FOCUS ON GENERAL MANAGEMENT

By Aditya Batra, Head off Operations

A major leadership challenge is succession planning. Presently, with all the progress in leadership, succession and building next generation leaders, while some are doing an excellent job many corporations cannot still find top level talent to take charge of corporations. Our public sector banks are a pathetic example of poor succession planning. In the next 3 to 5 years, most top level managers of PSBs are going to retire and nothing is being done by most. We do not yet have a mature methodology to identify and train future leaders. The only methodology we have is to provide them general management training and some training in foreign soil and by foreign experts who have very little idea of leadership or leadership development in India. In India, leadership, besides other things, is an emotional connect. Foreign scholars have limitations in understanding and training leaders for Indian corporations. While there is some work happening in India, we have a long way to go.

Largely, companies opt for general management programs because most of those who come to occupy leadership positions are either technical or functional specialists and have very limited general management exposure. However, the global exposure needs to be better planned than mere education trips to other countries. These programs also have leadership modules which are largely theory based. The project component part of the program is very useful, but poor follow-up on the projects; providing incomplete experience; and lack of seriousness in guiding and using such projects mars their effectiveness in some cases. Few are using 360 degree feedback and development center based programs which can be very effective in developing leadership and the succession pipeline.

From the organization perspective - global perspectives, vision development, long term thinking and ability to lead from the front - are the primary agendas, along with development of self-confidence. The use of a 360 degree mechanism would lead to a lot of self-awareness, ability to take criticism, and the ability to view oneself from different perspectives. According to a recent study of 100 managers from among a list of 8000 managers who underwent the 360 degree feedback based leadership development program at TVRLS selected on the basis of their 360 DF scores, it was found that the managers, whom we rated as influential managers, shared certain qualities in common. These qualities include a desire to learn, desire to learn from various sources, and a high degree of self-awareness. Thus, the programs help in sensitizing them to the leadership qualities and leadership roles.