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"That which was successfully practiced is what is spelled out here. Notpractice following theory but theory emerging out of successsful practice.First practice, then theory. There are more fresh truths and insights here thanwhat could be learnt from a hundreds of conferences, seminars, TVdiscussions and Davos type conclaves of the rich and powerful. Theexperience of one lifetime spent in the successful revival of so manyorganizations and the consequent conflicts is more than sufficient to drawsome conclusions. Most of these are in the nature of revealed hope paths outof the impasses each one of us faces and some describe sterile dead endswhich we ought to abandon immediately - the destruction of misleadingillusions only after which is the truth grasped, the correct path seen. Theseillusions are lucrative, so demolishing them will be fiercely resented. I am notan commentator who has gained his knowledge of the world around us fromreports, libraries, journals, studies and interviews with the distinguished. Nodocuments are referred to , only my memory spoke to me. My understandingsnarrated here are forged from a real lived life, which is my own. Action was thedrum beat which urged me forwards. I acted first, out of some intuitive beliefs

and a general understanding of the world around and never from rule books,and drew my conclusions afterwards. It is these conclusions that arepresented on this site. The actions are described in greater length in mymemoirs. Both this site and my memoirs are very different from anything youmay have read tilll now. This is reason enough to read what is written here. Butthis is not a feel good book. As I mention repeatedly, doing good is never feelgood. I learned directly from life and never took any superfluous advice. Whenyou seek directions autonomously , the measuring instruments and score cardof the experienced world directly tells you every second what is happeningand also the best way to go, and any corrections can be made in real time byconstant feedback. In such situations all advice is superfluous and I made myown decisions. This book is about how this process played out. Here you willfind no hackneyed phrases, no buzzwords; everything is freshminted from areal life. The accounts narrated here were played out on the business stages.These are real as you can get, success or failure are splashed in primarycolours, of black and red. They cannot be faked or if they are, time will exposethem. After every success , I faced opposition from the official stakeholderswho benefited the most. The conclusion is damning - ethical success isopposed in India. It logically follows that most of what are shown assuccesses in public life in our country would have a question mark aroundthem and need to be examined carefully. This implication will multiplymanifold the number of those who will be opposed to my conclusions. Theyare the vested interests who will oppose the ethical. And thereby hangs the

tale which I now narrate.

#" Each person at the head of any organization , government or private,must think independently to be ethically effective. The phrase SeekingDirections, which is the title of my Memoirs, in its two opposite meaningscovers the entire spectrum of a civil servant's ability to act. One meaning

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would be seeking orders or guidance from a higher level. The other meaningrefers to a way of thinking and acting which is at the other end of thespectrum. The ethical leader seeks directions autonomously looking to theneeds of the organization to grow and flourish. He assumes that the powerfulstakeholders of the organization, those who posted him and can remove him,will be satisfied if the organization does well by objective marketmeasurements. He does not try to please the powerful in any other way. Thosewho experienced my ways of working both in Gujarat and Kerala, will agree Iwas such an ethical. There is no point in writing about ethical managhementunless one has successfully demonstrated it in the real world of business. Idid this."

#" Nobody chooses to be a rebel. One can do it in college but that isonly a pose and is forgiven provided it stops there. It usually does. In real lifeit is almost always the weak who rebel and this act is always against somecondition which restiricts their freedom or keeps them in a subordinatepostion unjustly. The rebel whose postion is weak almost always fails in his

effort to win for himself that measure of fairnes and dignity he is entitled to asa human being. The rebellion of the weak can succeed only if it is a socialmovement on a large scale and is led by charismatic and dedicated leaders.But what about a person in a positon of some limited power and influence?Such a person is not usually a rebel as then he would be pitted against thevery establishment from which he draws his power. But the role of a rebel ISTHE INEVITABLE CONSEQUENCE for such a person if he decides to SEEKDIRECTIONS AUTONOMOUSLY IN HIS OFFICIAL DUTIES, in other words, if hefunctions ethically. The weak person rebels against unjust conditions. Thestrong person positively fights for that which he sees is good and which hefeels he can himself achieve in his own organization which he heads, with hisown powers, without any outside help. As he succeeds in this, the powerfulincluding the official stakeholders turn against him. He is then engaged indefending his organization's interests and stands up against these persons.Once a person heading any organization takes up an ethical role, then successin the organizational goals and conflict with the powerful is the inevitableconsequence. But he rebels not against that which is wrong but for that whichis right. Society benefits greatly from such persons.

# This is a digital doorway leading to the memoirs of Alexander K.Luke, who served in Gujarat and Kerala in the Indian Administrative Service

for long. He also worked in two private sector organizations in Mumbai. Beingposted as CEO to companies when they were in distress, he was able toturnaround or substantially improve nine of them. The corporations he headedwere among the biggest and most important in Gujarat and Kerala. He doesnot complain that he was not given crucial assignments. But they were in acritical state when he took charge and there was no interest among otherofficers for these assignments because the task was dificult. But he doescharge the owners of all these companies of turning against him once he had

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revived them. This was understandable as they saw the threat Shri Lukeposed.

# Perhaps no one in the world has such a record of turnarounds. Heshares no similarity with other civil servants. He differs from them inpractically every way.

# His academic record was mediocre and he possessed no exceptionalpersonal capabilities.

# He was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award by the IndianInstitute of Technology, Mumbai in 2001

# Because of his serial successes, he was known as the TurnaroundMan of Gujarat. Many referred to him as the Man with the Midas Touch andsome as Parasmani. His efforts created thousands of crores of new wealth andpresented to the world a new model of ethical business success, somethingwhich most persons had thought to be nothing more than a utopian fantasy.

# Faced with the choice of maintaining good relations with the powerful

and improving the organizations under his charge, he chose the latter. Heallowed no interference - political, administrative or of power brokers - in hisorganizations. This generated intense hostility against him among thoseexcluded who then combined to remove him from his post as soon as theorganization had been revived.

# His memoirs highlight the practice and theory of ethical managementin the revival of commercial or economic organizations. It is anuncompromising but true account of his professional experiences andprovides insights that can be drawn from them.

# He shows how ethical management produces results far superior toexisting corporate and civil service models. But it faces intense oppositionfrom those who benefited from an unethical set up. He defines an ethical as aperson in a position of power and responsibility who, working for those hedoes not know and those who cannot pay him back, yet achieves the practical

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business goals of the organization even while facing the opposition of thepowerful. The ethical is strong, not in the sense of his ability to coerce othersor take what he wants, but becasue he creates a sheltering canopy for those

who need it. There are so many who do need it. Strength is the ability anddesire to nurture others. Strength is also the willingness to face the enimity ofthe powerful and the grit and stamina to face adversities and setbacks in therunning of the organizations, day after day, month after month, withoutquitting. Honesty and intelligence are such minor qualities that they are notworth mentioning. A commitment to ethics overtops these qualities. An honestand intelligent person can be and is quite often unethical. Being honest hefeels he can commit the lesser sins.

# Shri Luke joined the Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd inMay, 2003 and left in November , 2006. When he joined, this company, whichwas called The Pride of Gujarat, was tottering on its legs and dirges were

being sung for it. It was burdened with huge debts, negative cash flow, lowproduction and high stocks, serious technical problems in the new ammoniaplant, and large overdues to raw material suppliers.For the three precedingyears, 2000-2003the total loss was Rs. 680cr(Rs 6.8billion), including Rs. 392cr.for 2002-03. For the three succeeding years, 2003-6, the profits were Rs 42cr.,Rs 251 cr. and Rs. 437cr., before tax, totalling Rs. 730cr. EBIDTA increasedform Rs 100cr. in 2002-3 to Rs 670cr in 2005-06 (higher than Tata Chemicalswhich had a larger turnover). The turnover went up from Rs 1890cr to Rs2940cr even with lower fertilizer prices. The EBIDTA to sales ratio went upfrom 5.4 % in 2002-03 to 23.4% in 2005-06 ( Tata Chemicals 19%, Coromandel11%, and RCF 10% ). The return on capital employed went up from minus 9.8%in 2002-03 to +20.3% in 2005-06( ROCE for Tata Chemicals that year was 14%,for Coromandel 15% and for RCF 13%) . The share price which was around Rs14 when he joined, reached Rs. 251 three years later in May 2006, an 18 foldincrease ( today, more than six years after he left, the share price has gone upto Rs 300); during the same period, the share price of similar private sectorcompanies- Tata Chemicals went up from Rs 68 to Rs 275, CoromandelFertilizers from Rs 62 to Rs 114 and that of RCF, a similar Central Governmentcompany, went up from Rs 22 to Rs 72. GSFC, comatose in beginning 2003-04, outpaced and overtook all these well known companies. Technicalproblems were set right. All plants worked at full capacity. These resultswere achieved without any cash infusion from any source or the retrenchmentof a single employee. Shri Luke's salary of Rs 25000 pm was three times the

salary of the lowest paid employee of the company. The entire long term debtof the company, of Rs 970 cr including Rs. 90cr. of the state government, wasprepaid during 2004-05 and 2005-06 as against the scheduled 10 years. Manybusiness analysts would find it hard to believe these figures. The mostimaginative fiction writer would hesitate to project such a successfulfightback. It was the most inspiring turnaround ever witnessed in India or evenperhaps even the world. No member of any of even the most illustrious privatesector business dynasties in India could have a record to rival this intense

