SENIOR LEADERSHIP IS CULPABLE TOO

In the last week of March this year, there will be a seminar held in the Academy on the topic: “How to strengthen the junior leadership”. Officers of the rank of DIG’ of BSF cadre will be participating. As far as I know, most of them are officers with good reputation. Not that I have any authority to pass judgment on such senior officers. I am only stating my personal feelings based on my personal interactions and association with them and on the basis of how we juniors usually perceive our seniors.

The choice of the topic for the discussion however surprises me. What makes the senior BSF officers feel that there is a weakness only in the junior leadership? The topic in itself is symptomatic of a rift between officer cadres of BSF. On one side are the AC’s and DC’s and on the other side are CO’s, DIG’s and IG’s. I understand that command has its own challenges, responsibilities and compulsions and most of the actions of seniors stem from these responsibilities and compulsions which the juniors at times misread as their arrogance and high-headedness. But the other aspect is that in case of some people the power that comes with command soon goes to their head and is blatantly misused.

There are instances galore that may come to each one of our minds about such senior officers. I would like to take this opportunity to speak of a few that I noticed in the recent past. I would not indulge in the debate of whether such information should be brought out in the public domain or not. I have debated enough with my own conscious and reached to the conclusion that a time has to come when such people have to be exposed. I am also inspired by what Albert Einstein once said and that is, “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with the important matters.” However, today I will refrain myself from dropping any names.

Officers travelling with Gallantry Award winners as their attendants on personal trips are quite common and surprisingly not scoffed at as it is considered an OK thing to do. I don’t really understand how such officers can exercise fair command. In another case a HC has been sent on two months leave by the CO to supervise the construction of his house in another city.

In yet another instance a Commandant rank officer who was no. 2 in the hierarchy used three official light vehicles for his personal use. He was unashamedly meeting with different suppliers and placing his personal demands on them. Junior officers had a tough time preventing him from taking many official inventories home which were desired by him not only for personal consumption during his tenure but for permanent retention. The joke doing the rounds for him was that he even peeped into the trash bins to see if there was anything he could take home. And to top it he often used to coerce officers and lower staff threatening an adverse ACR.

The boldness and brazenness with which he was doing all this made one feel that no one in the world could do any harm to him. And perhaps the feeling was right. He was in fact rewarded with a… ok forget it. But before he left he took away some expensive electronic items with half the mess bill unpaid. After a few years he would be participating in a similar seminar talking tall things and preaching youngsters about BSF ethos and what not.

Let me also narrate an incident in which the lady wife of a Commandant used the choicest of invectives in the officers’ mess for the constables serving as mess staff, of course not in their hearing distance but in the presence of many other ladies which included the lady wife of a senior IPS officer. Now many righteous people will advise me not to bring the ladies into this but I was aghast when I learnt this and ladies play such a vital role in our welfare activities especially in the units.
On many occasions one experience such a cold response from BSF CO’s and DIGS’s when one wishes them. It seems as if a subject was wishing his king and he was a nothing in the eyes of the king. I simply fail to understand the reason for such arrogance. As a result the environment of trust is nearly non-existent in the organization. During our basic training we were told to be familiar with the troops and not friendly with them. Perhaps the same philosophy is applied in r/o officers too.

And who can forget the unfortunate incident where a bright young officer was mentally harassed so much that he was driven to this state where he had to shoot at his senior. The common view shared amongst many officers is that they still feel safe in the hands of IPS officers. The BSF officers who have become DIG and IG are only hounding their subordinates. An officer pointed out a couple of days ago that in every FTR where a BSF officer is the IG, the units and even his own staff officers are unhappy. I met another officer of the rank of 2IC whose ACR was spoiled by the CO who belongs to a batch which I think is pretty well respected otherwise. It is the duty and responsibility of the seniors to see that their behaviors and conduct conforms to

In any case I am not letting out my frustration. I enjoy excellent relations with seniors with personal and professional ethics. So I intend not to be misunderstood. I am also not implying that there is nothing wrong with junior leadership. Some of us are pathetic. Even I could be a silly officer in the eyes of some. My contention here is that if there is any problem with the leadership, it is there in the higher echelons. Any cleansing must start from the top. The juniors would automatically improve.

I would like to end with quotes from two of greatest military leaders in International history on the issue of leadership.
“You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.”
- General D D Eisenhower
“Leadership is understanding people and involving them to help you do a job. That takes all of the good characteristics, like integrity, dedication of purpose, selflessness, knowledge, skill, implacability, as well as determination not to accept failure.” - Admiral Arleigh A. Burke

It is for all of us to introspect whether we qualify as true leaders? The focus therefore must be on how to improve the organizational culture and ethos as a whole and not find fault at one particular level.