadership is also about Leaves falling from Trees

Aritra Bhattacharya
Monday, March 3, 2008
Aritra Bhattacharya
“I am sure all of you have seen a leaf fall from a tree. However can you tell me why it happens that way?” asks Rathi Dasgupta, Managing Director Intec India. Of course, due to gravity, you would answer. And that’s where the catch lay. The crux of being a leader, reveals Dasgupta, is in figuring out the different dimension to the phenomenon. For instance: The fact that it’s a leaf that’s falling from the tree makes it related to Biology, and the fact that it is dry might mean there is a bit of Chemistry involved in it too. Leaders essentially need to think on these lines; if some of his team members are interested in Chemistry he ought to represent the phenomenon of leaves falling from the tree from the Chemistry point of view; for somebody interested in Biology, the case must be represented from the respective point of view. In a nutshell, leaders ought to help team members focus on their strengths and through that window, also tackle weaknesses.

Says Dasgupta, “People tend to focus too much on trying to overcome weakness and end up not building their strengths at all. Approaching things this way helps one thrive on the strengths while not exactly sidelining the weaknesses.”

The inspiration for this philosophy comes from his life itself. He was poor performer in many subjects till about the sixth standard. Then he started looking at his strengths and approached subjects he was not interested in, through them. Today, he finds just about anything fascinating. He has his feet deep in the domains of geography, particle physics and a host of other subjects, all while being in charge of Intec.

Leader: A visionary

“I love doing all sorts of this,” he confesses. Yet, this multi-faced leaning, is this not sign of a confused person? Not at all, if Dasgupta is to be believed. “If you don’t know what’s happening around you, how will you deal with challenges?” he questions. “How will you lead people?” He recently bought around 35 books on supply chain management, all in a drive to being informed and thus be alert to future industry trends. That’s the only way, he notes, that one can lead from the front.


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