The recognized traits of a successful business leader are that he or she should be well-informed, attuned to &lsquo;knowledge-based decision-making,&rsquo; and interested in human psychology and behaviour since &ldquo;all business is human activity.&rdquo;
Beyond these, however, the maturity of the individual should be regarded as the core requisite of leadership in any field. This maturity is rooted in the leader&rsquo;s &lsquo;power of authenticity,&rsquo; which, in turn, flows from a combination of trustworthiness, accessibility, transparency, self-confidence, communication skills, the ability to learn from experience, and alignment with a declared set of values.
A mature leader knows that the right decisions are essentially the product of &lsquo;complete&rsquo; knowledge, innate courage, and an objective approach.
Completeness of information is necessary because &lsquo;knowledge&rsquo; comes in integral packages covering all relevant points&mdash;a business leader employing many men and women must be aware of the laws pertaining to the safety and security of women in the workplace.
Courage is tested in terms of the ability of the leader to deal with contingencies.
Objectivity is linked to the leader&rsquo;s commitment to organizational goals, which must be prioritized over personal benefits.
Sound decision-making is not connected with &lsquo;inheritance&rsquo; or personal &lsquo;charisma.&rsquo;
A mature leader realizes that leadership is not merely about status but also about responsibility.
The image of mature leadership survives organizational setbacks and retains the loyalty of stakeholders.
Though a leader is made, not born, the importance of temperamental makeup, shaped to an extent by grooming, cannot be denied. The fact remains that maturity is the individual stamp that sets one leader apart from another.
Only a mature leader can think strategically.
Some time ago, a statement made by the chairman of a top Indian company advocating a 90-hour work week for employees, including Sundays, was disruptive enough for Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to emphasize&mdash;in her pre-Budget Economic Survey presented to Parliament on January 31&mdash;that while &lsquo;hard work&rsquo; is desirable, it should not come at the cost of employees&rsquo; physical and mental health.
A thoughtless suggestion like this, coming from a leader of India&rsquo;s business mainstream at a time when the country aspires to be among the world&rsquo;s three largest economies, highlighted the need for maturity and strategic awareness among business leaders.
India cannot afford to have its image sullied by the perception that it exploits labor for enhanced productivity.
Fortunately, several Indian business leaders promptly distanced themselves from the controversial statement.
A leader must understand how the &lsquo;mission&rsquo; of an organization fits into the &lsquo;vision&rsquo; of the nation amid high global competition.
The approach to profitability cannot involve treating the &lsquo;workforce&rsquo; as machines that can be made to produce more through longer hours.
A successful leader, on the other hand, is adept at handling human relationships and, while being strict in evaluating performance, remains empathetic toward employees' challenges.
A competent leader examines all available information in the &lsquo;present,&rsquo; learns from the &lsquo;past,&rsquo; and has the ability to foresee both opportunities and risks in the &lsquo;future.&rsquo;
An analytical mind, freedom from ego in making &lsquo;course corrections,&rsquo; and the ability to &lsquo;imagine&rsquo; beyond immediate facts to perceive future developments are essential qualities of mature leadership that understands strategy.
Maturity blends theory with practice, self-righteousness with logic, and personal confidence with a balanced outlook.
A mature leader maintains composure in crises, retains their capacity for logical thinking in turbulent situations, and responds to contingencies with self-confidence&mdash;beyond the empowerment of &lsquo;position.&rsquo;
All these attributes bestow on the leader a strategic outlook, enabling them never to lose sight of the macro-vision even while responding tactically.
Such a leader has no need to project themselves at a higher level of credibility than the organization or to place personal stakes above the corporate body's reputation.
Strategic thinking enables a leader to gather input while tackling organizational challenges, always lead from the front, and view business emergencies as passing phases requiring potential &lsquo;course corrections.&rsquo;
A successful leader fosters a healthy delegation of decision-making power among senior team members. They also establish an ethical framework for interpersonal interactions within the organization, whether between seniors and juniors or among colleagues.
The leader ensures informal feedback channels to stay informed about important internal and external factors affecting the enterprise.
A leader willing to take responsibility for their people must have the maturity to grasp that leadership combines authority with accountability.
A mature leader has an uncanny sense of balancing duty and relaxation for themselves while also promoting work-life balance for employees.
The success of leadership lies in the image of dignity, acceptance, and respect it fosters among all organizational levels.
In all spheres of work, the emphasis must be on &lsquo;efficiency,&rsquo; which, by definition, measures productivity per unit of time.
If employees' work ethic is strong, productivity increases when there are no distractions caused by organizational dysfunction.
The right work environment exists when employees consider their leaders trustworthy, impartial in giving credit, and sensitive to human needs.
If a leader at the top of an enterprise lacks this sensitivity and treats workers merely as &lsquo;machines&rsquo; for production, neither the organization nor the country will benefit in the long run.
This approach might even harm national interests, as India does not want to be perceived as a country that exploits its workers for economic growth.
Discussions on &lsquo;working hours&rsquo; also provide an opportunity for economic strategists to reflect on the larger challenge of achieving India&rsquo;s goal of becoming one of the world&rsquo;s three largest economies, alongside the US and China.
Since Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the sum of the productivity of all individual enterprises&mdash;public and private&mdash;it is crucial for these enterprises to have the right leadership, the right work culture, and the right interpersonal relationships.
The government&rsquo;s conscious efforts to improve the &lsquo;ease of doing business&rsquo; involve streamlining clearance systems, increasing the available workforce, and ensuring law and order control to attract potential investors.
Labour laws defining employer-employee relationships must be fair to both sides.
Ultimately, productivity is maximized when workers have high morale, a positive workplace environment fosters organizational loyalty, and leadership is nurturing.
Leaders without a strategic outlook cannot succeed in business today. 
Mature leadership is essential at all levels&mdash;business enterprises, national governance, and international relations.
The political executive governing democratic India must stay well-informed about domestic developments, with or without potential external influence. This makes the work of national intelligence organizations even more challenging in a world of instant connectivity and social media as a combat tool.
At the same time, covert offensives from adversaries must be uncovered, and ongoing evaluations of international allies must be conducted to help shape national foreign policy.
Moreover, since &ldquo;national security is inseparable from economic security,&rdquo; policy decisions must serve both national security and economic advancement.
It is reassuring that Prime Minister Narendra Modi possesses the strategic thinking, dedication, and political will necessary to address both security and development challenges.
&mdash;IANS
(The writer is a former Director of the Intelligence Bureau. Views are personal)
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Mature leadership is essential at all levels—business enterprises, national governance, & international relations

Looking to take on top economies, India needs competent, mature leaders to pave the way

The Third Eye | Strategic Outlook Imp for Biz World Leaders

Looking to take on top economies, India needs competent, mature leaders to pave the way

March 23, 2025 | 17:08 IST