LEADERSHIP SPECIAL ---YOUNG LEADER'S PROGRAMME (2)

Questions CEOs Asked Candidates & What They Were Looking For

PRAMOD BHASIN
Why are you here & what drives you?
Bhasin is looking for young leaders’ hunger to move up the ladder, and their plan to reach there. “Today’s generation is hopping jobs too frequently, without knowing their long-term goals. They need to have focus and commitment.”
VINEET NAYAR
What defines you as an individual? How did you prepare for this interview? If you could go back to your previous employer as a CEO, what changes would you implement?
What Nayar is looking for is how well the young leader knows his or her strengths and weaknesses, and for clarity of thought. Textbook answers to leadership won’t help make future leaders.
KRIS GOPALAKRISHNAN
How do you define success? What does it mean to your family and friends?
According to Gopalakrishnan, everyone can be groomed to become a successful leader. However, based on the task and results, one needs to choose the right person as leader. During his interaction with young managers, he was keen on identifying leadership traits and understanding their passion towards their job, their involvement in social work, their learning and experiences as the lead for their respective teams. But more than that, he gauged them according to their definition of success, and their goals 5-10 years down the line. “Some define success as ability to give back. To me, it has always been about having an impact and doing it with value and ethics,” he says.
RAJAN ANANDAN
Most consulting assignments do not lead to a serious bottomline impact. Give me an example of a project where you have made a massive contribution to a client’s business, where earnings would have improved.
Anandan is trying to gauge the candidate’s strategic and operational abilities. “If you are not strategic by the time you are 30, it is difficult to build strategic muscle later,” he says. The answer could also throw light on whether the candidate can drive big decisions and has the ability to infl uence people.
PRAMIT JHAVERI If you were me, what are the top 3-4 things you would be looking for in a young leader?
Jhaveri was searching for, was clarity of thought in what the candidate feels are the essential traits of leadership. He was looking for signs of aspiration, the hunger and ability to go the extra mile and deliver in the over-and-beyond category, passion for the job and success and finally, for some early indications of maturity, he says.
NITIN PARANJPE
What are the qualities a leader of tomorrow should possess, as opposed to the leader of today?
Paranjpe says, there are two big aspects facing the country and the world today. One is sustainability, and the other is values and ethics. “If a leader of tomorrow doesn’t have a point of view or a moral compass, or about how she or he will run a sustainable business in a sustainable society, then we are in trouble,” he says.
KALPANA MORPARIA
Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
What Morparia is looking for is the youngsters’ world view. “We forget that business exists in a country because society has allowed us to conduct it. If we don’t have a world view about how or what impact our job has or will have on society, then it becomes just another job. But all of us exist because we have a larger purpose. If youngsters have a world-view so to speak, it appeals to me.”
HARSH MARIWALA
How do you keep updating yourself?
Mariwala feels it is very important to do this because learning occurs not just on the job, but also outside it — whether through reading, interacting with thought leaders, being a part of support groups and such. “As you go up the ladder, you have to keep updating yourself and do what I refer to as ‘bring the outside in’,” says Mariwala. “Know what is happening in the environment and in the industry, and sensitise your organisation to that. For instance, if I am the marketing head and can see a social media trend towards marketing, I should make sure my team is in tune with that too. When you can get the outside in, when you have the networks and such for that, you can infl uence others.”
ADIL ZAINULBHAI
What do you do in your spare time?
Over time, character matters a lot in how people will become leaders. Leadership isn’t just about achievement – it’s also about how have you made the world and environment a better place, how you have helped other people. People who are grounded tend to do better at this. This spells stronger character. “For such leaders, right from Day 1, it’s not about succeeding at any one thing. They want to do all of this and not just for the sake of doing it. They are passionate about it, and not because they need to have it on their resume, something to get into college. They genuinely want to do it and talk about it too,” he says. The leadership connect in this is that it gives them a broader vision of the society around them, and therefore gives them more balance in terms of handling people, thinking about the right set of stakeholders, and so on. “For instance, if you eat at the Taj every day, it gives you a certain perspective about food and life. But if you eat at a shelter for homeless people, it gives you a broader view about what else is happening in the world,” he adds.

ET 29JAN13