1. High Impact Leadership for People Excellence Shashikanth Jayaraman Head – HR (South India) & Process Automation | Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Founder – HR Sangam
2. Some questions to ponder over What defines the team’s culture? What’s your goal? How do you feel about your job? Why are we asking for reports and updates? Why is there no empowerment?
3. We are one big, family! ……and yet We frisk employees on the way home Penalize for late coming Audit petty accounts when someone has worked for 20 years “Boarding School Syndrome”
4. Leadership – A preview Why do we need more leaders? To stay afloat amidst competition Convergence of power at the top - Hierarchies are being done away with From power of authority to power of knowledge Why don’t organizations change when the rest of the world does? ‘Brains at the top, hands at the bottom’ The guy at the top sets the tone for the culture down the line The era of command and control Looking beyond a single leader Tapping the talent within
28. High Impact Leadership – A 33 point agenda 1. Leadership is not about the leader Its about what people want from the leadership and not what you want to do as a leader 2. People down the ladder embrace leadership only if given the right incentives No! Money isn’t the point here. Fun is a powerful incentive at the workplace 3. You cannot lead your people until you love them Spend quality time with your people 4. Walking the talk Examples of fetching water and handling baggage 5. Be a role model When you practice what you advice, there is a deeper connect with the people
29. A 33 Point Agenda contd. 6. Respect your people in areas they least expect Minute gestures go a long way in reposing faith and trust 7. Capture the spirit of the people What is your team passionate about? 8. Fight to win and not fight to survive What strategy you believe is not what your soldier believes in 9. Favor to oneself before favor to employees Accept leadership without hierarchies - Dismantling the structure built over the years 10. Look for unconventional methods Coffee breaks and lunch discussions produce better results in improving org. productivity
30. A 33 Point Agenda contd. 11. Daily frictions cause wear and tear Lubricate by building informal occasions 12. Make people aware of the long haul ahead Minimize short term views and self interests 13. Develop ‘Leader-ful’ teams instead of ‘Powerful’ teams Keep each group small 14. Once in a while, expose the team to complex challenges Opportunity to draw upon the skills and strengths of everyone 15. Be neutral to everything except performance Most people don’t need preferential treatment, just equality to be more productive
31. A 33 Point Agenda contd. 16. Bees are attracted to honey Attract the right kind of talent and develop the organization 17. Use the weapon of ‘voice’ Weed out frustration at the water cooler 18. The ‘culture interview’ Select people for their demographic fitment 19. Avoid ‘Exit and Voice’ So much precious feedback comes only after the employee goes out 20. Bringing 20,000 ft to 2 ft Bringing the perceived distance much closer than the physical distance
32. A 33 Point Agenda contd. 21. Constantly unsettle people Never allow them to settle down in a comfort zone 22. What would my leader do? Make your people ask and set an example 23. Expose first timers to new responsibilities Go beyond the daily dose of transactions 24. Don’t be the prisoner of the role CEOs and managers make the mistake of sitting in offices away from the real action 25. Be sensitive enough to understand your people Walk the extra mile to wow your people
33. A 33 Point Agenda contd. 26. Drive a horse with no blinders Breaking away from the stereotypes 27. Give credit to where it is really due Building trust and credibility 28. Insecurity is the first impediment to productivity A people’s person never suffers from insecurity. He is always surrounded by admirers 29. Managers should no longer be postmen Cease to be mere disseminators of information 30. Build personal credibility first. The rest will follow There is always an emotional connect that remains untapped
34. A 33 Point Agenda contd. 31. Share your vision Spend personal time to make people buy-in 32. Understand employees’ version of the vision Connect the unconnected 33. Employees must engage with you more than agreeing with you Alignment matters over agreement
35. Leadership – Organizational Perspective Become a value driven organization Create a safe environment Expect both responsibility and accountability from your people Encourage everyone to do their best
36. Emerging beliefs that assume significance Right things will happen if we relinquish power to the situation, not holding to oneself The leader is still a responsible agent & will make choices that will impact the flow of events Need to exude supreme confidence that all is well in oneself and the organization despite any anxiety or turbulence Perfectly okay to take risks/courage to disrupt & disturb since organization will find its way through to improvement
37. A leader must avoid these temptations Over engineering the change process Harness the intelligence, wisdom & energy of the organization Issue prescribed directives Set the overall framework Pre determine the entire change process Work more step by step, sensing and adjusting as it goes Cascade change programmes down Bring together diverse & informal networks of people to collaborate Overly structured formal engagement Create the space for open & free flowing dialogue & exchange of information
38. Some more thoughts We fail to see the change within us The task is not trying to change a behavior but the attachment to one So much comes out of little Create power and draw purpose from it What a leader does makes the biggest difference to successful change, not what is said or planned Order follows chaos – Change and risk are two sides of the same coin
39. You MUST invest time with your people Leadership is still largely dependent on the personality Its all about the ‘feel factor’
Example – Dr. Abdul Kalam, Lagaan, Vadivelu as a leaderGames – Castle building with cardsCase Study – Using Emotional Intelligence for effective leadership
