I don't know! 3 powerful words for a new beginning...

As a part of my journey as an entrepreneur I happened to meet an investor a few months ago, who is part of a popular VC Fund based in Bangalore. My objective was to gain some insights and this meeting was organised by a common friend. 

The huge enthusiasm I had prior to the meeting faded away pretty quickly within 15 minutes into this meeting with my namesake. He asked some really smart & tough questions,... and you know what.. I didn't have the answers. I felt terrible saying most of the time 3 words (that I hated so much then) - I don't know! I came back terribly demotivated from this meeting and remained low for a few weeks. But then, I pulled myself up and said to myself - so what, if I don't know? I can always learn.  That was a new beginning for me. 

There is always something you would know and I may not. The inverse of this is also true. So what's the big deal, as long as I am willing to learn. The one thing that can keep our self-esteem high and our orientation positive is - our willingness to learn and grow ourselves each day. In order to grow it is essential for us to be open to criticism and also be self-critical. At the same time, it is also essential to forgive oneself and allow oneself to take the road to new learning. These are a few essential attributes to grow oneself each day and keep moving forward. I am not preaching through this post, I am merely sharing my learning journey and hoping there could be something for you as a reader to learn therefrom. I have often struggled to forgive myself and I recognise that has been my undoing.  I think it is most important for self-critical people to learn to forgive themselves. It is ok to make mistakes, it is ok to be imperfect, it is ok to fail at times and it is perfectly ok to be human; as long as we are willing to learn and improve with each passing day. 

Do share your thoughts !

Learning Bite-Sized

When I used to work at Unilever more than a decade ago, there was a huge disruption happening in the market then. The disruption was "small is big" and "big is getting small". Are you wondering what am I talking about? 

I am talking about the fad of small packs that was introduced then in the market. Surf Excel used to sell more in Re. 1 small packs vs. 500g large packs. The entire business model of manufacturing and distribution was hugely disrupted by this change. Factories had to gear up to manufacture small 10g packs of Surf Excel, packaging machines needed to be reconfigured, distribution & sales teams needed to be reoriented to selling small packs, which was turning out to be a big business opportunity. Small packs sold more volume of detergent than large packs. 

In today's times, the Gen Y population is soon becoming majority of the workforce. They are different from Gen X, have a different view of the world, more confident, more agile, quick learners and most of all more impatient. In such a context, the world of learning is also likely to change its construct very soon.., if it hasn't already it better change. Long duration learning programs over 3-5 days will be thing of the past. Unless there is a certification or a qualified skill being imparted, such learning will soon lose relevance. The world of learning will soon move to BITE-SIZE learning. People want to learn real quick. Want quick sound bites on how to solve a problem or situation. This is an impatient generation, where a person is browsing on 3 sites simultaneously, managing 2 gadgets, 4-5 applications etc. at the same time.  If one browser is slow, there is another one opened up. People moving up from a 2G to a 3G to a 4G connection quickly, because they don't want to wait..., speed is of essence.  In such a world, 3 to 5 minutes of bite-size learning is a disruption that will soon gain traction. One key message, one key learning - deliver in 3-5 minutes. Make the point and move on. Don't beat the concept too deep. I don't need it. I want something workable for now!  Bite-sized learning is in..., watch this space... a new agile disruption in the world of learning on its way. 

Disruption, a good word...Uh!

The world of learning is transforming at a very rapid pace. Over decades the modus of learning has been - I know, You don't know. Let me teach you. The world has transformed so rapidly in the last 10 years through the advent of social media that learning has moved from I know You don't..., to neither of us know everything but between us, we all know a lot. 

This has grossly disrupted the way the world is evolving each year. Google has become the biggest "guru" not because google has all the answers. It is because, more than half the world is on google and they are sharing information freely to help others. Google by itself isn't much, it is the wisdom & IQ of the world who live on google daily who have made it so valuable today. 

What does that mean for learning? The world of learning will move to crowd sourcing of knowledge & content at a rapid pace. Anyone can learn, at any time and from anywhere ! There will be no fixed place from where he will learn. The world of learning has to be a market place for people to be able to play around and pick what they wish to learn. So the biggest challenge will be to organise the learning market place across the world. To find something today in the world of disorganised internet information pile, is a kin to rag picking. It will be imperative for the world of learning to organise itself in order for the learner to easily find what he/she would be looking for. Coming together and collaborating vs. competing with each other is likely to be the way forward. 

Shouldn't learning be easy?

I guess it should. When I look at my 15 year old son struggle and stress for his 10th Std. board exams, I wonder if I experienced as much stress back in my time. May be I did too. The world of competitive education has not changed much over years. We work incredibly hard for 15-18 years of our childhood to learn and be called educated. Thereafter, most of the forced learning ceases once we get our degrees or diplomas etc. 

Learning is a continuous process..., what does that mean? Nothing much actually in a place like India where learning is a PUSH. Learning is fun, when it is a PULL vs. a PUSH. When one makes a choice to learn something, one tends to enjoy the same. However, when one is pushed to learn, give exams, be compared with his/her peers,... it ends up impacting one's self esteem. If one compares better, it adds to the self esteem and when one does not compare well, it adversely impacts one's confidence. There is always someone in this world who is better than us. Isn't that true? Then, how can we ever feel good deep within in this world where one is always comparing one individual with another. Why can't we just accept the fact that each one is talented in his or her own way. Isn't that great? We are world made of people with varied talents. 

Learning needs to be made easy, made accessible, made self paced and most of all fun. It shouldn't be a drag for anyone. Learning happens best when one chooses to learn vs. when one is forced to learn. Demand based learning is here to stay.

Stop! Are you spending tomorrows $ to solve yesterday's problems..?

As a Talent & OD lead in one of my jobs,  I once confronted my CEO as to - Why are you slashing my L&D budget each quarter? After a few minutes on niceties, he blurt out in frustration - you are spending my precious tomorrows dollars to solve yesterdays problems. I do not see what value L&D brings?

