The Hindu Business Line : ‘Leaders bring the right focus to achieve goals’

A great leader should be able to inspire his team even when the chips are down. He should bring a common objective to the team and communicate a clear strategy. His focus should be on achieving the set objectives by marshalling his resources. Under a great leader, even an ordinary and inexperienced team looks focussed.

An incident from your life or what you observed which you think was great leadership?

Ratan Tata and R .P. Goenka have impressed me by the way they have restructured and taken their companies global.

When I first met R. P. Goenka after joining HML as its Managing Director, he gave me his vision for HML, saying it had the potential to scale great heights. Also, he laid great emphasis on doing the right things. During his visits to the plantations, he inspired the team with his enthusiasm, going through the detailed operation plans. His leadership was based on bringing the right focus to achieve results for the company.

Ways in which young managers can develop leadership skills?

Today’s young managers are more informed, more tech savvy. They must develop team skills to lead. Also, working in the grey areas i.e. when one does not have enough information and the path forward is undefined, would be a sought-after skill in our leaders.

Who is your leadership ideal in the corporate world - India or global?

R.P. Goenka and J.R.D. Tata are leaders who have given a lot of self-belief and inspired many in our generation to leadership positions.

Their unflinching belief in creating organisations based on ethical and organisational excellence has been the foundation of many Indian companies. — Pankaj Kapoor, Managing Director, Harrisons Malayalam Ltd.