Accountability,
integrity critical for a leader
LEADING BY EXAMPLE IS WHAT MAKES A LEADER
GENUINE. IF YOU CAN’T WALK THE TALK, YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE CREDIBILITY TO BE
SOMEONE PEOPLE WILL BE INSPIRED TO FOLLOW!
Hanumant Talwar,
country manager, Convergys India, believes a true leader needs to make it a
priority to develop other leaders. Talwar, who has over 21 years of
multi-industry work experience in diverse functions ranging from marketing and
sales to operations and customer service, says that a combination of
accountability and integrity is what makes a leader stands out from others.
Excerpts:
How do you
define leadership? There are a number of qualities defining leadership, which
include strategic thinking, adaptability, leading by example, and being an
effective communicator and motivator for the team.
Your greatest
inspiration? My first inspiration is Steve Jobs for his corporate leadership.
He was a visionary and a strategist who was able to transform an idea and an
organisation into being one of the world’s best.
The other is
Mother Teresa. She is a great example of servant leadership. By dedicating her
whole life to uplift and improve lives, she inspired others to make a
difference.
And your
leadership mantra? Focus on constantly learning, and making sure that as a
leader, I give back – teaching or mentoring others and developing leaders in
the process. The most important trait for a leader is a combination of taking
accountability and having integrity. How does a leader manage a bad economic
scenario, especially when your performance is constantly under media scrutiny?
Economic cycles are examples of things we don’t control. We should focus on the
things that we can control instead, such as continuing to improve our service
delivery and delivering on our promises. Also, managing our expense structure,
culture and people. In crises, how does a leader motivate himself and his team?
Crises can be an opportunity to demonstrate strength, resolve and teamwork. As
a leader, you can motivate your team by making the “stretch” needed to resolve
the situation. Roll up your sleeves. Set a higher standard for yourself, and it
will inspire your team. What is the best leadership decision you have taken so
far? In 1993, after 10 years of sales and marketing, I decided to change my
career and move to operations. It was the best decision as it gave me a larger
view of how a business is run. It expanded my knowledge, skills and the scope
of the teams I worked with.
And your worst
decision? I will phrase it as most challenging decision… the toughest one was
deciding to instead start up a new company in a relatively new field at that
time – the business process management field. To be a founding member of that
organisation (EXL) and set everything up was a challenging job, but also one of
the greatest experiences of my life. It eventually led me to where I am today –
the India country manager for Convergys, a global leader in customer management
with a 13,000-strong team. Being a leader in BPOs, how do you keep track of
innovations across the globe? How you plan to manage competition? To
successfully innovate and manage tough competition, continuous improvement has
to be part of the organisation’s overall strategy. At Convergys, our vision is
to set the industry standard in all aspects of the business. It is intrinsic in
our organisation to understand what we really do well (bright spots) and
replicate those again and again as a blueprint of success. That way we keep our
edge over competition, maintain our status as a trusted partner to our clients.
You favourite
one liner? Hard work and perseverance is a better answer than excuses! It’s
important for a leader to watch his words and speak through actions. What is
your belief? Leading by example and integrity makes a leader genuine. If you
can’t walk the talk, you will not have the credibility and authority to be
someone people will be inspired to follow!
HT140807
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