An emboldening visionary
To gain something is one thing, but to share a part of it is the quality of an exceptional person. Dr. Damaraju Panduranga Rao is a one-of-a-kind man who decided to lend his experiences as lessons to young, talented professionals. With a working profile in the industry of mining, steel, marble, granite, etc. for the past four decades, he decided to launch a venture to share insights, ethics, the culture, and the sustainability of the industry. Therefore, he took up the responsibility as a mining consultant with Stone Quarries Company, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.
Even though the consultancy is a fresh idea that occurred to him in the year 2019, Dr. Panduranga didn’t take too long to implement the project. He has a lot to coach after working as the CEO of two successful mining organizations.
Much like his personality, his leadership mantra is one-of-a-kind too. Dr. Panduranga lays his confidence in self-participation. His working style is insightful with the first step being delegating tasks to those who can communicate their ideas right at the beginning of a project. It is his observation that when one gets to participate from the planning stage, they get a sense of ownership and hence make lesser errors.
Dr. Panduranga’s strategy to achieve goals is unpretentious and impressive. “I set goals at the commencement of every project. Plus, I also list the expectations, targets, and deadlines. When the team has everything in front of them, they have a clear direction, which makes the process of achieving goals less stressful.”
While he has conquered the art of leadership, the one approach he depends upon today was the toughest for him to acquire- delegation. Additionally, Dr. Panduranga accepts that having complete awareness of our work and the knack to influence others are challenging but essential traits for a leader.
Dr. Panduranga puts forth the five most important characteristics of a leader. They include giving feedback, reinforcing people, learning to accept feedback, learning when to speak up, and effective delegation. “An addition of all of these skills equals to a team’s success.”
When an experienced man speaks, he has a bookful of wisdom to share. In addition to all the mentioned traits, he proposes every leader move forward with integrity and selflessness. He explains how ego, the wrong path to accomplish goals, and disrespecting colleagues can lead to the sheer failure of the entire team. “During your leadership journey, build as many leaders as possible,” Dr. Panduranga advises.
According to him, deadlines play a substantial role too. Consequently, organizations should provide incentives to team members to keep them vigorous and in line with the company’s objectives. Dr. Panduranga highlights how an overall involvement of the entire team is the way to everlasting success.
Those who meet favorable outcomes have mostly also come across failure. But this visionary doesn’t encourage concepts like perfection. “Nobody is perfect!” Dr. Panduranga encourages leaders to focus more on changing the situation to their benefit. He shares how he failed when handling a large project but bounced back immediately, learning where he went wrong. It is then that he realized that a team of hardworking people and well-delegated tasks make everything possible. “Overall, failure is simply the opportunity to begin again with more intelligence,” says the man with a tremendous record.
Dr. Panduranga believes that all organizations should equip themselves with fresh talent to establish a pipeline of leaders at various stages. Every person has a unique skill-set with knowledge in their respective disciplines. If allowed to lead, they will bring in remarkable success with a difference. He doesn’t leave the youth out of this category. “The younger generation needs guidance. If they get good leaders, they turn into golden assets for an organization. We have a large number of experts ready to embrace entrepreneurship and create benchmarks.”
The man who started as a Junior Manager, then a General Manager, and ultimately the CEO, is very accepting of the online world. A great example of that came across during the global lockdown when he could make use of the networking world to get work done in time.
In the future, Dr. Panduranga intends to adopt digital transformation by transmitting the bank statement and paychecks. “Digital transformation is the new way of living in this age.” In his opinion, it is making quite a difference to the world today.
Dr. Panduranga is also an environmentalist and continues to do his bit in protecting the environment and its resources. In his previous companies, he was a part of various initiatives such as using sustainable products, canceling the use of paper, and also eco-logistics. He consistently reminds his team about incorporating all means to reduce ecological footprints and create a positive impact on nature.
What an emboldening visionary Dr. Damaraju Panduranga Rao is!
