Leading Without Licence: Leadership The Anna Hazare Way

If you thought Anna movement was all chaos, this book reveals there was so much order in it. I like the book for its simple writing, focused content and relevance for everyday lives.

The book begins with a comparison of the Prime Minister and Anna. Then, it lays a good framework for what leading means. Then on, it provides the following six lessons in a pretty organized way:

1. Why you not having a title is a great advantage in leading.
2. How you can select an issue for leading…here interesting comparisons between salt march and lokpal movement.
3. What kind of partners to choose.
4. How to gain the authority among those who support you.
5. How to protect yourself when attacked while you are leading.
6. How do you prepare to excel in leading.

The book’s final chapter is well-written and explains well why there is so much leading to do beyond Anna’s movement on corruption and how each of us can lead on corruption. I loved the thoughtful parting thoughts too! I highly recommend this book if you want to make sense of the events of the past year and if you want to lead.

I was doubtful of the Anna movement to begin with and bought this book with even more doubts! I have been pleasantly surprised though. A lot has been written about Anna stuff, but the book stays its course on its leadership lessons. Comparions like sex-strikes in Philippines with indefinite stikes in India....hmm may be India will soon get colorful in its strikes too. But, I find the sub-title misleading. How is Anna way when lot of leaders have successfully used these techniques for ages?

I chanced on this book at an airport a couple of weeks ago. I liked the marketing blurb at the back of the page and bought it because it was quite cheap and seemed like a quick read. Fortunately or unfortunately, I ended up being on the tarmac for long that day and finished reading the book cover-to-cover during the 5 hours of my flight journey.

I find the book absolutely enriching in its analysis of the leadership aspects of the Anna movement. The authors have done a great job of distilling the essence of the movement-related leadership lessons for daily use. The book in some parts does seem to oscillate between leadership concepts and Anna movement lessons, but the authors bring it together quite well in the end. I liked the book so much and found it so relevant for my company that I made a bulk order on Flipkart for my employees!

I am a first time user of Flipkart and find its service excellent.

As another user has said below, I bought the book and liked it so much that I purchased more for people in my organization. It is easy to digest leadership lessons when explained from a contemporary case that is recent in memory. I had not thought that there are leadership lessons in the Anna movement which would have any relevance for my day-to-day work in my company. But, the authors have done a great job of distilling the essence and making it simple to understand. I liked the fact that there is a part in each lesson which makes me relate it readily to my organization and make it applicable for my work. A must read if you are not in a high position in your organization but would like to show leadership.