It took me a few seconds to realise what he said. He was so damn right! Most companies have an LMS system that churns out training needs based on previous year's appraisal. The development needs are of the previous year. The L&D function takes 3-4 months to consolidate needs etc. and develop a calendar. The calendar is then run for the next 12 months. From gap assessment to actual development, the time could be anywhere between 6-15 months. In the ensuring period the market requirements may have changed, the functional skills required may have shifted (esp. in the IT or digital world). I would agree that  some fundamental softer skills or attributes or behavioural gaps may remain constant. So the CEO was damn right. He could have invested the L&D dollars to grow his business instead by investing into new markets. 

The truth of the matter is, most HR and L&D  functions have struggled to embrace "agile" learning methodologies. As HR professionals we have stuck to old age proven models and not reinvented ourselves to deal with the world radically changing around us. This is where a learning market place model, where demand & supply dynamics balance each other, could play a defining role. Ability to diagnose the right issue, focus on the right audience with the most agile approach, is critical to the success of any L&D intervention. In a changing market, where old skills need to be shed as fast as embracing newer ones, a learning market place approach provides the "agility"  that CEO's would like to see.  

Are we as HR and L&D professionals willing to reframe our thinking? Isn't staying relevant important to HR's credibility.  What do you think?

Learning can reduce attrition!

Attrition analytics has been one interesting trend in companies over the last 5 years. People have created interesting frameworks and models to understand why people leave. Yet, after China India is a market where there is very high attrition across the industry, esp. IT & ITES. 

Let me provide you with a 3rd lens to this problem. I would stick my neck out and say – your people leave your organizations because of 2 primary reasons:

1. You do not invest enough on their learning & growth (both intellectual & career) – investment is not necessarily money, it could be a combination of time, effort & money.
2. As a result you do not make their work challenging & exciting enough

In summary your people leave you because they are not learning. When they start looking out, they realize they are not earning either. So the trigger to attrition while appears to be “earnings”, the true invisible trigger is lack of learning.

Here is my argument:

It’s a no brainer that organizations invest top dollars on their A Players (top 20%). This may be necessary. However, what I have noticed over years, being in HR is that 80% of the L&D budgets are invested on 20% of the people. This is an unwise move. The so-called B Players are almost 70% of the company and the backbone of the company. They stand by and support the company even in challenging times. It is the A players who desert the ship first, when a storm hits the ship. These loyal B players get almost zero development dollars. Even if something comes their way, it is a-kin to the mid-day meal in Government schools. Yes, I am being a bit uncharitable here. The truth of the matter is the L&D programs provided to B players are random off the shelf programs, which create very little value. They are not personalised to the needs of these employees.

Leadership teams in organisations need to take a serious look at how they are making learning investments. If I pick an example from marketing, there was a time not so long ago Marketing leads thought there was no alternative to ATL and BTL channels to reach customers. Digital and internet were dismissed as irrelevant. Google was branded as a mere search engine, Facebook a past time of teenagers, Twitter a passing fad. Now look, where we are today. There are special digital marketing courses going around. Every marketer is being asked if he/she understands social & digital marketing.

Is HR making a proactive shift into the future or waiting to turn irrelevant.  The employees across companies are deeply social and very active on both internet & the digital medium. Unless HR departments can respond to the needs of their B Players through alternate means, 70% of people in organizations will look to other means to grow themselves, including attrite to other jobs.

Desire to learn & grow is the fundamental right of every human being. Restricting and limiting the availability of means to learn is against the very spirit of enabling human potential.

Democratising learning by adopting learning through digital & technology is the most cost effective & efficient answer available at this time. What do you think?

The Invisible Teacher

In a small town in Kerala, there was a distraught young man who was struggling in this career. He took up various jobs, but nothing was working out for him. Over 10 years, he felt his career was going nowhere. Many of his friends had reached high places and were earning good money, but this young man was finding it hard to make ends meet.

One Sunday, while he was looking through the window he saw a Monk walking down the street. He recalled that he had seen the same Monk many times over the last few years and started wondering where he goes each Sunday. Along with his curiosity, occurred a thought that he should walk up to the Monk and share his woes. So he did. The distraught young man quickly wore his slippers, ran out of the house calling out the Monk. The Monk was a young man in his early 20’s, he stopped and turned around on hearing this distraught man calling out at him.

Who are you and what do you want? Asked the Monk. My name is Raghav, said the distraught young man. I want to speak to you for a few minutes. The Monk replied, sure but for that you will have to walk along with me to the Monastery as I have a prayer to attend. Raghav readily agreed.

Monk: So, how can I help you?

Raghav: I have been struggling last many years in my life and I have no one to speak with. Will you be my teacher and help me work through the struggles of my life?

Monk: I am not sure what you want me to do, but I can definitely listen to what you have to say.

Soon Raghav started narrating his woes, how people have been unfair to him, challenges in life and work, how money has been hard to come etc. etc. The Monk & Raghav reached the Monastery and the Monk who was attentively listening so far sought a break to attend his prayers for 30 minutes. Raghav quietly watched how calm and unruffled the Monk was as he followed all the rituals & completed his prayers.

After the prayers, the Monk walked back to Raghav.

Monk: I heard your story. I am sorry to hear that you feel you are going through so much hardship in life. What I do not still understand is why are you sharing this with me and what do you want from me?

Raghav: I want you to be my teacher. I think I have not had a good teacher all my life. My school teachers were bad, my father and I did not get along, my mother is uneducated, I have not had a good boss at work, etc. etc. and Raghav again went on & on as to how unfair life has been to him.

Monk: Raghav, what makes you believe I am a good teacher?

Raghav: I have observed you last many months, you have a discipline, you walk up here to the Monastery each day, same time, do your prayers, you are so calm & unruffled, you amaze me with what you have achieved.

Monk: In your entire narration so far, you have talked about career success, growth, money & fame etc. I have achieved none of this, so what makes you believe that I have achieved a lot?

Raghav was now a bit confused. He did not have an answer to this question.

Raghav: I do not know how to answer this question. I am very disturbed; I need a teacher to help me.

