Transcription

Core Tasks of a Leader

Think about any global successful organisation and you immediately divert your thoughts into
the leader of the organisation. Who's been leading it, who heads, it who brought it to this epitome
of success.

Well, let me share a perspective here for you. Let's look at leadership from two different angles:

Number one, leaders as actors. Why do I say so? Think about it, you're constantly the face of the
organisation. You're constantly in front of your people. Your actions, your conversations, your
thoughts, your behaviours, they're constantly being evaluated by people, not just in your
organisation but in the outside ecosystem as well. You're acting, you're on stage, you're
demonstrating your true thoughts and your beliefs.

The second role a leader performs, is that of an architect. Because, you're constantly
constructing, you're constantly building, developing, enhancing, re-energising, re-enforcing,
re-evaluating.

The leader's role is that of an actor and an architect. Balancing the two for an organisation is of
paramount importance. How does this role come to life? What size of organisation are we talking
of?

Well, in all honesty, whether it's a tiny five-person organisation or an entire country, the role of
the leader as an architect and an actor continues to remain.

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There's a movie called captain Sully about captain Sullenberger. He had to take a decision in a
split second, whether to land on the Hudson river, when the engine was hit by birds. He relied on
information, his skill sets, his competencies and made a successful landing.

Probably, one of the finest ones we would have witnessed in history. What matters here is the
absolute calm, confident outlook which he portrayed to every single passenger on board, in control
of his emotions and his fears and the architect of the finest landing we would have witnessed.

Let's talk a little bit about this dual role that a leader performs. In fact I'd like to talk about what a
leader needs to do in the first 100 days of a new leadership role.

I like to speak about a new leadership role, because that's a chance a leader has, to cement and
fortify the role of an actor and architect, in the right way.

The first 100 days in the organisation give you a chance to assess, to analyse, to reflect, to
understand, to acknowledge. The first 100 days is for the leader to ascertain what the vision and
the mission and the purpose of the organisation is. First 100 days provides an opportunity for the
leader to truly understand what the culture of the firm is, to pick up the vibrant messages, to
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understand and read the non-verbal cues, to truly understand the emotions and feelings of the
teams at play.

To know what the world is thinking of the organisation, to know the rights and wrongs that are
functioning in the organisation. The first 100 days become so critical, because that's the time
when the entire organisation is looking up to the leader. to set the tone and the pace for the firm

In a leader's role as an actor and architect, there are four fundamental pillars that he or she needs
to consider.

The first pillar is called Sensing or Sense making, that means the ability to understand and
process the information, it's also about hiring the right set of individuals, it's about propagating a
culture filled with values and principles, it's about encouraging the right utilisation of time and
encouraging others to do the same.

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Sense making is about understanding the constantly changing environment, in which the
organisation exists, it's about ensuring that the organisation is prepared to manage, to navigate
and to surface through the changing turbulent times.

Every leader has some or the other way in which information is processed and decisions are
taken, that's called sense making, and we will hear how some of the leaders actually utilise their
skill set of sense making

The second competency we're talking about, is called Relating, that means networking. Creating
groups of people with whom you interact in a regular fashion. It's about understanding the
emotions and feelings of people, empathy, it's how you relate to one another, respect,
vulnerability, trust all come into the picture here.

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In fact, as you can see, Relating also means staying connected and working with other industry
leaders, in fact, you will see how some leaders manage their networks very effectively and
efficiently.

What are the patterns within which they influence individuals and how do they make networking
second nature? How do they relate to teams and how do they create successful camaraderie?

The third pillar is that of Visioning, the ability to understand what the future holds. It's important
to be rooted in the past, to be aware of the present, but to also plan for the future.

A vision involves thinking about the future in a concrete distinct way, narrating that vision to
team members and getting them to be enthusiastic and demonstrate energy for the achievement
of that.

Visioning is extremely critical, because it takes the company to the next level. it's also about
seeing unforeseen challenges and planning for them, mitigating risk.

Vision is important, if the company needs to soar ahead, we will see what leaders actually do to
bring the vision into action. In fact, what are some of the strategies and the ways in which they
plan for the succession of their company?

