Amalendu Bose Memorial Lecture Indian National Committee of ICOM, 15 March, 2011

1. Amalendu Bose Memorial LectureIndian National Committee of ICOM, 15 March, 2011 Museum Leadership: a challenge for today and tomorrow sarojghose@yahoo.co.uk

2. Amalendu Bose Born in 1918, educated as a polymer scientist from New York, having a broad overview of S&T as an Examiner of Patents, picked up by Dr B C Roy to develop the first multi-disciplinary science museum in the country in 1956. And thereafter he did not need to look back. He developed BITM at Kolkata, VITM at Bangalore, and laid the foundation of National Council of Science Museums. He chaired the Indian National Committee of ICOM, ICOM ASPAC, and became the first Indian member of the Executive Council of ICOM in Paris. But is it all for which he will ever be remembered?

3. Legacy of A Bose Unquestionable integrity Signature with a Vision A Bose left behind a legacy for which he will ever be remembered Problem Solving Leadership Delegation of Authority Human Resource Development Nurturing a Successor NCSM/POW model Other Examples: IM, SM, NM

4. Director Pyramidal Staff Structure Deputy Director(s) Technical Assistants Curatorial Assistants Assistant Directors Curators Sr Technical Officers/ Deputy Curators Technical Officers/ Assistant Curators

5. System Fails when? When human resource is not updated/developed through in-service trainings and refresher courses When a link is broken in the chain like what happens in food pyramid Example: when the post of DD is made administrative When continuous system of self-assessment and stick-and-carrot is not followed When the outgoing director gets interested in extension of his own employment When the selection process gets beyond the control of the Director Can a Technical Assistant rise to Director General ? Plenty of instances

6. Ladder to the Top Management Tools strategic plan, business plan, man management For moving up the ladder, museum professionals have to adapt to new situations and use new tools over and above what A Bose and other stalwarts worked for: Finance Tools accounting, fund raising Computer Tools visual documentation, power point presentation, page makeup

7. Managerial Functions of a Director Subject Knowledge Management Tools Refresher Courses Man Management Academic Research Accounting Tools Seminars Fund Raising Publication Refresher Training a professional Director

8. A museum leader, leading from the front Planning with a vision Development with a signature Amalendu Bose will ever be remembered as a Museum Leader for the following qualities: Motivation to enhance performance Management for task accomplishment Authority to flow down the line Human Resource Development for sustenance Leadership from the front

9. Planning and Development Planning with a vision Planning of amuseum, or for that matter any activity, shall involve setting goals and objectives of the organisation, and developing work maps showing how these goals and objectives are to be accomplished. This involves bringing together resources – people, finance, equipment, and knowledge – in the most effective way to accomplish the goals. Development with a signature Development of a museum therefore involves an integration of all resources which shall be done primarily by the managers or leaders having a strong motivation for the work.

10. Strategic Plan Character – to project the exact nature of the organisation in national and international perspective. Vision – to chalk out direction and growth plans on what shape the organisation would assume in a specific time frame – projecting its likely appearance, size, scope of activities, and achievements. Mission Statement-- From the vision statement, themes will emerge and form the mission statements on the purpose of the organisation and its relationships with the society at large, viz. school children, teachers, uninitiated adults, farmers, industrial workers etc. Critical Success Criteria-- Key factors to achieve the vision and mission statements in terms of utilisation and optimisation of available resources. 

11. Strategic Plan cont.. Objectives -- to explicitly state the organisation’s Objectives in terms of the results it needs/wants to achieve in the medium/long term. Objectives should relate to the expectations and requirements of all the major clienteles. Goals -- specific interim or ultimate time-based measurements to be achieved by implementing strategies in pursuit of the organisation's objectives. Goals should be quantifiable, consistent, realistic and achievable. Strategies -- the rules and guidelines by which the mission and objectives may be achieved. SWOT analysis can help in identifying possible strategies by building on strengths, resolving weaknesses, exploiting opportunities and avoiding threats.

