These days one comes across several managerial training programmes that promise to transform managers into champions in 3 days. Many consultants earn their livelihood by repeating the same slides with the same set of jokes that have elicited laughter in the past. I have known a trainer who called himself as consultant (without any consulting experience whatsoever) from Hyderabad who survived and prospered with his standard set of 50 slides. Any one who has attended his first lecture can easily predict what was to come next. And when by a freak accident his set of slides were stolen or misplaced, he could not deliver lectures for quite some time. It is an unfortunate fact of life that many so-called trainers have no practical experience or have soiled their hands in solving real life managerial issues and depend solely on what they have learnt during their graduation. One very well-known management expert in the 80’s had created few films on the wonderland of Indian managers. He would start his film and recline on the chair making a cursory comment ere and there and that was his style of transforming the managers in a one-day workshop! I have also encountered consultants who, for no apparent reason used to deride other fellow consultants. A very well-known consultant who was an authority on Financial Management and corporate planning and had a stint in one of the premier management institutes talked to me very derisively about my boss then who was an authority on management by objectives. Another instance comes to my mind again of a well-known premier management institute which produced some of the top OD experts in India had maximum behavioural issues in their own department! One of the top personnel management experts who at some point in time was the chief advisor to State Bank of India was on a faculty posting in a top training organisation in Hyderabad. That organisation had a strike by gardeners for over a month which the great experts could not resolve!
Anyways the purpose of this article is certainly not to deride trainers or consultants earning their livelihood through stating the obvious. Some are worth their reputation and have been actually able to bring about permanent change in their trainees. But that has come out because of their scholarship and PRACTICAL experience.
The question that I attempt to answer in this short write up is what are those attributes that distinguishes and ordinary executive to an extraordinary manager. In doing so I will quote personal examples of individuals whom I had the privilege to know.
In the early 80’s we were consulting for a company in Pune. Thermax was the name and that was headed by a visionary named Rohinton Aga. We were doing the organisation analysis for them. On one question as to what is the main strength of Thermax perceived by its senior management the respondents had given their views and this was being presented. During the presentation Mr. Aga grew increasingly agitated. Most of the participants mentioned leadership, sound order book product range, diversification as the strengths of the company. Mr. Aga interjected and said ‘I am appalled at the responses by all of you. None of you mentioned quality as the main strength of Thermax. To me quality is paramount and everything else is secondary. And quality gets reflected through exhibiting our CARE for everything. Care for people, product etc. 'Effective managers become so as they internalise this very important attribute of genuine concern for everything within their control.
The second example comes to my mind is of an unusual politician Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia. In my professional career I have met many ministers who come for meetings completely unprepared and often it is left to their Secretaries t rescue them out of tricky situations. But Mr. Scindia always used to take out his laptop and see the minutes of the previous meetings and check which issues were closed and which were still open. Then he would go systematically go through each one and after discussion would read out the action plan. Effective managers are systematic in their approach and are focussed on the outcome than merely listing out activities.
The third example is a personal one. I had built a big house in a place called Neelankarai in Chennai. The house was very beautifully designed by a well-known architect from Chennai and had a beautiful swimming pool. Couple of magazines had displayed pictures of the house in their issues. As the house was put up for rent BMW which was setting up their plant in Chennai wanted to have a look at our home. Their MD was Stefan Huselnberg. He and his wife came to inspect our house. I was very confident that he would immediate approve the house. But to our complete astonishment Stefan pointed out hundred mistakes in that house. He showed me the speck of dust between the tiles is affecting the lustre. He asked me if I would accept a brand-new BMW car with a small scratch! Effective managers have an eye for detail.
Everyone in India is aware of the beautiful building of IL&FS in Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai. I was told about this incident from my previous boss. When a top industrialist from a well-known group from South and who also happened to be the then Chairman of the National Skill development Council was being shown the building by the then Chairman Ravi Parthasarathy much to his chagrin right from the entrance to the top floor many structural mistakes were identified by the venerable industrialist. Goes to prove that effective managers have an uncanny ability to spot deficiencies and mistakes.
Coming back to my earlier point trainers must be able to identify what are the key attributes that transform a flower girl into a princess! Simply talking and lecturing about the obvious will not help. Going beyond and behind the obvious is the name of the game.
