Personal Management: CEO Exemplar!

Face it. Do you really want to be a CEO? After all, nothing could be tougher in the New Economy. BT presents the guide to fame for the not-so-fainthearted CEO of You Inc..

Unlike the wide highways, all of which used to lead to Rome, the tiny paths leading to the CEO Hall Of Fame are few and far between. Invariably, you must hack your way through demanding customers, irate shareholders, intransigent employees, and hard-nosed financiers. Even otherwise, this tough trek has hardly ever been a cruise on an autobahn, with directions posted at every half-mile. At the same time, it is futile trying to map all the possible landmines since they have a knack of defying anticipation. Perhaps the only solution is to develop the attributes to foil any ambushes, as it were, and chart your route to the top. Don't forget: ultimately, the hand that guides you to the CEO's Grail will only be your own. With a little help from your peers-and us.

Don't ever shut yourself off at the top. Open-ness and accessibility are the two virtues that a CEO can ill-afford to shun, particularly in dealing with her employees. Today's flat organisations emphasise a culture marked by a lack of hierarchy, easy access, transparency, and the absence of trappings along with a thrust on performance and delivery rather than form and style. A CEO who uses a mixture of sharing and guidance will always find it easier to fire up her people to give of their best.

Most CEOs swear by the effectiveness of an open-door policy. Says Amal Ganguli, 58, the CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers India (PwC): ''The CEO should be accessible, not remote and aloof. People-management skills are easily becoming the most important attribute of a CEO.'' Adds Aditya Narayan, 46, the youngest-ever Managing Director of the Rs 782-crore ICI India: ''Being physically accessible, for a quick smoke on the terrace or a 10-minute chat in the lobby, can work wonders for your employees' morale. I keep my door open-literally.'' Similarly, Suresh Lulla, the 37-year-old CEO of MTV India, has deliberately opted for an open office to facilitate the sharing of ideas. Says Lulla: ''That is in sync with MTV's interactive philosophy.''

"Being physically accessible, for a quick smoke on the terrace or a 10-minute chat in the lobby, can work wonders."
Aditya Narayan
MD, ICI India

It is important for the CEO to establish her identity as a team-player, rather than a dictatorial superior, although not at the cost of having her authority eroded. When the Rs 56.80-crore vision-care and eye-wear company, Bausch & Lomb, set up its operations, one of the first things that Managing Director Jaspal S. Bajwa, 44, did was to create an in-house ''brand'' called Team BLI. Says Bajwa: ''The nomenclature was to establish the team concept, which I consider the most important attribute of our culture and my leadership.'' Concurs Vinayak Chatterjee, 41, Chairman, Feedback Ventures, a Delhi-based consultancy firm: ''I am deliberately informal, hands-on, and always available to my young team. It helps if they see me as one of them.''

Although recognised as a virtue, accessibility can easily lead to people getting familiar with you. But the line should be clearly drawn. With peers, particularly those you have served under while shimmying up the organisational totem-pole, a frank redefinition of relationships may be called for to avoid rancour. Says ICI's Narayan, who superseded a number of his former bosses on his way to the hot-seat: ''Handle your new assignment without attaching a legacy to it. Baggage from the past is dysfunctional and dispensable.''

While diplomacy and persuasiveness may go a long way in motivating your senior colleagues on the board, consensus and conciliation should not be your only tools. Talking on the basis of concrete data, rather than falling back on relationships, and listening carefully before committing yourself to a decision should help. By being over-accommodative, you could end up chasing popularity rather than goals. Explains PwC's Ganguli: ''Although consensus may be the order of the day, the authority to take decisions, even tough ones, eventually rests with only one person.''

"Within the organisation, we have created a culture of constant communication, and that has helped us greatly."
Jaspal S Bajwa
MD, Bausch & Lomb

Inflexibility is a big turn-off for both your internal and external clients. Adaptability and a lack of insularity-which, however, should not be misconstrued as a lack of conviction-can help you manage your environment better. Especially if you work for a transnational and have to deal with a sceptical parent. As a CEO, you have to play the role of being a bridge between the local and international cultures, and feel at home doing that. Points out Ashok Desai, 41, the Managing Director of Silicon Graphics India (SGI), a subsidiary of the $36.63-billion Silicon Graphics: ''To perform the dual roles of culture-carrier and global player, it helps if you are well-informed about the local political and economic situation. Similarly, you must show pride in your culture without displaying insularity.''

Meticulousness in following company values and performing tasks too may help dismantle prejudices. Says PwC's Ganguli: ''Most transnationals are extremely sensitive about the possibility of corruption, and lay down stringent compliance norms. The CEO will need to demonstrate adherence to them.'' Volunteering for responsibilities, consistently meeting business targets, coming up with fresh ideas, and even turning up early for meetings usually aid in buffing your image. Explains Desai: ''I take pains to arrive early for my meetings abroad. It shows that I am as professional as anybody else.''

