5 EXAMPLES ON LEADERSHIP

We all like stories and we all love strong leaders – let me take you through some very interesting examples.

Lets start with Satya Nadella & Microsoft:

“Longevity in this business is about being able to reinvent yourself or invent the future.”

Satya Nadela

He joined Microsoft in 1992, has since been associated with Bill Gates, Bill gates, to remind you has an authoritarian style of leadership, yet Satya has been retaining his own style. The that makes him Satya.

He was working on “AZURE” a Cloud platform on Microsoft. When he took over as CEO, Microsoft was struggling to find its feet in the world now dominated by Apple, Android & Amazon’s like new breed. Windows 8 had crashed, Android was in dominating position, Bing wasn’t able to get the juice out of google. Come Today – Microsoft is steady and doing good.

So how did Satya achieve this:

1. Employee Trust: He wrote a letter to employees making them feel they were similar & the crux was “Family, Curiosity & Hunger for knowledge all define me.”
2. Courage: Accepting the Rival OS Linux on Azure Cloud. MS Office for Apple iPad.
3. Embracing the Change: He released Apps like MS Outlook & Office for Android & iOs.
4. Innovative: He released first Microsoft Laptop – the Surface book, the Holographic Goggles – Holo lens.
5. Vision: To put Microsoft where the customers are.

So to sum up the Qualities I think he displayed – Teamwork, Vision, Courage, calculated Risks, Embracing the change – in strategy, thinking, execution.

To know more on Satya Nadella find links below:

The Rise of Satya Nadella, Ten things to know @ Satya Nadella, Wikipedia: Satya Nadella

Let’s come to the Dada of Indian Cricket – Sourav Ganguly as we all know – the most aggressive of Indian Captains. Indians were never presumably so animatedly aggressive on the field till this man arrived on the scene as a captain. Who can forget the iconic swing of his shirt on Lord’s in 2002 Natwest Series. the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack ranked him the sixth greatest ODI batsman of all time, next to Viv Richards, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Dean Jones and Michael Bevan.

He took the center stage when Indian Team was in rough waters over the match fixing scandals of 2000, from scratch on he built a team with young players like – Harbhajan Singh, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Mohammad Kaif, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Dhoni, etc. along with seasoned – Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Kumble, Srinath, etc. He lead this team to WC 2003 Final first time after 1986.

But what set him apart were following things:

1. Building a Team: Pick & guide the young team mates to collaborate towards one Vision World Cup.
2. Lead from the Front: May it be his aggression on the field, his fighting attitude, He had always lead from the front.
3. Courage: He pushed a classic and successful middle order batsman like Sehwag to open for India & Indian cricket got its most explosive opening batsman. Took a lot of chances with Harbhajan & Irfan Pathan. Cancelled the IPL Opening Ceremony calling it waste of money.
4. Innovative:  Asking Dravid to keep wickets or Tendulkar to bowl in one dayers, just so that one extra spot can be created for a specialist.
5. Dynamism: When he rejected to be part of Ravi Shastri’s Videoconferencing Interview to choose Anil Kumble for India Coach, Answering all the sledgers on & off the field, Pushing his young team to potential. He was dynamic from the word go.

So to sum up the Qualities I think he displayed –Vision, Courage, calculated Risks, Team building & Lead from the front.

We are aware that Infosys is a golden goose of the Indian IT Industry, our own Garage to Great company. Let’s learn how Mr. Narayan Murthy made what Infy is today.

The sheer passion, group collaboration, fair & transparent management:

1. Lead from the front: Mr. Murthy has always been on forefront to take Infy out of any issues may it be the Sexual Harassment case on Phaneesh Murthy in late 90’s or recent issues with Infy Books being cooked.
2. Team Care: Infy distributed the stocks worth INR. 50,000 Cr to its employees after the IPO. Care for people and they will make you great.
3. Integrity: We all know his favorite statement “In god we trust, every one else should bring data to the table”. He has been making decisions all and all data driven.
4. Restructure: In 90’s when Infy was dependent on General Electric as a single biggest customer, he planned to diversify the customer base to protect profitability and reduce dependability on one customer.
5. Merit Leadership: When we see nepotism in all Industrial, Government, Film Industry  & Businesses, he made a rule that no founder to continue in Infy after 65 Years & no founders kids work at Infy to avoid nepotism. He has even kept the requests from influential people at bay with Hire on Merit policy only.

