‘It’s a VUCA world out there’

A successful leader is one who takes the “triple bottomline” into consideration while making business decisions, said Chand Das, CEO, Education and Stationery Products Business, ITC.

He was speaking at a panel discussion ‘Leadership in the Times of Uncertainty’ at ‘Management Beyond Repertoire’, a management conclave held by the Department of Commerce at Stella Maris College in the city, in association with the MMA.

The triple bottomline incorporates three dimensions of performance: social, environmental and financial or the “three Ps: people, planet and profits,” he said.

“A business model which aims at producing a socially sound product and achieving this should be the goal of a successful leader,” he concluded.

R. Ravichander, Group President (South), Yes Bank, feels that “aside from vision, purpose, determination, the foresight to prepare for any kind of change, and seeing opportunity in an adverse situation,” is the hallmark of a great leader.

S. Kannan, IRS, Commissioner of Customs, Chennai, provided an insight into the way the government over the years has taken cognisance of change.

A leader, for him, is someone who can “take charge, and provide perspective in changing times”.

“Today, citizens are aware of their rights, and are asking the government difficult questions,” he said. “The Government is an ambassador of change, and not a monolith,” added Sarada Jagan, Dy. MD, HR, Sanmar Group. Jagan moderated the discussion.

Need to unlearn Murthy Chaganti, Circle Business Head, Chennai, Aircel, said a leader is someone who can “unlearn what he has learned” to cope with changes around him.

According to him, a leader should hence have the vision to “constantly create, consolidate and cope with change”. He elaborated on the concept of ‘VUCA’ (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity’), a military term that finds resonance in strategic leadership that applies it in a range of organisations today. Earlier in the day, talking on brand excellence at the conference, Mohan Menon said it’s no longer satisfaction but delight that customers expect from brands.

Brand excellence Various countries have their own connotations of excellence. In Japan, it was friendship, in Germany excellence and in India, a brand meant trust. He also pointed out that a firm had to think of its own employees as a target audience of its brands.

Elango M., Vice-President of Draftfcb+Ulka Advertising, presented a session on New Age Marketing, which he said would be defined by technology, transforming markets and values. He said technology such as 3D printing, delivery by drones and neuromarketing would be the next big things, and advertising was now combining creativity and science.

Citing a Nielsen-CII 2013 report, he said that as cities were saturated with brands, it is not surprising that the growth of the markets was coming from Middle India, or Class One towns.

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