Leadership Mantras: Ashwini Vaishnaw Shares Insights with Youth

New Delhi, Feb 21 (PTI) Identifying possible fallouts and weaknesses, and working early-on to plug those gaps at the planning stage can make the decision-making process robust, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday as he took to the stage to share his learnings and leadership mantras with young audiences at SOUL Leadership conclave.

Vaishnaw said the launch of the Vande Bharat project made a big difference in his life.

Vaishnaw started his session by talking about the successful launch of the Vande Bharat project that made a big difference in his life and proved to be a game changer. He explained that he made a list of potential obstacles that could impact the project.

According to him, the biggest challenge in the Vande Bharat project was integrating various technologies.

Vaishnaw - Minister of Railways, IT and Information and Broadcasting - exhorted youngsters to keep their focus sharp, and steer clear of distractions. He asserted that effective leadership requires leading from the front.

Addressing the conclave, Vaishnaw said: "We have to train ourselves to focus on that one thing which is most important to achieve in the present."

The minister said he keeps himself away from distractions while planning and brain-storming on important projects.

"So we have to starve our distractions, and feed our focus so that we can achieve the maximum potential of the biggest gift from God, our mind," he said.

He also advised youngsters to keep in mind various ways in which a project can potentially fail, since doing so would allow identification of gaps early on in the planning stage itself.

"This thinking makes your entire decision-making very robust as you realise problems. That makes you robust execution person and robust design person. I thought I should share this learning with you, so that it can help you when you are handling some challenging task," he said.

To a question from the floor on whether the generation today should embrace leading from the front or leading from behind, the Minister said there is no other way, than to lead from the front.

"There is no other way to lead, you have to lead from the front," he emphasised.

Recalling June 2023 train accident, the Minister said, "I was on the site for almost four days, and clinically thinking how to divide the areas, how to distribute roles and responsibilities, to make sure everything is done, as it should be done. You have to lead from the front," he said.

To another question, the Minister advised participants to keep their minds calm and focused, while being compassionate and connected.

Asked about the difference between being a bureaucrat and a Minister, he said: "The biggest advantage in political life is that the canvas is broad. Bureaucracy works within rules, while in political leadership one can look at changing rules, bring new rules, where required," he said.

He gave the example of the telecom sector which had been mired in litigations and cases for years.

"Bureaucrats have to think within existing rules, while political leaders can think of new rules," he said adding that even a high-tech sector like Telecom had archaic laws from 1885, which were then changed to usher in a brand new Telecom Act for the new age era.