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effort. The revivals he brought about in eight other companies under him ,though a bit less spectacular, were of the same calibre and quality. Amongthese was the rejuvenation of the giant Sardar Sarovar Project which was in astate of terminal coma when he took charge - there was no work at any of theproject sites when he took over; all these sites, including many new onestaken up, were working round the clock the day he left, except the dam sitewhich had a legal stay; the other works were many times the value of the dam.The Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals which had run out of cash with cashlosses, was revived by him in an epic effort. The GNFC showed substantialimprovements under him. Under his personal direction, the FisheriesDepartment convincingly demonstrated brackish water prawn culture, on alarge commercial scale, to entrpreneurs in South Gujarat thereby establishingthis practice there. In Kerala, he revived the KMML and TTP which were bothsickening, within three months turning them from loss to profit. Hisunprecedented record of serial revivals was based on unselfish love anddedication towards the public interest. This is a never before witnessedscorecard of turnarounds of sick companies while functioning as CEO, and

that too for such pitiful rewards and continuing opposition.

# The Financial Times of London recently published a ranking of CEOsin UK for the value they deliver to share holders. The increase in share valueof the company during the CEO's tenure divided by his total compensation isthe measure by which CEOs are ranked. For the biggest 100 companies, theaverage ratio was 339, for the biggest 250 companies it was lower at 120. Thehighest score for a CEO was 3631; that is for one pound paid to him he created3631 pounds of additional value for share holders.Taking a conservative shareprice increase of Rs150 during Shri Luke's time in GSFC, the share value ofthe company increased by Rs 1200cr. for its 8cr. shares. His total salary forthe 3 and half years in GSFC was Rs 20 lacs. His score would be 6000 which ishigher than the best in the FT rankings. With the EPS going up from minus Rs

48 to + Rs 37, a swing of Rs 85 which taking it over 8cr shares, comes to anannual postive swing of Rs 680cr which would translate into the net presentvalue of the company going up by Rs 5000cr. and the ratio for him would go

beyond 25000! For those For those three and half years, probably he was theword's most cost effective CEO; taking little, creating a lot.

# During a six month period in 2009 -10 as CEO with the GhardaChemicals, a private, very private, sector company, with an admirable cultureof scientific research, but very poorly managed, he doubled the profits in spiteof low rainfall and lower prices. The profit during this time was Rs. 102 croresagainst Rs. 97 cr. during the previous year. ( The working capital utilizationwith the bank was brought down to Rs 2 cr. the day he left from the Rs 118cr.when he joined. This figure, which is verifiable, supports the profit claimedabove). He now feels this to have been his easiest effort. Such low hanging

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fruit are in plenty in most private sector companies. His success hereprevented the company takeover by a private equity giant as the price agreedto by the owner before he joined was now felt to be too low looking to theprofits Shri Luke generated. In a short time he proved himself to be the greaterwealth creator than the owner. But he decided to leave the company when theowner insisted on remaining present in his daily coordination meetings withthe officers. Ethical success here too was generating insecurity andresentment in the principal beneficiary. Control is preferred to performance.Performance can be sacrificed, never control. In much of corporate Indiaincluding the private sector, control is in the hands of persons who lack thecapability of taking the organization to peak performance.

# The drip irrigation program in Gujarat had become bogged down ininefficiency and irregularities. While serving as MD in GSFC Shri Lukevolunteered to take up this program in a transparent and efficient manner. Thisprogram was withdrawn from the Agriculure Dept. and handed over to GSFC toimplement. Under his close supervision, the newly formed company, the

GGRC, of which he was the founder Chairman, implemented it speedily andeffectively, becoming a model for drip programs else where in the country. Thefarmers of Gujarat enthusiastically appreciated the way it was done when ShriLuke was at the helm. There was no corruption, leakage, bogus reporting ordelay and the quality of work satisfied the farmers; 100% benefits went to thefarmers. This success, along with the GSFC revival, infuriated the state'sleadership, which claims to be pro industry and pro farmer, and precipitatedthe events which led to his taking early retirement from the IAS and leavingGujarat. This leadership, like all other power formations in India, is pro farmerand industry but not if such programs are led by an ethical. They want theleverage and they want the credit for success; neither of which is given tothem if such programs are led by an ethical.

# In Gujarat, adverse remarks in Shri Luke's Annual ConfidentialReports, approved by the Chief Minister, were communicated to him for twoconsecutive years, 2004-5 and 2005-6, which was the period of the mostintense flowering of the GSFC miracle. In Kerala, after the company revival byhim over a period of 18 months, one day the KMML unions physicallyprevented his entry into the company premises for 5 days, an act for whichthey drew no rebuke from the State Ministers. His resignation followedimmediately and the Industry Minister accepted it in indecent haste the sameday.

BJP to CPM, and all political formations in between, they know how todeal with an ethical who thinks the public interest is a sufficient warrant toact! At these times Shri Luke was isolated and stood alone. The oppositionto ethical successes was not imagined by him, it was real and formidable, andcaused him severe personal dislocations.

This was how the Gujarat and Kerala governments repaid him for hisservices, services which were without equal in the history of these states.

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The qualities of economic leadership which are now ascribed to the Gujaratleadership were displayed by him in the purest form in the revival of its majorcorporations. What's sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander.

# In all these organizations revived by Shri Luke, he left behind systemsof transparent information flows and structured decision making. In everysuch organization, these systems were retained and constituted themechanism for day to day functioning after he left. None of his decisions,including those involving huge financial ones, have been questioned. Eventhose who ousted him began to speak glowingly of his contribution once hewas safely out of the way Shri Luke's ways of working and contributions havestood the test of time even in ideologically opposed camps like Gujarat andKerala. He estimates his ethical model created real and potential future wealth,additional to what would have been created in his absence, of more than Rs10000cr. by all these efforts. This is wealth which would not have beenotherwise created. To illustrate, nobody, not even the brightest star from the

private sector from India or abroad, could have revived GSFC the way he did -

unaided, unrewarded and unsung.

Shri Luke's views

# All these revivals and turnarounds under me were achieved withoutany cash infusiton from outside and without retrenchiing a single worker.These turnarounds happened so quickly and almost, as it appeared, inevitably,

that I received some friendly advice not to make it look so easy but to spreadit out over a longer period! Today I am confident of turning around anyorganization which is not yet certified dead. But there are no takers. It is theethical baggage I carry that dissuades them. The Government of Indiaconsidered my name for heading HMT, which is very small and very sick, -turnover for the first two quarters of 2012-13 is Rs. 84 cr. with a loss of Rs.53cr., but somebody decided against it, perhaps for fear I would actually turnit around! The company has some prime lands.

# A person who drives an expensive car shows everyone that he hasmade enough money to have bought one. The owner of a large house is alsoexhibits his wealth to the world. He who checks in to an expensive hotel

likewise shows he has the means to do so. An industrialist who names hiscompany and even his products after his or his family name is glorifyinghimself even more audaciously. All of them are loudly exhibiting their wealthand achievements no matter how humble their personal demeanour. It is thesame with anyone who attains high office , a fact which is soon known to all.All this is accepted as normal. Ethical success also needs to stand on thatlighted stage where exceptional deeds are celebrated. It is therefore properthat ethical success like mine also be projected particularly as the unethicals

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would otherwise prefer to ignore it as it embarrasses them. Ethical successboldly projected would also encourage others to attempt it. This is my answerto those who feel talking about one's own success is hubris. If you have madewealth then one must not boast about it as the reward for efforts is alreadyreceived. But if one has ethically revived organizations, improved thousandsof ordinary lives, created wealth for others without doing it proportionately foroneself, and done all this against the opposition of the powerful, and if thosewho benefited have not formally acknowledged it, then one must continuouslyblow one's own trumpet and wave the ethical victory banner from the highestpoint so that all can see these deeds repeatedly. A person with hubris couldnot be an ethical. The ethical makes great wealth for society and nothing forhimself. People need to know this. If nobody else does it, I will myself make itknown to all who take some trouble to know these things. I take pride in what Idid. It was big, it was unique, it was hazardous, and it was unselfish andaltruistic.

