The peepul tree or the Ficus religiosa, to give it is the scientific name, is not just native to India, but an intrinsic part of the culture. It is under this tree that Savitri negotiates for Satyavan’s life with Yama, the God of Death. Millenia later, women in India still worship the tree to pray for long life for their spouses. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna refers to this tree saying, I am the peepul among the trees, the Narada amongst the sages – essentially the best of the best among each classification. The Buddha is supposed to have received enlightenment under it. For hundreds of years, weary travellers sought shade and refuge under it. For even longer, the tree has been the ecosystem for a variety of birds and small animals. While its virtues as a natural, spiritual, and material ecosystem are many, it exhibits another facet that is quite fascinating. Nothing grows under a peepul tree, or under those of its relative the banyan tree.  And, this is because of the gigantic presence of the tree cuts out all sunlight from reaching the ground, and it kills all life forms that need sunlight and chlorophyll to live. It prevents new forms of green shoots; it prevents life from gaining root.

In organisations, too, you have gigantic peepuls – people so brilliant and overwhelming that they decimate the next line of leadership, and the next, and the next – till nothing grows under. As organisations grow more mission driven, the expectation of a larger than life leader who propels them to a greater path becomes more necessary. A glue that holds diverse parts of the organisation together, following a greater goal. But there are times that this can go the other way. A Harvard Business Review article,  When Charismatic Leadership Goes Too Far, talks about the five phases that transforms a leadership as it moves from the positive glue that holds the organisation together, to the force that tears the organisation apart. The first is “the subtle sense on the part of followers that the leader does not want to be questioned”; the second phase, is that supporters self-censor, and not ask questions that may improve a course of action; the third phase is – without hearing any dissent, the leader becomes over confident. Buoyed on by a chorus of those who say yes, they begin to think they are infallible, despite evidence to the contrary. The fourth stage becomes one where the followers stop having ideas, as no idea but that of the leader’s matter. And, finally, you see complete demoralisation of the organisation, with the best leaving to seek other opportunities.

Which brings us to the woes of the Grand Old Party of India, the Indian National Congress.  The problem with the Indian National Congress in the post Indira Gandhi era is that the peepul-like behaviour, of a larger than life charismatic leader, on all aspects of the party has decimated the party of leadership at every level. It bounces between phase four and five, described above, on the scale of descent. The ‘yes’ culture has become so pervasive that from the booth level upwards, that the ambition need to fight and win elections, the edge needed, has been blunted by a chorus of yes’. And without ambitious people, with a hunger and a passion to win, you will not get the numbers needed.

Ambitious leaders who did not want to be ‘yes people’ have moved on to start their own parties – be it Mamata Banerjee who moved out to start the TMC, or Sharad Pawar who moved out to start the Nationalist Congress party (NCP), both found themselves boxed in by the culture of acquiescence. More recently you saw Priyanka Chaturvedi and Jyotiraditya Scindia seek better pastures. We also saw the rebellion by Sachin Pilot before he was cajoled back to the fold; and finally was the letter by  23 Congress leaders on what the party needs to do to break out of the quick sand it seems to be stuck in.  The letter called for the revitalisation of the party on multiple levels, starting with party elections to fill posts. One the face of it, a completely normal request.

The proposal was met with high drama, offers of resignation by Sonia Gandhi, contrition on part of some who signed the letter, and tears. The net outcome is that it is business as usual in the Congress Party, helmed by Sonia Gandhi and her merry bunch of loyalists.  The end the ‘dissenters’ have been side-lined and a loud clear public warning to anyone in the future who has a different point of view.

The solution to an organisational crisis that the Congress is facing is to break out of the echo chamber that tells the leader how wonderful they are, and listening to diverse voices within the Congress. The party needs to understand that to regenerate and become relevant it needs to restructure and reform. And, that can only happen if there are diverse ideas and views that are allowed within the party that help us restructure.  Sonia Gandhi will do well to recognise this.