One fateful day, Dulhaju, as per the plot hatched with the British, went to open one of the doors of Jhansi. One of Lakshmibai's gunners had seen him and tried to stop him. But his efforts were in vain and the British troops crashed through the open gate, pillaged Jhansi, destroyed buildings, and killed numerous people.
Rani Lakshmibai was depressed and decided to commit suicide, but her advisor prevailed upon her to escape to Kalpi and join Tatya Tope's forces.
Lakshmibai discussed it with her other confidants and then her small troops fought their way through to Kalpi. There she met Rao Saheb and Tatya Tope with their armies. She inspected their armies and found them disorganised. Following Lakshmibai, the British army reached Kalpi. But Rao Saheb had not paid heed to Lakshmibai's advice on reorganisation of the armies, and thus lost the war.
Lakshmibai then suggested that they capture the Gwalior fort, as evading the British would not provide any long-term solutions. Tatya Tope and Rao Saheb agreed.
But the Gwalior fort was with Scindia, who had joined hands with the British. But as Lakshmibai had suspected, most of the Scindia's soldiers revolted against their king and joined hands with Rani Lakshmibai to help in capturing Gwalior.
The army led by General Rose proceeded towards Gwalior. Here again, Lakshmibai advised Rao Saheb and Tatya Tope on the approach they should adopt to take on the British, but again they disagreed. Lakshmibai fought valiantly and died. Gwalior was recaptured by the British. Lakshmibai remained an icon of bravery and determination not only for Indians, but for the British too.
Lesson: A good leader can learn from Lakshmibai's conviction, commitment, skill, flexibility and can-do attitude. An organisation can also learn from her life: it can learn to be prepared for a topsy-turvy ride in the long run. There could be multiple roadblocks and hiccups. But the important lesson is to learn from the losses and consolidate the wins; this will help in turning an organisation into an institution, which could be respected by all.
Image: A regal statue of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi
Also read: Has organised retail lost the plot?
The author, based in Bangalore, is the managing director of an IT multinational firm. He has also written two books: Offshoring Secrets, and the forthcoming Myths & Realities @ the Office.
Disclaimer: Since history is replete with different versions of the same event, chances are that some of the stories written here might not match with the version that the reader is conversant with. However, the article has been written not with the intention of being unerringly accurate on the historic account, but to use the event as a source of information from which to draw strategic management lessons.
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