How do they get teams to be passionate about the vision and overall, what does vision mean for
them?

Last but not the least, there's always a slip between a plan and its execution, which is why
execution becomes an absolutely critical task of leaders.

What's the use of an absolutely fail-proof plan, if it's not going to be executed. Execution means
putting into action a plan, taking the right steps, organising teams, energies, resources in the right
direction.

We will see how leaders actually put together teams and processes to achieve the goals that
they're laying out. We will see what challenges get in the way and what are some pillars to
observe, or essentially some fundamental tips for good execution strategies.

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You know leadership style evolves in many ways. I think the first time one person reports to you; you
become a leader. You may call it a manager. Then you become a different kind of a manager.

So, you start by managing people. Right? So, leadership at one people, two people, five people, 10
people is one level leadership. Then when you get into two layers of an organisation; that's another
level of leadership.

Then when you have large teams working than you have a very different style of leadership. During
this process, outside of the fact that their leadership has to evolve both in terms of communication,
delegation, the responsibility to communicate becomes yours more and more and I'm using
communication as a very important tool because if you're not clear, so, we don't have the clarity of
thought; you can't communicate because most people think when they communicative what they've
said without clarity of thoughts.

So, if you're vague; 100 people will be vague. So how are you emerging as a leader also while you're
going through this entire metamorphosis.

So that's the parameter. Therefore, I think my evolution from being an individual or a sole proprietor
to then building a company to having 300 people, to having 300 people, to having 3000 people.
Maturity is a very important part.

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I think maturity is not you know being childish or not being childish. It's an evolution process where
firstly, one of the critical things to me has been being a very-very important listener.

Your ability to need to listen and your ability to let everybody else also to have is important in the
entire process. That doesn't mean that you're not gonna need to be sharp.

It doesn't mean that everyone is to carry on and you need to only have a conversation. But you
definitely need to get the points from people.

Over a period of time, you're managing people then you adding value to them. Then you are almost
like an HR person and a training person to them.
Then you're reaching a stage where you're visioning and you're passing on something and then you
come to a stage where you're mostly inspiring.

But that inspiring is not just let's go do it kind of situation. It's also showing the way and sharing.

So, I think it's a beautiful growth process for every individual growing as a leader; it should be
very-very fun and very-very interesting.

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Understanding the surrounding of the sector that you're in whether when you're a leader of 5
people, 50 people or the head of an organisation is very important because most people think I've
only got five people.

Why do I need to understand the whole parameter? Why do I need to understand? Forget about the
setup outside.

There are two parameters: one is within the organisation. Do I need to understand marketing? Do I
need to understand product? Do I need to understand technology but I'm a salesperson or if I'm a
technology person; do I really need to understand business?

The real growth is going to come when you first understand just internally within any organisation
that you're going to have to be much more aware and slightly knowledgeable but not an expert on
everything else and the real people that grow are the people who have a keen Interest that I'm not a
silo that I'm a product person but I want to understand what's happening in marketing?

Not to understand not as an FYI. That's when you start growing as an individual; it's a very
important. It and most people feel now where am I going to get the time to do that which is so
inconsequential?

Because whenever somebody says I don't have the time to do that I think they have not introspected
enough to understand and of course, there'll be parameters where you'll feel there is so much that I
need to do that if I stop; I'll pile up.

But the point is you can stop; people have. You know you can get flu for a week and you will be forced
to stop; something else may happen as a calamity in your family and you will stop and then you'll
realise that heavens didn't fall.

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So, I think this time taken to understand an environment if you want real growth as an individual;
please go out and take interest in how the whole ecosystem works and it'll improve your job.

As a product person, if you understand the business; you'll start applying it different way; then
between the 50-product people you will stand out because you get the commerce of it, you get the
positioning of it rather than just saying the product is ready.

When it comes to the outside environment. That's equally important right. There I think for a lot of
people research plays a role but I think we don't give enough importance to research and then we
give it too much weightage.

We don't give enough importance because we don't really do it that often and we think every
research is something that gets consigned to an outside agency versus my best research is when I've
sat down and just spoken to people.