Monk: When you called out to me an hour ago, you did not know me at all. Yet you called me out. In the last one-hour you have invited me to be your teacher. You watched me go by your house for last many months, yet I was invisible to you so far. How many such invisible teachers are walking past you each day and you are not observing them. How many invisible incidents are occurring to you or occurring around you each day and you are not observing them. Raghav, you do not need me as your teacher, you need to observe & learn from people, events, occasions, happenings & life around you and what is happening to you. There are numerous invisible teachers around you & one teacher within you, teaching you daily something very precious. The day you start observing them, they will become visible. Your life & its experience is your biggest teacher. Recognise its power, embrace it and learn from it.

Raghav was spell bound by the wise words of the Monk. He thanked the Monk and walked back home in deep thought.

How many of us have ever thought what attitude we wear each day towards life? How are we learning & what are we learning? Are we gathering these precious pearls or letting them roll off our palms like lost wealth?

Thoughts…..

Guts, can it be acquired?

As a HR business partner to a CEO, I was deeply engrossed in a conversation regarding building leadership capability of a few sr. leaders in the organization. Lots of interesting topics were brought up by the CEO, like this guy is not visionary enough, can be more strategic, on this guy he needs to execute sharper, I want to see more thought leadership etc. etc. On one count, the CEO turned to me and said, I want this leader to develop courage. Till such time, I seemed like I was on top of the ensuing discussion, but now “develop courage” tripped me a bit. 

I turned around and asked, how do you think one can be developed to build courage? It is either there or not there. There are multiple NLP techniques people use to remove fears, caused by different incidents in life. But building something deeply intrinsic as courage tripped me completely. 

The CEO with a straight face said, you know what I want this guy to have more guts. He chickens out under pressure, this way you cannot do business. If he has to grow as a leader, he should be bold, courageous, needs to take more risk, stand up and assert his views, push back on his colleagues and me, …. Overall I want this guys to show some courage – come on…, be a man!

I wondered what is courage to do with men or women? Courage is courage…, never mind there is a typical stereotype the CEO may have, so I dismissed the gender comment to focus on “courage” itself. 

I am not sure I know, how anyone can be trained or developed to build courage or develop guts. I am curious if there are a few different thoughts out there amongst others, who can share their perspective on this.

Thoughts?

Structure breeds Hierarchy - A gross misnomer?

An opinion

Often I have heard business leaders profess that organizations need to be nimble and quick to adapt to change. Therefore, it is important for organizations to be loosely designed and structured, so that they can morph and adapt periodically.

I often wonder what has morphing to do with loose design and structure. The argument often stated by business leaders is that they support a need for structure and some level of governance to run their organizations but do not want it crafted to the last man in the organization. The logic being, “I want to promote openness and a non-hierarchical organization. Hierarchy breeds desire for control and drives consolidation of power.”

 

 

The logic sounds very astute and difficult to contest. The interesting question however is what does an organization with loose design and structure solve?  Is it truly open, non-hierarchical, no centers of control and/or consolidation of power? If seen carefully with another lens, it has all the so called ills of a structured organization, namely, lack of transparency, hierarchy and consolidation of power. The big difference however is that it is not distributed as it would have been in a structured set up rather it is actually consolidated with a select few at the very top. Besides, it breeds slow decision making, lack of accountability at all levels, multiple voices pulling the org in different directions (anarchy of sorts) and semblance of a directionless army.

 

 

An organization’s ability to adapt is not driven by structure or a lack of it, but its intrinsic DNA (what is often called culture). For an organization to perform despite a loose structure it is heavily dependent on relationships across the spectrum and a complex matrix built around an informal org model. When organizations are small and located in fewer countries / continents, the model is scalable and works well. However, when organizations globalize and are required to embrace a global work ethic, these models are destined to fail. This results in disillusioning people who neither have context to the past of the company, nor are interested in it beyond an awareness level.

 

Leadership foresight is about acknowledging the past, celebrating it and moving forward by embracing a different approach based on what is needed to take the organization to the next level. Org design and structure are an integral part of a company’s functioning. It creates predictability, accountability and a balance of power. It can propel an organization’s business strategy and results. It does not breed hierarchy. People and their personal leadership styles breed hierarchy and control. Besides, in an organization culture which is diverse and inclusive one needs to encourage varied styles. In certain roles, control traits are significant strengths and can enable the company’s vision and goals. Leveraging diversity and different styles is also a quality of a great leader and of organizations that aspire to be great.

 

I want to be KING

There was this young prince who desperately wanted to be “the King”. He was the only child of the one of the queens who was out of favor. This child was also not the favored child of the King. But he so desperately wanted to be King that he killed his own older brothers and captured the crown after his father’s death. He rose to be King and fought numerous wars to be an Emperor, feared by everyone around. He was a great warrior, an astute war strategist and a brave soldier.  He was Emperor Ashoka.
The irony is that Ashoka was an Emperor, a king and a ruler, yet was never truly a King. He so desperately wanted to be King, but did not know how to rule, command the respect of his subjects and lead with credibility that a true administrator would need. He lost interest in power, governance, his subjects etc., and turned into a Monk.

Why am I telling you this story? I think this story is so very relevant even today. How many of us want to be “the King”? Probably the question is why should I not want to be “the King”?

Aspiration and ambition is an integral part of one’s professional existence. Every professional wants to grow, command respect, demonstrate control and manage a territory in an organization. Smaller territories, one is probably a prince; larger territories a king and huge territory an emperor!! Why not, if one can conquer territory?

The question is not, why not? The question is can you? Am I worthy to be a king? Ashoka went through a self-realization after becoming an emperor that he was not worthy of being even a King or a ruler; he abdicated his throne and walked away an embraced Buddhism (became a Monk). Did he reflect on how many thousands of people he killed to become a King, how many civilizations he destroyed to be an Emperor, how much damage he did to the state by failing to be a worthy ruler? He did not. Even if he did, could he ever bring back what he destroyed? He could not, he just walked away.

