LEADERSHIP SPECIAL ---YOUNG LEADER'S PROGRAMME (4)

A Walk on the Leading Edge 

From the glass ceiling to work-life balance and gender diversity, ET’s Young Leaders broke many barriers as they interacted with five CEOs, up close and personal. And the takeaways on both sides were immense, reports Team ET

Top-of-the-Mind Questions from Young Leaders 1 As a culture we place a high premium on experience, more than energy. When a young leader comes across a wall of experience, how does he or she overcome that?

NITIN PARANJPE We sometimes simplify things too much. We try to make it this or that, but it’s never so simple. Very often, young people with a different point of view go to their bosses and come back quickly, saying the boss is an old-fashioned man and doesn’t like their idea. But your idea has to be backed by conviction and belief. You should not give up at the first sign of resistance.

SHIKHA SHARMA On the issue of experience versus youth, conflict is overrated and overexaggerated. If an experienced and young person work together, the magic that is created cannot be replicated by a team of only youngsters or only experienced people. There are many very intelligent youngsters; some succeed in making a difference, others don’t. There are four pillars of leadership: intellect, drive, influence and learning agility. At MBA schools, we are not taught about influence. We think it’s a waste of time. You need to hear what people are saying; where they are coming up with. If you are listening to them, and are focused on the outcomes, rather than your personal agenda, you’ll come up with a better outcome. That’s the key difference between youngsters who go a long way and those who get burnt out. The latter don’t spend the time to work on the influence factor.

HARSH MARIWALA It has to be a combination of a flat hierarchy with growth and talent. 2 Are managements

agnostic to young leaders

taking up key roles?

VINEET NAYAR I am a little biased. I was fast tracked when I was identified by my seniors to take up leadership roles within HCL. And within seven years (from being identified) I was the CEO. If you are young, the risk appetite is high, there’s less to lose, there’s no baggage of perception, and all elements are stacked in your favour. Managements are not in the business of promoting young leaders but are more concerned about performance. So, do you have less questions and more answers to problems? Are you leveraging your IQ? The management is not in the business of playing God. They are in the business of identifying who can fix the problem. If any, the ceiling is in our minds. 3 Does a female professional have to be far more efficient to be treated on

    par with men? Do we need more women young leaders?

NITIN As a country, there is more lip service here about gender balance than action. We still haven’t found the conviction that there is a business case for doing this. The reality is that half the talent and brains are with women. In a world where we are saying there is a war for talent, how can we as an organisation not have practices, processes and ways of working that allow this half to work for us and create a culture that will recognise some of the special issues they face?

SHIKHA I’ve been lucky... we were given equal opportunities and rewards, and didn’t have to work harder. For many of us, the challenge was the social infrastructure. But we were all contributing in the same way at work. Maybe there is an issue of mindsets in some places. But organisations have to break those.

VINEET We have been trying to understand gender issues for long. Recently, an interesting idea came from a self-help group we formed: they need less from the organisation and more from each other. Three things emerged. First, the feeling of entitlement is harming. Second, people believe as there are quotas for women, they can easily get in. This is not the way. Finally, companies should encourage formation of self-help groups to understand women’s issues. Let women compete on par and not be seen as part of some quota. 4 How can one break organisations’ mindset that women are likely to be less productive than men as they may quit when they have children or go on maternity leave and such?

NOSHIR KAKA We need to acknowledge that in India, we do have a real challenge in terms of participation of women in our workplaces. It’s a very complex problem, and I don’t think we have the insight or technology to understand what is driving it. There are social factors, and there may be workplace issues [that reinforce the traditional mindset]. But we need to start changing it with the social culture. We have a lot of women in the workforce in the 20 to 30-year age group. But there’s a dramatic fall-off in the 30 to 55-year category. These are, arguably, very productive years. We, as India Inc, have to work hard to change that.

SHIKHA SHARMA Organisations need to be mature enough to allow individuals to make that choice. We can’t ostracise a woman who wants to go home by 6 pm. Organisations have to stop looking at the time and start looking at the impact the person is making. 5 How does a young leader manage work-life balance?

NITIN You have to be willing to live with the consequences of your choices. And if you have done it smartly you will be a happy person. These choices could change over a period of time.

NOSHIR There are two things. One, this is an individual not an institutional decision. And an individual’s decision will differ over points is his/her career... Institutions that are high-performing create an environment for you to excel at the workplace. Unfortunately, this could become addictive. The future leader’s role is to draw that line in the sand, in terms of what is important to him or her and what s/he may be willing to give up

    [to achieve a work-life balance]. 6 Do young leaders sometimes suffer from

intellectual arrogance?

