Leadership and Governance: A Study of Narendra Modi's Leadership Styles

This report analyzes the leadership styles of Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, and how he has adapted his strategies to lead the country in a competent manner. The report highlights his strategic, transformational, coercive, and charismatic leadership styles. It also discusses his ethics and how he has demonstrated excellence in his ethics. The report is relevant for students studying leadership and governance, and for those interested in understanding the leadership styles of Narendra Modi.

Leadership and governance
Narendra Modi

Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
About Narendra Modi......................................................................................................................2
Leadership styles.............................................................................................................................2
Strategic leadership style.............................................................................................................3
Transformational leadership style................................................................................................3
Coercive leadership style.............................................................................................................4
Charismatic leadership.................................................................................................................5
Ethics of Narendra Modi.................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
Leadership within any organization plays a vital role in the success of that organization. Leaders
have the responsibility of guiding their team and ensuring that their followers remain motivated
and focused. Leadership roles are consistently evolving (Mujtaba & McFarlane, 2005). Effective
organizational leaderships is pivotal to ensure enhanced productivity of the organization. There
are various leaders who have changed the shape of the world through their exceptional leadership
abilities and transformational visions. This report highlights the story of a renowned leader who
started his career as a mere tea vendor in the small city of Vadnagar in India and went on to lead
the country as a Prime Minister of the nation (Marino, 2014). Through this report, Narendra
Modi’s competent leadership styles have been thrown light upon and his adopted strategies have
been linked with leadership theories in order to gain a deeper understanding of him as a leader.
About Narendra Modi
Born in 1950 to a middle class family of Gujarat, India, Narendra Modi was a bright student who
helped his father sell tea at the railway station in his hometown. He entered the Indian politics in
2001 and served four terms as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. On 26th May 2014, Narendra Modi
was elected as the Prime Minister of the largest democracy in the world. Since then, his
leadership style and efforts to change the face of the Indian economy have garnered him
attention from around the world (Rajput, 2014). Today the man has become a global leader and
his leadership styles are inspiring leaders from different walks of life. Narendra Modi has
become a brand which has all the right ingredients of a global dominance and leadership.
Leadership styles
Narendra Modi’s leadership styles have been a source of inspiration for various leaders. Leading
an entire country is a lot more demanding than leading an organization. The leader is required to
change his leadership style in the face of changing circumstances (Goleman, 2017). Narendra
Modi has demonstrated suitable styles of leadership and adapted effective strategies in order to
lead the country in a competent manner.

Strategic leadership style
In order to take control of and effectively manage an economy as large as India, Narendra Modi
follows a Strategic leadership style. A strategic leader has the ability to influence his followers
to enhance the prospects of a longer term success of the organization (Mintzberg, 2009).
Narendra Modi has a solid vision for the country which continues to motivate him to lead the
country to excellence. One of the most important qualities of a leader is the ability to lead by
example (Hackman & Johnson, 2013). Narendra Modi has been taking significant steps in
leading the country from the front. He has taken key interest in improving India’s international
relationships with other nations especially with Russia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Afghanistan,
Bangladesh and United States of America. He has spent a significant part of his term in
conducting meetings with spokespersons of various nations. He leads the meetings and take
initiative in establishing and improving mutually beneficial relationships with other countries.
This has turned India into an attractive destination for investments. FII and FDI investments
within India are at their highest at the moment. This leads to overall improvement of the
economy.
Transformational leadership style
Narendra Modi has also demonstrated transformational leadership. A transformational leader
aims to change the face of the organization by bringing in a large scale transformation (Garcia-
Morales et. al., 2012). A transformational leader has a long term vision for the organization.
Narendra Modi has a vision a making India a country free from corruption, reduce
unemployment, eradicate illiteracy and develop a self-sufficient economy. A strong vision of a
leader requires the leader to lead by example, motivate people and handle conflicts effectively
(Tourish, 2016). Transformational leaders have a strong risk appetite and are not afraid to move
away from status quo.
Narendra Modi has been working on making India a truly digital nation. Every citizen of the
country can use either of driving license, passport, PAN card, ration card or school or college ID
card as a legal identification card. However, Narendra Modi launched a campaign of UID
(Unique identification) within the country. As a part of this campaign, a team was set up that
worked towards creating a single identity card for every citizen of the country. Therefore he

made is compulsory for every citizen to have an ‘Adhaar card’. This card has details of every
individual’s address, date of birth and full name. At present, that single identity card is linked to
an individual’s bank account, mobile phone, vehicle numbers or any sources of investment. This
step has brought about a wave of transformation in the country and has organized the
identification process to a large extent (Kossek, 2016).
Similarly, in order to make India a self-sufficient economy, Narendra Modi initiated the ‘Make
in India’ campaign. Through this campaign, he encouraged 25 selected industries of the country
to manufacture and produce their goods within India. In order to achieve this, he allowed 100%
FDI in all the 25 sectors (Make In India, 2018). Import duties were also increased to encourage
people to buy home grown products rather than imported substances. Owing to this campaign,
India not only received a hefty investment amount from other countries but also India jumped to
100th place in the Ease of doing Business Index by the World Bank. Before the campaign, India
was ranked 130th in 2016 (World Bank, 2018). This is largely beneficial in the longer run and
Narendra Modi has demonstrated an excellent example of transformational leadership.
Excellent communication skills are also an important attribute of effective leadership (Carter &
Greer, 2013). These decisions of the Prime Ministers often faced criticism from different parts of
the country. However, Narendra Modi has been giving public speeches and writing open letter to
the citizens of the country in order to create transparency about this decisions. Transparent
decision making of a leader enhances trust in the team.
Coercive leadership style
Coercive leadership is also known as autocratic leadership style. This leadership style requires
leaders to take strict decision by themselves with little or no participation from the team. A
coercive leader says ‘Do as I say’ (Castle & Decker, 2011). In order to ensure that coercive
leadership style is a success, a leader must be absolutely sure of his vision as well as his actions.
Narendra Modi often has to take decisions which are highly autocratic in nature. However, it is
important for the growth of the Indian economy. A Coercive leader must be aware that any
negative repercussions of the decisions made by a coercive leader can make the team lose faith
and trust in the leader (Northouse, 2018).