How do we know we are not going to end up as Emperor Ashoka? Do we have it in us to not only grow our territory but also manage it? Are we worthy enough to manage it? Some self-reflection would be worthy today, than later after the damage is done.

Ambition and aspiration is important for self & organizational growth. But if aspiration is ahead of one’s capability, it can and will cause immense damage to the organization and people around. A good leader is one who can recognize this and pace his/her aspiration accordingly. It also the role of senior leadership to recognize and intervene at the right time to staff-off any inadvertent collateral damage driven by individual ambition and sense of ignorance. Self-awareness and self-critical calibration is the key to building strong leadership muscle in oneself. Leaders tend to chase an image of themselves, after a while end up believing in that image to be true of themselves and then lose their sense of self-worth. Self-critical calibration is the key to staying grounded and balanced.

Mama, I wanna… be King, cried the prince all the time. Understand your aspiration my son, but do you know what does it mean to be ready? A question Ashoka’s mother never asked. If she had asked, history probably would have been different.

Conscious Leadership

Rakesh Sharma and Rama Murthy were Regional Sales Directors in CTM Cements. Both were part of the CTM Cements leadership team, Rakesh was RSD North and Murthy was RSD for South. Both joined CTM cements from Campus and had worked there for 32 years. Both of them were great friends and coincidentally retired on the same date, 31st Dec 2011. This is a story of 2 leaders with very distinct leadership personalities.

Both Rakesh and Murthy had lots of similarities in their leadership styles. Both were driven by exuberant passion, high achievement orientation, building teams around them, driving teams for success and celebrating success with big bang parties. Both leaders commanded a lot of loyalty and commitment from their teams. When they retired, both of them got tons of accolades, huge farewell parties / dinners, people paid rich tribute to their contribution & leadership. As they stepped into the sunset, there was a new dawn awaiting them.

Murthy walked away from the lime light into the shadows. He spent quality time with his family, children and friends. He engaged in his passions around photography, social work and educating the under privileged. Murthy continued to live in Bangalore and made it his retirement home.

Rakesh lived restlessly in his Delhi home. He was still full of energy, his family was feeling troubled by having him at home, he often called CTM cements to talk to his erstwhile team, he felt they gave him less importance while they owed him their careers, he tried his hands at a few ventures but they did not work. He was frustrated with himself, felt not valued by people whom he groomed into leaders.

It so happened that Murthy and Rakesh met at a social event and got into a conversation. Murthy was saddened to see his dear friend unhappy post retirement. Rakesh was upset about people he groomed in CTM cements ignoring him and not valuing his contribution to their careers. Rakesh asked Murthy, have you not experienced the ungratefulness of your teams in South.

Murthy calmly replied, “I never spoke with them for the last 1 year since I retired. Yes, a few of them called to ask how I was doing, that’s it.”

Rakesh was astound, what? “Why would they not call you?”

Murthy asked Rakesh calmly.., “my friend, instead I would ask why should they call me? I had a job to do as RSD, I did my job. I have now retired. I am now just Murthy, not a RSD anymore. Why should they call me?” 

Murthy, “but don’t you think they owe us their careers?”

Murthy replied, “yes probably they do. But don’t you think we also owe our careers to them? If not for them, would we have grown to be RSDs? Just think about it. Besides, Rakesh…., the way I look at it, I had a role I played the role, I have retired now I am just Murthy the individual. Even while I played the role of Regional Director, I never forgot that I was Murthy the individual with a title of Regional Director. Hence when I retired, I left my title at CTM Cements and I continue to be Murthy. Rakesh, let go of your RSD image in your mind, you have retired, embrace Rakesh the individual. You will be happy.”

Rakesh stepped forward and gave Murthy a tight hug. You are my best friend Murthy!! Thank you for rekindling my “self-awareness”.

Often times when one plays the role of a leader, one’s ego could get the better of the individual self. This is where being grounded by heightened level of self-awareness helps. If leaders think they are the ones who are creating the world or the eco-system around them, the thought may be partially true. It is not fully true because there are many others who are contributing and playing in sync for the eco-system to come alive. It’s not just the leader. Leadership is about giving, sharing and building. It is not about self. A leader is always as good as the team he or she builds around him/herself.

Leaders like Murthy –

• who lead from a deep sense of “self-awareness” recognize everyone’s contribution besides their own;
• who know how to differentiate “self” from the “role” they are playing

… are known to be demonstrating conscious leadership.

A question for self-reflection is what kind of a leader are you?

Change, whose job is it? - Part 3

Change, whose job is it? –  A CEO’s reflection

Ravi was deeply emotional and in a reflective stage by now. He was a few drinks down and I could sense the anguish in his voice as he spoke.

Ravi: Oh my dear…, I did this to myself !!

Me: Don’t go there Ravi. You will get nothing brooding over this. Let us stay on the situation and learn what actually happened? Does that work for you?

Gathering his composure a bit, Ravi sat straight to take forward our conversation.

Ravi: yeah…, works.

Me: So what is your reflection?

Ravi: I guess to start with I got it all wrong. My global CEO probably did not share my vision….

I quickly interrupt Ravi here…

Me: Excuse me?

Ravi: Oh, ok. I guess I shared my global CEO’s vision and had my own vision for India aligned to his. I think he agreed with my vision and purpose. What I realize is that, he did not approve the way I executed it?

Me: Ok, what about the execution of it he did not approve of?

Ravi: You know what, my intention was good. I had nothing against anyone, especially the old timers. I just wanted to get the job done and make all of us successful. I still believe I had a compelling vision for India and we were on the right track. If I had 3 more years, I would have turned this place around. What I guess, I did wrong was I did not rally enough support for my vision. I thrust it on people around me. I should have been patient & worked with my MC to co-create the vision as a shared vision and not my vision. It might have worked better?

Me: That sounds like something insightful Ravi. A shared vision and not just your vision!! You mentioned you were not against the old timers? In hindsight, did your actions match your intent?

