The philosophy behind his writing and his books is to share his experiences and learning

Author: DS_admin

5 Crucial Skills That No Customer Experience Professional Can Do Without

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I recently chaired a two-day “Banker’s Customer Experience Summit” in Dubai. During such international events many people reach out as it’s a great opportunity to network and cross-pollinate ideas. This time, a young professional asked me if I could spend some time discussing ideas with her. This person stood out among the 150-odd people in the event because of the questions and observations that she made after the sessions, so I agreed.

The CX leader in a way is the customer’s chief problem solver. She also guides and orchestrates the problem-solving efforts of teams.

When I met her after the event, she told me that the summit had made her realise that a career in “customer experience” (CX) was her calling, and she wanted my guidance to make it happen. She explained that she did not yet have the required skills to become a CX leader. Here was a young leader who had spent around a decade in various industries, including banking, who believed that she did not have the requisite skills to become a customer experience executive. She was a great communicator, confident, passionate about customers and seemed to be someone who could influence, yet believed that she was not ready for a CX role! This was a great example of a leader thinking that technical skills are more important than embedding customer experience in an enterprise.

This piece is for all professionals who want to become CX leaders and need guidance on the skills they need to focus on. While the list can be long, I am sharing five skills which a CX leader can’t do without. As you shall see, most of them are not technical skills but soft skills that one needs to possess and master.

The art of taking an organisation along

This is perhaps the most important trait that every customer experience leader should possess. She is a change agent who should be in a position to engage stakeholders across levels to get the agenda moving. She should be comfortable with C-suite as well as have the ability to get down to the trenches to look at things from a shop-floor /front-office staff’s point of view. She should be in a position to speak the language of C-suite and make sure to communicate how her efforts align with the larger organisational vision. She should have the political competence to find who is with you and who is not and know the art to create a common agenda so that those who are not on board do jump on. She should also be in a position to hold leaders accountable when they don’t have customers’ interests in mind. She must remember that she is steering the company to take a customer-centric course.

Confident communication

A CX leader has to be an effective communicator and should have the conviction and confidence to take her message to the entire organisation. She should be in a position to create a compelling story around the customer’s agenda, create a sense of urgency and make sure it aligns with organisational aspirations, and make a case for what’s in it for individual employees.

A CX leader should have the patience to address customers’ pain points and bring their interests at the centre of everything that the company does.

This story has to be told at every forum—not just by her but by the C-suite and leaders below. She has to coach the top management and other leaders (if required) on how their message evokes emotions that will make employees behave in a more customer-oriented way, and thus make the company customer-centric.

Also, there might be occasions when she will have to push for ideas that positively impact customers, but which don’t have many supporters among decision-makers. Then she has to demonstrate the courage to stick to the idea until key decision-makers change their mind. In all her change efforts there could be times when she might be belittled by those who need to go out of their comfort zone, but she should never lose her confidence and composure.

Problem solving

Quite a bit of what a CX leader does is a problem-solving. In fact, the CX transformation journey is the outcome of large and small problem-solving efforts. The CX leader in a way is the customer’s chief problem solver. She also guides and orchestrates the problem-solving efforts of teams. What helps here is the ability of the individual to break problems into small chunks, and then following a structured approach to resolve them. This is a skill that she has to ensure gets embedded in the organisation towards challenging the status-quo and building an engine of continuous improvement.

There are various problem solving methods and I am not recommending which one should adopted. However, teams should follow a structured approach so that the root causes are identified and fixed so that problems don’t erupt again. Problem-solving skills are required by all, be it a shop-floor person, front-office executive, middle management or someone in the C-suite. And the CX leader has to lead this effort especially if this is a deficient capability in the firm.

Passion for customers

A CX leader should be passionate about customers have good understanding of their psyche and what gets them engaged. He should represent the customer’s interest in the company and work towards meeting them. He should have the patience to address customers’ pain points and bring their interests at the centre of everything that the company does. He also builds a concept of internal-customers for organisational processes. He installs standards and regularly gauges health through metrics. He also keeps an eye on the changing aspirations of customers across generations and also keeps tabs on digital trends. Most importantly he works towards making customer experience everyone’s business, talking it from talk to action.

CX transformation know-how

The CX leader should know the broad building blocks that make an enterprise known to consumers for distinctive experience. He should know the general blueprint that needs to be adopted in a CX journey. This comprises things that impact both customer performance and organisational heath. The former focuses on hard stuff such as process, technology etc while the latter focus on things such as mindsets, leadership, change-management etc.