When I've sat, gone there, gone to a field, done whatever. Research reports - So that's one part and
the second one is when you do get that feedback; how it's a nice thing you put it down! It's a lovely
summary note: do you refer to it?

Is that changing the way you're thinking positioning, doing whatever you want to do? So, that's the
other part there; but I think understanding a much more 360-degree approach to everything in life.
You have no choice.

The more silo you be; your growth is limited. The point is if I have a plan; I have to figure out what's
the need of the community okay and I think one of the big mistakes we made when we was going out
in rural India and we started to do toilets; is that we just thought our target was we're going to build
25,000 toilets.

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But we didn't realise that a toilet can be used as a warehouse unless they own the fact that I do have
a toilet. I do want a toilet; so that simple thing of understanding that environment got us to then say
contribute 15% of the 25,000 rupees.

That it's going to cost to give you your toilet. That was that one single element and second, is to get
them to do their Shramdaan which is really, they helped build it, then it was their toilet; it wasn't
ours.

Similarly, the usage of it. For example, if we hadn't understood and understood the environment and
if I was just a contract person figuring out, I'm in the business of selling Syntax tanks or toilets or a
product or a phone.

If I don't understand the environment that if there is a water problem; there's you can do as many
toilets as you want but you can't do that. So that's in the not-for-profit sector.

I think the environment when it comes to media or even education today is about pre-empting
trends and you don't have to be a guru and you don't need to be a visionary to pre-empt trends but
you do need free thinking time to pre-empt trends.

You do not need to be some superlative intelligent person to pre-empt trends and even the best
people who've done it and you know most people's icons whether it's Steve Jobs. It was basically
they were great listeners and they had time to do nothing; the result of which comes that something
really comes out of doing nothing.

I think most of us think that when you do nothing, you're doing nothing that's the time when you're
really doing something.

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Look, I think, like having a friend circle, having a collaborative colleague circle is important. Now,
some of it for most people when you're looking at that collaborative effort is you feel it's obligatory
and it's mandatory.

So, there is, 50% of it is, you do need to work with people. You don't have to be friends with them but
you need to work with them. But the second part is the extra mile, right?

So, when is someone going to step out of the way and actually come back and say hey I was thinking
of something, I thought this might be useful for you that won't come out if you're having only a
transactional relationship with someone.

So how do you build non-transactional relationships; however, the same time making sure that it
does not get too familiar that you can extract the right kind of work that both people need to do
and the fundamental part of that is mutual trust and mutual respect stemming out of mutual
courtesy and I think we feel we're courteous but not that courteous to people.

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Just in a reply to somebody, whether it's you're replying to a message or a mail or something that
somebody said and you said I'll get back to you and then you forgotten about it; which means I'm not
important enough for you even make a note that says four days later I'm gonna reply back to you or
whatever.
So, I think that mutual trust, mutual respect when you build that with an ecosystem; it comes back to
you 10x. If I show mutual trust and mutual respect; I have never felt a situation where anyone has a
lack of respect.

We may have friction; I may have a problem but nobody is gonna have a lack of respect for the
person because they get to know where you're coming from. So that's why I think it is very important
to form plus-plus relationships and relationships is not necessarily friendship relationships whatever
else.

If you're not comfortable going out for a drink; there's no need to go out for a drink. That's not the be
all and end all of a friendship. You can sit down even on a canteen coffee table and have a 10-minute
casual conversation.

You could exchange a message with somebody and just enquire about them on a particular day they
haven't come to work; it'll strikeout. And my best experiences, really where I've connected with
people when they're on the way down and not as a strategy but just instinctively that's what I've
done because then that's when you remembered most.

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Yeah, I mean visions have to evolve; it's nice when you go on an offside with 200 people and there's a
glass window and everyone writes the vision statement. Those are good steps.

There at least they clarify but really at the end of the day if you see 500 companies vision
statements; there'll be at least eight to ten common words in all of them.

Okay and then the other part of a vision is the superlatives that everyone uses. We want to be the
highest or the biggest or the most profitable or the best or the bestest.

Those benchmarks then lower credibility. So, to me having a very tangible vision statement that says
this is the problem we want to solve. This is the scale at which we want to solve it. This is the time
period in which we want to do it.

