Stories
Leadership Lessons in Trust, Humility, and Execution from Nine Meetings with Narendra Modi
- •A corporate veteran shares valuable leadership insights gained from meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi nine times over the years.
- •Modi demonstrated distributed leadership and trust in his team by empowering department secretaries to act as leaders during the post-earthquake crisis in Gujarat.
- •An anecdote about a simple gesture of hospitality highlights Modi's remarkable humility and attention to detail, including his photographic memory.
- •Modi's swift response after the Tata Nano project moved from West Bengal to Gujarat showcased his ability to think big, connect dots, and focus relentlessly on execution.
Key Questions Answered
When Narendra Modi became the Chief Minister of Gujarat following the major earthquake, he distributed leadership by telling all department secretaries to act as the chief minister of their respective departments and figure out how to make Gujarat the most developed state.
In 2008, after facing a series of unfortunate developments and discussions with the West Bengal Chief Minister regarding the Singur plant, Tata Motors Chairman Ratan Tata decided to withdraw the project. The very next day, they received a supportive SMS from then-Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, leading them to set up the unit in Sanand.
Interactions with Narendra Modi highlighted defining qualities such as an ability to think big, connect individual decisions to a larger vision, maintain an uncompromising focus on execution, and demonstrate exceptional humility and attention to detail.
