In the world of business, it's a given that the CEO must don a myriad hats to create and sustain a successful corporation. He (much as we'd like to say She, the fact is women CEOs are still a rarity) must be the chief strategist, envisioning new opportunities for his corporation; he must be the chief salesman and brand ambassador, building goodwill among his customers, investors, employees, and partners. He must also be the cheer leader, egging his team on and keeping its morale high.

But turn to the world of politics, you will find no similar demands being made on the Chief Ministers. That's inexplicable for several reasons. For one, the entities that the political CEOs lead are several times bigger and more complex than most corporations. National polity has become much more fragmented and, hence, coalition management is a must-have skill for any political leader. Besides, like Indian corporations, the states of India have also had to "globalise" post-liberalisation in the early 90s. For 40 years, central planning through licences, permits, and incentives meant that the Chief Ministers did not have to compete to attract industries. But today, the disparities between the progressive and straggler states are increasing, and with state-led industrialisation weakening, it is up to the Chief Minister to bring investors into his or her state.

What the changes of the past decade or so demand is a new kind of Chief Minister. But what qualities make a perfect Chief Minister? Is it merely his or her ability to keep oneself in power by hook or crook like Laloo Prasad Yadav in Bihar or even a Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh? Or is it about running a coalition effectively without much internal bickering like what the CPM government in West Bengal has perfected over the years? Or is it about good governance such as being attempted by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh and Delhi's Sheila Dikshit?

The answer is that the perfect Chief Minister will need all of these qualities and much more. He'll need the survival instinct to stay on top of the rough and tumble of today's politics, but also CEO-like qualities to be able to optimally utilise resources and create economic wealth. A very good example of the new Chief Minister is Nara Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh. The laptop-toting chief minister has travelled all over the world the last eight years, marketing Andhra Pradesh as an ideal investment destination. In the process, he's transformed a sleepy, nondescript state into a technology centre for software and pharma companies. Sure, his capital has benefited more than the other parts of the state. But, then, how many Chief Ministers have marketed their state capital like Naidu has?

Impossible as it may seem, the new chief minister must also be communally blind. He must put things like fair play, merit, and law and order above all other considerations. Consider Gujarat, for example. For long the state had been a popular destination for investors, but the communal riots of last year have put a serious question mark on its future. Some investors are shifting base from Gujarat to more progressive states such as Maharashtra, and many other investors privately admit that it will be years before Gujarat once again becomes their favoured destination.

Again, in this age of information technology, it is important for the cm to not only be well-educated but also tech-savvy (that doesn't mean he needs to be a code jock; at the least he should appreciate the power of it in governance). Karnataka, under S.M. Krishna, and Andhra Pradesh have taken the lead. In contrast, most of the prosperous states of north India-be it Om Prakash Chautala's Haryana or Amarinder Singh's Punjab-find themselves left behind despite good infrastructure and social affluence. All because of their inability to market their states. And we haven't even started talking about the problems that ail the less fortunate states in the north-east, east and central India.

In other words, the Chief Minister of today cannot afford to be merely populist. He has to have a developmental agenda, raise funds for their implementation and be accountable. For that he must first re-engineer his own job and become the custodian of the state brand, marketing it globally and taking responsiblity for its financial health. It's a big leap for the Chief Minister of today to make, but one that he must attempt. Simply because that's what his people expect of him.