Okay and every three months we will review not the vision statement but we'll have a sensible
review process. It kind of brings things people together.

So yes; understanding and you know vision is a little bit of a 20th century word. It's an important
word but I think it's evolved a lot in the 21st century; primarily because vision statements were
there for 20 years and 30 years and today people find that they're valid for three to five years.

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So already there's an expiry date on them. So, when you have an expiry date that's moved by one
sixth. How do you communicate to people without people thinking; oh, but I'm unclear. Oh, this
person changes his mind too often because everyone's not comfortable with change.

So, vision kind of gives you a little bit of a north star and I think the north star language now needs to
be slightly different. As I said, it could be exactly that. This is the problem I'm solving; this is the time
period in which I want to solve it. This is the scale at which I want to solve it.

You know then talking about parameters, of growth parameters, profitability parameters versus
non-profitability parameters, impact. What are the two three things we'll measure ourselves with?
What's the impact we want to make?

What is the outcome we want to make and I find a lot of vision statements if I had to do impact
outcome specificity of some sort; it's lacking but then people say well that's why it's a vision
statement. Then it becomes a little bit of a VV which is a vague vision.

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How do you get the team to own to a common execution plan right? Now, I think we need to be clear.
Not a whole plan can be done, for the people, by the people, all the particular time; that does means
it needs to be talked down either.

The critical element is strong discussion for a limited time period that then results in decision
making; then maybe allowing everyone 48 hours to comment on that decision making and then
freezing it and then all communicating it.

Now, if there's 100 people; not 100 people gonna participate in this cycle; maybe 10 are but the
responsibility of the 10 to have - The main problem is when you have that first discussion; only three
people have a conversation. Seven people have an opinion and they don't voice it.

So, then it moves in that three people and that starts getting the stone cast. Already, I think I had an
opinion but I'm not sure I want to voice that opinion which means I don't know whether my opinion
will you take into account which means in my mind, I've got perception problems because when you
finally articulate you realise that you're there in the room, you selected the 10 to participate.

So, everyone has such baggage on perception issue that they don't open up. So, with the result that
the three people that got into this, got into that; then it's a problem because seven of them already
have not started identifying with that.

So, if you select people it's important that all 10 people have a very blunt, open conversation. Come
to the next level, come to the next level, then over communicating.

Clearly under communication happens at that level and communication is not about saying calling a
town hall because you can have a town hall is the worst level to communicate if you're not clear
about what you want to say because it's not how often you talk to people; it's what you're saying and
how they take it away?
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And the best way therefore is to open up a Q and A. And if the first three questions in my mind when
I do that and sometimes people don't open up. But you wait; you frustrate people by saying I'm not
dispersing this session and I want to have some questions and at that stage three will come up.

The first three questions give me a very clear idea whether I've communicated or not. And if I've not
communicated because most of us think I said what I had to say and I left; you didn't get it.

So, I think that's the entire metamorphoses from caterpillar to butterfly of the decision-making
process of many people owning it; they’ll own it only if they're actively discussing it. Passive
discussion doesn't help.

It's up to the leader to see that the seven people who are sitting quiet be told I invited you for your
view. If you have no view, then maybe you should step out because your seat can be taken by from
the other 90 people that haven't got in the room and get their view.

If you adopt that approach and if you communicate very clearly to the 100 people; the other problem
is that when we start communicating, we start with the assumption that the 90 other people knew
everything that happened for the last three days.

So, then you get into a reference to context. The person has no clue and I think that's my media days
have told me that if I don't when I'm talking to an audience, I can't assume they've assumed anything.

I've worked on something for a year. I'm gonna have to tell them that in half an hour. Therefore, the
context every time. What's the context? What's the context? Especially when you're doing
something in a communication medium, you can only be a great communicator if you know what's
my context? Am I setting my context?

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I have to set the context in the first two minutes, like a preamble. If you watch a television series or a
movie or the great speakers; they will start by saying in the first two minutes what they want to
really talk about and then they go on talk about it. Otherwise, if you start randomly on something,
that's a big problem.

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