# I am presentling my achievements somewhat prominently alsobecause without these my ethics would not be taken seriously at all. The menof power, wealth, or long experience would smile disdainfully, and remark thatwhat I talked about was something out of cloud cuckoo land. These successeswill make clear that ethical management did win astounding victories in theirown fields. And unlike them I did all this without any possibility of becomingwealthy or personally successful or any sort of reward , in fact againstopposition. A system of values which can do this is surely superior to theirmoney and chair driven exertions. It is worth a respectful look. In fact let mesay it without ambiguity. Ethical management can make India a country greatin wealth and material prosperity. The present policy driven administration oreven creating a broad highway for the free market can never do this.

# In any merit loving society, these breakthroughs should have yieldedan extraordinary payback of praise, honors and public expression of gratitudeby the owners and other stakeholders . A huge tidal wave of applausereverberating accross the entire country and even beyond, was what Ivisualised in my more sublimely hopeful moments! But the owners of thesecompanies saw the revivals as a danger and me as a threat. They saw loomingahead of them the terrifying prospect of these engines of wealth creation (and

wealth destruction) slipping away from their grasp and into an autonomousand ethical mode of functioning, an existential threat. Mostbusinessmen/industrialists/ CEOs too would find these figures uncomfortableto read, having created less and taken out more. None of the business andmanagement associations and institutes acknowlegded and praised this rarestof the rare occurrences. They all turned their faces away. It was anunambiguous thumbs down to practical business ethics of which they allhave a visceral fear. These persons now appear frequently on TV ,

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wondering why the India growth rate is slipping. I can tell them. The scaminduced acceleration in business confidence is losing momentum, the easypickings are over and yet the Indian government and business men resolutelyrefuse to turn to ethical pathfinders to lead them out of this maze. There isenough talent, drive capability, imagiantion and sheer intelligence amongIndian entrepreneures and managers to take India to an even faster growthpath, with equity, than what was achieved in 2007 -2010. But they are all awareof an absence of ethics among the powerful because of which they slow downtheir responses holding back their best. This is the only reason for oureconomic disappointments. I wish everybody would say it out loud and shoutit from the roof tops, using the most powerful megaphone they can find. But itis nothing more than a wish. There is a conspiracy of silence on ethicalmanagement.

# There is nothing personal in the hostility I faced. It is a characteristic

of our public life which in some form or essence, is repeated in hundreds andthousands of cases, every day, somewhere or the other in our country. If I wasthe only person who had ever experienced this, then this story would not beworth narrating. This hostility among the powerful towards ethical action isall pervasive in our country and has kept India weak, divided and foreverhobbled with conflict , controversies and factions. Our human capabilities ofbrain, heart and soul entitle India and its people to a far better life than theobscene wealth, middle class angst and grinding poverty of the masses thatwe now see.

#Everyone wishes to be ethical but most give up when they see thefrowning face of Authority. I was stubborn and kept an unwavering ethicalkeel. But ours is no country for bold men. Ideals die young here.

# There are two fundamental realities that face India today. Both theseare contained in my experiences. My book revolves around these. This is whyit is so important for every thinking Indian to read or at least know about myexperiences. The first reality is that all of our difficulties can be convertd intoopportunities by an ethical approach in which success is certain and failure

impossible. The other fundamental reality we face is that the ethical approachwill be opposed tooth and nail by today's leadership. This is the tragedy Indiafaces. Every thing else follows from these two fundamentals.

# It is a tragic scene we behold. Great hopes lie suppressed and angersweeps the land. Mother India distraught and weeping, her children cheated

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and deceived, hopes betrayed, promises broken. But within this catharticscene lie the seeds of a different future, a brighter better future, a futurewhere we become what we were meant to be, just as a seed has within it thecapability of a giant oak. We just have to break the chains which imprison us.Only ethical leadership will do this.

# The ethical engine is powered forward by a scientific ratio and nottraditional morality. The reader should now click on the Principles of EthicalManagement icon and quickly go through it. Ethics works on anunderstanding of human motivation. Ethical management releases man'ssuppressed capabilities. That is how its amazing victories are won. It is notbecasue of the personal skills or ability of the leader in performing field tasksbetter than any of his employees. They are capable of doing it far better thanhim. He only opens the locks that hold us back and brings out the hiddencapabilites of eacteam member. An ethical leader is one who uses this

scientific ethics with courage and single minded dedication towards theorganizational peak performance. The ethical leader has the courage to facethose stronger than him. Moreover the ethical is prepared to to sufferpersonal setbacks in the defence of his organization's interest. This isessential, for without this he cannot be called ethical and will definitely fail.The failure in Indian leadership is largely here. Except in the rare cases, theethical leader will find the keys to the organization's revival and make ithappen INVARIABLY. An ethical leader never fails. If he fails, it means he hasnot scientifically applied ethics here. He was therefore not ethical in thisparticular case. It must be repeated that ethical is a term for describing ascientific approach to organizational revival by motivating its employees. It isnot a term describing a traditionally moral person. No adverse personaljudgement is implied by calling a person unethical. Such persons coulddisplay all those qualities which in society's eyes make him a good person. Itis similar to saying he is not scientific in his professional work. A gardenerwill not be called a good gardener if his plants are in a poor shape. A heartsurgeon will not be called a good heart surgeon if his patients have a highmortality rate. The same way, a leader cannot be called ethical if he fails. Torepeat, an ethical leader NEVER fails in the task alotted to him as long as heremains ethical. Because of powerful opposition, he may be removed beforehe completes the task but that is not failure. Even during the time he wasthere, people will say he was successful. So when we talk of an ethical leader,it is a very exclusive club we are talking about. Perhaps the most exclusive in

the world ! This is not hubris. In fact, it is very far from it. An ethical iscondemned to walk alone, facing the slings and arrows of an outraged elite.But ethicals are self appointed. No application form is required to join thisclub. Any person holding any position of power and responsibility can becomeethical by just deciding to be so. His capabilities will increase many foldimmediately though he will become more vulnerable to the anger of thepowerful unethicals. I always knew that many persons, who being unethical

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and consequently unable to achieve successes like mine, were inherentlymore capable than me and could have surpassed mehad they turned ethical.

# The ethical leader continuously seeks ethical directions. Ethics thentells him what must be done, never what should not be done. Unlike thetraditionally moral person who defines himself as moral by the wrongs he didnot commit, the ethical person sees himself as ethical because of the positivethings he did. The traditionally moral person rejects wrong doing because ofthe fear of adverse consequences to him personally including lower selfesteem. The ethical goes ahead to do the right things, as revealed to him byethical direction seeking, even while being aware of theharm that may result tohim personally because of it. So there is a world of difference between atraditionally moral person, otherwise known as the honest and intelligentperson, on the one hand , and the true ethical. The ethical does not try toplease the powerful and does not even not try not to displease the powerful.

He assumes that organizational success under him would please them andorganization weaknesses would displease them. The fact that this is not sodoes not change his behaviour. Belief in a moral world is not an option. Thisbelief is not a reflection of the world as it exists. It is a transformational visionwhich will create a moral world within the radius of his control. This ethicalworld that he creates around him is successful in all its organizational goals.Practical success is not at the cost of ethics but because of it.

# Being ethical is a description of a person's record in his professionallife. First and foremost, he should have grown and strengthened hisorganization's legitimate interests. He could do this only if he had defended

the organization's legitimate interests. It is only persons who are powerful whocan threaten an organization's interests; this situation is particularly so in ourcountry. The ethical should therefore have defended the organizationalinterests against these powerful persons. So the ethical must have a record ofconflicts against powerful persons incuding those who appointed him andthose who can harm him and even remove him from his post. Secondly asstated , he should have been successful in improving the health of hisorganization or that part of the organization that he controls. For this he mustbe creative in his work. He must be able to spread his creativity to othermemebers of his team and bring out the best in them. This in brief, is how anethical is identified. And how to identify an unethical? Anyone who is notethical is, by exclusion, unethical. Not being ethical is the single failure that

damns him. The unethical does not have to commit any of the deadly sins toqualify. Most unethicals are pious, good family men, honest, hard working, donot tell lies except by suppression , in fact law abiding, decent folk, very oftenthe pillars of society types. The only reason for calling them unethical is thatthey are not ethical as per the above two requirements. Naturally the numberof ethicals in any society is minute. They are like those trace elements in thebody which are vital to its health. It is in society's interests to maintain a smallnumber of these elements.