12. Management for task accomplishment Skills of a Manager : Technical skill – ability to use knowledge, methods, techniques, and equipment necessary for the performance of specific tasks acquired from education, training, and experience Human skill – ability and judgment in working with and through people, including an understanding of motivation and an application of effective leadership Conceptual skill – ability to understand the complexities of the overall organisation and where the manager’s own operation fits into the organisation. This knowledge permits the manager to act according to the objectives of the total organisation rather than only on the basis of the goals and needs of one’s own immediate group Management is the process of working with and through individuals and groups and other resources to accomplish organisational goals

13. Human Touch Human Feelings :In addition to finding the best technological methods to improve output, it is essential for the management to look into human affairs. The real power centering within an organisation is the interpersonal relations that develops within the working unit. The organisation is to be developed around the workers and had to take into account human feelings and attitudes Versatility and Flexibility :The most effective leaders appear to exhibit a degree of versatility and flexibility that enables them to adapt their behaviour to the changing and contradictory demands made on them. Leaders influence their followers in either of two ways: (1) they can tell their followers what to do and how to do it or (2) they can share their leadership responsibilities with their followers by involving them in the planning and execution of the task. The former is the traditional authoritarian style, which emphasizes task concerns. The latter is the more nondirective democratic style, which stresses the concern for human relationships

14. Authority – two styles Authoritarian and Democratic Styles The authoritarian style of leader behaviour is often based on the assumption that the power of leaders is derived from the position they occupy and that the people are innately lazy and unreliable. The democratic style assumes that the power of leaders is granted by the group they are to lead and that people can be basically self-directed and creative at work if properly motivated. As a result, in the authoritarian style, all policies are determined by the leader; in the democratic style, policies are open for group discussion and decision. Leaders whose behaviour is observed to be at the authoritarian end of the continuum tend to be task oriented and use their power to influence their followers; leaders whose behaviour appear to be at the democratic end tend to be group-oriented and thus give their followers considerable freedom in their work.

15. Director and Followers While close supervision and direction might be necessary initially when working with individuals who have had little experience in directing their own behaviour, it should be recognised that this style is only the first step. In fact, managers should be rewarded for helping their people develop and be able to assume more and more responsibility on their own. When followers are at low levels of readiness, the manager must take the responsibility for the traditional management functions such as planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling. The manager’s role is that of supervisor of the group. However, when managers develop their people and have followers at high levels of readiness, the followers can take over much of the responsibility for these day-to-day traditional management functions. The manager’s role can then change from supervisor to the group’s representative in the next level of the organisation.

16. Delegation of Authorities Decentralisation of Authorities Leadership is a quality, both inherent and cultivable, for all members of staff and is by no means restricted to the top order only. In a democratic style of functioning, which encourages human resource development within the organisation, the authority needs to be delegated down the line from the Director General to the divisional heads and further down to sectional heads and to the group leaders, in a ladder system. The staff structure takes care of not only the objectives and the goals of the Museum but also the need to develop a self-sustaining working system so that the Museum shall function smoothly even when some key members of staff leave the job for better pasture. Members of staff down the line would then be able to move up with a strong sense of responsibility, commitment and motivation. This is essential for a highly specialised institution like a Museum which for sometime to go shall remain as a unique institution requiring creativity and commitment to the societal needs.

17. Leadership Function Leadership Function : Most managementexperts agree that leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an individual or a group in effort toward goal achievement in a given situation. From this definition of leadership, it follows that the leadership process is a function of the Leader, the Follower, and other situational variables as expressed by L = f(l,f,s). This definition makes no mention of any particular type of organisation and is applicable in general to all organisations.

18. Leadership from the front Leadership is a broader concept than management. Management is thought of as a special kind of leadership in which the achievement of organisational goals is paramount. The key difference between the two concepts, therefore, lies in the word ‘organisation’. Leadership occurs any time one attempts to influence the behaviour of an individual or group, regardless of the reason. Three competences of leadership : Diagnosing – leaders being able to understand the situation they are trying to influence, Adapting – leaders being able to adapt their behaviour and the other resources they have available to meet the contingencies of the situation, Communicating – leaders being able to communicate in a way that the people can easily understand and accept.

19. Fatal Flaws Some experts examined the differences between executives who went all the way to the top, and those who were ‘derailed’ just before reaching their goal because of some ‘fatal flaws’ as indicated below: Insensitive to others – abrasive, intimidating, bullying Cold, aloof, arrogant Betrayal of trust Overly ambitious: thinking of next job, playing politics Specific performance problems with the business Overmanaging – unable to delegate or build a team Unable to direct and manage staff effectively Unable to think strategically Unable to adapt to Boss with different style Overdependent on advocate or mentor

20. Ready to meet the Challenge? The modern museum leader must have a commanding authority using the management tools, finance tools and computer tools, all by himself and not by contracting out the responsibilities. Days are gone when a museum leader just took care of collection, documentation, exhibition and education. The new museum leader also has to be an out-and-out professional in his approach. A true leader has to lead from the front, and he has to train up his juniors to lead, and he has to bring up his able successors. Amalendu Bose precisely did this and that makes him immortal.