The Hindu Business Line : The mark of a leader

Several companies in India today have deep global involvement and international engagement. I want to share my thoughts on what is perhaps the most important aspect of leadership for these times, namely, “people”. Of course, there are many other important dimensions of leadership .

Regardless of which country or business one is in, a leader must place people before his business strategy. I read an interesting analogy recently: “First get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off it; next get the right people on the right seats; after that figure out where to drive the bus.” I cannot agree more. The right people on the right seats will ensure implementation of a leader’s vision, successfully weaning people away from PowerPoint slides towards execution. While looking for the right people, a leader should focus on attitude. Put people with the right attitude on board — the ones who are willing to learn and do things that may not readily fit into the stated responsibilities. I have seen many times that ‘attitude’ does indeed determine ‘altitude’.

A leader has to walk the talk. A leader should live by the rules he creates, be open, transparent, democratic and should successfully engage his team. Managers have to know how to share responsibilities and work effectively in teams, often cross-border ones. Managers have to network, rather than command and control.

A leader has to focus on skills and execution, not titles and hierarchy. A leader should effectively engage every staff member in the company down to the last man; he should articulate his vision and ideas to them so that they develop a sense of shared responsibility and embrace the company vision as if it were their own.

Multi-cultural awareness, managing staff of all nationalities and gender preferences are no longer a matter of choice. In my experience, I have learnt that the need for corporate change is directly proportional to the resistance to change. The behavioural traits of a leader also form an important aspect of corporate leadership.

Sreeram Iyer, CEO, Scope International Pvt Ltd (A wholly-owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank, UK.)

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