The New ‘Power’ Star on the horizon of Indian Politics and his leadership style

The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.

—Jim Rohn

In the recently concluded general elections and assembly elections many new age leaders emerged on the horizon of Indian Politics. Among those most prominent is from Andhra Pradesh, a matinee idol and popularly known as ‘Power Star’ Pavan Kalyan among his fans across the globe.  He was struggling for the past ten years and could not make it during 2019 assembly elections and lost in two constituencies from where he contested. This time he won from Pithapuram constituency collaborating with Telugu Desam Party and NDA. Finally, he emerged as political leader of prominence and now Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and second to none other than ‘Chanakya of Andhra Pradesh’, the political Wizard Chandrababu Naidu. Above all, Pavan is the only second matinee idol from Telugu Film Industry (TFI) after NTR who made it big in Andhra Pradesh Politics and eventually became Deputy Chief Minister. His popularity in attracting masses was noticed by NDA and he played key role in TDP and NDA alliance.

Having this as background, the idea of this article is to explore the strategies of Pavan Kalyan on how he emerged as  a Leader and Winner this time and also how he came into prominence with his perseverance, resilience, consistency and the qualities of courageous follower.

Supporting the Leader in hard-times: When Chandrababu Naidu was jailed Pavan has seen an opportunity to support the leader in his hard times. Having more than four decades of experience as shrewd politician, Naidu was in jail unfortunately and depressed due to the rude strategies of the then government to suppress opposition. Though Lokesh, son of Naidu was fighting to get his father released through gathering support from national leaders and media, he could not garner much support from political parties at large. Pavan has found an opportunity to lend his shoulder of support to Chandrababu Naidu and fought elections collaborating with TDP and NDA to dethrone the then unpopular government. A courageous follower always supports a leader in distress. His strategy came to fruition and TDP is back in Andhra Pradesh and he is in the good books of Prime Minster. Pavan Kalyan loves to take on challenges and understands the strategic outcome of supporting a world-wide well known leader like Chandrababu Naidu. 

Protesting against the political vendetta of rude Political Leaders: He protested against the rudeness of the then political party in power and surprised the political clan with his perseverance and resilience. He could resist the personal attack on him as the then political party could not stop his popularity with just mud-slinging. This reminds us the rudeness of Salya in Mahabharata to depress and demotivate Karna in the middle of the Kurukshetra War. Finally, Pavan Kalyan could emerge as a promising political leader with the support of NDA and also supported them with his ever growing fan-base.

Projecting the right leader at the right time: Though he is having excellent opportunity to project himself as Chief Minister candidate, he didn’t do that as he want to climb the ladder of political success step by step learning, experimenting and understanding  the uncertain, indecisive minds of voters.  He projected and proposed Chandrababu Naidu as Chief Minister.  He could see the opportunity clearly collaborating with the NDA and TDP and wish to take one step at a time showing his political mettle to the voters and future voters from his fans. Due to this, he has won all the 21 MLA seats for his party ‘Jana Sena’ contested as against one seat in the last assembly elections and his defeat in two of the seats he contested.  His strategic collaborative brilliance helped him emerge as an effective political leader of masses.

Protecting the team in political upheaval: It is always a challenge for a leader to protect his team, but in political parties it is more challenging compared to any other organisational set-up.  Pavan Kalyan took all the care in selecting his team of MLAs who are winning horses and projected, promoted and protected them till the end. This strategy worked wonders for getting him hundred percent strike rate in the elections.

Follower-Leader with a difference: Greek Philosopher Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.) said it best. “He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader.” Instead of rushing to the finish line and declaring yourself a great leader, take the time to be a good follower and learn important skills along the way so that you don't lose yourself. Pavan Kalyan knows this best and he want to become a good follower first and then become a good leader following the celebrities in the present political arena.

Meditation on Followership – The Power of Promising Leaders

The 'Meditation on Followership', which has to be followed by the Leaders who wish to make a difference to the Society where they live in. Though Pavan Kalyan is aware or unaware of these principles of ‘Meditation on Followership’, he tried his best to follow the same with diligence to the best of his ability due to the circumstances and challenges of his times. If you read the below principles of ‘Meditation on Followership’ you will feel the brilliance and intelligence of the new ‘Power’ Star Pavan Kalyan.

For me, becoming a courageous follower, is like becoming a good human being, is both a daily and a life-long task. Visualising a desired state helps to realize it. I share this meditation as one visualisation of the state I aspire to. You may want to refer it from time to time.

• I am a steward of this group and share responsibility for its success.

• I am responsible for adhering to the highest values I can envision.
• I am responsible for my successes and failures and for continuing to learn from them.
• I am responsible for the attractive and unattractive parts of who I am.
• I can empathise with others who are also imperfect.
• As an adult, I can relate on a peer basis to other adults who are the group's formal leaders.
• I can support leaders and counsel them, and receive support and counsel from them.
• Our common purpose is our best guide.
• I have the power to help leaders use their power wisely and effectively.
• If leaders abuse power, I can help them change their behaviour.
• If I abuse power, I can learn from others and change my behaviour.
• If abusive leaders do not change their behaviour, I can and will withdraw my support.
• By staying true to my values, I can serve others well and fulfil my potential.
• Thousands of courageous acts by followers can, one by one, improve the world.
• Courage always exists in the present. What can I do today?

(Excerpted from 'The Courageous Follower - Standing up to and for our Leaders' by Ira Chaleff)

Promoting self through promoting others: To conclude, Pavan Kalyan is a Leader who knows how to put himself in others shoes and promoting them irrespective of results.  He is having all the qualities of a leader who is strong, kind, bold, thoughtful, humble, humour and proud as propounded by Jim Rohn.

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