Economic Times: 24th August 2011: Pg. No.

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CEOs Step Out of Corner Rooms to Coach Young Pros

LABONITA GHOSH & SHELLEY SINGH MUMBAI | NEW DELHI

For two days every October, Anand Mahindra sits through some 80 interviews with graduates, trying to decide which of them will be awarded a companyinstituted scholarship for higher studies. Many would find this exercise tedious, but not Mahindra. The vicechairman and managing director of M&M relishes the experience. Its a great chance to interact with young people, he says. I do get a chance to meet youngsters when we hire, but thats a job interview, not a free interaction. Mahindra goes beyond the workplace to interact with youngsters on the website and Twitter as well. More and more CEOs are beginning to go out of their way to engage with youngsters; not just in their own companies but in some cases via the Internet or various entrepreneur or leadership networks. If the previous decades were about finance, technology and capital market proximity, this one is about managing talent, says Nishchae Suri, managing director of the executive consulting firm Mercer. The chief executive officer is increasingly assuming the role of the chief talent officer, he adds. Hindustan Unilever CEO Nitin Paranjpe certainly is. Once a month, he and HR Executive Director Leena Nair have lunch and a freewheeling chat with a group of 6-8 young managers. Sometimes, Paranjpe simply walks into the office cafeteria and pulls up a chair to a table with new hires. He says he looks forward to getting the youngsters views on the company, its products and strategies, its market execution and suggestions for improvement. Paranjpe also personally works the market several times each month with young area sales managers. On such visits, the HUL chief executive spends a day on the road with a young area sales manager, sharing learnings, insights and his experiences. For the past two years, Paranjpe has also been mentoring two young managers outside the country, as part of a mandate for all managing committee members. Young leaders, as a group, dont take kindly to talk-down or directive styles of leadership, says Paranjpe.

Interaction with Professionals Must

In the past couple of years, beyond my role of coaching and mentoring the team which directly works for me, my job has also been to pick up younger talent from across Unilever and see how they can benefit from my experience. Thats how JPMorgan CEO Kalpana Morparia feels too. It is absolutely essential for CEOs to interact with young professionals, both within and outside the organisation, she says. Through the year, Morparia has eight or nine informal meetings with small groups of young analysts and associates (those with 1-4 years of experience). The topics of discussion vary from career progression and mobility, to Morparias experiences and whats working in the business and whats not. I have a fairly informal style of engagement, says Morparia, who seeks suggestions and recommendations from young managers, and tries to operationalise them. At a recent interaction with young managers, Morparia patiently fielded questions about the glass ceiling for women employees (I havent faced any discrimination at work) to whether an

MBA is essential (Its not, says Morparia, who hasnt done one herself, having started her career as a lawyer). At Genpact, the countrys largest BPO, employee-CEO interactions and leadership training is inspired by parent company GEs Crotonville centre. The GE centre, established in 1956, spends more than $1 billion a year on young managers interaction with senior leaders and global mentors. At Genpact, we do the same in a small way, says vicechairman Pramod Bhasin, who spends about 50% of his time on people issues, and about 20% of that with young managers. These interactions are both formal and informal. For instance, Genpacts Global Operating Leadership Development (GOLD) programme a more formal, 18-month affair in association with Duke University has the CEO and senior management engaging with future leaders in a variety of ways. Future leaders come from the pool of new recruits and young managers. Unless the CEO interacts with them, how will he know about the talent within? asks Bhasin. So what do CEOs look for in the leaders of tomorrow? Their hunger to do something, where they come from and what kind of ambitions they have, says Bhasin. HCL Technologies CEO Vineet Nayar sums it up thus: I look for intensity, depth and whether or not the person can deliver beyond what is obvious and expected of him. I look for that spark in people. Marico CMD Harsh Mariwala adds another quality to that list: spirit, particularly when exhibited in entrepreneurial ventures. In the past two years, thanks to his association with the global entrepreneurs network TiE, Mariwala has played mentor to many start-ups. I want to do much more of that now, he says, but theres no fun in speaking to youngsters who have great ideas but havent thought the logistics through. So when Mariwala meets budding entrepreneurs, he quizzes them about their business plan, revenue models and strategy to attract investors. He wants to know what key shifts young managers would make to their lives if they were to branch out into something of their own. But most importantly, he insists on knowing how they would add value with their product. Everyone has an innovative idea, says Mariwala. But you must also have the leadership ability to see it through.

Moral of the Article:

1) Even the person at the senior-most position in an organization moves out on field to get the feel of the Market Reality. 2) Work sincerely towards your goal as there is someone who is watching you.