Two years back in 2016, Narendra Modi took one such decision that changed the shape of Indian
economy. In order to curb corruption and target the number of people with high values of black
money, Narendra Modi declared two important currency denominations (INR 500 and INR
1000) illegal. He planned the move very thoughtfully, announced the decision on live news and
made it effective immediately. Banks were issued new currency notes, the very same night and
limits were defined about the value of currency that can be exchanged from the bank. This
automatically adversely impacted all the citizens of the country who had accumulated black
money in cash in large chunks. Reserve bank of India revealed that 99% of the old currency
notes have returned to the banks (First Post, 2018). This ensures that the currencies present in the
market are all legal. Overall, a single move from the Prime Minister helped the country recover
INR 3000 billion.
A Coercive leadership style requires leaders to take strong steps. This leadership style can only
be successful if the leader has a strong vision and tactful planning ability for the betterment of
the organization (Helms, 2012).
Charismatic leadership
Charismatic leaderships is the ability of a leader to motivate the team based on charisma, charm
and persuasiveness of the leadership (Avolio & Yammarino, 2013). Narendra Modi has a
dynamic personality. Before starting his tenure as the Prime Minister of the country, he served
four terms as the chief minister of Gujarat. Throughout his tenure, he earned immense
appreciation from all the citizens of the country. He changed the entire landscape of Gujarat and
improved the economy of the state.
Charismatic leader must be confident and possess excellent oratory skills. This is important in
order to persuade team members to perform better (Connelly, Gaddis & Helton-Fauth, 2013).
Narendra Modi as earned respect and appreciation throughout the globe owing to his personality
and persuasiveness. Narendra Modi often participates in events and delivers seminars and
sessions in order to enhance awareness about his decisions and create transparency within the
country. He also visits schools, colleges as well as youth festivals in order to build a better
rapport with youth of the country. He believes that the youth are the future of the country and it
is important to be able to build trust with this segment.

Narendra Modi has a unique charm and has a vibrant personality. He was the first prime minister
of the country to ensure that all the speeches delivered by him across the globe would be done in
Hindi which is the national language of India. He has also put efforts in meeting eminent figures
of the country including those who are not associated from the Indian politics. He takes time to
meet with Indian citizens who are making a significant difference in their industry. These people
include Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli, Global actress Priyanka Chopra, Olympics silver
medalist PV Sindhu and Tennis player Sania Mirza. By associating with these people, he has
been able to reach out to their audience as well. This leads to improved positioning of the leader
in the minds of the followers. Leadership also understands the importance of social media (Poba-
Nzaou et. al., 2016). This is precisely why Modi has been active across all social media
platforms. Narendra Modi’s charisma and flamboyance has been known across the globe and
through these, he has been able to create a large group of fiercely loyal followers who believe in
his set of values and ethics. These efforts by the Prime Minister have bonded the country of India
towards a single goal and this has been possible only due to the charisma of its leader Narendra
Modi.
Ethics of Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi has always considered himself as a servant of the country. He strongly believes
that all the individuals holding a public office are required to provide service to the team.
Greenleaf’s theory of servant leadership is a timeless concept which associates true leadership as
a service to others (Van Dierendonck, 2011). Narendra Modi lives a simple lifestyle and is much
related to his roots of his middle class family. Narendra Modi has also taken various steps in
ensuring that the country’s growth and development does not come at an expense of corrupt
officials. Narendra Modi is a perfect example of ethics demonstrated by a leader. His
understanding of right and wrong and ability to keep the growth of the country above everything
else demonstrates excellence of his ethics.
Ethics of a leader are often evident through the leader’s moral judgments. There have been
various instances where the Prime Minister has taken ethical calls in the face of strong dilemma.
Such steps by the leader instil trust in the minds of his followers and motivate others also to stay

on the path of righteousness. An ethical leader ensures that the organization grows in an ethical
manner in order to ensure the long term sustainability and growth for the business.
Conclusion
Effective leadership plays a pivotal role in the success of any organization. A leader can easily
make or break a team. Leaders of a team are bestowed upon with various responsibilities
including motivating followers, guiding them in the right direction, having a clear vision and the
addressing inter-team conflicts. A leader is also important in maintaining the atmosphere of the
team.
This report aims to introduce a dynamic leader, Narendra Modi, who is the current Prime
Minister of India. Besides being the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi is a globally
renowned leader. There are various leadership styles that have been adopted by Narendra Modi
depending upon different circumstances encountered by the PM.
In order to remove corruption, Narendra Modi adopted a coercive leadership style and took strict
measures to curb the same. For the betterment of the country, Modi adopted a strategic
leadership approach. In order to bring about large scale changes in India, PM adopted a
transformational leadership approach. Lastly, in order to build trust and communication with the
youth of the country, Modi adopted a charismatic leadership approach.
Narendra Modi’s leadership style has been a source of inspiration for people across the globe.
The man has worked hard at ensuring the growth and development of the country. Today, India
makes a significant mark in the world map and this has only been possible under the flamboyant
leadership of Mr. Narendra Modi.

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