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# The ethical is identified by his record of what he has done and not bywhat he intends to do or what he feels is worthwhile doing. After a thing isdone it will be added to his tally. This simple filter will keep out all the advisoryexperts, thinkers and policy planners and other busy bodies who keep talkingabout what should be done. They should be asked- What did you do/are doingwhen you occupied/are occupying a seat of authority?

# There is the Primary Ethical who pursues the ethical path regardlessof opposition and personal setbacks. He is able to influence and convert toethical behaviour those over whom he is in some position of authority. TheseSecondary Ethicals turn ethical only if someone in a position of power overthem behaves ethically. In any society the number of Primary Ethicals is verysmall but almost everyone is potentially a Secondary Ethical. In time, some ofthese Secondary Ethicals will turn into Primary Ethicals. The number ofPrimary Ethicals in any society is directly proportional to the desire of that

society to progress ethically.

# A philosopher had said - "Mankind always takes up only suchproblems as it can solve; since, looking at the matter more closely, we willalways find that the problem itself arises only whenthe material conditionsnecessary for its solution already exist or are at least in the proceess offormation." We never take up a problem that cannot be solved. Nobody triesto revive a man who has been dead for a month. Today it is impossible toturnaround a factory which used to make tape recorders except if some new

technology has developed which produces a superior product. That is whyany organization which is capable or was once capable of serving a usefulsocial or economic purpose can be revived. This applies with greater forcewhere a new plant is set up. Nothing that is worth doing is impossible. Theconditions for its success already exist. But the solutions will not come to uson a plattter. It has to be sought ethically, that is scientifically. By scientific Ido not mean exclusivley physics, chemistry and thermodynamics but thescientific approach of pursuing cause and effect relationships, even whilesearching for human motivations. The forces that shape this world have anintelligence that pose only those problems to us that we can tackle. Nothingwe wish to do, provided it is an intelligent wish, is impossible. But courage isrequired, and stamina. Consequently any failure to achieve success is entirely

becuase of the limitations of the person leading the effort. We are judgedharshly for failure. History is a pitiless judge. This philosophic insight is oneof the profoundest in philosophy. It is a trumpet of hope to rouse those whoare dejected and tired, lost and directionless. What is even more heartening isthat the revived organization is different and better than what it was before thecrises. The Hegelian dialectic of thesis, antithesis and synthesis is at work.The world we live in is potentially capable of infinite improvement. But thisimprovement requires the ethical and does not happen by itself. The ethical

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will be in charge only if society has faith in the transforming power of ethics.Thus only societies which believe in ethics can progress.

# The choices decision makers in India face is not between agricultureor industry , between social equity or material progress, between tribal rightsor development, between forst conservation or coal and mineral extraction,between fiscal prudence or pro poor programs or any of the involved debateswhich occupy the time of our leadership. It is between taking an ethical path orpersisting with the unethical practices of least resistance. The unethicalapproach will see problems that will tie us into perpetual debates. The ethicaleffort will reveal solutions that will propel us into perpetual and meaningfulactions. A conversion to ethics will liberate the energies and potential ofmillions of people. This is the real choice. Most of the present discussions onpolicies are pointless and gives precedence to the talkers, pen pushers andseat warmers who are the least productive agents. Let each decision makerchoose ethics and then the solutions will follow.

# It is a difficult path the ethical walks on and he always walks alone.Those who benefited under him did so because of ethical environment hecreated in the organization. He obliged no one personally. As the freindshipsbetween the men and women of influence usually begins and is sustained bythe giving and taking material favors, though rarely of a directly monetarynature, the ethical has no friends among the powerful and influential. Each oneof them knows that they will get whatever is rightly due to them so there is noneed to cultivate him; they will never get what they are not entitled to, so let uskeep clear of him. But he is no mystic or a lotus eater who has withdrawn

from life. Quite the contrary. He is passionately interested in improving the realworld around him. He walks alone because this is the way to deliver themaximum benefits to those he leads.

# In a society where succcess itself is defined as winning the goodwillof the powerful, the rich and the well connected, an ethical role in the runningof business would invite ridicule. That is why the ethical role has so fewsupporters except among the weak and the vulnerable who benefit most fromit. Today management literature reserves its highest accolades for thoseexhibiting a quality called 'leadership'. Earlier this term was used for those

who had earned it fighting for others on behalf of some cause. A leader wasseen as someone who took risks for those he led. Now the businessmen andexecutives, who have no intention of taking risks on behalf of anyone,definitely not for the weak, have jumped in and have appropriated this term.But this 'leadership' is by the strong and for the strong. These golf players andfrequent flyers will never fight for the weak, so how do they call themselvesleaders? This term is now nothing but a euphemism for a sugar coatedaggression and greed, making symbolic concessions to corporate social

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responsibility. The real corporate responsibility is for the management to beethical. A leadership for the weak and vulnerable, which is what ethicalleadership is, would be dismissed without comment among today's businessheads and management thinkers. To them such leadership is reserved for thetrade unions, NGOs and the Mother Theresas. But the weak and the vulnerableneed the ethical in their daily economic life, having no one else to lead themand so many to mislead them. To me that was good enough reason to beethical. There is a vacancy for good men here. The management field iscrawling with leaders for the strong and well off. There is a shortage ofleaders for the weak and the vulnerable. So I decided to pitch my tent here.

# Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for. They are lost, notdestroyed. Lost because abandoned, but being yet worthy, must berediscovered. To use a term our business experts will understand, the returnshere are far greater. And if you fight for a lost cause, you do not have to fight

off others who are after that chair. They will stake a claim, but only after theorganization has come back to health and your work is over.

# The ethical leader sets up systems wherein all are treated fairly andtheir strengths utilized. In a socially unjust set up the weak and the vulnerablefind themselves patronized at best and marginalized usually. They areexcluded from the benefits due to them. In an ethical arrangement, they wouldget their dues without discrimination and treated as complete human beingsentitled to respect. But the ethical leader is not a spokesman for sectional

interests. The arrangements he sets up benefit the organization and all itsstakeholders fairly.

# The material in this book is not Prahlad, Porter or Peters . Theyworked for rich corporations and in the process became rich. It is not PaulCoelho though there may be a superficial resemblance; he too became richpreaching of the mystical loner who shuns wealth and comfort. It is not, Godforbid, Chetan Bhagat. None of them actually turned around a corporation andwere far too intelligent to have worked against powerful interests. In fact theymade men of wealth and power feel good about themselves portraying them as

historical agents of modernization and change or even heroic Ayn Randcharacters - the man of destiny silhouetted against a dull, disinterested andgreedy world. (To Ayn Rand I would say, I did more than what your heroes didbut did it for altruistic reasons, so that leaves your philosophy in shambles!There can be altruism among the powerful. But perhaps Ayn Rand would havereplied that doing a good deed increases our self worth and so it too is aselfish act. I would agree with her on that. ) There are no management termshere in the book. This is not even a self help book. On the contrary! In fact, the

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book may convince you to act in a manner prejudicial to your own material selfinterest, though it may liberate your soul from a meaningless existence. It willnot help you in your career, get ahead in life or even get along with people.The steps outlined here will align powerful persons against you. This bookwill appear foolish to those who have done well materially in their lives orwish to do well and even to those drones who are without any drivingambitions and just desire to live pleasantly and safely.

# What is in this book is heady stuff and not for them. They espousethe self serving belief that a person holding a position of power and influencecan be ethical without coming into conflict with the powerful and withoutmaking any sacrifice in one's career. This belief is wrong and the book willshow why. What is written here would destroy their self image which has beenso carefully built up on such ratioanalizations. It would taste of gall andwormwood to them. But if you are different and relish the whiff of danger in

the pursuit of a good cause and feel thought intoxicated by a " possibilitybeyond already existing reality ", and are prepared to fight for those whocannot pay you back and those you do not know, and accept losses andpersonal defeats on the way, and are a patriot in the true sense of being "onewho tries to make his country worthy of his love", then read on, read on. Thisbook may be for you.

