What companies want in CEOs: Emotional quotient, people’s
skill, perspective
When
Avinash Vashistha, left Nortel in 1999 to start a tech consultancy in
Silicon Valley, he thought he had left the job scene behind him. That
was not to be. His firm was bought over by global consulting firm
Accenture in 2010 and Vashistha was named Chairman and Country
Managing Director of Accenture India. Indeed, the story goes that
Accenture bought the firm to bring Vashistha on board.
While Vashistha's track record with his eventual recruiter changed his career trajectory, most of the hiring for top leadership roles is getting extremely complex. While the "known devils" or internal hires for the top job are conventional, the external candidates have to necessarily possess a range of attributes. "Growth today doesn't lie in the market... instead, it lies in the leader's mindset", says Navnit Singh, Chairman and Regional MD, India, Korn Ferry.
Bhaskar Pramanik, was managing director of Oracle in India when he got a call from headhunter Egon Zehnder. "When they first approached me, they didn't reveal the name of their client and I said I was not interested...and when they ultimately said it was Microsoft, I sat down as I was not expecting it," recalls Pramanik, who is now chairman, Microsoft India. Within seven days of the first call, he met up with the HR Head of the International business of Microsoft who was visiting India and the next meeting was over a 60-minute video conference with the President of International Business, to whom he reports today.
Subsequently, Pramanik had videocons with three more senior leaders based out of the company's Redmond headquarters until the 90-day search concluded. On his part, Pramanik did his due diligence by talking at length with his senior colleagues who had left Oracle to join Microsoft—one in the US and the other in Europe. The conversations revolved around the nature of business, values and the culture of the company.
Leaders today need the ability to capitalize on market disruptions quickly, to influence without authority, and to stay emotionally centered during difficult times. "A generation of leaders who built their careers amid easier growth conditions will now have to adjust to smart growth conditions," says Smita Anand, MD for Korn Ferry's Leadership & Talent Consulting practice, which helps leaders make this transition.
While Vashistha's track record with his eventual recruiter changed his career trajectory, most of the hiring for top leadership roles is getting extremely complex. While the "known devils" or internal hires for the top job are conventional, the external candidates have to necessarily possess a range of attributes. "Growth today doesn't lie in the market... instead, it lies in the leader's mindset", says Navnit Singh, Chairman and Regional MD, India, Korn Ferry.
Bhaskar Pramanik, was managing director of Oracle in India when he got a call from headhunter Egon Zehnder. "When they first approached me, they didn't reveal the name of their client and I said I was not interested...and when they ultimately said it was Microsoft, I sat down as I was not expecting it," recalls Pramanik, who is now chairman, Microsoft India. Within seven days of the first call, he met up with the HR Head of the International business of Microsoft who was visiting India and the next meeting was over a 60-minute video conference with the President of International Business, to whom he reports today.
Subsequently, Pramanik had videocons with three more senior leaders based out of the company's Redmond headquarters until the 90-day search concluded. On his part, Pramanik did his due diligence by talking at length with his senior colleagues who had left Oracle to join Microsoft—one in the US and the other in Europe. The conversations revolved around the nature of business, values and the culture of the company.
Leaders today need the ability to capitalize on market disruptions quickly, to influence without authority, and to stay emotionally centered during difficult times. "A generation of leaders who built their careers amid easier growth conditions will now have to adjust to smart growth conditions," says Smita Anand, MD for Korn Ferry's Leadership & Talent Consulting practice, which helps leaders make this transition.
One
such transition dealt with the anointment of Ravi Chauhan as MD of
SAP India this April. Chauhan reminisces that at Juniper Networks,
his previous company, he had to undergo as many as 19 interviews
before he became country head for India. "I quite appreciated
that as I got to meet multiple executives and got a good hang of the
company culture," he says, adding that as an external hire, it
is critical to get that executive support as they become promoters of
the candidate in the company.
From
the time Korn Ferry approached Chauhan to the closure of the
recruitment, it took almost three-and-a-half months. But
interestingly, there were fewer interviews in Chauhan's case since he
identified a former colleague at SAP who worked with him at Nortel.
This colleague was working with his hiring manager at Singapore and
so he told her that it would be a good thing to talk to him as he
understood both the job profile as well as Chauhan. The implicit
trust in his former colleague bore fruit and after a few interviews,
including a final visit by Chauhan to Singapore to meet his hiring
manager where the conversation veered around attitude to life,
management, industry and trends, he lapped up the job.
