Why IITs Produce Terrific Leaders Page 1 of 2

Publication: Economic Times Delhi; Date:2006 Nov 16; Section:Business & IT; Page
Number: 5

Why IITs Produce Terrific Leaders

R Gopalakrishnan

JUST AS microorganisms grow better in some mediums, the leadership ’microorganism’ grows
very well at IITs. This statement is made, not to exclude others, but to underscore the
uniqueness of IIT as a medium to multiply the leadership trait.
From 23 to 25 December, 5,000 alumni will gather in Mumbai to contemplate the national
theme Inspire, Involve and Transform India. These 5000, a mere 3% of the combined output of
150,000 alumni of the seven IITs in the country, will hopefully demonstrate the thought
prowess of the IITs.
The distinguished alumni list displays a multi-chromatic rainbow of achievers in all sorts of
fields — technology, business, entrepreneurship, and public affairs-— and globally, society
needs spade loads of them. To avoid mentioning some to the exclusion of others, I will not take
names.
What is it about the food and air of these IITs that produces a brand that the world,
Americans in particular, and MNCs go ga-ga about?
Well, on the lighter side, the food in the hostels has been lousy for so long that the graduates
produced are hungry for several years, gastronomically and intellectually! With the
gastronomical, their girth shows the consequences. With the intellectual, their stellar leadership
roles in society show the results.
IIT life can produce very odd and challenging situations. A delicate situation arose during the
1965 war when a Pakistani plane was shot down near Kalaikunda, just a few kilometers from
Kharagpur. Unbelievably, an enterprising student took a cycle rickshaw to reach the spot before
the defence forces. He found the pilot dead and stuck in a tree, and relieved the dead man of
his machine gun!
You can imagine the complexities that gripped the campus — defence, external affairs, police,
security et al. Leadership research (Centre for Creative Leadership Technical Report No 32)
shows leaders develop from experiences around five themes: Implementing Agendas, Handling
Relationships, Basic Values, Appropriate Temperament, and Personal Awareness. The IITs are
rich in all of these, and as appropriate to that nascent phase of student life.
First, the curriculum is exacting. If getting in was tough, hanging in is tougher, getting out is
the toughest. The lessons of discipline and persistence get ingrained very fast. Second, the
austere hostel life creates dependencies. Nobody in IIT can retain his sanity and graduate
successfully without academic and social collaboration. This is a huge developmental input for
geeky high school graduates who join.
Third, the campus offers many extra-mural activities. You can graduate without being
touched by these, but you would be the odd person. Yet, if you indulge in all, you will never
graduate! One learns to prioritise and indulge in things one enjoys and may excel in. Fourth,
campus life brings you face to face with the challenges of facing yourself. You become your
mentor and mirror. You realise your personal limits and blind spots, and develop a huge degree
of self-awareness.
So are IITs perfect? Far from it.
Are they the gift of God to the nation? In a small way, yes, but they are not the only gift of
the Gods. The St Xavier’s, St Stephens, Loyolas, Presidencys and IIMs too are gifts of the Gods.

What the graduates do for the nation later is, however, the true gift. The country will wait to
see the outcome of the IIT event around Christmas!
Will it inspire, involve and transform?

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