Knowing the deployment know-how helps but gaps in knowledge are not a barrier in becoming a CX leader. One can always get consultants from outside or deploy the skills of members in the team who have led such efforts in the past. I’d go as far as to recommend that’s always better to get an expert in the initial days to guide through the effort.

3 Reasons Why Companies Fail To Deliver The Right Customer Experience

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Last week I was at a leading coffee chain at Indira Nagar in Bangalore for a quiet meeting with one of my clients. However, from the moment we occupied the table, a server insisted on hovering next to me waiting for my order. I requested her to give me some time but she didn’t budge. After she brought my order, she came again in seconds with the bill. Her whole objective seem to have been to quickly empty the table for the next customer. I was disgusted at the attitude.

Last week I was at a leading coffee chain at Indira Nagar in Bangalore. I was there to have a quiet meeting with one of my clients. However, from the moment we occupied the table, a server insisted on hovering next to me waiting for my order. I requested her to give me some time but she didn’t budge. After she brought my order, she came again in seconds with the bill, obviously much before I finished the coffee. Her whole objective seem to have been to quickly take the order, ensure I consumed it fast, settle the bill and empty the table for the next customer. I was disgusted at the attitude. This was at a place which promises to create great experiences over coffee.

Other examples abound: an air conditioning company that makes a customer jump through hoops for repairs despite having an annual maintenance contract and promising a hassle-free experience. Or a bank which makes its customers wait in a contact centre despite having a tagline of being with customer every time. Or a motor insurance company which promises smooth and efficient claims processing but makes customers run around when their vehicles break down. Or a hospital which claims patient-centric care but employs doctors who snub clients who dare to ask why a certain medicine is being prescribed.

Many companies have the mistaken belief that it’s enough to set up a customer service team and wait for a miracle to happen.

Whether it’s a café or a bank or an insurance company or a consumer goods company, these are examples of companies who are not delivering the right customer experience. Their websites may say all the right things and their top management may wax eloquent about customer service delivery, but little of this will be translated into action where it really counts. Many companies have the mistaken belief that it’s enough to set up a customer service team and wait for a miracle to happen. The customer service department have appropriate teams for training, problem resolution, experience-management, metrics, strategy and yet they fall short of delivering their promises to customers.

So, why is it that all these positive intentions don’t lead to getting the customer experience right? While CEOs and business leaders may come up with many reasons, I have observed three fundamental issues.

1 They don’t live the “brand Promise”

A brand promise is what customers expect a company to live up to across all its touch-points —

while interacting with its product, service, people, processes etc. Most progressive companies have a brand promise which is created by the marketing department and this is communicated to customers through TV commercials, print advertisements, social media etc.

However, where companies get it wrong is that they don’t look at it as the overarching philosophy driving customer experience. The formulation of the brand promise is led by the marketing team, while matters related to “experience” are taken care by the customer service department. Both of them operate in isolation and have little connection in day-to-day functioning. The attributes of the brand promise and experience don’t get embedded into products, internal processes, organizational culture, employee mindsets and behaviours and customer journeys.

Ideally, the brand promise should consistently resonate across customer journeys. However, this will only be possible when the brand promise is an integral part of everything that the company does. For example, if “transparency” is an attribute of the brand promise of a mortgage company, it should embed it not only in pricing, processing times and products features but within the organization too, in areas such as performance management, talent development, recruitment, promotions, employee policies etc. Even the décor could reinforce the value of “transparency’ with see-through meeting rooms with walls of glass, open cubicles for leaders and one pantry where all employees right from CEO to the janitor have their meals.

Remember, the challenge for companies is bridging the gulf between “brand promise” and what the customer actually experiences. And this bridge is more likely to be bridged if the entire organisation works in a common rhythm to live the brand promise day in day out.

2 Having a limited view of customer touchpoints

Touchpoints refer to moments wherein a customer (or a potential one) comes in contact with the company before, during and after the purchase of a product or service. This could be through products, staff members, advertisements, websites, packaging, retail stores, billboards, logos etc. These interactions could be physical or virtual or could just be a communication that happens between the company and the customer.