Over the last few years, hiring for the top post in India Inc. has undergone a sea change. "Companies are now willing to look at other industries, which was non-existent earlier and there is a clear focus on growing business and how to integrate it with the rest of the world," says James Agrawal, MD of BTI Consultants, which does C-level hiring as the executive search subsidiary for Kelley Services. The point is exemplified by Rajat Jain, MD of Xerox India.
A HLL and Disney veteran, he was surprised when search firm Heidrick & Struggles approached him in 2011 for the top position in Xerox, a position that had always gone to an expat. The 15-week search bore fruit as it became clear that the company was not looking for a nuts-and-bolts operator as its chief but someone who could thrive in a multicultural environment and work long-distance."I did not have domain knowledge but they wanted to bring together a leader who can manage a strong ecosystem,, a strong first line and bring in new thinking without old baggage," he says.
Milind Shah is another case in point. Shah was Managing Director, South East Asia, for Henkel Loctite ten years ago when he got a call from Korn Ferry, asking him if he would be interested in a job at Medtronic India, whose managing director was retiring. Shah had always fascinated by the world of medicine and his answer was an unequivocal yes. "I think the global management of Medtronics was looking for an outside perspective at that point.
I was from the adhesives industry and had no experience with medical devices, but they were okay with that," he says. Shah set about learning as much as he could about Medtronic and the medical devices industry, reading journals on the net and talking to friends who were doctors. His first interview was with Medtronic's global HR head, who flew down from Switzerland to meet him. Shah didn't know it then, but he was among four candidates the company was considering for the position of India country head.
In the final stages of the five-levels of interviews he went through, he asked for, and received, a copy of the company's financials in India and a document on its strategic plans. The last interview was with the President of Medtronic's international operations in Tolochenaz, Switzerland. He recalls spending the morning at the company's pacemaker plant and then being taken for an elaborate lunch at the canteen. "After lunch I realised I was going to be late for my interview and I was in such a rush to make it in time that I collided with a glass door at the canteen exit. My nose started bleeding and I had to explain to the Medtronic President what had happened."
There are other leaders for whom donning global positions in local geographies can be the prime mover. Amar Babu, Managing Director of Lenovo India, is one such candidate. After spending eight good years at Intel, he signed up with Idea Cellular in 2006 only to be headhunted the subsequent year by Lenovo. "I realized that I could perform a global role sitting out of India, which may not happen in other companies," says Babu.
Over the last few years, hiring for the top post in India Inc. has undergone a sea change. "Companies are now willing to look at other industries, which was non-existent earlier and there is a clear focus on growing business and how to integrate it with the rest of the world," says James Agrawal, MD of BTI Consultants, which does C-level hiring as the executive search subsidiary for Kelley Services. The point is exemplified by Rajat Jain, MD of Xerox India.
A HLL and Disney veteran, he was surprised when search firm Heidrick & Struggles approached him in 2011 for the top position in Xerox, a position that had always gone to an expat. The 15-week search bore fruit as it became clear that the company was not looking for a nuts-and-bolts operator as its chief but someone who could thrive in a multicultural environment and work long-distance."I did not have domain knowledge but they wanted to bring together a leader who can manage a strong ecosystem,, a strong first line and bring in new thinking without old baggage," he says.
Milind Shah is another case in point. Shah was Managing Director, South East Asia, for Henkel Loctite ten years ago when he got a call from Korn Ferry, asking him if he would be interested in a job at Medtronic India, whose managing director was retiring. Shah had always fascinated by the world of medicine and his answer was an unequivocal yes. "I think the global management of Medtronics was looking for an outside perspective at that point.
I was from the adhesives industry and had no experience with medical devices, but they were okay with that," he says. Shah set about learning as much as he could about Medtronic and the medical devices industry, reading journals on the net and talking to friends who were doctors. His first interview was with Medtronic's global HR head, who flew down from Switzerland to meet him. Shah didn't know it then, but he was among four candidates the company was considering for the position of India country head.
In the final stages of the five-levels of interviews he went through, he asked for, and received, a copy of the company's financials in India and a document on its strategic plans. The last interview was with the President of Medtronic's international operations in Tolochenaz, Switzerland. He recalls spending the morning at the company's pacemaker plant and then being taken for an elaborate lunch at the canteen. "After lunch I realised I was going to be late for my interview and I was in such a rush to make it in time that I collided with a glass door at the canteen exit. My nose started bleeding and I had to explain to the Medtronic President what had happened."
There are other leaders for whom donning global positions in local geographies can be the prime mover. Amar Babu, Managing Director of Lenovo India, is one such candidate. After spending eight good years at Intel, he signed up with Idea Cellular in 2006 only to be headhunted the subsequent year by Lenovo. "I realized that I could perform a global role sitting out of India, which may not happen in other companies," says Babu.
