An Indecisive Indian

  As I said in the last blog post on the subject, one must spend the initial months in spreading a message of love and empathy while checking out and modifying the HR ethos of the organization. For example, as the General Manger of Integral Coach Factory (ICF), I began my tenure by adopting some simple leadership principles, facilitating openness, discarding all meanly protocol and hierarchical straitjackets, gradual dismantling of the stifling bureaucratic systems, building a culture of trust and empathy, welcoming ideation from all levels, stressing importance of rectitude and probity, recognizing those who worked well with purpose and meaning while coming down hard on those who did not. And many other measures in a similar mould. But all this with a caveat. I did say earlier that a leader must contrive, fabricate and improvise to treat everyone with love. But since your love is contrived, you must continue to have control over it. At times, famous words of great poets make y...

  Quo Vadis, Private Train?   Don’t let this train derail! The last time I wrote on the subject was on 8 th November, 2020. I had written that, assuming that the entire exercise by Indian Railways (IR) was not about, first boiling the ocean and then blamestorming, but hopefully more like doing nothing by halves, certain sine qua non had to be spelt out. Summarizing, I had mentioned that it appeared that there was no risk for Indian Railways (IR), except loss of face in case of failure of the project whereas a prospective PTO (Private Train Operator) had to contend with high risks and perhaps even perpetual losses. At stake was not merely this project but long-term credibility and allure of IR, both from the standpoints of ease of doing business and long-term PPPs into the future. IR could not afford the smug luxury of a premise that it was dispensing favours, not looking for a partner in success. This privatization project was being seen as a very welcome move of IR to...