Traditionally, companies have focussed on direct “touchpoints” and the eliminating of customer pains and concerns around each one of them. This is what many companies still do. However, what influences the perception of customer is the path-to-purchase journey over a large number of touchpoints. So focussing on a few touchpoints has little meaning and one needs to map customer’s entire journey across all channels in the physical and virtual world. A company needs to ascertain what customers are doing, thinking, feeling as they negotiate the experience terrain. A “customer journey map” also helps to manage the high and low points of experience so that customers have a positive take-away from it all.

For example, researchers Richard Chase and Sriram Dasu found the sequencing high points relative to low points positively impacts customer perception. Customers tend to remember the terrible endings in an experience and this has a negative impact on their perceptions. So, a restaurant that had to make customers wait for a long time could provide a happy ending by providing a discount coupon for the next visit. Many companies still focus on touchpoints and not customer journeys and thus fall short of creating the right impression.

3 The leadership offers lip service but nothing else

The agenda of customer experience has to be owned by the CEO and the entire top management. One cannot have senior leaders making big promises and tall claims about customer service in public forums but paying little attention within the organisation. The CEO and top management can’t have a mind-set of “we have a customer service leader so why bother?”

Organizational silos majorly impede effective customer service delivery if each member works towards their own agenda rather than focuses on what the end consumer needs. The top management should come down heavily on silos that come in the way of creating a positive customer perception.

Also, an organization serious about providing consistent customer experience cannot have separate leaders for customer service and marketing. Companies should appoint a Chief Customer Officer or a Chief Experience Officer who reports to the CEO and acts as a custodian for the customers and is responsible for experience strategy, customer service, marketing (brand), customer journeys, analytics etc.

If an organization is able to get the above points right, then great customer experience journeys won’t be far behind.

3 Aspects Of Workplace Culture That CEOs Should Make Their Business

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While a CEO must focus on the hard stuff, there are a few “soft” things which they should never take off their radar. These are things that not only strengthen the organizational DNA but also help in employee engagement–this is particularly relevant at a time when millennial employees think nothing of leaving a job for one that takes better care of them.

A CEO has a lot on his or her plate. They not only have to steer the strategic agenda of the company but also have to work towards making sure expectations of all stakeholders–shareholders, employees, board members, regulators, the community– are met. They are expected to be on top of key performance metrics of the business, including around financials, employees, customers. In short, a CEO is like an ace juggler who can keep multiple balls in the air at once. It’s not an easy job.

But while a CEO must focus on the hard stuff, there are a few “soft” things which they should never take off their radar. These are things that not only strengthen the organizational DNA but also help in employee engagement–this is particularly relevant at a time when millennial employees think nothing of leaving a job for one that takes better care of them.

I wonder how many CEOs are even aware that the design of the workplace is a variable that impacts employee productivity and well-being

None of these key areas are going to take much of a CEO’s time but they should be on the priority list.

Workplace design

The quality of a physical workplace has a big impact on how employees feel and perform and a CEO should be mindful of this. I wonder how many CEOs are even aware that the design of the workplace is a variable that impacts employee productivity and well-being.

Recent research on workplaces and their impact on employee well-being by Bill Browning of US Green Building Council, and Prof Sir Cary Cooper, of Lancaster University revealed some interesting findings of which all CEOs should take note. Workplaces which have a connection with nature (or feature elements of nature) have reduced stress levels, improved productivity, higher perception of well-being and more creative output. Even if it’s not possible to situate your office in a space that overlooks greenery, water or other natural surroundings, you can incorporate colours and patterns that give a feeling of nature, adding things such as plants, water features, sunlight etc. The research found observing nature from the workplace or having the colours blue, green and yellow were associated with higher levels of productivity. Bright colours like yellow, blue and green were beneficial in promoting creativity. The study also supports what we always knew: windowless, grey offices impede creativity.

The study supports what we always knew: windowless, grey offices impede creativity.

Clearly, a CEO serious about employee wellbeing and focused on productivity, and creativity cannot treat these factors as trivial.

Workplace language

A CEO and the top management of an organization must stay finely tuned to the type of language that is being used in the organization. Language may appear to be just a method of communication but actually it’s much more. It reflects an organization’s culture. When we talk about language, two things must be kept in mind: the type of words that are being used and how things are being said.

