Friday, January 4, 2013

Beyond "item number" what do you see in Chulbul Pandey ?


After reading the reviews of Dabangg 2 I also hit the screens with no major expectation and just to have a light evening / some fun seeing Chulbul Pandey.  To my surprise I could see many subtle leadership messages that I would like to share and may be after reading this you too may look at Chulbul Pandey beyond "Item Number"

1. The first one was when he asks Rajo who is tied up preparing lunch in kitchen to get his shirt and then get his comb and then get his belt and so on. Rajo without any question fulfills all his demands. He then calls her and tells her that "Aap hamari biwi hain gulam nahin" you are my wife and not a slave. Now a leader can reflect and see if he is asking his team members to do things that the leader should do it himself and let the team continue working on their planned tasks. Is the leader in some way treating them as "gulam" slaves ?

2. During one of the conversation with his father Chulbul Pandey shares the dream he had last night where he respectfully saves his father. His father says that he was contended with the respect that his son had given him in his day to day interaction but he is overwhelmed if his son is respecting him even in his dreams.  Now a leader can reflect and see whether his team respects him not only in day to day interaction but even in their dreams and if not what he needs to start doing ?

3. Chulbul Pandey inherits a police station where most of the policemen have no motivation and are cribbing about the system/situation but he motivates them so much that they join him in the fight with Bacha Bhaiya and gang. Now a leader can reflect on no matter what kind of team he inherits he can motivate and drive them to deliver results.

4. At one point Chulbul Pandey's father asks him to not take panga (head on) with Bacha Bhaiya and he replies that if he has to serve in police then he will have to do that else he will resign from the job of a police inspector. Now a leader can reflect to see that whatever role he is performing should be performed with full integrity and there should not be any compromise.

5. There are many tense and pressure situations by the goons in the movie where the team of Chulbul is almost on the verge of giving in but chulbul diffuses those situations with humor and gets his team to focus on the job. Now a leader can reflect and see whether he brings in humor at work and helps diffuse situations.

6. Chulbul's brother Makhi who had a very bad past wanted to also rise like Chulbul and one day he comes with great aspiration asking Chulbul to give him an opportunity. Chulbul gives him the required support and encouragement. Now a leader can reflect on situations where a non performer has been given an opportunity to bounce back.

7. One day Rajo wants to go for shopping with Chulbul but he was all set to leave for work. Initially Chulbul says that he has to go for work but then he agrees to go for shopping. Now a leader can reflect how much he takes care of his near and dear ones when they ask for his time.  While leaders will always have lots and lots of work but it is equally important to take care of their near and dear ones.

Hope you enjoyed reading this 7 leadership messages but there could be many more....do reflect on Chulbul Pandey and share if you see any more messages.

7 comments:

  1. Excellent blog Yogesh !! Though I still did not watch the movie, now I will and try to co-relate to your comments. The best thing I liked in the blog are the ones that are of very little importance in the movie but seeing leadership qualities in these items is definitely a great thinking of a leader.


    Thanks,
    Sudhamsu

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  2. Enjoyed reading it Yogesh! It is amazing that you could take these learning out of Chulbul Pandey and Dabangg :)

    I have not planned to see it, but now I guess from this perspective it deserves a watch :)

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  3. Sumit and Sudhamsu, do watch the movie and share your experience if you find some more messages

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  4. Yogesh very nice blog...now I know why it is said there is a learning at every step, it depends on us how we accept it.

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  5. Interesting blog and learnings!! Enjoyed Reading your blogs ..UDUPI blog does highlight the customer experience and customer delight provided for decades by small time business owners and sabziwallahs and many other un-organised industries in India.

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  6. Thanks Manish and Nikhil for your comments. Do read my new blog on technology making us impatient.

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  7. hi yogesh...you made me go down the memory lane and remind me of our SLP program wherein we had analyzed the movie "the bridge over river kwai" for leadership qualities..hopefully a movie like dabaang can also be added into the same category with your insight..Awesome comparison

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