So to sum up the Qualities I think he displayed –Vision, Integrity, Courage, Team, & Merit Importance.

In the India of late 70’s & Early 80’s, which was not so focused on equal opportunity & when women entrepreneurs were not so common. There was this one name which challenged the status quo – Kiran Mazumdar Shaw. She started Biocon in 1978 in collaboration with Biocon Biochemicals Ltd. Ireland in her own home garage. A JV with 70% ownership of Mrs. Shaw. She faced a lot of struggles due to her age, gender, etc. No Banks wanted to finance her, but she managed. From a enzyme manufacturer for Food Packaging, brewing & Textile to a Bio-Pharma stalwart taking full control of the company in 1998.

1. Dynamism: From a father who was a brew master to being rejected jobs of Brew Master for being a female and entering into enzyme Business & then into Bop-Pharma.
2.  Persistence: In a male dominated society & field she faced a lot of challenges to make  her organization the only Second Company to cross $ 1 Billion mark on First day of listing.
3. Lead from the front: There is a incidence while Biocon was cracking a deal with Novozymes, her husband was detected with cancerous lump & yet she along with her domestic responsibilities went on to win the deal.
4. Innovative: whether it’s the field she chose, business models, focus on R&D – innovative approach has been the forte for her.
5. Emotional Quotient: All along the growth that Biocon has been scaling, she has been talking and contributing back to the society through Aarogya Raksha Yojana, Mazumdar – Shaw Medical Foundation, on Education & Infra. She is a strong crusader for betterment of Bangalore and India.

So to sum up the Qualities I think she displayed –Dynamism, Persistence, Courage, Innovative, & Emotional Quotient.

To know more on Kiran M Shaw find links below:

Kiran Shaw Blog, Wikipedia: Kiran Shaw, 5 Lessons from the Accidental Entrepreneur, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

We can go on and on with individual leaders, but as my blog is named beyond obvious I bring to you a leadership example of a corporation. What best suits than the market leader in Passenger Vehicle segment – Maruti Suzuki.

MSIL started in 1981, merged with Suzuki in 1982. Currently its 52%+ owned by Suzuki Japan. MSIL hold 53%+ market share of the Indian Passenger car market. So, why do I consider it worthy to be mentioned in this Leadership example line up?

Its no joke that an organization holds 50+% market share in the country since its inception for close to  40 Years, against international competition for last at least 20~25 Years. Mind you, they are not the cheapest, not the best, not the most wanted products & yet they rule. So what are they doing Right and How? Let’s see.

1. Dynamism: From the first 3 Box design in Maruti 1000, to small Maruti 800, to luxurious Baleno (old design) to SUV Vitara (old design) they did it all & continued. Some of these products were failures and yet they brought new ones.
2. Connect: They currently have the best connect – with customer / dealers / workshops / garages. It’s the biggest USP for MSIL. You are never far from a MSIL Service Station.
3. Innovative: They have been quite innovative on there approach, may it be launching products on continuous basis / venturing into complete new segments e.g. Carry (1 Tn Load carrier) or Ertiga (Light Utility Vehicle) / NEXA – Premium Cars separated from basic dealership / ARENA – Configure your car. This approach has been helping them keep there customers coming back to them.
4. Lead from Front: This has been a great forte for them in country like India – They iconized a few of there USP’s in such a way that they made it the culture. Be it the tag lines like “Kitna Deti Hain?” or “Kya kare papa ji petrol khatam hi nahin honda?” they are itched in peoples mind and they always kept there USP untouched – no one can beat the fuel efficiency of MSIL.
5. Vision: They planned a Battery Manufacturing Unit in there newly built Gujarat Facility in the wake of EV. Collaborated with Toyota for the Technology of EV’s. In the wake of BS6 announced they won’t launch a diesel engine. This hints that the company has vision on where they want to be in coming years.

So these were a few examples / stories of leaders and their leadership behaviours. Do Share & Like.

Another important aspect in leaders is Blindspot & I guess every one of us will have one, to elaborate

In his book Good to Great, wrote that the first job of a good leader is to;

“Get the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) before you figure out where to drive it.”

JIM COLLINS

The housing bubble, Enron, and Chernobyl are all great examples of things that were not accidents and were predictable for those that sought to look. Humans caused these things – humans making decisions and taking actions.

Keeping your antennae up regarding these sorts of predictable surprises is an important part of strategy and leadership.

Do share some more interesting stories you have in comments below. I would love to know.