 |
| "A
cross-functional role gave me a macro perspective of business"
Ruchir Asthana/General Manager/IBM India |
| Help,
Tarun! |
India is growing at 9 per
cent- plus; several companies, across sectors, expect to grow to
several times their current sizes in the foreseeable future. And
they will depend on a band of as-yet-little-known group of executives
to drive this scorching pace of growth. These are people who, over
the last few years, have shown the verve, the zest and, most importantly,
the leadership skills that have marked them out as the stars of
the future. Of course, many of them received (and continue to receive)
institutional support from their employers, but in all cases, it
was individual initiative that first brought them into limelight
in their respective organisations.
Says Gautam Nagwekar, COO (Farm Equipment Sector), Mahindra
& Mahindra, who was elevated to his current position in November
2006: "To be a leader, you need to have a purpose that is
larger than your own self." Adds Vinod Kamath, Head (Supply
Chain & IT), Marico, who will take over as CFO of the company
in April this year: "You must fundamentally be willing to
move away from your comfort zone, take up new challenges and roles,
and be able to deliver successfully." To be able to do this,
one needs to have a mindset that stops looking at issues from
a very functional perspective and views them, instead, from a
cross-functional one. "This helps you to widen and broadbase
your skill sets and mature in your job, and, in turn, helps your
evolution as a leader and allows you to take on greater challenges,"
he adds.
Ashu Phakey joined retailer Subhiksha as Senior Vice President
in October 2005, and made his mark by setting up 100 outlets in
the Delhi region in 9 months flat. He had to begin from scratch-Subhiksha
did not even have an office in the national capital. He had to
hunt for property, recruit a team, line up vendors and put a supply
chain in place. The impressive delivery won him a promotion-to
President. Moral of the story: be a self-starter; don't complain
about problems; instead, think of solutions that makes things
easier for others.
| A LEADER'S CHECKLIST |
| If you want to get noticed among the crowd,
you should:
Move out of your comfort zone and volunteer for greater
responsibilities
Set stiff goals and assess yourself honestly against them
Be ready to learn new things all the time
Think horizontally, always wearing the organizational
hat, and not in staff-line silos
Network extensively within and outside your organisation
Good leaders are born, but proper grooming can also make
them better managers |
It helps if the organisation you work for proactively looks
for and grooms talent. Yashovardhan Verma, Director (HR), LG Electronics
India, puts the issue in perspective. "It goes without saying
that there is plenty of leadership talent in our young executives.
At LG, for instance, we prefer to hire fresh talent and groom
them for leadership positions rather than hunt for middle- and
senior-level executive in other companies," he says. Adds
Phakey: "The enormous empowerment, the easy and informal
access to the top management, the total lack of hierarchy and
the extremely quick decision-making were major factors in the
success we achieved."
| Wanted: Dealmakers |
| The demand for M&A specialists is set
to explode. |
| India inc. is on a feverish deal-making
spree. The Tatas have bagged Corus; Kumar Mangalam Birla
is in the process of buying out Novelis and Vijay Mallya's
takeover of Whyte & Mackay is reportedly in the works.
These are just some of the overseas M&A deals that have
caught the public eye. And we haven't even started talking
about Vodafone's buyout of Hutchison Essar and other inbound
transactions. Many more such deals, both cross-border and
domestic, are in the pipeline. "It's a very challenging
and lucrative profession particularly for professionals
who want to be always in the thick of activities,"
says Joydeep Datta Gupta, Head (hr Practices), PricewaterhouseCoopers
India. M.R. Sridharan, Executive Director, Excellers, an
executive search firm, says demand for such professionals
will explode in the months ahead.
-Ritwik Mukherjee |
FMCG major Marico follows a similar strategy. Explains Milind
Sarwate, Chief (hr & Strategy), Marico: "Early empowerment,
on-the-job training, and coaching by immediate superiors or functional
experts allow us to develop our in-house leadership talent."
 |
| "Empowerment
and a lack of hierarchy helped my team deliver results"
Ashu Pakhay/President/Subhiksha |
Cross-functional exposure forms an important part of this grooming
process. "Though my functional expertise lay in sales, I
also got the opportunity to hone my skills in M&A, strategic
business planning and international operations," says Ashish
Bhargava, Category Head, Marico, who was involved in the company's
acquisition of Nihar from Hindustan Lever. Adds Sarwate: "Ambitious
young executives will have to explore new territories and take
the attendant risks if they want to move into leadership positions."
Anuj Ayodhyavasi, National Product Group Head (Microwave Ovens
and Vacuum Cleaners), LG Electronics India, joined the company
as a |