Ravi: I think I know where you are going? Since I was biased in my view of the old timers, I saw them more as road blocks than someone who could enable my vision. Probably Amitabh was right. He used to keep saying, turn a few old timers who have high credibility in the Org around and make them advocates of your vision. He felt that will enable what I was trying to do. I was impatient, a man in a hurry. I had set my own timelines for success.

Me: Whose success Ravi, yours or the company’s?

Ravi: This is getting painful now as I hear your questions…., let me drive through this though! I think my success. My global CEO had not set out the pace for change; I was the one who was anxious to make the change happen faster than what people around me were ready for. I did not take people around me along and build a compelling case for change which included their interests.

Me: Wow. , an interesting point you made Ravi – compelling case for change& others’ interests!  Did you consider looking around and evaluating who around you in your MC & beyond could have been your partners in enabling your vision for the company?

Ravi: I actually wrote most of them off. I recall Amitabh bringing me something like this on a piece of paper suggesting an approach to include a few old timers who he thought could be leveraged. He felt they were key stakeholders who could enable the vision & strategy. I did not heed to his view.

Me: So you missed an opportunity to include the key stakeholders who would have enabled the change you wanted to bring about? You said earlier that you replaced many of them with your new hires. Did these new hires embrace your vision?

Ravi: I think they did, but they were struggled to influence their teams well enough. In hindsight the old timers might have done a better job if only I had listened to Amitabh’s advice and been a bit more patient with myself & people around me.

Me: Ravi, don’t be harsh upon yourself. I heard from you that you missed a few key aspects, but you did communicate your vision & need for change across the Org. You talked to people & reached out widely in the Organization. I heard you then when I was around, you were clearly very passionate about your vision. It could have been more effective if your MC also had done the same and you had more partners.

Ravi: You know what Anand, I feel much lighter after this conversation. Over the last few years, I have been living in some kind of self-pity. This chat has helped me immensely. I have got an opportunity to look at this episode differently and I think there is terrific learning as I now move on from here. As a leader if I had a trusted advisor, I might have been better off.  eh..oh.., ok,.. I know what you will say next.., I know I had Amitabh. I realize I made a mistake. I think he was trying to help me, I did not allow myself to be helped. I realize I was stupid.

Readers – As I share this true story with you, here are some thoughts that I would want us to reflect upon.

As a professional I have had the honor of working with many great people and have learnt so much from their experiences.  They are senior leaders, high achievers, people with great vision, lots of passion and drive, they may appear to have their follies, but you know what they are human after all.  The issue here is not if Ravi is a great leader, even if he failed in this one company he still is a great leader. He learnt his lesson and has moved on. Today he leads India’s 3^rd largest FMCG Company with revenue in excess of $ 1.5 b and is doing a fine job last 5 years.

A big question that continues to plague me even today is “Change - Whose Job is it?”  People often walk up to me and talk about what does not work in the company - issues, challenges, how things should be different, what processes are missing etc.? The only question I ask them – what are you doing about it?

Somewhere deep within, it is my reflection that – Change is everyone’s job. It is not that of the CEO alone. The CEO may appear to be the visible face of it, may lead it, may advocate it, build a case for it etc…

However, each one of us needs to stand up and be counted. We have to be the change we want to see around us.

Change, whose job is it? - Part 2

Thank you for your overwhelming response to the first section of this post.

Why did the change not work? The CEO and I found ourselves a comfortable place in a bar and continued our conversation over a few drinks.

He drank and spoke; I chose to ask questions and listen instead of drinking. Here is how the conversation progressed.

The CEO – Ravi (name changed) said, “I was doing very well in Unilever successful with a big role. I was itching to run my own company. The opportunity seemed terrific.  The company, an MNC had promise, some good products and brands in its stable, a laid-back culture, moved slowly but had incredible potential. They got a new CEO globally and he hired me. He wanted to drive this company in India out of the woods and into growth. You know Unilever at that time was growing 18% YoY and this company was growing a mere 6% and losing market share in all key product categories.”

So I asked Ravi, “What was your mandate?”

Ravi: “I was told they wanted to shake up this place”.

Me: “What do you mean by ‘shake up’?”

Ravi: “My predecessor was an old hand. He had been around for 25 years. Was hard-wired in his thinking. He was not open to taking  on aggressive sales growth targets. He had a fixed way of doing things. He was not open to launching new products in India, which were successful in other markets. He was resistant to any change. They wanted a new man at the helm. They wanted me to take a hard look at the leadership, assess their capability and determine if we had the right horses in the stable. They were not sure who they could bet on. They did not trust my predecessor’s assessment of the situation and the leadership team. I was told I should do what it takes to grow the company at par with competitors, which means 6% to 18% annual growth. That is how the market was growing at that time.”

Me: “So after you joined what was your assessment of the situation & the leadership?”

Ravi: “Boy, a ton of issues. In most cases the global assessment was right. The company was truly laid back. They had no measures around performance. Starting with manufacturing;  factory productivity was low, poor quality processes, safety standards were pathetic, compliance was at bare minimum standards and much more. I was concerned that with these standards, scalability of output will be big challenge.   R&D ; had been pumping ‘000’s of $ into this thing and nothing had come out in the last 5 years. Can you believe it? The first time I reviewed R&D work and results, I decided – I have to shut this down completely. It is not worth the money we poured into it. There were positives – the  sales engine worked well, we had a strong distribution model and it made me happy. In product marketing and branding, there were a few good people but I knew we had to invest in this place. Therefore, I did invest and bring in some good people from Unilever.”

Me: “So what was your plan? How did you think about the change you wanted to see?”

Ravi: “I decided to approach it in three phases. Phase 1 – I went around the country and met all people. I reviewed all the work that they were doing, got to understand their issues and challenges. I also used the opportunity to assess the people and inform my thinking. So I met the factory and supply chain leadership, the sales and marketing teams, distributors and retailers, my own Management Committee (MC) and spent around three months doing just this. Phase 2 – I shared my vision and growth strategy for the company. I aligned my global CEO and his team to my thinking. I recommended that I will shut India R&D and I shall leverage global R&D to drive innovation in both product and packaging.  He agreed. I also shared my vision and growth strategy with my MC. Phase 3 – I identified people who might be challenged in executing my vision & strategy and decided to change them.”

