“Leaders will have to play the role of managing and driving change in their organisations”

S.Y. Siddiqui, MEO
Maruti Suzuki, India

Is there a change in leadership styles taking place/required in the industry, especially in terms of the changing market dynamics and employee expectations in which businesses are operating today?

With the changing market dynamics and employee expectations, there will be no one style of leadership which would be the recipe for success. I believe the effective leadership style would vary with respect to the context of business environment, business sector or people expectations. However, one style of leadership, which will continue to dominate in most organisations, is that of Transformational Leadership. The primary focus of the transformational leadership style is to facilitate and lead change. Also the EQ capability would be critical for effectiveness of a leader, especially while leading with Generation Y.

Tell us your particular style/ uniqueness in leading the organisation and its people.

I see myself as a Flexible Leader. The leadership style which I use would vary in different situations and with respect to the maturity of the followers.

However pre-dominantly I tend towards transformational leadership with focus on change. For example, last 7 years at Maruti Suzuki have been more about facilitating change of work culture, mindset of people, team work – since MSIL became a private sector corporate, part of Suzuki Group.

In Maruti Suzuki, we have a unique concept of Paired and Shared Leadership wherein each of our business verticals is headed by an Indian and a Japanese counterpart. I believe this collaborative and team based approach is the key to our success.

How do you keep up the inspiration, ensure idea generation and creative thinking in the organisation?

In Maruti Suzuki; innovation, idea generation, creative thinking, participation are all part of the work culture. We start encouraging our people to think on these lines right from the induction stage. Also during the recruitment process we lay high focus on this aspect.

As leaders we continue to lay emphasis on the need to be creative, challenge the status quo and need for continuous improvement through suggestion schemes, kaizens, quality circle etc. In year 2009-10, we received over 120,000 suggestions resulting in savings of over Rs. 200 crores.

At the end of the day it’s our people, who make the difference. The passion and the ownership they have for the organisation is what drives such thinking in the organisation.

What according to you is one characteristic every leader should possess/exhibit?

One characteristic which every leader should possess is that the leader should be a VISIONARY. He should be able to enfold the future into the present. This characteristic is getting even more critical in today’s business environment, where speed and proactiveness is going to be the source of competitive advantage. The ability to foresee and understand the emerging trends in business is going to be critical.

What is the biggest leadership challenge you see in the future?

One of the biggest leadership challenges I see in the future is that of Leading & Managing Change. Considering the turbulent and volatile business environment we see around us, there will be a need for organisations to challenge their existing ways of doing things. They will have to challenge the status quo – as what has worked in the past may not continue to work in the future.

Leaders will have to play the role of managing and driving change in their organisations. This will come through driving innovation, encouraging participation from youngsters and making change a part of the work culture itself. Understanding and managing Generation Y will be another big challenge in this regard.

“Today’s leaders have to be concerned about tomorrow’s world and those who will inherit it”

Saagarika Ghoshal
Chief People Officer,
Reliance Big Entertainment

Is there a change in leadership styles taking place/required in the industry, especially in terms of the changing market dynamics and employee expectations in which businesses are operating today?

I believe any leadership “style”, is an attempt to get something done, and it is usually designed in response to our perception of reality. Traditionally, the perception has been that the role of management is to make sure certain things get done (actions are taken, objectives are reached, etc.), by managing people. However, in today’s date and time when the market dynamics and employees expectations are immense, there is no one successful management style today. I would rather say a leader is a part of the team and should be completely willing to hop in and help with any project. They should be a master of all and facilitate communication, efficiency and general happiness on the job. And a true leader will not expect compartmentalisation or partial participation of each team member but should instead be able to assess and nurture, gently push and assist, help each team member accomplish the work while learning, living and growing together in the career space for which you work.

Tell us your particular style/uniqueness in leading the organisation and its people.

I think one have to wear many hats in any role within a modern organisation. If one is inflexible or compartmentalise himself then he/ she is potentially missing out on the full spectrum of what he/ she can offer to an organisation. So, as a leader, I believe that different styles need to be adapted in different situations and with various interactions. One has to incorporate consistency in his/ her behaviour. Also, I believe that building a close relationship with your team is extremely important. Because, today the organisations are more focused around interpersonal relationships and networking. So it’s very important to build up trust, play fair, be completely up front with everyone you’re working with or leading, and in a sense you do have to step down from the concept of one person over the others.

How do you keep up the inspiration, ensure idea generation and creative thinking in the organisation?

I just strive for new opportunities and believe in establishing values for the organisation I work for. I ensure that all my endeavours lead to the benefit of the organisation and that’s what inspires me in ensuring idea generation and steering my creative thinking.

What according to you is one characteristic every leader should possess/exhibit?

According to me, a “Leader” should always believe in developing great talent around him/ her. Someone, whose values are really going to be express for the rest of the people and be adopted by the organisation.

What is the biggest leadership challenge you see in the future?

In my opinion, the biggest leadership challenge that I see in future is – “Knowing what to do to deliver value”. The most significant contribution leaders make is not simply to today’s bottom line, it is to the long term development of people and institutions so that they can adapt, change, prosper and grow. Today’s leaders have to be concerned about tomorrow’s world and those who will inherit it. They are the custodians of the future and it’s a job of every leader to make sure that they leave their organisation in a better shape than they found it.

“Companies are looking for innovation which can help them in differentiating from competition”

Dr. Yasho Verma, COO
LG India

“Leadership is about anticipating change and preparing well ahead”

Dr. Shalini Sarin
Country Partner-Director HR
Schneider Electric