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Introduction
Leaders like gems are precious, beautiful and rare. We utilise the concept of navratna , which refers to nine gems in ancient Indian literature, to illuminate South Asian women leaders, who, due to cultural factors are even more rare than women leaders in the western world (Hoobler et al. , 2014; Harris, 2002). Jewels, both real and metaphorical, inspire and enchant and in Sanskrit, ratna is derived from the root word meaning that which has excellent qualities and which brings delight. The term navratna was also applied to nine superlative individuals who were in the courts of kings such as Vikramaditya (around the 1st C BCE) and the Mughal Emperor Akbar (sixteenth century). Both these illustrious rulers were known for their courage, generosity, love of learning and patronage of scholars (Basham, 1954; Thapar, 2002). In Akbar's court, these scholars also belonged to various religions, underscoring a liberal and pluralistic rule (Busch, 2010). Jewellery created with nine gems still has significance in contemporary South Asian society. Gem stones have three cardinal virtues, beauty, durability and rarity (Krishnamurthy, 1992). Beauty was defined by transparency, colour and fire in the depth of the gem; durability was defined by hardness of the mineral to resist abrasive influences, and finally rarity connoted that very precious gems were rare. These qualities of transparency, fire and depth, ability to resist abrasive influences, and rarity are characteristic also of leadership.
The Indian Department of Public Enterprises (2012) classifies top industries within the central public sector enterprises with the titles of Maharatna or great gem (Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd Coal India Ltd); navratna (Bharat Electronics Ltd, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd), and Miniratna (Airports Authority of India, Hindustan Newsprint Ltd). Thus, the concept of gems has a longevity in the mind-set and traditions of India, and it is this concept that we will expand on in the context of South Asian women leaders. Some of the very successful organisations in South-Asia such as the Tata Group of Companies were inspired by the concept of vasudaiva kutumbakam peace and prosperity for all (Tata, 2006; Pio and Syed, 2014), which is often the driving force of South Asian women leaders.
This paper resonates with Ladkin's (2010) aesthetic leadership or "leading beautifully" and our choice of vignettes reflects...