PM Narendra Modi Is Intelligent, But Not ‘Lazy’... Alas!

Video Editor: Mohd Ibrahim

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a political decathlete. Just like a decathlon competitor has to win across 10 events over two grueling days, Modi likes to pack a dozen public meetings, yoga sessions, Cabinet meetings, midnight Mann Ki Baat recordings and state banquets in 48 hours, day after day after day.

PM Modi says (and we believe him!) that he works round-the-clock, seven days a week, without ever having taken a vacation in his life. “I’ve got no time to waste. Let others think about big, complex issues. I take delight in solving the tiny problems faced by ordinary citizens.”

Of late, he has switched to the third person when referring to himself. “Modi does not care about their useless philosophies. Modi is hands on. Modi is a doer. Modi is tireless,” he says often, with undisguised glee.

But Is a Workaholic Leader Such an Unmitigated Blessing?

Erich Von Manstein was among Hitler’s best military strategists. He was ruthless and committed indescribable atrocities on the Jews. But he also crafted a celebrated theory of selecting leaders, which is best represented by the following grid:

According to Manstein, “There are only four types of officers. First, there are the lazy, stupid ones. Leave them alone, they do no harm… Second, there are the hardworking, intelligent ones. They make excellent staff officers, ensuring every detail is properly considered. Third, there are the hardworking, stupid ones. These people are a menace and must be fired at once. They create irrelevant work for everybody. Finally, there are the intelligent, lazy ones. They are suited for the highest office.”

Why Is “Lazy” a Critical Trait In an Effective Leader?

A leader has to constantly do the most tiring thing in the world – make judgements and decisions, which can improve or ruin the lives of millions of people. If you are always hyper busy, on the move, giving unending rhetorical speeches, a la Modi, you physically exhaust and suppress your intelligence. So instead of:

• Searching for the simplest solution, you succumb to the obvious, clichéd ones.
• Delegating to colleagues to come up with options, you are only instructing them to deliver.
• Allowing colleagues to make honest mistakes while searching for creative solutions, you petrify them with the consequences of failure.
• Surrounding yourself with people who can dare to disagree and thereby enrich your own perspective, you create a cabal of couriers.

But PM Modi is neither “lazy” himself nor can he tolerate a “lazy” person around him. So in the Manstein model, Modi himself is not a leader, but the Chief Staff Officer. Around him:

• Only a sprinkling of young Cabinet colleagues and key bureaucrats are intelligent/hardworking, making for effective subordinates
• Many are stupid/hardworking who should be fired immediately, but he can’t do that
• Most who fall in the stupid/lazy category are impossible to ignore or leave well alone

So, in Manstein’s paradigm, Modi’s team is awfully weak on the “creative leadership” quotient. It’s full of “command/staff officers” who can keep the old wheels oiled and running, but without covering much new ground.

Alas, if only PM Modi was just slightly lazy, he may have dealt India a new deal, like Roosevelt did for America, or Lee Kuan Yew for Singapore, or Deng Xiaoping for China.

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