Option of working with like-minded people limited
SHILLONG: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said running a government is one of the most difficult management situations observing that the option of working with like-minded persons is limited.
Sangma, who completed his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in Finance was addressing an audience comprising students at NEHU during the inaugural programme of ‘shaping of young minds’ on Friday, at the NEHU multi-purpose convention hall, where he shared his management mantra on running a government and a national party.
‘Shaping of young minds’ was organised by the All India Management Association (AIMA) and the Guwahati Management Association (GMA.
Revealing his vulnerable side, he said, ‘I am in the government and I run a state. One of the most difficult management positions you can think of because you cannot even seem to choose the kind of people you want to work with. We have a set of people and we have to work with them.’
He added, ‘We have to identify the good and the bad qualities, quarantine the bad part and push the good part. Yet you have to run and manage an engine which is difficult to run sometimes.’
Encouraging the students, the chief minister said there are certain principles that students must keep in their hearts while their passion and ideologies that will get them through. “There is no compromise to hard work,” he said.
According to Sangma, the youth forms the biggest challenge and the biggest resource and the energy are to be channelised in the right direction.
Nobody is a boss: Conrad
Being from the management background, he said the practical side of management would depend on the situation one is in as he found out that he could not apply the theories he learnt during his management days as the situation is different.
The chief minister said the challenges in the government are to get a team to work together, and added, “In today’s world, nobody is a boss. Remember that we are part of a team.”
Stating that leaders are to accessible and approachable and their presence should percolate down to the grassroots, he informed that he has started the programme called, Block to block with a target to cover 46 blocks in the next two years that requires meeting the people and getting to know about the condition of the villages and frame policies accordingly.
“The situation is different, the technology available in the US and UK is not
there in India, the kind of politicians and officials in US and UK are different from politicians in India,” he said.
The chief minister said he is still an entrepreneur, because he is running a national party which has become the 7th national party.