Others
still try to gauge the culture of the new setup before giving their
consent for the top job. Sudipta Sen was CEO & MD of Comsat Max
when Egon Zehnder approached him on behalf of SAS Institute India.
One of the first questions he asked the head hunting firm was about
the company's culture. "For me, the culture of the company has
always mattered more than the money on offer. For one thing, I
wouldn't like to work in an organisation where the reporting
structure is unclear and there is an extra-constitutional
authority."
Sen's last interview was in Heidelberg, Germany, where SAS's non-American business is headquartered and he recalls it was the hottest day of the year when he arrived at the office, dressed up in a suit and tie. "The place didn't have air conditioning and everyone except me was casually dressed. They put me at ease by inviting me to take off my tie and jacket before we started," he recalls.
Sen has since spent a decade with the company and is designated Regional Director for South East Asia and Vice Chairman & Board Member, India. The culture fitment was also vital for Jagdish Mahapatra, MD India and SAARC of McAfee. He got headhunted two years ago from Cisco and had a interview process over nine months. "In all the interviews, we spent a lot of time discussing my personal values -- what were the non-negotiable values, things that I wouldn't compromise on, how my friends viewed me.
I told them that they think of me as someone who doesn't take himself too seriously and that's different from the image that I have in office. Again, I think they liked what they heard because McAfee strongly believes in having a culture of fun at work and employee engagement is extremely important," he says. Even for Hanumant Talwar, Country Manager of Covergys for India and China, the cultural pull was too strong to resist six years ago when he got hired.
A veteran of American Express, GECIS and EXL Services (he was a founding member), Talwar got an offer from Convergys in 2001 but the concurrent GECIS opportunity proved too good to ignore. Eventually, he signed up with Convergys in September 2008 because of a compelling reason—"We are a $3 billion company with 125,000 people dealing with 47 languages. There's a lot of variety and learning," he says.
Talwar did his due diligence by connecting with former colleagues from GECIS who worked at Convergys. "Though I knew the industry and everything about the company in India, it was important to know how stable it was globally and whether the commitment for India was for the long term." But once he sat down for the final 30-minute video conference with Andrea Ayers, the current global CEO and President of the company, she not only reassured him of the company's sustained belief in the India story but also provided a roadmap for Talwar over the next five years. So far, he has headed India in his first avatar and then moved to head the UK ops of the company. Today, he looks at both the Indian and Chinese markets for Convergys — never a dull moment.
Sen's last interview was in Heidelberg, Germany, where SAS's non-American business is headquartered and he recalls it was the hottest day of the year when he arrived at the office, dressed up in a suit and tie. "The place didn't have air conditioning and everyone except me was casually dressed. They put me at ease by inviting me to take off my tie and jacket before we started," he recalls.
Sen has since spent a decade with the company and is designated Regional Director for South East Asia and Vice Chairman & Board Member, India. The culture fitment was also vital for Jagdish Mahapatra, MD India and SAARC of McAfee. He got headhunted two years ago from Cisco and had a interview process over nine months. "In all the interviews, we spent a lot of time discussing my personal values -- what were the non-negotiable values, things that I wouldn't compromise on, how my friends viewed me.
I told them that they think of me as someone who doesn't take himself too seriously and that's different from the image that I have in office. Again, I think they liked what they heard because McAfee strongly believes in having a culture of fun at work and employee engagement is extremely important," he says. Even for Hanumant Talwar, Country Manager of Covergys for India and China, the cultural pull was too strong to resist six years ago when he got hired.
A veteran of American Express, GECIS and EXL Services (he was a founding member), Talwar got an offer from Convergys in 2001 but the concurrent GECIS opportunity proved too good to ignore. Eventually, he signed up with Convergys in September 2008 because of a compelling reason—"We are a $3 billion company with 125,000 people dealing with 47 languages. There's a lot of variety and learning," he says.
Talwar did his due diligence by connecting with former colleagues from GECIS who worked at Convergys. "Though I knew the industry and everything about the company in India, it was important to know how stable it was globally and whether the commitment for India was for the long term." But once he sat down for the final 30-minute video conference with Andrea Ayers, the current global CEO and President of the company, she not only reassured him of the company's sustained belief in the India story but also provided a roadmap for Talwar over the next five years. So far, he has headed India in his first avatar and then moved to head the UK ops of the company. Today, he looks at both the Indian and Chinese markets for Convergys — never a dull moment.
CDET
140912
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