My reflection: Wow, …, my brain began humming with questions & more questions. I am sure yours’ is also ….

Me: “So, Ravi did you execute on your approach?”

Ravi: “Yes, I did to the hilt. I had a plan, I worked very hard at it. We also made a lot of progress.”

Me: “What was the progress? How did you achieve the growth results like sales, market share etc.. for which you framed this 3 phased approach?”

Ravi: “We did reasonably well. We grew 5% in the first year but we bounced back to 8% in second year.  We had 6 new product launches, - The last time the company had a new product launch was 10 years ago. We did six in just 2 years. My global stakeholders should have been thrilled. They could never achieve any of this with my predecessor for the last decade. Our profits margins continued to be strong. I improved our net margin from 12% to 16%. We made the highest profits ever. I brought in some good leadership talent from outside and we had lots of people change in manufacturing and supply chain. You know more than 50% of the organization were tenured less than two years with us. From a slow lethargic set up with old fashioned people, we had a bunch of young and bright talent. I made that happen. They saw promise in my story – my vision & strategy.”

Me: “So what went wrong?”

Ravi: “My global CEO said I had not achieved what I set out to do? I had promised him 18% sales growth, but we did 5% and 8% over 2 years. He wasn’t satisfied. In his view, I missed my target. But you tell me, how can growth happen overnight? It would take 4-5 years for us to get there – right? We were on track. He said my MC was not happy with my style. They thought I was going too fast and not consulting them enough. Come on, I hired half this team! They knew my vision and strategy, they agreed in our MC meeting. We were losing share – did we expect the customer to wait for us longer? The third reason I was told that the employee satisfaction scores went down. This shocked me completely. I raised the compensation costs by 24%, hired smart people and I just can’t get to understand why would people be unhappy?”

My reflection: It was then that it struck me, Ravi is such a smart guy, high achiever, has the right ideas, great intent but the best of people can have blind spots.

Me: “How committed was your Global CEO and his team on your vision & strategy for India?”

Ravi: “Oh.., my boss said, it is for me to decide and drive India.”

Me: “You have not answered my question?”

Ravi: “I think he was committed, why do you ask?”

Me: “That’s ok Ravi. I just want you to reflect on it. My next question is how committed was your MC on your Vision & strategy?”

Ravi: “You know what? They were over-awed when they saw it? A few walked up to me and said, “this is the best strategy they ever saw in their careers”.”

Me: “Were they committed or were they just over-awed with YOUR strategy?”

Ravi: “Why do you ask that question…, I thought they were committed?”

Me: “You said you went around the country meeting people and sharing your thinking? Did your MC also do the same?”

Ravi: “eh..eh.., not really. I guess they left that job to me?”

Me: “Who did you work with to make your decisions around people, Org changes etc.?”

Ravi: “Ah.., I knew exactly what I wanted to do. A few of us from the MC like my Marketing and Sales Leads worked with me in defining these changes. Many others you know were the old timers, who did not quite understand what I was trying to do. Besides, they were always questioning and cautioning me.”

Me: “Did you ever consult Amitabh, your HR Lead? I think he was not an old timer. He had joined a few months prior to you.”

Ravi: “I did try to talk to him, but he sounded more of an old timer than the actual old timers. He was really an old school guy. He would often insist we move more cautiously. He wanted me to give more time for the old timers to change and improve. While he was one guy who voiced strong support to my vision and strategy, he often questioned my decisions on people. He felt many old timers could embrace change and align with the strategy. But I had my doubts.

He often came to me with feedback from my team. He would never tell me who? He seemed to be leading crib sessions and people tended to gravitate to him. They seemed to like him. He was a nice guy, probably. He would come and play that all back on me.  I had no patience for all of that. We were on a flying plane and changing engines while on flight. It had to be done ASAP. Change is the only constant. I was communicating that in all my town halls and country tours. I do not understand why can’t people just accept it?”

Me: “So what did you do?”

Ravi: “I fired Amitabh and got myself another HR guy. But you know what, later when I was asked to go and I was completely down and out, Amitabh got to know and he called me and spoke with me.  He was so professional. He had no hard feelings on what I did to him. He spoke so nicely to me. He was so concerned about me and inquired my well-being. His graciousness really touched my heart. I guess he was a nice man.”

Me: “Wow!! This has been some story Ravi. Do you realize what you did & what could have gone wrong those two years?”

Ravi gets into a deep reflection mode. He was a few drinks down and a bit emotional by now….. and after a few minutes of total silence he says…., oh GOD what a jerk I have been…!!

Let me take a last pause here and ask you my readers - what do you think was Ravi’s reflection?

Change, whose job is it? Part 1

Ever since I joined Industry 21 years ago, I was often taught by my mentors & coaches, there is nothing constant but change. Be adaptable, flexible, willing to learn etc., etc. if you wish to succeed in the corporate world. As a young professional I obediently listened to them and remembered the gospel of my seniors. You can see, I still remember it.

A few years back I used to work for a respected FMCG company with revenue of $250 mn. We had a new CEO join us from Hindustan Unilever Limited (which was $ 2b in revenue then), which had and continues to have a reputation of developing great leaders.  The FMCG company I worked for had a deep rooted work ethic, was in existence for more than 50 years, its culture was laid back, its market share was not challenged for many years, was steadily growing and was very profitable. The new CEO had a mandate from his global leadership to shake up the work ethic, drive aggressive growth and improve market share.

The CEO in his initial days went across the country, met various executives & leaders, heard their views about issues in the business and got a grasp of what were the challenges in the company. After his India tours, he called the Management Committee (MC), the highest leadership body in India for a meeting to discuss what he learnt. Interestingly the MC echoed the same issues/concerns that he had heard from the field. The CEO got excited and said to himself “I guess I understand what I need to change here”.  Next 2 years were years of rapid change, the CEO made big bold decisions, he led from the front, the company refurbished its brands, launched new products/brands, re-launched its old boring brands with new packaging, formulations etc., many heads rolled in various parts of the country, change was finally happening…..

