People, Culture and Contemporary Leadership

This document discusses the leadership skills, effectiveness, and contributions of Pranab Mukherjee, an Indian politician and former President of India. It explores his communication skills, commitment and passion, delegation and empowerment, as well as key ways to measure his effectiveness as a leader. The document also highlights his contributions to economic reforms and policies, external affairs, and foreign policies.

Running Head: PEOPLE, CULTURE AND CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP
PEOPLE, CULTURE AND CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1PEOPLE, CULTUTRE AND CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP
LEADERSHIP & SKILLS: A STUDY ON PRANAB MUKHERJEE
Introduction
Pranab Mukherjee is an Indian politician who was born on 11th December, 1935, who
has served as a loyal party member of the Indian National Congress (INC) for a period of
twenty – three years (India Today 2019). Dr. Pranab Mukherjee started his career as a
professor and in no time, joined politics as a member of the INC. He emerged as a close
working member of Indira Gandhi and rose to the position of the President in the recent
times, depicting a strict, bureaucratic and contingent leader (Amanchukwu et al. 2015).
Discussion
Key factors that makes him a successful leader:
 Communication Skills:
Pranab Mukherjee is a very soft person with a good and
grasping ability to orate. His speech has an inherent native accent despite his ability to speak
in the varied languages. This depicts a good leader. Leadership is a sense of commitment and
passion above power and authority. Effective leadership is an attribute of an ordinary person
with extraordinary abilities. Leadership helps in guiding a group or team to work in
collaboration within a cohesive work environment, putting the best of every individual’s
potentialities to work.
 Commitment and Passion:
Dr. Mukherjee has served the party, Indian National
Congress (INC) and the nation for a span of 23 years. Despite forming his own party,

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Samajwadi Party, after he was not given the position of a Prime Minister, he came back
when the party needed him (Larkin et al. 2017).
Pranab Mukherjee has worked as a defense minister and external affairs minister. He
had played a major role in the upliftment of the country, India, in the global front and
international sphere in terms of trade and foreign policies. He has also taken extraordinary
measures as the President of India and put his best foot forth in the development of the
nation. He has worked under severe crisis and pressure from the party and nation. However,
he has emerged as an efficient leader despite these hurdles.
 Delegation and Empowerment:
Pranab Mukherjee has been trying to work on the
empowerment of villages and rural regions through the initiative ‘Smartgram’, which is an
initiative to build Humane, Happy and Hi-Tech townships (Mukherjee, 2019).
Pranab Mukherjee has worked as a defense minister and external affairs minister. He
had played a major role in the upliftment of the country, India, in the global front and
international sphere in terms of trade and foreign policies. He has also taken extraordinary
measures as the President of India and put his best foot forth in the development of the
nation. He has worked under severe crisis and pressure from the party and nation. However,
he has emerged as an efficient leader despite these hurdles.
These factors, as discussed above, depicts the Contingency Leadership skills of the
chosen leader, Pranab Mukherjee.
Key ways to measure the effectiveness of the leader:
 E-Governance:

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Dr. Mukherjee not only brought the President to the twitter to
communicate with the younger section of the population but also adopted newer technologies
like the ‘E-Pustakalaya’ and ‘E-Granthalaya’ for availing access to library, books, museum
contents like the Digital Photo Library as well as ‘E-Mnaagement’ through the E-invitations
Management System (EIMS) (India Today 2019).
The newer methods of digitization is helpful for the development of the nation and
progress as it cuts down wastage of time and inability to access major resources, owned by
the nation.
 Welfare Programs:
This entails programs aimed at the development of children and
the youth as well as drafting five – year plans that focuses on ‘trickle – down effect’ and
upliftment of the economically underprivileged ones. This targets on development of the poor
before targeting a higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the cost of increasing income
inequality.
There was a major focus on uplifting the lower income groups and working towards a
better future where there would be more happiness and satisfactory living conditions above
scales of GDP growth.
 Audit:
This includes hiring efficient external and internal auditors, revenue experts
and other officials to control a difficult situation. The situation is evident from the year when
Dr. Manmohan Singh was given the position of regulating the finance ministry when the
GPD growth was depleting at an increased rate and Mr. Mukherjee was evidently failing to
cope up with the same.

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However, he welcomed Manmohan sigh with wide arms. Singh not only uplifted the
economic depression but also brought in a significant change, termed as the ‘liberalization’
policy (Mea.gov.in 2019). New leaders are welcomed by the ones who are potentially abled
to identify them and come down of their own stature in necessary conditions for the
development of the mass and the economy. Liberalization policies aimed at the economic
development. However, its success led to a boom in the business cycle and economic growth,
cutting down debts as well as increasing the nation’s GDP.
Thus, these factors depicts a significant leadership skill in the chosen leader, Pranab
Mukherjee as the Bureaucratic Leadership skill.
Contributions of the leader to the Organization:
Economic Reforms and Policies:
Implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(NREGA) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA)
programs besides the increase in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that brought down the
price of petroleum as well as introduction of the PSUs (Private Sector Undertakings)
(@businessline 2019).
External Affairs:
The external policies that boosted trade and promoted free and open
trade increased the income of the nation from FDI as well as Net Exports during the late
1990s.
 Foreign Policies:
The development of the Association of South East Nations (ASEAN)
policy, Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as well as the formation of the South Asian Association

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of Regional Corporations (SAARC) countries aim at the development of the countries to
become self – sufficient (@businessline 2019).

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Mukherjee, A. (2019). Reforms is a continuous process: Pranab Mukherjee. [online] The
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