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The new rajgurus
When Arun Jain, king
of Polaris, met Ashok Korvar, professor of strategy at Indian Institute
of Management Ahmedabad, he saw in him something he had long been
looking for — a Rajguru. Jain invited Korvar to join Polaris in a
non-executive capacity, to help his company with strategy and also act
as a personal coach, a role Korvar accepted. Says Jain, “There was a
Rajguru in the Mahabharatha, so why can’t we have a similar concept
today? Both CEOs and organisations need it.” Jain’s
not the only one quoting in Sanskrit from the Mahabharatha these days. Tarun
Sheth, CEO of HR consulting firm Shilputsi, uses the term Kanchuki. That
roughly translates as ‘the same at you,’ and it’s another word for
the Rajguru or, to use the more plebeian term favoured in the US,
executive coach. CEO coaching is big
business, estimated to be worth $1 billion world-wide. American
companies in particular have had a lot of well known CEOs who have
worked with individual coaches. IBM’s Sam Palmisano, ebay’s Meg
Whitman, Pfizer’s Henry Mckinnell and GE’s Jack Welch are a few
examples. The famous Rajgurus of America include names like Marshall
Goldsmith, Ram Charan, Dave Ulrich, Gary Ranker, and Jim Kauzes, and
their appointment diaries read like a list of Fortune 500 CEOs Who’s
Who. In India too, the idea has
begun to take root. While Jain is an example of a CEO who has hired a
personal coach, other are making a beeline for leadership development
programmes, where they seek to get a better understanding of themselves
from thought leaders they can respect. Coaches like Tarun Sheth and
Anil Sachdeva of Grow Talent have booming practices. They mentor CEOs,
entrepreneurs, members of family-owned enterprises and also groom
would-be CEOs. Sachdeva, for one, is currently working with chairmen of
five global companies, as well as CEOs of a top local IT company, a
professional services company, and one of the country’s biggest
consumer product companies. So why are Indian CEOs suddenly
seeking out coaches, mentors, and leadership development programmes?
First of all, CEOs today are getting into situations that few peers have
ventured into and therefore they need to look outside of their own
circle for help. Besides, the increasingly global nature of business
means that Indian CEOs are expected to display the same kind of acumen
as any of their global counterparts. Ask Infosys’s Nandan Nilekani
whether he considers himself the CEO of an Indian company or a global
company. Pat comes the reply, “I am a global person, it so happens
that I sit in Bangalore.” Nilekani might be unfazed by his role but it
can be intimidating in other cases. But
the greatest need for the coach can be found in the old adage ‘It’s
lonely at the top.’ CEOs need someone they can confide in, someone
they can turn to when in doubt, someone who can be a sounding
board, and someone who can give them an outsider’s perspective on
themselves. Quite like cricket where Saurav
Ganguly may lead the Indian team on the field but he depends a great
deal on the wisdom of coach John Wright to take the team and himself to
that next level. “A well balanced human being is a better CEO,” says
Thermax chairman Anu Aga, a veteran of many coaching sessions. There is also a growing
realisation that operational excellence is at best a hygiene factor and
it’s the big picture orientation that is vital. “The CEO’s role is
about articulation of vision, about innovation, and not just about
excellence in operations, which many CEOs take pride in,” says Vineet
Nayyar, CEO, HCL Comnet. The role of coaching is even
more vital to the men and women who have recently become CEOs. They
typically need help in finding their feet in their new roles. Adjusting
to the corner room can take time. For often, the very go-getter, hard
driving attitude and pushy style that helps them become CEOs works
against them once they’ve made it. It’s not surprising to find
the CEOs of MNCs in India bringing in the coaches, given that they
follow international practices. What is interesting is the fact that
many promoters of Indian companies are also opening up to this concept.
“It’s a big change that’s coming over India Inc,” says Sheth who
is currently working on a assignment with a Delhi-based, family-run
company where he is coaching eight family members, along with MDs of
various businesses, “Indian business families had a scenario where
everyone stayed together, even the loss makers, and this put a strain on
the ones who made money. With coaching and mentoring, the losers can be
brought up to the mark.” Some
like Aga are rejecting the old know-all attitude of promoters. The grand
dame of India Inc can be seen attending and taking notes at every other
talk by global gurus, be it Ricardo Semler or Michael Porter. She
recalls she attended a CEO coaching session conducted by Anil Sachdeva
and Dinesh Chandra in Dharamshala soon after husband Rohintons death:
“I feel the day you stop learning, you die. I need to upgrade my
skills for my personal growth. I need something to challenge my
attitude,” says Aga. The role of coaches The coach’s work is not easy,
given that no two CEOs are alike. The package on offer has to be
customised according to the needs of the person. The kind of
intervention a coach brings depends largely upon the situation.
Sometimes it’s just about being a close confidante, sometimes it’s
helping manage the environment and sometimes it’s just being a mirror
to the CEO. Sachdeva cites an example when
he helped a CEO overcome his inhibitions. The CEO was worried that
unlike his charismatic predecessor he didn’t have the ability to
connect easily with people and network. Sachdeva first got feedback on
the CEO from relevant circles and then went on to form a plan for the
CEO to work on his people skills. Sheth cites an assignment he worked on
where the scion of a large cement business family and his father were at
loggerheads. He was brought in to work with the two of them to help
bring about an amicable solution. Most of the new
breed of CEOs are aware of the need to have fresh ideas on how to do
business and also the need for a global perspective. So many among them
can be seen at seminars conducted by global gurus. Vineet Nayyar of HCL
Comnet, for one, has attended talks by Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, CK
Prahlad and Stephen Covey. “At this level you have to be like a sponge
that soaks everything in. The thoughts that you take away from these
interactions can be a powerful catalyst,” he says. One
way or another, India Inc’s CEOs are making sure that while they help
shape the careers of their subordinates they do not neglect improving on
their own shortcomings. More and more CEOs are opening up to the idea
that they’re not perfect, that they need to change. And while all of them may not be able to hire personal coaches there are many like Parag Parekh, CEO of a small boutique investment company Parag Parekh Financial Services, who make it a point to attend at least one leadership seminar at a leading university. When we called him for this story he took the call while attending a seminar on ‘Break through insights,’ at Harvard. |
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