NITIN PARANJPE Most do. That happens because of our traditional system of education where a small percentile gets selected from one level to the next and the criterion for that is largely based on the capacity of mind we demonstrate. So by the time you get into institutions, you are very proud of your intellectual prowess and assume that what has helped you get to this level will also help you continue. However, most businesses are relatively simple and don’t require that degree of prowess. They require other skills. The biggest difficulty one has while dealing with someone else is to accept that their idea is better than yours. There are far too many people who want to make it big too early. They don’t want to take the time to invest, to learn. They want quick results. Too quick too early will mean you will be slower later.

HARSH MARIWALA Some selectively suffer from intellectual arrogance, but it is the duty of the management to bring them down, as humility is very important. Humility and the way they interact with employees down the line is not taught in management school. 7 At what stage does a leader

stop thinking about himself

or his department and

    start thinking about the organisation?

VINEET NAYAR It’s a natural tendency among all of us at the beginning of our careers to prove we are experts at what we do. There is lot of passion to perform, and young leaders try and innovate to get the right solutions to problems. Then they look up to the CEO and most often don’t like their boss. They want the HR to change policies to get rid of the boss! But if you want to grow from an individual performer to bigger things, then sell your vision. We call Mahatma Gandhi a leader as he achieved something that others could not believe in. Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King sparked revolutions. They influenced others to deliver.

NITIN PARANJPE As I see people, there are some who are new in their roles and yet, have the capacity to think beyond. Whereas there are others who will always keep waiting — these people will never have it. So either you have the mindset, the innate ability to think beyond at all stages, or you may become a senior but you will still be parochial and narrow. 8 In a large company, how do you create a culture of entrepreneurship?

VINEET NAYAR It’s easy. Create value that the competition doesn’t have. Cash is becoming plenty, human capital is becoming scarce. The balance will be created via a cultural transformation. This is (young leaders) the raw material we have, the Gen Y which refuses to get strapped in hierarchy and is connected 24x7 via the digital world. We have to transform from a pyramid structure (where hirerachies are clearly defined) to a structure where there are many-tomany connections — perhaps invert the pyramid… create a college-like atmosphere within companies. 9 Do you think young leaders are obsessed with money, and it gives them a sense of achievement? Do you see more of that today? Conversely, what’s wrong with chasing money?

NOSHIR KAKA It’s unfair to compare this generation with the previous one or any other. I don’t know if people are more materialistic today, or my generation was more so. You can choose to do whatever you want in terms of your materialistic life, but to be a respected leader in India — especially given the point the country is at today — you have to think about your contribution to society or nation-building. There’s an India out there we have to contribute to.

HARSH MARIWALA Young leaders today have lot of global exposure. They are looking at a larger purpose and not just the monetary point. Money may be important, but there are other considerations as well. They now ask, ‘What is the purpose of the organisation’ and see if the individual’s purposes fit in with that. Questions like sustainability are being asked by these young leaders.

SHIKHA SHARMA I think greed is good. It depends upon how you define it. But you need balance. Youngsters know what they want, and how to get there. They have thought about the trade-offs and choices. A lot of us stumbled around trying to figure it out. Even today, some seek money, some want to make a difference, some want to change the world, whether they are getting paid for it or not. The guys who have a broader perspective are most likely to succeed. 10 What’s the quality you look for in a young leader? What separates the wheat from the chaff?

NOSHIR KAKA I don’t know if there’s any one quality. But it’s fantastic if you’re young, because you have your whole life ahead of you to make the mistakes many of us have, at some point in our lives. One of the many qualities I would look for is apprenticeship and the power of observation. Many people look at leaders and say they have performed well or achieved this or that. That’s great, but I’m more interested in what they did along the way. I look for apprenticeship, ie, how they have learned from others, how they have gone on to do things that were off the beaten track or seemed risky. I would like to see how good they are in learning from others.

NITIN PARANJPE Intelligence is a very powerful quality. Intelligence combined with humility becomes an unbeatable combination.

CEOSpeak

Lack of willingness and appreciation to learn from others is the biggest stumbling block young leaders should watch out for You have to earn the right to grow. We say this to companies and individuals 

NOSHIR KAKA MD — India, McKinsey & Company

Too early will mean you will be slower later. So relax, the time will come and you will get to where you want If you have an idea, it has to be backed by conviction and belief 

NITIN PARANJPE CEO & MD, Hindustan Unilever

Humility is not taught in management school, but is very important It is the key responsibility of the CEO to bring in a culture of dissent. You have to put the youth in the CEO’s shoes  

HARSH MARIWALA Chairman & MD, Marico

The management is not in the business of playing God. They are in the business of identifying who can fix the problem. Encourage scepticism; sceptics are the best source of ideas  

VINEET NAYAR VC & joint MD, HCL Technologies

The experience versus youth conflict is overrated and overexaggerated. If an experienced and young person work together, the magic cannot be replicated by a team of youngsters or only experienced people  

SHIKHA SHARMA MD & CEO, Axis Bank

ET 130208