Engineer turns author by chasing an idea from cricket field to hangar

When you chase your dreams, chase them hard. That's the story flying out of the Aviation Capital this winter.

Krishna Murari is 53 now. The soft-spoken mechanical engineer, hailing from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, has been working in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the last 28 years.

What makes him different from other plane people in HAL is his passion for writing, an addiction he fell into at a very young age.

Today, he is the proud author of the book "Impact of leadership styles on employee empowerment,' published by Partridge India.

"I was into writing scripts for drama at a very young age. I have written over 10 drama scripts and some have even enacted during Hindi Utsavs," says Murari, a DGM in the Quality Department of LCA Division in Bengaluru.

According to him, there are 19 different types of leadership skills, out of which five are very distinct in nature.

"Transformational, transactional, servant, ethical and abusive leadership styles are often seen in today's world. In aerospace we need a transformational style of leadership. In spite of being the best democracy in the world, our position in the aerospace market needs to go up. We need to develop technologies in India and that requires a transformational kind of leadership style," says Murai, in reference to his book.

Inspiring leadership allows people to innovate

He says among the most inspiring leadership skills, the one that let people experiment, take risk and innovative will fetch rich dividends.

"We need to invest more in R&D and make more mistakes. Those making mistakes should not be targeted, but should be encouraged to undertake more experiments. I can see projects like Light Combat Helicopter and Light Utility Helicopter being some of the best examples in this direction," says Murari.

The engineer-cum-author says that he has seen the Dhruv programme in HAL from very close quarters.

"I have seen Dhruv from the baby stages itself. I have seen its transformation from a model to a mature flying machine. Here too I was able to see many leadership patterns," adds Murari.

On ethical leadership, the author says that it plays an important role in employee empowerment.

"A person's attributes of trusting the subordinates and being honest, transparent, selfless and truthful makes him/her a role model for subordinates and enhances empowerment. It also enhances the quality of work life in the organisation," says the author.

Hailing from a middle class family, Murai says he had no big dreams as a kid. "The idea of writing books came when I was watching a local cricket match in Kanpur along with my friends. I am not sure why it came in between a match. But it stuck with me," he adds.

Murari is already on to his next book titled ‘How to fail,' which focuses on organisational behaviour.

"Writing is a great art by which you can express your thoughts freely. My books are aimed at helping others develop leadership qualities. It also should help in creating inspiring organisational behaviour patterns," says Murari.