Leading in Uniform, Thriving Beyond It: Lessons from Building the Army’s Digital Voice

By Colonel Amit Sharma (Retd) 

Born into a family of educationists, my early years were shaped by curiosity rather than competition. A two-year stint in Canada taught me that learning was about discovery, not just grades. Back in India, school life was filled with scraped knees from sports, laughter with friends, and the occasional ordeal of results day. 

The National Defence Academy was my first true mirror. I realised I lacked musical skills, adventure credentials, and even swimming ability. NDA fixed that. By the end of three years, I had faced fears, gained discipline, and conquered stage fright. The Indian Military Academy followed, where bonds forged in the field with my first infantry battalion defined brotherhood for me. 

Postings across India added layers to my journey: Bhopal turned me into an unintentional techie, Tawang taught me tenacity amid mountains and monasteries, and Bhatinda gifted me the Punjabi phrase “Ho Jaayega”—a mindset that has stayed with me. By 2011, I was in New Delhi, serving at Army Headquarters as Media Staff Officer in ADGPI, just as the digital dawn was breaking. 

Back then, the Army’s communication model was linear: press releases by evening, news by morning. But social media disrupted everything. Events were tweeted within minutes, debated within hours, and stale by the next day. Silence was no longer neutrality—it was absence. 

Curiosity led me to experiment. I tracked conversations, analysed sentiment, and realised the Army needed an official digital voice. Months of study followed—policies, precedents, and protocols. Finally, on 05 March 2013, the Army’s official Twitter handle, @adgpi, was born. Our first tweet announced a joint exercise with the Bangladesh Army. For the first time, the Army spoke directly to the public, unfiltered and in real time. 

Running the handle till 2014 was exhilarating. Every tweet mattered—it wasn’t just content, it was credibility. Later, in Kashmir, I helped Northern Command launch its own social media presence, building on the @adgpi experience. 

That journey taught me lessons that transcended uniform: leadership is domain-agnostic. Whether in operations or corporate boardrooms, clarity, empathy, and accountability remain the true anchors. 

Reflection 

Innovation within a disciplined structure taught me to navigate ambiguity, find speed in cautious systems, and stay human amid process. Leadership, I realised, is not about the vocabulary—orders or objectives—but about psychology: people driven by aspirations, insecurities, and purpose. 

Transitioning into the corporate world, I carried three tenets with me: 

Manage Ambiguity: Uncertainty is the default state of innovation.

Think Two Steps Ahead: Foresight is the antidote to chaos.

Get Work Done: Strategy without execution is sterile.

Uniforms teach discipline, corporations reward adaptability, but true leadership blends both—firm without rigidity, flexible without losing focus. 

ABCEL Perspective 

Amit Sharma’s journey shows how veterans lead not only on battlefields but also in boardrooms. His creation of the Army’s digital voice reflects adaptability, foresight, and courage to innovate within tradition. Veterans remind us that leadership is not confined to rank or role—it is about clarity, curiosity, and delivery across domains. Their stories inspire us to embrace change, build trust, and thrive beyond boundaries, proving that service continues long after the uniform is folded away.