# A patriot is one who tries to make his country worthy of his love. Thisis the finest definition of a patriot. Let me explain. The poet had asked

Breathes there a man with a soull so dead,

Who never to himself hath said,

This is my own, my native land?

Every one loves his country but the real patriot recognizes there areblemishes and imperfections. Most of these he cannot remove but he does notsee or even experience the whole country. He sees only that Little India whichhe experiences and sees daily. A small part of this Liittle India is within hiscontrol. This he/she can improve and this is the only real expression ofpatriotism for any individual. His love is expressed in wanting to improve thatwhixch he loves. A school teacher has with her those thirty or so children for

a few hours every day whose minds she tries to open up. This is her LittleIndia which she can influence and improve. A mother looks after her childrenthe best she can. The soldier guards that bit of the border he is asked todefend. A company CEO cannot improve the entire country but he has powerto strengthen his company. This is the only way he can show his patriotism. Athespian, if he is good at his craft, can recall to us those qualities we theaudience had forgotten and fortify our resolve to live better lives with courage.A doctor too by treating his patients with the utmost deication improves that

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Little India he has control over. Each one of us can be a patriot regardless ofwhat is happening in the rest of the country. But patriotism has to be exhibitedin your main professional field by doing your best to improve that little patchof land you nurture. This inevitably leads to adopting ethical principles as thisis how the optimum results are obtained. To a patriot one has to beprofessional in one's professional life. If you are ethical in your professionallife, you are a patriot and nothing more is to be done to show your patriotism.Being ethical is a necessary and sufficient condition for patriotism.

# The Indian middle class is angry with the corruption within thegovernment. The agitations are being waged in the Indian streets and maidansto win the heart and mind of every Indian. My journey was different butperhaps more hazardous and lonely. I worked for thirty five years within thegovernment and, against powerful opposition, revived more than a dozenorganizations, including nine commercial ones. I was a rebel within the

government and displayed more courage than those who left the governmentand now speak from public platforms. My successedid not require me toatttack anyone, I only defended myself against the enraged attacks of theunethical powers. I accused none of wrongdoing, preferring to clean up andthen prevent further wrongs. I left no victims in my wake. It was victors Icreated. The governments can be reformed only by more efforts like mine,from within and not from outside. The agitations on the street will create notone additional grain of food or an extra unit of industrial production. In fact itmay slow down enterprise. It is only persons like me working and taking risksfor the public interest within the fortifications of power who have broughtabout real change in institutions. But it is more thrilling to attack people andthis attracts more support than what I did.

# But there is one positive aspect to what the movement againstcorruption is doing. The powerful forces who earlier were in the vanguard inattacking an ethical like me will now be under attack themselves. The ethicalwill find his main foe considerably weakened. The ethical would now havegreater freedom to act within the government. In addition, now that theconvention among the corrupt of not attacking each other is also not in place,they will be exposing each other which is a very good thing.

# Ethical leadership and management are not being proposed anywhereas alternative paths out of the country's ills. To most men of power andinfluence in India, an ethical success is a cure worse than the desease.Looking at an ethical success they would, like King Pyrrhus say - " A fewmore victories like this and we shall be utterly ruined." For them the price paidby the powerful is too high. It is not a victory but a defeat for them. The left

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hand side of the ethical menu delivered wonderful fare but the right hand sidepayment bankrupted them.

# Let me give a logical demonstration of this absurdity. If removingcorruption, but without bringing in ethical functioning, saves the organizationx amount, then ethical functioning would create an additional benefit of 10x,with a bonus of zero corruption thrown in free. Yet everyone froths at themouth against corruption but no one is championing ethical leadership.Similarly those who expose scams are rated higher than the ethical who mayhave revived an organization creating huge additional wealth and, as abiproduct, wiping out corruption completely. I am unknown while the anticorruption campaigners are folk heroes. A benefit of x is preferred to 11x! Itappears illogical beyond belief. It is not illiogical but a carefully thought outreaction of those in power. The benefits of ethical functioning would go tothe organization but it would stop their cash flow and leverage completely and

that is why they oppose it. For this very reason the common people mustsupport it. They do not do so because the common man mistakenly equatesmere honesty and intelligence to ethics. An honest and intelligent officer iscapable of being unethical and siding with the powerful without taking anymaterial benefits. He covers up the wrongdoings of the powerful or hepretends he does not see it even though it looms up in front of him like theHimalayas. He frequently does this and that is how the government functionsbecause a government composed 100% of the corrupt could not possiblyfunction. They would cheat each other and the illegal work could not be done.They need the honest, hardworking and intelligent officers to provide the

justification and respectability, do the paper work and defend the decision.This is a sort of partnership! Such honest and intelligent persons insist onlyon one thing - that the proposed action has the tacit approvel at the top. Thenumber of corrupt persons in the government is comparatively small. Mostpersons in the government are honest and intelligent but not ethical, lackingthe courage required. An ethical person is prepared to stand up against thepowerful on behalf of the public interest. Only ethical persons benefit society.

# Contrary to the common understanding, the proportion of the activelycorrupt in government organizations overall is not high. I would put it at 5%though in some notorious offices it may be higher. The identity of the corruptofficers and staff is known to those who make payments, the middlemen whoarrange it and also to the honest officials in that office even if they are not

officially caught. The rest of the employees are the ones who are honest andintelligent but unethical. They are the mainframe or flywheel which keepsthings happening and gives an air of normalcy and business as usual. Theirmotions not only help cover up corruption but more important, allows thepredominantly unethical acts which are done in government offices to goahead. Unlike the corrupt, the uethicals are never identified, or exposed. Theyhave a squeeky clean image. It is these persons who are the real stars ingovernment non functioning. They cause more damage than the corrupt

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officials. An ethical organization head like me can convert both these groupsinto ethical functioning within days at the helm.

# The honest unethical does not see any danger from the corruptelements in the office provided these corrupt elements observe decencies andare outwardly respectful to the honest unethicals. This requirement is alwaysmet as the corrupt are usually most friendly and respectful. The corrupt andeven more , the honest unethical, see the ethical in their midst as the commonfoe. The ethical can control the organization if he heads it and then the corruptand the unethicals will fall in line; if he is not the chief, he is toast. But as thechief, his opposition will come not from inside the organization but from theoutside, from the powerful who are thus excluded.

# In all my asignments as CEO or Head of Department, I also functionedas the de facto CVC, CAG, CBI and Right to Information activist within the

organization. Today there is an impassioned talk of a life and death fightagainst corruption. The organizations I handled were the most cash rich inGujarat and Kerala. I tackled corruption and, frankly, it was not much of afight. The corrupt are stupid and apt to scare easily. It was no contest.Corruption headed for the exits and caught the first bus out of town the day I

joined. The present national upsurge against corruption leaves me a littleuneasy. It pretends that senior officers like me can do little to fight corruptionin their organizations with the existing laws. This is false. May I remind suchpersons that there is already a law against corruption whcih is a criminaloffence. It is in effect, theft of the organization's resources. Is the CEOsupposed to watch this while twidddling his thumbs, merely because he wants

to avoid unpleasantness which may align some powerful persons againsthim? Raging against corruption in general provides a vicarious satisfactionbut we are hitting out at a straw man. The real failure in India society whichcontains within itself all other failures is the intolerance towards the ethicalaction in the public field.

Corruption is nothing. As a CEO and Department Head, I could removeit as easily as swatting a slow moving fly.

# More than corruption, the real damage in the government is thewastage in unproductive schemes and worse, in not taking advantage of thegreat opportunities which an ethical eye would spot and convert into practicalachievements. Compared to these, the loss because of corruption isnegligible. That is why instead of trying to remove corruption, the nationshould encourage ethical leaders. Merely trying to remove corruption is likespraying an overdose of pesticide on a flowering field. It may kill the pests but

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will also remove the fertility of the soil. It will sap initiative in organizations justas excessive pesticides kill the micro organisms in the soil. New and evenmore deadly pests will emege against which the normal pesticides ( or anticorruption measures )will have no effect. Morality would be reduced to amethod. Follow the laid down procedures and, whatever the out come, theprocess is acceptable. Bureaucratic rigidity would be established and andfollowing a methodology of decision making would vindicate the effort. Rulesand procedures would be paramount. The results would be secondary. This isalready happening. Ministers defend a decision by narrating all the stepswhich were taken and how everybody was consulted. They never give the logicof the decision and explain the benefits of it. "Based on the relevant opinions,the Committee met and took the decision and all laid down procedures werefollowed. so what is wrong with it?" they ask plaintively. The objectiveoriented dynamism is being lost. No decision should be justified by the

procedure followed to arrive at it. The tail cannot wag the dog. The decisionmust first be arrived at, preferably by the person who is to implement it. Onlythen should the procedure be followed to implemnment it should be gone

through. The procedural aspect requires the least brains, it is mechanicalwork, and yet the skill in this is what is accorded the highest respect in thegovernment. The ethical approach would be a casualty in a system ofmindless rule bound compliance which is what the movement will lead to. Thismovement will seriously crimp decision making and slow it down in the sandsof procedures. This movement assumes that removing corruption is enough.At present corruption provides some incentive to work. With this also gone,things will come to a stand still as people sit back and play safe. The ethicalincentive is a thousand times more powerful than that of corruption. This iswhat needs to be brought in.