In a workplace wherein you hear more “I” than “we” could reflect that the company values individualism; more “we” could show value for teams. When one hears a lot of “they” it could mean there could be a “silo mindset” where employees struggle to get “buy-in” of other while “you” could indicate a tendency to blame others. In general, when a CEO and top management leaders say “we” more often, it helps to create a shared identity.

By using simple language, the senior management reinforces its effort to include everyone.

I have always felt that an effective way to win the trust of employees is to use simple language that everyone can appreciate. It’s about being able to communicate in an uncomplicated manner. Just imagine how impactful it can be when the CEO or members of senior management explain the P&L of an organization in a way that can be understand by everyone from the janitor to shop floor workers to middle management. By using simple language, the senior management reinforces its effort to include everyone. Research published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin suggests that people view statements to be more truthful when they are easily understandable than when they are ambiguous. So it’s in a leader’s interest to use a simple language.

Problem-solving depth

Problem solving as concept is not new but I strongly believe CEOs need to do much more of it to increase the problem-solving depth of an organization. Companies like GE, Toyota have realised this importance and made it a part of the organizational DNA. Don’t we all know how Jack Welch used Six Sigma (a problem solving approach) into an enterprise movement which helped to resolve so many organizational problems? Toyota also follows a unique problem-solving approach which has been documented by many authors.

When an organization improves its problem-solving depth, not only does it build a culture of continuous improvement but also reduces chronic issues…

Problem-solving is a leader’s raison-d’être. Irrespective of organizational hierarchy, I consider everyone in it to be a leader. Whether a person is a blue collar worker or a functional head, he is a leader. Today in many companies, people lower in the hierarchy just take orders while all the thinking is done by those above them. Even the managers who are supposed to do all the problem-solving don’t do it well as they may have been promoted or hired without ever being exposed to a structured approach to solving problems. Just imagine an organization where all employees are trained on problem solving skills. All the day to day problems that are faced by the company would be solved in a structured manner and the root cause addressed so that they don’t erupt again. When employees follow a structured approach to solve workplace problems, all alternatives are looked at and effective solutions are implemented in an efficient manner.

The other reason why CEOs cannot take this casually is because of all the changes around us– with the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution, many existing jobs may disappear. A McKinsey report says that 45% of current workplace activities will be done by robots. So, many of the existing employees have to be reskilled for the future. Given the sense of urgency, the World Economic 2016 Future of Work has identified “complex problem-solving” as one of the key skills for 2020.

The best thing about problem-solving skills is that they apply in any industry and any sector. When an organization improves its problem-solving depth, not only does it build a culture of continuous improvement but also reduces chronic issues being faced by the firm. So, why not make this investment?

The One Value That All CEOs Need To Enshrine In Their Organization

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While it’s true that corporate values are determined by the organizational aspiration, the context in which it operates and what the leaders feel very strongly about, I believe that there’s one value that every single CEO should adopt. This value is very relevant and has universal application across contexts.

Most companies have corporate values. These are principles that guide the behaviour of employees. They spell out the dos and don’ts for employees and how they should behave internally and with external stakeholders such as customers, vendors and others in the community. Globally, many companies are making an effort to embed a values-driven culture. They are spending a lot of money to make employees adopt these values so that it becomes a part of the organizational DNA.

While it’s true that corporate values are determined by the organizational aspiration, the context in which it operates and what the leaders feel very strongly about, I believe that there’s one value that every single CEO should adopt. This value is very relevant and has universal application across contexts.

I believe that empathy is at the centre of everything that gets done in a company.

The value I am talking about is “empathy”. Simply put, it means the ability to think and feel from another person’s point of view. What’s brilliant about empathy is that it includes a wide range of manifestations such as seeing things from others’ perspective, feeling what others are feeling, caring about others and wanting to help them.

So, why do I think companies should establish empathy as a corporate value? It’s because I believe that it is at the centre of everything that gets done in a company. Here’s how.

Empathy for employees

A workplace will be barren if employees believe their leaders treat them like robots. It will be a confluence of disengaged staff waiting to jump ship at the next available opportunity.

Employees want their leaders to feel for them and make efforts to work towards meeting their career aspirations as well as help them when needed. This is only possible when leaders have empathy and can relate to others. In fact, recent research by Development Dimension International found empathy to be the single most important trait which positively impacts a leader’s performance. A leader high in empathy understands others, is genuinely interested in them and gets them involved in organizational processes.

Apple’s iPhone is a great example of a product that was designed with customers’ behaviour in mind. It embedded empathy in product design.

