| How to win (new) friends and influence people In some parts of the country, notably Gurugram and its soul-sister down south, Bengaluru — they were already similar; then, the non-verbal interactions spawned by the why-can’t-you-speak-Kannada brigade made them even more so — you can’t throw a beer bottle without hitting a leadership coach. Everyone, most of all failed CEOs and sportspersons whose careers can at best be described as middling, is a leadership coach. What is surprising, though, is the number of people queueing up to avail their services. Clearly there’s a fourth category in the continuum: some are born leaders; others become leaders; some others have leadership thrust upon them; and, still others believe they can be coached into becoming good leaders. Perhaps they can. I’m writing about leadership because L’affaire Tharoor is all about that — although it is also about an organisation managing a star employee (which, of course, starts with the admission that the employee is a star, but I’m getting ahead of myself). A political party isn’t a company (although, the allegation against the Gandhis in the National Herald case is just about this, whatever be the merits of that). Elsewhere in the world, Elon Musk is discovering what Paul Krugman wrote in the Harvard Business Review in 1996 , that a country is not a company. That’s especially true from the perspective of managing the economy. Musk is also discovering what a 19th century British politician has to say about allies, enemies and interests, a quote that has since been simplified to say something about there being no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests. But again, I am getting ahead…. There are certain aspects of organisational management (and behaviour) and leadership that are common — to companies, countries, political parties, and, of course, cricket teams. Beyond a certain level (which varies), star employees like to work for companies that are in a growth market or, at the least, in growth mode; that can provide them with fulfilling work; that can make them become better at what they do and acquire new skills; and that can help them achieve their goals. Leaving aside the debate about whether Tharoor is a star or not — it isn’t really germane to this discussion — it’s interesting to see what the Congress can give him. I’m also side-stepping the debate on whether or not Tharoor would have won his Parliament seat without the umbrella of the Congress. The demographics of his constituency suggest he may not have, but that’s a different discussion for a different time. He has won, is in Parliament, and while, not a mass-leader, is a sought-after speaker and columnist, and has a huge following among young people in urban areas (I should know; he was a judge at a debate competition we recently hosted). The answer to the question is: organisational responsibilities, but doing so would require it to trust him; the opportunity to be its face (or at least one of its faces), within and outside Parliament, but doing so runs the risk of him outshining others, including Rahul Gandhi. Definitional aspects apart — the Congress is unlikely to ever admit that Tharoor, or anybody else who is not a Gandhi, is a star — the real question for the party is whether it even wants stars. Its behaviour would suggest that it does not. This, not the BJP-led government’s attempt to make hay of the Congress’ discomfiture, is the real problem (Honestly, what were they expected to do? Empathise with the Congress). There’s only one way in which this ends. | 