# The techno solution providers, sensing good business opportunities,will suggest IT as a painless way to cut corruption and wrongdoing.Information technology will be effective but only at the cutting edge level. Tothe customer or beneficiary, wrongdoing would appear to have vanished. Butit may have just travelled upwards and become invisible. It is also likely to getmuch bigger. Corruption and wrongdoing which was earlier moredemocratically spread among the subalterens will now be the preserve ofhigher functionaries. Aided and covered up by technology, it is far more

dangerous. A similar effect is seen in tightly controlled near dictatorialregimes with surveillance by the party cadre and/or police. Here too

corruption and wrongdoing moves upwards and the citizen experiencescorruption free and efficient functioning of public services. But it has merelyBut it has merely expanded and become invisible to public scrutiny. Thecorruption, or rather, what is worse, a state business nexus, takes the form ofgiving away the public rights to the commonwealth of land, what is under theland, air, sea, beaches, coast, water , the electro magnetic spectrum, access tocommon paths and other misappropriation of public interests. The citizenends up paying, not in the form of bribes, but in the form of having to pay for

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what was earlier nominally priced, cutting back of social services and higherprices for essentials including power, unfair working conditions and lowwages, and curtailment of fundamental rights, police surveillance etc. Thismodel will fail as people realise the corruption and exploitation from which itdraws its fuel. All development has to be of the people. This model cannotaccept this. As my experience in Gujarat showed, it is intolerant of an ethicalfunctioning within it. Like many autocracies, it may win elections but thismodel is anti democratic in spirit, and serves the interests of the economicallydominant classes; all achievements are ascribed to The Leader who therebyacquires the status of a economic wizard. As I proved in Gujarat itself, theethical approach is immeasurably superior to this model.

# Most failures in the public field are the result of ethical failures by theleadership. Similarly, ethical leadership ensures successes. By leadership ismeant potentially every one of those who hold positions of authority/control

over organizations. In this group are included the Prime Minister, ChiefMinister and other Ministers but also the higher civil service and those indecision making positions in the public and private sectors. All those whohave some control over an organization's or a nation's resources are a part ofthe leadership I talk about. The Prime Minister or Chief Minister or otherMinisters, Cabinet Secretary, Chief Secretary cannot be blamed for my failureto run my organization properly. These failures, wherever they occur areindividual failures of character and not policy failures. What is the point inchanging policy? Yet in every discussion one hears of, the talk is about whatpolicy changes are required to deal with organizational failures andcorruption. In other words, it is the fault of the system! Please do not point the

finger at me even though I head the organization which is underperforming !This is an attempt to shirk one's own responsibility which requires one to act

independently while esponsibility which requires one to act independentlywhile sitting in a seat of authority. In every organization there are unnecessarycosts and neglected opportunities for benefits which is the duty of the CEO toexploit and the politician has nothing to do with it. Even if, and particularly if,the politician opposes such measures for improvement, the ethical leadershould press on regardless. I saw myself as working not for the political leaderbut for the people he led. All the conflicts I faced grew out of this choice.

# Very often individual failures of our functional leadership areaggregated and shown as a new entity, as a collective failure. One suchmeasure that is frequently talked about now is the fiscal deficit. For thecommon man's understanding, the fiscal deficit is the amount by which thegovernment's income falls short of its expenditure. Today it is high at around5.5%. This fiscal deficit is treated as some mysterious economic or monetaryforce which which springs up independently. We frequently see the grave and

anxious faces of our finance boffins as they srtruggle with this problem. But

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the fiscal deficit is not their creation and the solution is also not in their hands.The fiscal deficit is the counterpart of the ethics deficit among leadership. Athousand ethicals like me in positions of functional leadership in the fieldcould bring down India's fiscal deficit to a level consistent with future growthand social objectives. The wastage and corruption which bloat up governmentexpenditure would vanish. At the same time income due to the governmentand profits of companies too would rise with coresponding increase in inflowinto official treasuries. Let me show how. During my time as CommissionerCottage Industies, a large number of bogus handloom societies were weededout. Out of 1050 societies, only 95 survived our field inspections. The rest, 9550f them, found to be fictitious, were derecognized and barred from furtherassistance. This was perhaps the most comprehensive cull, in Indianadministrative history, of those zombie units which consume developmentfunds. The amount saved was comparatively small compared to the hugescams now reportedly happening in the more 'advanced' sectors of theeconomy. The profits of all my companies rose, adding to the government'sincome. And so on ...

# The fiscal deficit is a respectable term, a sort of mask, an alias forsomething never admitted , something disreputable and always hidden, theelephant in the room. And that something is the ethics deficit. It is anunpleasant reality every one expereiences, like the stink of untreated sewagenever talked about and countered by burning agarbatties, but which ineconomic terms has such a massive impact on people's lives. Not only doesethics deficit explain our failures but ethical management could show us theway out into greater economic well being and greater equity for all our people.

Yet no economist or management thinker talks about ethics as the solution. Itmust be repeated ad nauseum that removing corruption alone is not theanswer and that honesty and intelligence is not the same as ethics.

# The fiscal deficit is not a real independent condition but is themanifestation on the public finances of the ethics deficit among the powerful.If the government wants the fiscal deficit to reduce, it should ask all importantleaders and officials and also the private sector to become more ethical. Theyshould be asked not to follow whispered sugggestions but to seek direectionsindependently like I did.

# For a government to ask its citizens to tighten the belt of iscaldiscipline, without the government subjecting itself to ethical discipline , isimmoral. The poor who benefit from pro poor programs, and the middle calsswho use public services, are being asked tp pick up the tab for the waste andcorruption by the powerful, which is what the fiscal deficit is. If the

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government had been ethically disciplined, there would have been no need forfiscal discipline and the fiscal deficit would vanish.

# Most of what are seen as macro issues or Problems Facing the Nationis a shorthand to describe the conditions which result from innumerableethical failures in the field. But their ethical origin and solution is deliberatlyhidden. Instead it is handed over to academicians and experts who make aliving talking about it. A real concrete situation, arising out of some humanweakness, develops in the field from a leadership weakness. It is thenagggregated over an entire region by mindless statisticians and presented asa brand new abstract entity which then becomes "a problem" existing only atthe national macro level. Once this happens there is now a new nationalabstract problem which justifies the creation of a new department at thenational or state level and this creates opening for experts to move in. The realwork to be done in the field is given a makeover to show it cannot be tackled in

the field but must have "a wholistic approach which recognizes backward andforward linkages etc". Policies need to be framed for which a whole battery ofpolicy makers arrive in town. The discussions which now take place are toocomplex to be understood by an ordinary person. If an intelligent villager wereto walk into one of the chambers of the government planners where hissituation was being discussed, he would not understand a thing. Much of whatis discussed is reality converted to a high level of abstraction with manyacronyms and other esoteric terms having only the vaguest resemblance toreality. This purely abstract entity, "the problem', is seen as something realthrough a proces of reification. It is this reified thing which is now talkedabout. Something in the field which should have directly been solved in thefirst instance has now become a full blown national problem which will beunrecognizable to those who experiences it at first hand. The experts and the

joint secretaries who can do nothing about it, take it over and they will talkabout it in a language nobody in the real world will understand. This is theintention and not accidental. This ends up convincing the common people that"The Problems Facing the Nation" are very complex indeed which is beyondtheir understanding. An entire school of expertise grows around theseabstract issues and they guard their turf furiously. There are today experts ondrinking water, poverty, environment, forests , corruption fiscal deficit and ahost of other ills that beset mankind. This would b OK if they were out in thefield successfully tackling these ills. But they sit in Delhi and other statecapitals making presentations in conferences.