2 years of pain-staking effort, the CEO appeared to be on a tread-mill and almost omnipresent in very meeting / forum.  All these efforts, more than 50% of the people in the company were < 2 years old, salaries grew, people were paid much better,  some product launches succeed, a few failed, company grew marginally in market share, revenue & profits but the employee morale dropped significantly. End result – the COE was fired !!

A couple of years later, I joined HUL and happened to meet this ex-CEO in an external event. We got chatting. He was still reeling under the scars of his past. We were reflecting on what went wrong – people needed the change, his MC needed the change, the global leadership needed the change, the desired change was brought in – why did it not work, why did employee morale drop, why did sales/margin not grow as expected etc.? It was a million dollar question in his mind.

I want to pause my story here and pose this question to the readers - What do you think appears to have gone wrong?

Why do I love to hate HR?

What is the role of HR and an HR Partner?

This question often comes up and the traditional answers have been – business partner, trusted advisor, people champion etc. What if your COO thinks none of this?

I worked with one such individual who hated HR, Rahul Sharma the COO of large credit cards company in India. An extremely competent leader but hated the HR function.

I wondered why Rahul disliked HR so much. One day I decided to walk up to him and asked, “What are your concerns with HR? It will be helpful if we can talk through them.”

He responded, “Really, you want to know? Everything in this company is wrong because of HR. Look at the people you hire. Standards are falling each day. This is impacting my ability to staff and has lowered utilization. Attrition is 64% annualized. How can I run a company with a new set of people each year?

What does HR get measured on? We promote people each year, but they struggle in their new roles. We need better quality training. We spend millions on training, where is the improvement?

In an attempt to understand his position on HR, I asked him, “As a COO, do you think a company requires an HR function? If yes, how would you engage HR? How will you empower HR and what would you them accountable for?”

This got him thinking. “I think we need HR but let me share my thoughts. While it appears we sell credit cards or loans or insurance products as cross sell, we essentially sell services to our customers and create stickiness through our product offerings. There is hardly any product differentiation viz. competition. Productivity and customer stickiness are the key differentiators, which are entirely people dependent. I need HR to understand this”, Rahul said.  

Ok, so how would you engage HR meaningfully, I asked?

“Most of the work you guys do is in my area of operations. I determine the direction of the teams you work with. First, HR needs to work with me to determine a process around on-boarding and integration of fresh talent. You do this currently but I need to hold my team accountable for adherence to the process to enable better results. HR can help me build metrics around this area and hold me accountable too.”

“Second, on skill building, HR should rework its training curriculum and align it to business needs. HR should share training need analysis and take my team’s inputs. Do you agree?” he added. “Yes, I agree”, I responded. The training attendance was an abysmal 43%. What if the training curriculum was customized to meet your needs? Would you support higher off-take, I asked. “Of course, I would”, Rahul responded.  

Third, I am designated a COO but I am a simple guy. I have my good & bad days. People read too much into everything I say or do. I should admit I am enjoying this conversation and it is helping me think. But how can I trust you? You are an HR guy and you have your own agenda.

Why you would think my agenda would be different from yours or that of the business? I asked.  Rahul with a smile on his face said, that is the image of HR.

Rahul’s words still ring in my ears; his thoughts about HR, doubts about HR partners etc. were not misplaced. So, what is the role of HR?

As I have tried thinking this many times over, I think HR plays the role of an ALCHEMIST. Someone who is inspired by the act of enabling the success of those who are chasing a dream; one who can feel fulfilled not by a share in the treasure found, but by enabling the discovery of the treasure; one who is motivated by a selfless pursuit to enable the potential of people around him.

What do you think?

Ethics - black, white or grey? Episode 3

I am doing a quick rewind here…., going back to some conversations around the KPL Bangalore Factory restructuring, eventually leading to its closure.

After the Management Committee (MC) of KPL made the decision on the closure of Bangalore factory and potential sale of land, Kulkarni summoned Swami to this office to discuss the strategy for closure. Kulkarni had no understanding of the Indian Labor Laws nor did he understand the psyche of blue collared workmen, as he had no past experience of having worked in India before.  As Swami reconciled to the decision, he laid out the boundary conditions for executing a quick closure. The conditions were:

1.       The management teams at Bangalore Factory, around 30 supervisors were the key to execution of the closure strategy. They needed to be provided a job guarantee at Gurgaon or a handsome severance package if they choose not to transfer.

a.      Kulkarni agreed to the job guarantee and a severance on a case to case basis.

2.       The 350 unionized workmen would not bite the VRS unless it was sweetened suitably to make it look attractive.

a.       Swami made a recommendation to facilitate quick closure. Kulkarni did some quick calculations to check cost and they mutually agreed to a figure Rs. X per person.

Armed with the assurances from Kulkarni, Swami and his HR team got to work, landed into Bangalore to execute their strategy. Every element of the strategy was extremely well planned and execution machinery was put in place. Swami was a seasoned HR professional with deep expertise in restructuring and labor relations.

Swami addressed the Supervisors in a closed door meeting and disclosed the management decision on closure. There was a bust of emotion and anxiety. He leveraged his personal relationships and those of his other HR & business colleagues to influence / assure Supervisors of a job guarantee and larger company need to drive factory closure. After some inspirational talk by Swami, the supervisor team fully rallied behind him & the HR team.

Swami very courageously summoned all the 350 workmen on the shop floor and made an emotive speech announcing the management decision to close the Bangalore factory with immediate effect. A wave of emotion swept the shop floor and a few workmen broke down inconsolably. A few supervisors rushed to those workmen to provide them support. Swami spoke in the local dialect, welcoming questions, addressing concerns and announced that a VRS will be pasted on the notice board in the next 2 hours for workmen to consider. He firmly stated that closure was imminent to save KPL’s business in India and was non-negotiable.

