Leadership Challenges - Learnings @ CII,Delhi

Sharing some thoughts on Leadership Challenges after attending one of the CII meets at Delhi with Rajeev Sir on 02/06/10

The first discussion point was the impact of IT/Digitization on organizations and the challenges the leaders faced.
People have always been an intrinsic part of the fabric of any organization. PEOPLE are where the touch points exist. Digitization will never be able to replace human issues. Aspiration of individuals, creating a vision for individual will always be areas of emotional interest. Some quicker points which Mr.Vijay K Thadani, CEO NIIT Ltd stated for creating a path ahead for motivating people in their way of life are as follows:

1. Create Inspiration (Eg: The idea of a Free India)
2. Create Aspiration (What is my share?)
3. Create Perspiration (Provide with measurement tools)

Digitization has its bad effects as it has reduced patience span. (Eg: A ‘Reply All’ syndrome – an issue which might just lessen the impact for a subject or idea or land us up in trouble). Individual connectivity is perhaps getting lost. The top management has not grown with the new technology called digitalization. If they don’t know what the latest market needs are, where will competiveness come in? One should be open to learning – Don’t stop the learning curve!

You need not know everything what your company does. Also nobody expects you to know everything. But the challenge is of being “RELEVANT”. Make yourself accessible to people. Overcome this fear and say 'I will run the technology and not vice versa”. Mr. Rajeev Karwal, CEO, Milagrow says, ‘Whenever I notice a trend, I try it! Become a sustainable success’
(Eg: Facebook – It has become an amazing marketing platform, its here where segmentation is happening – Birds of the same feather flock together! He also suggests taking technology as a Business Solution. Reverse mentoring process helps.

Leaders will make people uncomfortable in order to bring the BEST out of them. They would try to unruffle them, create uneasiness so that they have the capacity to come out as emerge as winners. I totally agree on this thought because I have actually experienced such leadership style during my MBA days at SCMLD with Prof.M.S.Pillai.

It’s all about people – Motivate and show them how to dream... Let them live their dreams! There is a difference between managing people and leading people. Rajeev Sir shares that he was an extreme task master (a complete 9 by 9 matrix person) in his early years, but now he had to change his style of leadership according to the current circumstances. Similarly great leaders need to adapt to changing environments and act accordingly. Leader is a leader of hope they should make you feel wanted. Don’t push your people without endearing them. That’s perhaps the essence to create an environment of ‘high performing team’.

Leaders have to make themselves vulnerable to different situations. They should realise that they can also make mistakes. They are not God. Leaders with such style will only make people listen to them and not communicate. Don’t be a God! To you if PEOPLE come first, then automatically to your people the CUSTOMERS will come first. The question is how do you keep the personal vulnerabilities aside? People communicate with people who are like them.

If you want to be No.1, you have to make sacrifices. Out of the 25*25*25*25 years in total, in order to create a sustainable success one needs to try to do so in all fronts.

Love your work, enjoy what you do... and above all have a sincerity of purpose!!!