Honesty, as they say, is the best policy-especially for the CEO. Transparency in dealing with shareholders will help you negotiate the choppy waters better. Especially since they look only for appreciation in the value of their investments, and are usually prepared to be patient for long periods of time if the company has potential. Be evasive-and it can backfire, particularly if your company has had a rough year. Says PwC's Ganguli: ''The CEO needs to be open and honest about the past and the likely future. I can tell you from my experience that the shareholders of start-ups have even waited for a decade, contributing to multiple rights issues over the period, for returns. But sweeping things under the carpet certainly does not help.''

Ashok Desai

"We are a fast-paced company where everybody is at the cutting-edge. I still make cold calls, and meet people."
Ashok Desai, MD, Silicon Graphics India

Should communications to shareholders be structured? V.C. Burman, 60, the newly-anointed Chairman of the Rs 824.80-crore Dabur India, thinks so: ''A relevant reply can satisfy the shareholder, but even a slight mistake can aggravate a tense situation.'' In such situations, professional help from strategic or image-management consultants may come in handy. For instance, the Delhi-based communications consultancy, IPAN, once helped prepare the chairman's speech for the annual general meeting of an erstwhile blue-chip, which was being torn apart by a fight between the chairman and his brother over its ownership. But, says Rajiv Desai, 49, President, IPAN: ''In order to look good, you have to do good. The trouble with our corporates is that most of them do not believe in honesty, and it is difficult to do much for them in terms of image.''

The same credo holds when it comes to presenting your best profile to your financiers. The information provided to them must be accurate, and the company must be open with them. As long as loans are serviced, most financiers are satisfied, and will not interfere with the management of a company. However, it is in your interest to build long-term relationships with the suppliers of such a vital input. Taking financiers into confidence about your current operations, and keeping them informed about your future needs can only help you realise your goals, and keep your head above water in times of crisis. Counsels PwC's Ganguli: ''It is always preferable to have financiers who are friendly.'' To which Burman adds: ''I treat my financiers as long-term business-partners. It is my duty to be transparent with them.''

Notwithstanding the face you present before the camera, always walk the talk. Credibility is the most important attribute of the savvy CEO, be it while dealing with the media, government, or business partners. In fact, the public and the private faces of the company must be synchronised carefully to build a buffed-to-perfection image, which the CEO should then project. Says Bausch & Lomb's Bajwa: ''Be it with our bankers, prospective investors, clients, or the media, we consciously adopt a forthcoming attitude. We always meet, explain, and clarify our stand, sometimes even at a cost to ourselves. Within the organisation too, we have created a culture of constant communication, and that has helped us greatly.'' Similarly, SGI's Desai has nurtured a young, vibrant, and innovation-driven persona for his company, and tries to project himself as the mascot by being driven-yet-friendly, and hands-on. Says he: ''We are a fast-paced technology company where everybody, including myself, needs to be at the cutting-edge. I still make cold calls, and go out to meet people.''

As a CEO, you will have to deal with reverses, manage risks, and survive crises. Maintaining an appearance of serenity, while not compromising on transparency, will always give you an edge in your interactions with the external environment. Says PwC's Ganguli: ''Managing the external face of the organisation at times of crisis requires a consistent approach, and an emphasis on the values of the organisation without taking recourse to intemperate action.'' This is an area where professionals can be of help provided they know the company, its people, and its values well.

Finally, be dramatically different. But only if you can sustain it with action. Making it to magazine-covers may be tempting, but dramatic shifts in image, more often than not, have negative repercussions unless they are followed up. Such shifts may be necessary when there is a need, for example, to project a face for the new CEO.

For instance, at the Rs 13,759-crore Reliance Industries, when Chairman Dhirubhai Ambani stopped overseeing its day-to-day operations, his two sons and successors, Mukesh and Anil, carefully orchestrated an image make-over for the company; from a local, family-managed enterprise to a global, professionally-run player. At the individual level, ICI's Narayan deliberately donned the garb of an iconoclast by sporting bush-shirts and sandals-since he wanted to create a new organisational culture characterised by a lack of trappings-and then followed it up with tough cost-reduction measures and a result-oriented performance-management system.

However, you do run the risk of creating too distinct a persona which, in turn, could swamp the organisation. Argues Dilip Cherian, 40, Consulting Partner at the Delhi-based image consultancy, Perfect Relations: ''Face it. Not everyone can pull off a Rahul Bajaj act, where he is Bajaj and more. Unless the CEO's image meshes with that of the organisation and has some synergy with his natural persona, sustaining it will be impossible.''

That's it then. The right attributes and the right persona. The two generic tools that every CEO must possess today. If you are to win. And, of course, you must possess that indomitable will too. After all, success won't come easy tomorrow, especially for the CEO.