# These challenges are shown as complex. Nothing could be furtherfrom the truth. The solutions are difficult but not complex; just as farming isdifficult but not complex and financial jugglery is complex but not difficult. It isthe heart and not the brain that is required to tackle the challenges that weface. A willingness to struggle continouously in the field with all its

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uncertainties can find solutions to these challenges. My book describes a fieldoriented method to find solutions by seeking directions autonomously whichis the polar opposite of the centralised system now prevailing. It is thisdetermination to ignore the ethical way that is stunting our nation. Ourgovernment is an entity whose head has grown very large but whose limbs arewithered for lack of use. Its leaders are looking at screens and pressingbuttons which are not connected to the real world. I am not making the triteobservation that our schemes and plans are good but the implementation iswhere we are weak. I am saying something else entirely. It is that planning anddevising schemes cannot be a separate activity from implementing it. Theperson who plans must also implement it with accountability for success orfailure. The person at the spot must be the one who designs the schemes. Thishuge head which is a malevolent presence shadowing the exuberance offorces in the field must be drastically shrunk. Those who sit in the country'sover centralized capitals looking so intelligent, crafting all these elaborateschemes with convincing presentaions and talks, must be given the task ofimplementing whatever they have formulated. In hunting this would be

equivalent to insisting that the person must eat whatever he shoots; subject tothis , you can shoot anything! In one stroke you will make the Indiangovernment machinery accountable. Which is why this suggestion will besavagely ridiculed, asssuming it is at all taken seriously. It will create panicamong those who look so smug today, bemoaning the lack of implementation.The person who implements it will have the motivation for it only if he/she isthe person crafting it. But this move will turn upside down the hierarchy whichgoverns us which is built on the principle that the man of intelligence doesnot get his hands dirty with stuff in the field. This belief is what makespossible the exploitation in our society. It also explains why the governmentconsistently underperforms. There needs to be a massive decentralization offunctioanl powers. Only the very broad directional strategies and policiesshould radiate from the centre. The problem of implementation will vanish.

# But the difficulties for those sitting in those Bhavans in Delhi andtheir equivalent in state capitals would grow to their proper size. Making fieldproblems into abstract entities allows them to be discussed in a relaxedenvironment where solutions are found in centralized establishments. Hereanalytical and verbal skills are more important than nerve, guts and character.These old fashioned virtues are needed by an ethical who functions in thefield. This reification of complex real world situations into elegant cerebral

entities makes it seem all so easy. Development of this great country is madeto look so easy by those who have the symbolic and analytical skills and theadministrative footwork to get postings in the capital ciites of our country.They have, with a clever and dishonest trick, made that which calls for thehighest ethical dedication and risk taking commitment - the revival of ourcountry, into a facile and facetious skill. Our countrymen, who respect thatwhich they cannot understand, assume that the convoluted phrasesemanating from our officials must be an accurate description of the complex

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state of affairs. Let me tell them there is nothing complex about field andorganizational development. It is difficult but not complex. It does not need somany office workers in Delhi . Can anyone tell me what that huge KrishiBhavan and other similar establishments are doing in Delhi ? Just creatingwork for each other. If they were all to be wound up, national developmentwould not only not suffer but would actually speed up. These Bhavans couldbe converted into hotels for the middle classes.

# Let me explain what I mean by saying situations in the field aredifficult but not complex. If we at any time try to look at the entire world, or acountry or a state or even a village and try to propose solutions, and we try todo it from a study table or office, its complexity will defeat us. But in our realindivdual lives we are not required to do this. At any particualr time, when westand facing a specific situation in the field, the solution is obvious. We are notdealing with the entire macro picture but with a situation which our instinctiveknowledge allows us to understand. What needs to be done stands with ademanding clarity before us. No detailed discussions are required. If there are

uncertainties, these will not be solved by discussions and 'further studies' (aphrase beloved by time wasters and bureacrats) but by taking the firstapproximate steps and making changes with the 'eye on the ball'. We mustthink on our feet and not on our seat. Thinking follows action and not the otherway round. In this action mode, the quality of our effort improvesincrementally. Sitting in the office we see problems, in the field we seesolutions. While solutions are not complex ie they do not require analyticalskill, making thing happen in the field is difficult. Farming is difficult but notcomplex. The rain, the sun, and the cold assault the farmer, mosquitoes bitehim, wasps sting, snakes slither in front, the muscles ache, the sweat poursinto his eyes or perhaps it is tears, his crop may fail, or with a bumper crop theprices may crash, the may be no one to buy.. and a thousand othermisfortunes. Character is required, not the glib phrases of a financial analyst.But it is only the person in the field mode who gets things done, not the policyformulator. How does the peson in the field mode innovate? He does it in twoways. First when he instinctively feels some new practice may give a betterresult, HE TRIES IT OUT in a limited scale and then proceeds ahead looking tothe results. Second, he comes to know of a new practice elsewhere and then,after visiting that field, TRIES IT OUT. This is how 99% of the innovation in thefield takes place. There are too many policy framers in the government and notmany willing to work in the farmer mode. Things are not complex, things aredifficult and the difficulties are in the fileld. The difficulties are not conceptualor intellectual but of human muscle and thought endurance. This quality of

endurance in the field is almost absent in office bound civil servants. Yet it isthe policy framers who are seen as the doers and not the actual doers in thefield. The qualities required for a doer are guts, courage and commitment. Thetop bureaucrats and policy framers would guffaw helplessly at this assertion.

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# There is too much knowledge, intelligence, confidence,cleverness andcold calculation in our leadership; the harshest charge is answered with acomplacent good natured smile and a first name chumminess with theinteviewer. Many of them have the smooth, well fed and manicured look of theluxury hotel, spa and gym habitue. Some emotion, even anger, honestlyconveyed, may beget more trust in the common people. The people respond tothe truth no matter how clumsily stated and this truth releases theircapabilities; they detect falsehood quickly and it signals them to hold backtheir best. This explains the performance of organizations, and as nations arecollections of organizations, of nations as well.

# As implementation of government schemes are done by lower levelfunctionaries who may be subject to unbearable pressures, most field reportshould be looked at sceptically. I would not go so far as I.F Stone, anAmerican journalist, who said that all governments are run by liars and

nothing they say should be believed. But those in governments do speakfalsehooods in a convincing manner. There is no deliberate intention tomislead but they rely entirely on documents supplied to them from the field.These are made up in a way as to be most convenient to the authoritysupplying them. They are quite often misleading where the facts arecontroversial and cannot be independently verified by a common man. Veryrarely would a senior official go to the field, as I did with the handloomsocieties, to physically verify a fact. They end up swearing by falsehoodsbelieving them to be true. If they just visited the field more oftenindependently, government reports would be more trustworthy.

# Keynes' term "Animal Spirits" is not an immoral or even an amoralforce, akin to the neighing of horses or the baying of hounds or " the brokersroaring like beasts on the floor of the bourse". This term refers to the nativesense of optimism, risk taking and the desire for achievement , not confinedto the businessmen but inherent in every human being whether he/she is afarmer, an industrial worker, a weaver, a housewife, a mother, a school teacheror a jawan on the border. The mistake which the finance policy planners makeis in assuming it is only confined to business entrpreneurs and the animalspirits of only the business community needs to be unleashed. The country'sleaders should try to unleash the animal spirits of the entire country. These

will surge up when Indians all over the country perceive ethical functioning inthe organizations they work. When this is established, the government needsto do little and the creative engine of development will move ahead on its own.This is how I achieved all the turnarounds narrated in this book. It can work forthe country as well. Conceptually, the country's revival would be myachievements multiplied a thousand times.

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# Perhaps, with one exception, there are no big canvass nationalproblems just as there are no macro solutions for our country. There areissues at the micro level all across the country exisiting in variousorganizations. These could be seen as problems by those who do not like toact but prefer to analyze, or they could be perceived as challenges with built inopportunities to the ethical leader operating at the spot. The ethical leaderalways operates at the spot and only from the spot and never from thecentralized policy making establishments. He knows that a policy basedleadership is a fraud on the people. No nationally prescribed policy solution isgoing to work because the precise mix of factors is different in each situation.What will work is ethical leadership at that particualr time in that particularorganization. What will definitely fail is the absence of ethical leadership thereand its sustitution by a centralized policy driven functioning. So the only truebig national issue or since I am an optimist, the national opportunity and surefire solution, is for all leaders wherever they are to begin acting ethical andadvising all around them around them and down the line to do the same. Thisis the only one big policy issue facing the country. All good things will fall into

place and follow. All solutions are local and specific and will become visiblethrough an ethical lens at the site. This is the biggest issue facing the countryand is systematically being ignored. It is being lost sight of by every one.

