CEO SPECIAL : Difficult times define a true leader

Difficult times define a true leader

SLCM is India’s largest agrilogistics company that provides warehouse management, procurement, and financial solutions to farmers, processors, traders, agri exchanges and government across India and now in Myanmar. Nexus Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, Everstone and Emerging India Fund (EIF) are among its major investors. Sandeep Sabharwal, CEO and Founder of SLCM, spoke to HT on a range of issues on leadership.

Excerpts:

How do you define leadership?

Leadership is a way of life. According to me a leader is one who through his normal routine inspires, motivates and sets the path for his peers and subordinates. No single action defines leadership.

How do you cultivate leaders in your company?

Leadership is a byproduct of decision making. Mostly we see that people shirk from taking decisions as they believe that they will be procrastinated if the decision turns out to be wrong. This attitude of not taking decision is contrary to leadership. At SLCM people are motivated to take measured decisions, with the thought that the decisions have to objective and built on logic. Leaders have to often carry the cross of other’s wrong doings and inefficiencies.

What role can a good leader play to counter balance this image?

It is in moments of difficulties a true leader is defined. Mistakes and inefficiencies are foundations for a stronger, deeper and measured leader. A good leader has to learn from them and put them in action. I believe this very systematic intervention goes a long way to counter balance this image.

What has been the biggest leadership challenge you have faced?

My biggest leadership challenge has been to change people’s perception. SLCM has been in the forefront of defining agri-logistics in India and now also the third world countries. The perception of the agri-logistics was that of an archaic infrastructure riddled inefficient industry with little hope of redemption. By our actions we have demonstrated the contrary. We now have a network of more than 595 warehouses spread across India and Myanmar with an area of more than 78 lakh square feet and a throughput of 50 lakh metric tonnes and have illustrated that technology can not only add speed but also efficiency (we have reduced post harvest agri losses which in Industry are pegged at 10% to 0.5% in our managed locations).

What is the biggest leadership lesson(s) you have learnt?

The biggest leadership lesson that I learnt is perseverance. I think if a leader believes in something, especially if the same is contrary to the popular belief then perseverance is the only redeeming factor. What is the best and worst leadership decision you have taken so far? The best decision that I have taken is that I have stuck with my beliefs and not swayed with populist measures in difficult times. I do not think that a true leader has the worst decision tag on him, because the moment he starts thinking that he has taken the worst decision of his life he abandons the ability to salvage the same and hence stops acting like a leader.

Being a leader in agri commodity management, how do you keep track of innovation across the globe? How you plan to manage competition? How important is innovation in leadership?

Innovation like leadership is a way of life with me and the team of SLCM. We continuously strive to find efficient paths to problems and solutions that are elegantly simple to implement. Necessity is the mother of innovation. Hence the very fact that a solution is required for a problem leads to innovation. How does a leader manage a bad economic scenario, especially when your performance is constantly under media scrutiny? Leaders have to manage situations, and since leaders are under constant scrutiny not only from the media but from industry peers their ability to constantly follow their visions and demonstrate their capability is important.

According to me it is the path that you follow is more important than the comments of people who scrutinise that path. Leaders get defined in adversity and hence if the path is correct the scenario will definitely correct itself. In crises, how does a leader motivate himself and his team? Define your leadership mantra. Leaders have to continuously dig deep inside themselves and find reassurance from within. Once they do that they have the ability to not only lead, guide but also motivate their team. Their persona has to magnify their resolve which itself motivates their team. My leadership mantra is perseverance, perseverance and perseverance

• Gaurav Choudhury HT 140925