Management lessons from Rani

of Jhansi
Throughout history, wars have left an indelible mark on human psyche.
Serious debates have been held on the morality of and the strategic
necessity for war. And yet, like every dark cloud that has a silver lining,
wars too at times leave a society wiser.

India is no stranger to wars. And there are many lessons to be learnt

from each of those battles
-- Management Lessons, to be precise.

Here we present the second in a series of articles on Management

Lessons drawn from Indian history.

This one picks out Management gems from the battle for Jhansi.
Image: Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi
The battle for Jhansi (1858 AD) The British Government had decreed
that all independent Kingdoms which did not have a male successor had
to merge with the Empire. An adopted son was not considered a
successor. This caused problems for Rani Lakshmibai whose adopted
son, Damodar Rao, would not have been able to ascend the throne after
her husband, Raja Gangadhar Rao, died. She told the British envoy she
would not part with her kingdom, Jhansi, despite knowing she could
land into trouble. She had consulted her subjects, who had
enthusiastically supported her in taking up the issue with British
legally, if not militarily. Residents of Jhansi were made aware of this
new situation. If the legal battle didn't go in her favor, she would have
to take to arms.

Lesson: Involve the team in any major decision-making process. When

one has the buy-in, it yields far better results
February 26, 2009 As expected, Queen's requests were shot
down by the British. In March 1858, General Rose led an army into
Jhansi. All entrance gates to the city were closed. The British army
started bombarding the city, which damaged the walls. But overnight,
Queen's people set it right. This continued for weeks and frustrated
the designs of the British army as they could not move forward. A
few of Queen's best gunners were women; elsewhere in her army too,
there was a good representation of women. She had recruited people
based on skills, irrespective of their caste, creed or sex, and therefore
formed a formidable defense. She handpicked the personnel and
deployed them studying the ground situation.

Lesson: Team formation is fundamental to success, and Senior

Management involvement helps. They can apply their rich experience
in choosing right people for the right job. This also helps team
members to have an access with Senior Management if they have any
suggestions and recommendations. It also makes information flow
smoother and decision-making faster
 Image: General Rose

Image: Tatya Tope

Two months later, Tatya Tope, a distinguished leader, came to help
Rani Lakshmibai with his big army and ammunition. Lakshmibai was
confident of outsmarting the British. But General Rose had anticipated
Tatya's arrival. He knew he would be sandwiched between the two
armies and, therefore, executed his well-thought-out plan of splitting
his army into two.
One part was supposed to keep attacking Jhansi -- albeit to maintain
the status quo -- and
the second was to fight Tatya's army.

Lesson: A leader should anticipate the opponent's move and strategies

accordingly. This takes the surprise factor out of the equation and helps
in keeping the morale of the team high.
Image: Tatya Tope's forces in battle with the British
Tatya Tope had numerical superiority and his people fought very well,
but he could not convert it into a win as he stumbled badly while
crafting attack strategies. This led to the British registering a
Resounding victory.

Lesson: Although quantity might provide an edge, quality can add to

the edge. Or blunt it, at times.
Informed and intelligent decision-making overcomes many apparent
disadvantages. It is very easy for an organization to relinquish market
dominance due to a bad decision.
Some of these decisions have quick impact, while others might
become evident after some time.
If time permits, one should revisit the decisions or else learn from it to
avoid future mistakes.
Image: The decisive battle for Jhansi
On that evening, Rani committed one mistake of not opening the gates
of Jhansi and attacking the British soldiers who were in their last stage
of battle against Tatya Tope's forces. That attack would have crippled
Rose's forces and would have changed the course of the war. She
realized it later.

Lesson: Opportunity comes without any announcement. It should be

sensed, grabbed and exploited
Image: An artist's depiction of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi in battle
with the British, with her young son, Damodar.
Since the beginning of the war, Peer Ali, a confidant of Lakshmibai, was
working as a spy. He suddenly turned against her one fine day, without
her knowledge. He was asked by General Rose to identify and turn a
key Jhansi gunner manning the gates who could be bribed to switch
loyalties. Peer Ali tried hard for a few days, and then one day he
succeeded in convincing a top gunner, Dulhaju, to go against
Lakshmibai. Dulhaju was unhappy with some of the comments made
by Lakshmibai and some fellow soldiers. He appeared before General
Rose and promised to do his bidding. In return, he was to get a few
villages.
Lesson: Giving and receiving feedback is an art and should be
executed carefully. Leaders should be careful in providing feedback.
If feedback is not good, the leadership must provide an opportunity for
another round of discussions where misgivings could be set right.
Praise openly, criticize confidentially -- that should be the policy with
those in strategic positions
Image: The Gwalior fort
One person could sense a change in Dulhaju and his sudden cozying up
to Peer Ali. He provided an early warning to Rani Lakshmibai, but she
stopped short of intense questioning for fear of antagonizing a key
gunner which might impact Jhansi's security.

Lesson: Any case of ethics or serious offence should be handled

immediately, irrespective of employee's past performance and high
rating.
Image: The Jhansi
Fort
Lakshmibai sensed the British were preparing for the final assault. To
keep her troops' morale high, she cheered them on and also doled out
money to them. She rewarded most of the gunners, who risked
everything to guard Jhansi, very well. She said Jhansi would remain
independent so long as people want it to be.

Lesson: Risk and reward go hand in hand. It is human to expect

appropriate reward for taking risks.
One fateful day, Dulhaju, as per the plot hatched with the British, went
to open one of the doors of Jhansi. One of Lakshmibai's gunners had
seen him and tried to stop him. But his efforts were in vain and the
British troops crashed through the open gate, pillaged Jhansi, destroyed
buildings, and killed numerous people. Rani Lakshmibai was depressed
and decided to commit suicide, but her advisor prevailed upon her to
escape to Kalpi and join Tatya Tope's forces. Lakshmibai discussed it
with her other confidants and then her small troops fought their way
through to Kalpi. There she met Rao Saheb and Tatya Tope with their
armies. She inspected their armies and found them disorganized.
Following Lakshmibai, the British army reached Kalpi. But Rao Saheb
had not paid heed to Lakshmibai's advice on reorganization of the
armies, and thus lost the war. Lakshmibai then suggested that they
capture the Gwalior fort, as evading the British would not provide any
long-term solutions. Tatya Tope and Rao Saheb agreed. But the
Gwalior fort was with Scindia, who had joined hands with the British.
But as Lakshmibai had suspected, most of the Scindia's soldiers
revolted against their king and joined hands with Rani Lakshmibai to
help in capturing Gwalior. The army led by General Rose
proceeded towards Gwalior. Here again, Lakshmibai advised Rao
Saheb and Tatya Tope on the approach they should adopt to take on
the British, but again they disagreed. Lakshmibai fought valiantly and
died. Gwalior was recaptured by the British. Lakshmibai remained
an icon of bravery and determination not only for Indians, but for the
British too.

Lesson: A good leader can learn from Lakshmibai's conviction,

commitment, skill, flexibility and can-do attitude. An organization can
also learn from her life: it can learn to be prepared for a topsy-turvy
ride in the long run. There could be multiple roadblocks and hiccups.
But the important lesson is to learn from the losses and consolidate
the wins; this will help in turning an organization into an institution,
which could be respected by all.
Image: A regal statue of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi