We The People?

28 Jan 2011  |  Business World 

Why is it that corruption has become such an intrinsic part of the Indian society and how we need to be honest and admit our role in the crime, as the people of this nation.

The name screamed at me from the pages of the newspaper, but I still could not believe my eyes! The most talked-about insider trading case in the US had claimed its latest victim in my good friend. Here was a person from one of the IITs who had done extremely well in the Bay Area, rising to an executive level position with a large tech company. I knew him, or so I thought! What would have made him risk all he's achieved, and do something like this? He, who could be described as a poster child of the great Indian Middle Class with his right education and right career breaks? What was his excuse for doing what he did? Why was he breaking the trust reposed by his colleagues, leaking out information for a few thousand dollars? But then, wait a minute! Why am I reacting like this, in a time and age when scams and sleaze have become daily news! What made me assume that I know how to spot the type of people who would, or would not, attempt to beat the system? Why did I demand and expect a different value system from a few? Did I really believe that the middle-class educated urban Indian was somehow not cut from the same cloth? Or was it a case of yet another myth getting demolished? The myth that people like you and me are not the ones who subvert the system for monetary gains! That it is always somebody else! It is always a different class, a different creed but not our types. Now the mirror was right in the front showing a very familiar face, making me come to terms with some very uncomfortable truths.



It is a fact that there is a lot of corruption in the private sector - something we are all loathe to talk about, because it belies all justifications. Just a few days back, one of my friends had told me about his first-hand experience of unearthing a scam in the BPO he was heading. The logistics manager had hired all the cabs from companies floated by his relatives at a higher-than-market rate. Then the other day I heard about how IS folks with large budgets were not averse to taking "gifts" for buying standard equipment from "chosen" dealers. Of course, the story of how the recruitment boom in IT industry spawned a whole host of shady recruitment firms, often run by the better halves of HR managers, is now old and done. Then there is the well-publicised case of auditors conniving with Raju at Satyam. These are our crème de la crème - the well-heeled, high-in-demand executives paid at the top end of the market by their employers.


Often enough we talk ad nauseam about corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. We curse the politicians but hardly have any hopes of them changing their ways, because we know that they need increasing amounts of cash to "buy" their votes. We secretly empathise with the bureaucrats saying that India pays its government servants very poorly when compared to, say, a Singapore. We accept that the cops on the road demand bribes because they had to pay money to get their jobs. But when it comes to well paid professionals who have got to where they have by leveraging the best education the country could provide at virtually zero cost, this argument breaks down. What would make them belie the trust that their employer place in them for monies, which most often they are perfectly capable of earning legitimately? Is it just greed? Or is it peer pressure? Is it the urgency to make it to the top? Or is it something else altogether?

Perhaps this is why the whole nation got shocked when the Niira Radia tapes came out. The country could not digest the fact that it was being fed fiction by some of its eminent TV and print journalists every morning. Was it for power or for money? Whatever it was, one more myth came crumbling down as we realised that the journalists were dancing to the same tune as our illustrious politicians, matching steps with them. And it doesn't end there. The judges are willing to play ball, and so are our defence officers, even Army Generals - the crown jewels of our nation. So, no class of professionals is now exempt from this scourge. It, today, encompasses the Madrasi as much as the Punjabi. The wives are teaming with husbands to rake in the moolah. It is well nigh impossible today to take ourselves out of the picture and act like we are holier than thou.

What does this all imply? Is it our Indian DNA? Are we born corrupt? Are we brought up to look the other way when deals are done under the table? I can't believe so. If anything, we are an older, and more morally inclined, civilisation than any other in the world. By the way, how do we define corruption? Is it taking bribes in cash and kind for out of turn favors? Is it insider trading - using information that you are privy to because of your position to reap unfair gains? Is using the services of an agent, knowing fully well that he is bribing to get your work done, okay? What about friends and families being rewarded with plum positions in public listed companies? How about Diwali gifts to the right people? Where do we draw the line? So here we are. Our thousands of years of civilisation and our treasure trove of ancient wisdom don't seem to have shown us the right path.

The biggest hit that we have taken is that most of our decision making, at a national level or at a personal level, are no longer driven by the best interests of those we serve, but by 'practical' considerations. We cannot enforce quality or demand SLAs when our contractor has paid us to give him work. We cannot demand that the builder give us what he has promised, when we have paid him a substantial part in black money. We do not trust our doctors any longer because we are not sure who has become a doctor through merit, and who has made it there by paying his way. We cannot expect retail investors to flock to the stock market when it is "owned" and "managed" by and for a few. In a multitude of ways, we see the "hidden agenda" playing out. Our small businesses will not use software because they do not want to disclose their number-2 accounts. Same reason the politician shuns e-Governance.

What is it that is ailing our society? We are intelligent enough to know the cost each one of us is paying but we are still refusing to put a stop to it. All of us know at least a handful of friends, acquaintances and relatives who are living beyond their means. But, secretly, we envy them for their street smartness. We do not condemn. Why? Can it be that we as a society do not believe that anybody can play straight and win? Is it a throwback to the years of servitude, that we do not know how to use our power and not abuse it? Is it insecurity, born out of scarce resources and severe competition from birth to death that drives us to grab what we can, means be damned? I'm truly at a loss and sometimes even wonder if my angst is more because I have not figured out how to play the game! What do you think? Why are we like this? Is it just a matter of putting fear in the hearts of people by policing more strictly? Or is it about all of us who are ready to pay, and/or look the other way?

Tell me what you think? Why are we doing this to ourselves? Can we be honest for a change, and admit that each one of us is a party to the crime?
 
It makes me wonder if this is the reason Gandhiji exhorted people to be the change they wanted to see.

Jump Off The Pyramid And Shoot For The Trampoline!

Why over 40 executives at the brink of career change should pursue their 'real' passion instead of looking for another job.


Last weekend, I happened to catch up with an old friend in the US who wanted my advice on landing his next job. Close to 40, he sounded lost and anxious. He had lost his job with a Fortune500 a year before, moved cities and joined another company in a similar role, which also lasted only a year. So here he was back to looking for a job in a bad market and the tiredness showed in his voice. This was a guy with the best credentials that one could ask for and a great performer in the right role. But today I could not hear the ring of confidence or enthusiasm that was his hallmark. Very sadly he had become yet another victim of the corporate pyramid which relentlessly throws out people in larger numbers at every stage.

A recent research article by Vivek Wadhwa talks about how even in the Silicon Valley, age bias is rampant. Bay area firms prefer young engineers and have no qualms about turning away the 40+ folks. They have their reasons - young engineers cost less and do more. New technologies and new business models are better understood by youngsters and so on… But where does it leave the oldies? Gone are the days when at 50, one could start preparing for retirement. It was okay in our parent's generation when life expectancy hovered in the 60s and most jobs paid a handsome pension to boot. We have grown up watching the older generation start winding down in their 50s. All they desired was to complete their pilgrimages and play the model caretaker role for grandkids. But today the reality is very different. Life expectancy is zooming past 75, and we see more and more people well into their 80s living a healthy life. What it means is that at 45 we still have more than half our career ahead of us, assuming that we started at 25. And in my opinion the 40s are truly the golden time for professionals. No worry of what parents would say about what you do with your career. No concern of having to buy the first house or car. Often enough, children are all set to move on and don't need your constant attention (in fact, they want you out of their life for sometime!). Added to all this, you have learnt a lot more and have a great Rolodex to tap in case you need help. Then, why is it that most of us, instead of looking to pursue our passion, still look for the next similar job in a familiar environment? Why do we try to hang on, unwilling to let go of the safety net of our comfort zone? Why do we pursue the corporate pyramid with a single-minded zeal without looking at other options knowing fully well that with the best effort we are still not guaranteed a spot at the top.

As and when we become the next victim of the eventuality, our reaction is to give up and hang up our boots with a feeling of resignation and martyrdom. What a loss! Today all around us we see people embarking on a new voyage when they are on the wrong side of the 50s, and making an even bigger success of it than the first time around. If Manmohan Singh had called it a day and taken to consulting roles like most of his peers did, he would never have realized what he would have missed! He embarked on a second career in the scary jungle of politics at age 59 in 1991. By then, he had build such a strong credential that nobody and no scandal could touch his reputation. He did not get in with a "let me try my luck" mind-set. He put his heart and soul in it, and pursued his second career with the same passion as his first one. Political wilderness after Congress lost, losing his Lok Sabha election, nothing deterred him. He has achieved what people who start and end their career in politics fail to get - the CEO's role for the country.


Perhaps Manmohan Singh was an outlier, skeptics would argue. But what about Nandan Nilekani, a poster child of our generation? Nandan at the ripe old age of 54, took it upon himself to move to New Delhi leaving family in Bangalore, to pursue his second career in Government. He could have taken an easy route like becoming an investor, or perhaps an armchair critique of how bad the country and its political class is. But he jumped in putting his name and neck on the block, looking every inch an entrepreneur with a new start-up!


All of us surely have hidden passions and forcefully subdued ideas. Otherwise, our country would never have produced the tons of engineers and MBAs that have become the envy of the world. I keep hearing people say that they would have loved to teach but for the salary. Our society has especially been harsh on creative folks. We have lost many a great painter, playwright and interior designer to the corporate world. Can they out themselves now and don a new Avatar? With their years of corporate experience, can they now think of creating a business out of directing and producing plays? Can they get enough friends to join them in it? And why not? The possibilities are endless and, believe it or not, so are the goodies for those who break out of their inertia. Following your heart and actually enjoying what you do can energize you like nothing can. Having fun while working would not be an oxymoron any more. Perhaps that is what makes the second career even more successful than the first one for most who venture out. Eric Schmidt stepped out of the comfort of being in large companies like Sun and Novell with thousands of customers, to join what was then a virtually unknown start-up, Google. That too as a part of the three-member management team with the founders who were actively involved in running the company with him. His compensation was $250K+bonus, far less than the $600K base he had at Novell and, perhaps, even Sun before that. But today, it is this decision that has defined him for posterity. In fact, the success rate seems to be favoring the 50's. Gurcharan Das is now known more widely for his penmanship than for his corporate career with P&G. Again somebody who voluntarily jumped off the corporate chakki to start afresh as a writer at 55.

So if you are wondering what advice I gave to my friend, you have the answers now. Don't look for another job, which will last till the next round of layoffs. Instead, pursue your real passion, unfettered by the concerns of youth. "Being 50 is the new 25" says a new research study commissioned by Benenden Healthcare, UK. How true! Ready to bounce off the Trampoline?

Time For An Indian Dream

I started my career with Wipro in 1983 recruited straight out of BITS, Pilani. I joined freshers from IIMs, RECs, IITs, and IISc, who Wipro had chosen for its newly formed Information Technology Division. During the next three months of orientation training, I heard many different folks from R&D, Sales, Quality, Manufacturing come and talk to us on different topics. We had an impressive sales training workshop where all of us were put through the hoops on how to talk and interact with customers, through role-playing. The climax was, of course, the address by A. H. Premji where he talked not about revenues or bottom line, but about Wipro's value systems and beliefs, and his vision for the kind of organization he wanted to build where means mattered as much as the ends. The impressions of Wipro that formed in me then, are still fresh in my mind: That of a big company out to change India's IT landscape. An A-class leadership team with impeccable credentials - top-notch engineers and MBAs with experience in blue chip companies including the Tata Administrative Services. A company that wants to do the best for its customers. And, above all, a company that while striving for the greatest heights demanded the highest level of integrity from each of its employees. We had all the bearings and élan of a company that was prepared for the long haul.


Looking back, it is obvious that Premji was not thinking short term! He was laying the foundation for what he obviously believed was an opportunity to build a global player in the nascent high growth technology industry. He was choosing each person on the team with care; much like a builder would pick his materials if he were aiming to build a skyscraper. Hats off to Premji and his likes, for honestly, to most of us, the India of that era did not look or feel like it had the potential to be a technology powerhouse. These pioneers had to do a great leap of faith then, but today they stand vindicated many times over.

Now, fast forward to today. Unlike that era, the India of today feels like a very different country. During the last couple years, we have seen the Indian economy come out of recession faster than any other country in the world. Employment numbers are up. Consumer confidence is up. In fact we are doing a lot better than where we left off in 2007. For, this time our growth is across sectors and is beginning to be driven by domestic consumption. President Obama visited us to strike deals that would generate jobs for Americans (!) And the French and Chinese leaders closely followed him, for the same reason really. The mood in our country is decidedly upbeat, as we look forward to doing even better in the coming year.

While we have had a couple brief periods of 'India Shining' in the past too, this time somehow, things appear to be for real. We seem to have entered a secular period of sustained growth since the last 10 years. Governments have come and gone across the country, but the economy has marched on unabated at 8-9 per cent growth. We are seeing growth across sectors, and across geographies - witness Bihar in the last 5 years! Interestingly, India's growth momentum is accelerating at the same time that the developed world appears headed for a sustained period of slowdown. And this is sending large quantities of much-needed capital our way, which is being used to create physical, social and economic infrastructure at a pace and scale we have only dreamt of hitherto. It does appear that the 'decoupling' of our economy from the west that pundits have been predicting for long, is now underway indeed.

Now, add to this all the inherent advantages we have known we possess as a country, and we can see why the world is looking to India as one of the future engines of economic growth. We have one of the biggest talent pools in the world today; especially if we include the Indian Diaspora which is more than ready to pitch in to fill the skill gaps, be that in technology innovation or international marketing. We understand the language of venture capital, start-ups and entrepreneurship intuitively, given our thriving small business culture. We have an independent and functioning judiciary. Our democracy empowers people to demand equal chance at growth. India has an enviable demography wherein more than 50 per cent of our population is below the age of 25, and more than 65 per cent are below the age of 35. Plus our economy is predominantly led by services and domestic consumption very much like the US economy and quite unlike others.

Indeed, today, the state of our economy is a lot closer than we realise to that of post World War II USA, when the term 'American Dream' began to imply boundless opportunities to anybody who dared to dream. When the US became the magnet for attracting capital and talent from across the World; When it became the fountainhead for new ideas in finance like private equity, venture capital and sweat equity; When it grew the World's largest enterprises like GE, HP, Walt Disney, WalMart, Apple, Microsoft and set the tone for a sustained economic leadership. The art and science of 'management' evolved and took root during this period with new concepts like strategic thinking, the 4Ps of marketing, assembly line manufacturing, global sourcing, mass merchandising, etc., teaching people how to build successful organisations.

Could this then be our time to do the same? Can we dream of creating our model of World-class organisation - like Bharthi did in Telecom? Like Wipro, Infosys did with IT Services? But many times over? Perhaps a new model of retailing, a new banking system that lends itself to the needs of our country and then to the rest of the emerging world. Imagine what it would mean not just in terms of the number of jobs but the quality of jobs. It would mean that our best executives could be in Jeff Immelt's or Indra Nooyi's shoes sitting in India. No more perceived or real glass ceilings, which prevent our best people from reaching the top slot. We would have new management theories originating from here as we learn from our failures and successes. No more waiting for a Facebook to arrive at our campus to dole out jobs. Our elite kids will have the opportunity to take up jobs where they will rewrite entire industries!

But for all these dreams to become reality we need the leadership, which comes with a brand new mindset. A leadership, which has the confidence and audacity to believe that we can be the America of tomorrow in our own way. A leadership like Premji's in the 80's, which is thinking very long term and is therefore working to lay a strong foundation. A foundation comprising of the best people; A foundation, which is built on the right values; A foundation, which can support not just an organisation but also the community around it. We need leaders who are thinking transformational and therefore have the patience to do things the right way at a sustainable pace.

We are today at the cusp of 'once in a life time opportunity' to create history. This moment comes but once in the economic history of countries and we are very fortunate to be in the midst of it. The dimensions and contour of what we can achieve is truly mind-boggling. This is the time to think long term, think big and think global. It is a time for fundamental transformation when we need to rethink education, finance, infrastructure, technology, the whole works. It is the time to unshackle ourselves from old mindsets when we looked up to the West for all answers. Can we make a start with 2011? Can each of us resolve to think and act on a different scale from the past years?

In the end the choice is for each one of us to make. For if we do not somebody else will come and grab the opportunity. Remember East India Company?

Wish You All A Very Happy New Year!

A Mistake In Time Saves Nine

A great career involves twists and turns before one discovers the true vocation

The year was 1985. The newly minted engineer from IIT Madras arrived at Jamshedpur to take up his first job with TELCO as a Graduate Engineer Trainee (GET). Surely a dream job for a mechanical engineer in India those days. Sadly this engineer was soon to realise that his dream job was a bit of a nightmare waiting to happen, just as many of us did with our first jobs. He found out that what it took to succeed on the shop floor at Jamshedpur was not the analytical skills that had got him into IIT, but the ability to manage and motivate workers, which nobody had cared to teach him at IIT! It was no fun when he found himself to be the butt of jokes even as he tried speaking his textbook Hindi with the workers, who were more conversant with local dialects of Bihari. It was even more demeaning when he found himself making tea and samosas for workers as a caterer’s strike hit the morning chai supply and threatened to stop the production line! Stressed and disillusioned, he did what many others in the GET programme have done before and after – prepared hard to escape from there by applying to every school in India and the US that would deliver him from the throes of depression he found himself in. And deliverance came in the form of admission to IIM(A) in his case.

But wait a second...this story doesn’t end here. Years later, after his despair about his wrong career choice had vanished, he realised that the experiences in those two years were surprisingly responsible for shaping his future successes. His baptism by fire taught him more about life than the 20 years before at home and school. He owed his newfound ability to laugh, have fun and enjoy life to his Bihari colleagues whose attitude towards life was refreshingly different from the Chennai TamBram culture with its 1001 rules. He had learnt that the art of people management was as critical as the science of designing machines, and this helped him in building great organizations when he eventually set out on his entrepreneurial journey later in life. It humbled him to know that he was never going to be as good as the engineer from Bihar College Of Engineering when it came to mingling with the workers on the floor, and getting them to accept him as their boss. A great ego check and a key learning on the kind of jobs he should avoid. So it came to pass that years later, well after he had run miles away from mechanical engineering and shop floors, he could connect the dots and reflect on the learnings from that mistake he had made early in his career. Steve Jobs put it very well when he said, “ Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards, so you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future……because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that will make all the difference.”


Following his heart was exactly what Barack Obama did when he decided to embark on a career as a Community Organiser in Chicago. The path eventually led him to a successful political career and the office of the President of USA. But was it so obvious when he started out? What was crystal clear was that he was admittedly making the mistake of forsaking a six-figure salary in a law firm of his choice, which his Harvard degree would have granted him. “I always felt that the value of a really good education is you can take more risks,” Obama said in November ’07 on Charlie Rose. “Ultimately, if I really need a job, if I’ve got to pay the bills, I’m going to be able to find one.”


And that point really hits the nail on the head! What is the sense of pursuing a great education, if at the end of it one does not earn the luxury of making mistakes and picking oneself up? As many of you may know, Harsha Bhogle, India’s leading sports journalist and broadcaster, did not start out as one. He first tried his hand at chemical engineering even as he pursued sports commentary as a hobby in the background. He quickly moved away from engineering to business, perhaps realising that he was not cut out to be an engineer. His next move took him to IIM(A), and that was followed by a short stint in advertising before he took the plunge into television. It is not like we can write off his initial forays as missteps in an otherwise stellar career. It was surely this unique background that gave him the advantage of lending a completely different perspective and depth to his sportscasting, and thereby made him stand out in the crowd. In Harsha’s own words, it is his varied exposure and training that have led to his excellence in his chosen field… it is what makes people remark, “Wow yes! Hang on! This guy has more than just cricket in him!”.


This ability to try different things, which perhaps look completely foolhardy on the face of it, is very critical when we plan our career. It is the only way we can figure out our true calling, as the false starts tell us what we would, and more importantly what we would not, enjoy doing. Most of us in India spend our entire schooling in an education system which expects us to know what we want to become by age 14. As if this is not enough, our social set-up is so straight jacketed that our parents and extended family members insist on drawing up our future to the last “t” even before the namkaran is done. The net result is that while we come out as engineers, doctors, and lawyers at age 22, we actually have no clue as to what it means to be one. Now imagine if we shied away from taking any chance with our career where would we end? Career is not about drawing boundaries and walking in a straight line. It is about self-discovery and life long learning. A great career is characterised by the twists and turns that one takes to meander into the untrodden path to finally discover what will make us truly happy. That is when we get motivated or charged up to do our best. Many a times it is about realizing what will not work for us. Failures and mis-steps are so critical to this process of self-realisation that avoiding or side-stepping them would be tantamount to short changing oneself. “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new” said Albert Einstein and that sums it all.

Published in Business World dated 13 Nov 2010

Analysis: Power Of Choice

Women can, and should, demand a working environment that helps us give our best.

"When you come to a fork in the road - take it" said Yogi Berra, a major league baseball Hall of Fame player and coach. I'm reminded of this as I sit down to analyze this case. Life is about making choices. It is no different for the women in the corporate world today. On one hand she can choose to keep quiet and act like Sexual Harassment (SH) cannot and will not happen to her; she can chose to make a noise after it happens or she can choose to quit and fade away because she couldn't take it. On the other hand, she can proactively demand an environment which will discourage SH from happening. Ultimately the choice is for her to make. Time and again women make the mistake of joining wrong places, facing issues and then feeling trapped with no choice but to quit or toe the dominant line. This has led to disastrous consequences for career women. Any number of studies have shown that women quit from the workforce in large numbers between 25 and 35 years of age as they find their employers do not have any policy to help them tide over their short term need to spend more time with young kids. A recent *McKinsey study titled "Women Matter" talks of how 87% of the women in middle and senior management chose Work Environment as the single most significant factor affecting their career decisions while only 49% chose Family Circumstances. So if women are serious about building careers they either have to change the environment or they need to choose organizations with the right environment. The presence or absence of SH surely is one of the biggest indicators of the quality of work environment for most women. But how do you know where an organization stands with respect to SH and many such uniquely gender specific issues such as flexi-time, work sharing etc? The best way to determine this is to be very alert for the subtle and not so subtle messages that the organisation is sending out through its external façade.


A company which is dominated by men at executive levels, hardly has any board representation of women is willy nilly telling you that it has not found the need to promote gender diversity. It is communicating very openly that if you want to come and work for it you need to adjust to its culture and its norms, which so far have failed to be "women-friendly". Such companies if at all they had SH policies would still fail to implement them in letter and spirit. On the other hand there are companies, which will have more than a sprinkling of women in their ranks because they have recruited, retained and promoted women proactively. A very prominent example is of course ICICI in India. Such companies will demonstrate zero tolerance for any behavior at any level which would lead its women employees to feel anxious and uncomfortable. This is what HP's board demonstrated loud and clear when it asked its best performing CEO to leave. This was not a knee jerk reaction. It stemmed out of HP's long-standing commitment and conviction around gender diversity. It is a well-articulated corporate strategy, which was kick-started by its ex-CEO Lew Platt to stem the high turnover of women managers in the '80s. Now in the 21st century HP, roughly one out of three department heads is a woman, and two of the top five executives were women during Carly's time.

There is also a bigger driver here. The same McKinsey study quoted earlier showed that companies with a higher proportion of women on their management committees are also the companies that have outperformed their sector in terms of Return on Equity, PBIT and stock price growth! So more reasons for talented women like Amai, Radha, Indra, Mini and Megha to choose a company, which is actively looking to provide the right framework to protect women against any discriminatory practice like SH.

In this context, Sujoy's words should be music to their ears as it reassures them that they are in the right place. His actions clearly show that he wants to create a working environment, which is equally welcoming of men and women. He wants to be equitable and fair so that he has the best chance to retain Amai as well as Kamal. His earlier experience at Arcola has taught him that SH cannot be brushed under the carpet and it will rear its ugly head in completely unexpected quarters. Putting in place a policy and process for dealing with SH is therefore a no brainer for him.

If I were in Amai's place I would see Sujay's proactive stance as a symbol of his superior leadership qualities. I will work with him to ensure that SH and other such progressive HR policies that would help me perform better and build a career in Kippol are put in place sooner rather than later. Mini gets it right when she says that as women we have to stand Tall. We need to have the self-confidence and belief in ourselves to choose how we will live and work. We can and should demand a work environment, which would make us feel comfortable and help us give our best. If it is not available where we work we should vote with our feet and go work with companies, which do care to provide for our specific needs. Or else even start our own firm. Today's woman will not whine - she will walk out, head held high for she knows her worth. She is ready to take the fork.

(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 08-11-2010)