# But my acting ethical is not ruled out even if every other leader orperson of importance decided to remain unethical. I can still act ethical and"win marvellous victories' even in an otherwise unethical world. This is what Icontinuously did. I would have no right to preach ethics if I had not achievedpractical business victories with it. Without these astonishing businesssuccesses my views would be hard to distinguish from any of the hundreds ofbusiness books that have been written. Without these successs being narratedhere, the hard headed, experienced practical men and women dominating thegovernment and private sector would be able to convinvcingly say that thesort of ethics I talk about ,while being most admirable, does not work in reallife. I have shown that it is in real life that it actually works and it is theircareful, cautious and calibrated but timid and selfish responses which arefailing spectacularly. Ethics is the most practical way to real success in thefield. Every person who wishes to be ethical can act independently even if thewhole world were to scowl.

# The Indian economy is slowing down as the government is underattack on the major issue of having taken wrong decisions. The government iscountering with a battery of " reforms". A curious fact is that the reform of itsown functioning appears to be off the agenda. The top leaders of the countryare silent on bringing in ethical functioning at the top as a reform. They justneed to take one step. Become ethical , not in your policy pronouncementswhich are today meaningless though they raise the most strident reactions -

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witness the FDI in Retail debate -, but in your day to day actions. And ask allofficers in a decision making level to act independently and not ask forguidance from above. Persons down the line will get the message and theytoo will act acccordingly. The number of ethicals in the government whoseactions are autonomously generated is miniscule in the country and mostpersons need to see the person at the top setting an example. This reformwould add more wealth and voter satisfaction than anything else. The Indiangrowth rate would shoot by 10%. Yes. it is a GDP growth rate of 15 - 20% wecould be looking at. My success in widely different assignments shows that anethical can handle complex field level challenges better than the usual civilservice and corporate models though the corporates and civil servants cantalk far better, just as Harsha Bhogle or even Navjot Sidhu talks better thanTendulkar or Dravid. Today I am the foremost practitioner of corporate revivalsin the country. But any bright civil servant in Delhi or even the state capitalswill outshine me in a debate on the subject of "Corporate Revivals in India".An educated Indian watching this exchange would point to the civil servant

as more capable than me in corporate revivals! Though no one would rate

Sidhu higher than Tendulkar, a civil servant is judged by how well he talks andmakes presentations; no one looks at his actual score card of organizatinalfield successes. In general, in any bureaucracy, the smooth talkers, the

articulates, are precisely those who have have not been particularly successfulin the field and are better at deciding policy than working in the field underuncertain conditions. The trouble is that in the government these persons areover represented and that is a reason for our failures. They come up with toomany policies as a way to assert themselves and most of which are nothingmore than logical word games in their minds. But they give a goodimpersonation of competence because of their verbal fluency and this is thebasis of the inflated reputation of the Indian bureaucracy. The much vaunteddynamism of some of them is nothing more than the skill to guide a favoredfew through the thicket of obstructions and fences which they themselveshave erected. Their record is unlikely to show any creative and ethical effort inthe field. Why dont the government and opposition parties, not to mention theentire phalanx of experts ever ready to comment on any public issue.including an increasing number of business men and women who would nevertalk about their own organizational weaknesses, ever suggest ethics as asolution? Why do they find ethics so scary?

# They correctly see it as a deadly danger to the existing way of doing

things. It would ovethrow the present lucrative patterns of deception,domination and control which have allowed otherwise worthless but cleverpersons to corner so much material wealth and opportunities while denyingthem to the more deserving. That is why they are all united in not allowingethical functioning in any of their establishmments. This is the only reason forall our country's ills. All patriotic Indians must support ethical leadershipwherever they see it becasue the ethical is busy enlarging your capabilitiesand fighting for your family's future. And better still, if you are in a position of

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power and authority, become ethical yourself. If you are unable to becomeethical or even positvely support the ethical, then at least do nor oppose theethical. But even this prohibition is unbearable to the powerful.

How will this additional 10% growth rate emerge when the best effortsof the government have taken us only onto 8% , a percentage that is nowrapidly silipping to sub 5%, with the Q3 2012-13 reported around 4.5 % ? Thisadditional 10% will be the capabiliites that are freed when persons work in anethical set up. Unethical leadership prevents the potential within persons fromemerging. No one is able to give his best when he works in an unethical setup. The realization that the organization is manipulating you and others insome way or the other will convince you to hold back your total commitmentto the common effort. All my successes were because of this incrementalrelease of new and vital energy at the realization of ethical direction seeking bythe leadership. Creativity too , which is the ability to find new ways to solveproblems, is released in an ethical effort. There is no need for FDI to createfresh investment in the country. All the investment we need is lying incactive

because of our unethical leadership. Release this submerged potential and seethe growth rate shoot up.

# If the number of ethicals is so miniscule today, from where where willall these ethicals be forthcoming, is a question that could be asked.Potentailly there is no shortage. Within every person there is an ethical beingstruggling to emerge. Every person, no matter how unethical today, can turnethical overnight. It would also help if people created a demand for them byhonoring the ethical wherever they are found, which is not being done today.

The ethical fights for those whom no one else fights for. Yet no one fights forthe ethical when he comes under attack. That is why the number of ethicals isso small.

# The number of ethicals can never be large. Just as a small amount ofsugar can sweeten the milk, a pinch of salt savor the dish, and a bit of yeastmake the dough rise, a few grams of catalyst ignite a reaction, in the same waya few ethicals, say less than 5% of the power elite, say a thousand individuals,can rejuvenate society and save the country. But the rest of the power elite

and other stakeholders must defend and respect the ethicals because the

ethical is fighting for the organization , unmindful of his own interests. Theethicals should be seen as the advance guard of the society and an expressionof the nation's will to develop its full potential. It is repeated here that anethical is one who succeeds in the practical task given to him. Society is notrequired to defend a person who fails in the task allotted to him even thoughhe may claim to be ethical. Such a person is not ethical. But please do notattack a person who succeeds beyond expectation in his work while keepinghis hands clean and winning the trust of the stakeholders. But such attacks

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happened to me, time and again. And this is what will happen to any ethical,as the opposition to me was never personal. In attacking the ethical, we inIndia are atttacking our common future. We do not need enemies. We aredoing the job of destroying our future hopes quite well ourselves. The ethicalis acraftsman who creates a future vision for the country through individualorganizations. A nation which does not honor its ethicals does not efffectivelyhave a reality based vision of the future no matter how well its economists,businessmen, politicians, intellectuals and others who can be heard inseminars, conferences etc, actually speak.

# A good society would place the ethical above the person of wealth. Ifhe has been successful in business, the market has already rewarded theperson of wealth. Further respect by the society is not justified. The Ambani,the Tata, the Birla have already been rewarded with wealth by the market. Theyhave no further claim on society's estimation unless they go out of their way

to be ethcial and expose themselves to danger for the public interest. Theirsuccessful business ventures, no matter how creative, have been rewardedmonetarily, and no further credit for these is required. Their present highprofile is entirely because of the build up by the commercial media whichneeds their monetary ad support and other help. The members of the elitewould be valued, not by how much they took but by how much they gave. Thisratio, of how much material wealth a person created and how much of that hetook for himself and his associates, should be the measure by which society

judges a person and bestows her honors. (My efforts at GSFC created a ratioof 6000 as explained above, which is perhaps the highest any Indian corporatechief has achieved.) By this yardstick the ethical would stand very, very high,higher than India's billionaires, politicians and civil servants. He had power butused it for empowering others; made money but made it for others; fought butin the defence of the common wealth. He is even better than the richphilanthropist who gave away a part of the wealth he made whereas the ethicalput into the public exchequer the entire wealth he made; he does not even

have around him the virtuous glow of being a philanthropist! Every societygets the kind of leadeship it deserves. If that society values wealth and power,then its leadership will comprise men and women who pursue their owninterests, enriching those who help them. If it values the ethical who works forthose he does not know and those who cannot pay him back or help him inany way, then the society will have a leadership where the ethicals, even in asmall number, will be the direction setting and dominant voice over the others.

Today in India wealth and power are deferred to and the ethical is slighted andattacked. With none to defend him, he fights at his own risk and cost even