After Swami left the scene the HR team and Bangalore factory supervisors spoke with groups of workmen to help them understand the rationale behind the management decision. As Swami returned to his office, he got a message delivered to him as follows:

Kulkarni has been required to fly out to London on some personal exigency. He has asked me to communicate to you that the VRS is Rs. Y per person. He has wished you & your team all the very best in execution of this plan. He would contact you towards evening to know if the goal has been achieved.

Swami looked at the message, looked at Rs. Y per person and sank in his chair. It was exactly half of Rs. X, that Kulkarni had agreed upon with Swami. Swami wondered why would Kulkarni leave for London, while KPL had no office there, his family was very much in India and why did he not mention about it even at 10 pm last night when they spoke? Questions…, questions…, raced in his mind. He called Niket, the Director – Legal of KPL to ask him what was going on? Niket calmly replied, Kulkarni is the CEO, an NRI and could face legal risk of arrest etc., if the closure went wrong. Hence I advised him to leave the country till the job was fully done. Swami was aghast…. What!! So what about us, my team …, we are all at risk too? Niket replied, “all the best Swami” and signed off the call.

There was no time for Swami to evaluate what Kulkarni or Niket were up to? He had a situation on hand, the fire was lit…, the factory was burning with people’s emotions running wild, the workmen were agitated, the supervisors were supportive but worrying about their livelihood / future, Swami’s HR team was working as there was no tomorrow….., there was no moment to reflect. Swami had to rise to the occasion. He made up his mind.  

Swami called his HR team and told them that the VRS was Rs. Y. The team retorted, “Swami this will not sell, it is too little.” Swami asked them to try their best and leave the rest to him. The team was working hard to convince the workmen,…, the 2 hour time line was coming to a close.  

Half-an-hour before the deadline Swami calls the CFO in Singapore and tells him, “Anupam, I am unable to reach Kulkarni. Not sure where he is? I just want to tell you that the VRS is about to fail. The workmen have refused to take Rs. Y. They have threatened to block the closure and burn the factory down. What do you want me to do?”

Anupam was the CFO for KPL, APAC region. He panicked with this message and asked Swami many questions. Swami stayed calm and said, “Anupam I am just letting you know. In next 15 min if I do not see the workmen take the VRS of Rs. Y, I will ask all the 30 Supervisors and the HR team to vacate the factory and abandon the factory. My priority would be to avoid any violence and save the lives of the HR team and the supervisors. I will also inform the local police to take charge of the factory premises.”

Anupam promised to call Swami back in 10 min and requested him to hold fort till then. Swami left the office and walked to the shop floor to assess the mood. The workmen were very agitated. They were offended with the offer of Rs. Y and were shouting slogans against the management. They felt cheated and pushed towards the wall. Swami’s HR team and supervisors were looking up to him for direction. He asked them to continue to persuade the people and informed a couple of Sr. folks that he is trying to get the figure raised. These words from Swami helped hold the HR team’s wilting spirit a bit longer.

While Swami was on the shop floor, Anupam was trying desperately to reach him. Swami deliberately choose not to pick the phone. He let Anupam try a few times. He could sense the desperation after the 6^th missed call, as it never stopped ringing.

Swami picked up the 7^th call.

Anupam:  Is everything ok Swami?

Swami: Cannot get any worse. Anyway, what do you want me to do? I have just 5 minutes left. I have given a heads up to the team to be ready for my call to evacuate in the next 5 minutes.

Anupam: No no.., we should not do that?

Swami: I cannot risk lives Anupam. Why don’t you come here, the workmen will kill the management team. They are on the verge of turning violent and I cannot hold any longer.

Anupam: Oh.., ok, what amount do you think they will bite? I know you asked for Rs. X.

Swami: Yes, I had asked for Rs. X then. Now things have turned worse and beyond our control.

Anupam: Swami, I have convinced Kulkarni that we should give Rs. X. Can you make this work now?  

Swami: I do not think so. We have missed our opportunity. We may need Rs. 1.2X now. I will try my best to keep it between Rs. X  to  1.2X. But I cannot guarantee anything. The HR team and supervisors have lost trust in the management, so I am not sure if they will believe me anymore.

Anupam: No..no Swami. You should make this happen, we are relying on you. You know how important this is. I am approving Rs. 1.2X, please go ahead and close the factory. I will manage Kulkarni.

Swami: Please send an email and copy Kulkarni too. I will hold-off any further action till I see a written mail from you or Kulkarni.   

Anupam: Hang on… here it is…, I am just sending…,, there.. it’s gone. Please try to close the factory peacefully with no violence.

Swami received the mail from Anupam confirming the amount as Rs. 1.2 X (much more than the initial Rs. Y intimated by Kulkarni or the Rs. X he had initially agreed upon). He put up a VRS notice with amount Rs. X on the notice board. Since the workmen’s expectations were set at Rs. Y, when they saw Rs. X, which was twice the amount, everyone leapt in excitement. The HR team and supervisors were able to convince everyone to sign the dotted line.

All the 350 workmen took the VRS and left the same evening with cheques in their hands. They took a group photography with Swami , the Supervisors and the HR team as a parting gesture. Many workmen cried and touched Swami’s feet (a gesture in India of respect) thanking him for getting them a good severance package from KPL.

KPL closed its factory, separated 350 workmen in a record 8 hours voluntarily, probably the one of its kind in the Industry. Kulkarni and a host of leaders of KPL from US called Swami to congratulate him on the impossible task he achieved for KPL.

However, a few questions still remained unanswered in Swami’s mind as he reflected on what happened that night after the closure:

1.       Was Kulkarni an ethical leader? Did he run away or was this a strategy to save the CEO – what kind of leadership was this?

2.       Were Swami’s values different from those of Kulkarni, which led him to question Kulkarni’s actions each time?

3.       Was Kulkarni unethical as an individual leader or was KPL also an unethical company?

4.       Going back on his committed package to workmen - was this a mere negotiation tactic that Kulkarni deployed on Swami to pressurize him to get a cheap deal with the workmen?

5.       Was Swami himself unethical, in pressurizing the management at the final moment and made them succumb to his demands?

What do you think?