It is because of the lack of reading habit that the present generation is not able to think and perform creatively to become creative leaders, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi said at a CEO’s Word Series of the GRD School of Commerce and International Business, and GRD Institute of Management, in Coimbatore on Tuesday.
“A prolific reader is a creative leader. Any worthwhile leader is a reader. Constant learning drives good leaders to express themselves well and not prove themselves,” she said.
Without knowledge it was not possible for one to come up with creative ideas, and this knowledge could only be gleaned from books on leadership and management, which she urged them to read for at least an hour a day, she said.
Pointing out that creativity and leadership cannot be taught, she said these could be developed by reading and being updated.
Urging students to spend on books so that they could create a library, she asked them not to consider it as expenditure but as an investment that could form the base for a bright future.
If this was the base, then success was a sure outcome that would result in happiness. When youth built on this base using the ingredients of creative leadership, then the state of being happy would get transformed into “happy-plus” she added.
Elaborating on the ingredients for a successful and creative leadership, she said while reading and gaining experience from worldly happenings were the external ingredients, there were some internal ones that had to be consciously developed to become a holistic personality.
Giving the example of India against Corruption, which fought with optimism for more than two years to get a Lokpal Bill, Ms. Bedi urged the students to be optimistic if they wanted to become good leaders.
For Civil Services aspirants
At a programme organised here on Monday by Dawn India Career Solutions (P) Limited for college students aspiring to take up Government / banking jobs or the Civil Services, Kiran Bedi urged them to have a clear vision of their preferred career destinations at a very young age.
‘Bring in changes’
Pointing out that there were not many Civil Service aspirants from the South, Ms. Bedi said at Dr. NGP Institutions that youth could bring in changes by choosing Government service as a career.
She asked the 2,000-odd students to be more knowledgeable about the functioning of the Government and the rights of the people in demanding what they were legally eligible for.
Girls were asked to be proactive by using their own skills and that of well-meaning others to defend themselves against bad elements.
Vinod Verma, Chairman of European Business Group, India, spoke about the opportunities in the banking sector and the manpower requirements that would be needed to meet the expected increase in the number of banks, both private and public.
Book launch
The city launch of “Uprising 2011”, a book co-authored by Ms. Bedi and Pavan Choudary, author and wisdom educator, was held on the occasion. The book “How a Good Person Can Really Win” by Mr. Choudary was also released.
Nalla G. Palanisamy, Chairman of Kovai Medical Center and Hospital (KMCH) and Thavamani D. Palanisamy, Vice-Chairperson of KMCH, also addressed the students.