An empathetic leader is non-judgemental and welcomes all views, including those that diverge from his own. He reaches to all for ideas, facilitates collaboration among teams and works with them to achieve the organizational objectives. He also makes sure that employees understand how their contribution impacts the larger purpose of the enterprise. For those who have performance challenges, he coaches them to do better. All these have a positive impact on employee engagement and overall organizational results.

Empathy for customers

Empathy for customers is about being able to understand what they need and how they feel, and then working towards meeting their requirements. This includes how products are designed, how customers experience them and how they are served when in difficulty. Apple’s iPhone is a great example of a product that was designed with customers’ behaviour in mind. It embedded empathy in product design.

Whether you are into financial services or healthcare or selling computers, empathy should be the heart of all customer relationships. This includes responding to customer concerns in an expedient manner and addressing their problems in a timely way. You’ll be much more likely to stick with a bank, for example, if they have efficient and quick processes to deal with lost cards and so on, rather than wasting your time and giving you the run-around.

A lack of empathy is at the root of the emissions scandal at Volkswagen…

Similarly, patients far prefer hospitals where the doctors and nurses follow a culture of empathy. No one likes a doctor who puts on a glum face and fails to appreciate what the patient is going through. Research done by Helen Reiss et al (2011) found physician empathy is an essential attribute of the patient-physician relationship and is associated with better outcomes, greater patient safety and fewer malpractice claims. Apple understands the importance of empathy in customer service and includes it in all training programs for its retail store staff. Not surprisingly customers who visit Apple retail stores like the experience, which bolsters their brand loyalty.

Empathy for other stakeholders

Other stakeholders for an organization include the environment, society, shareholders, regulators, vendors and so on. In all these settings, empathy plays a big role. For example, empathy for the environment is caring about the ecological impact of business practices and acting in accordance. Empathy for regulators is about not looking at them as mere inconveniences. It’s the ability to understand why regulators stipulate what they do. Appreciating things from their point of view can make compliance seem like less of a chore. Empathy with vendors is about understanding their concerns, treating them as extended family and working with them for success of both the parties.

Recent research by Development Dimension International found empathy to be the single most important trait which positively impacts a leader’s performance.

On the flipside, a lack of empathy is at the root of the emissions scandal at Volkswagen wherein the employees believed they could get away with installing software that tricked regulators into believe the vehicles were compliant.

I would like to conclude with research done by UK-based consultancy company Lady Geek, which came up with its Empathy Global Index using data drawn from social medial interactions, CEOs’ approval rating among staff, ratio of women to men, frequency of complaints, ethical lapses, fines etc. In their last report published in November 2015, top performing companies on the empathy index included Microsoft, Facebook, Tesla Motors, Alphabet (Google) and P&G. Writing in Harvard Business Review, Belinda Parmar of Lady Geek said: “Their market capitalization has grown this year by 23.3% compared to a weighted average of 5.2% of all the companies in the index.”

This also establishes the impact of empathy on business. While, these top companies may not have empathy enshrined as a corporate value, I would urge CEOs to go ahead and do just that in order to change the fabric of their enterprise over time.

Do You Feel Incompetent And Shaky At Work? You May Have A Toxic Boss

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The self-centredness and obnoxiousness of a toxic leader have an adverse impact on everyone at work. Not only does team performance plummet under their leadership, the organization at large suffers too. One toxic leader is sufficient to kill the vibrancy of a workplace and slowly sully the culture that once made it high performing. So how do you identify a toxic leader in a workplace? Here are some common traits to watch out for.

Every workplace has myriad types of leaders. Each of them has different ways of functioning, engaging and influencing those around them.

In my experience, if you look at it very broadly, there are three types of leaders. There are those who make their interactions truly memorable and one looks more for opportunities to interact with them. This could be because of number of reasons: they challenge to do better, they mentor, they listen or they just make you feel special. You tend to remember them for a long time to come. The second group of leaders are those who do not leave any impression and you tend to forget them over a period of time. The interactions are transactional and more to accomplish the task at hand. The third group of leaders are those whom who also remember, not because they add value but because they leave a bitter after-taste after every interaction. Every time you meet such a leader you come out feeling they only had his own interest in mind and that they tried to attenuate your self-esteem. These are the toxic leaders.

Sometimes he’ll be overtly nasty and at other times warm and kind… but that doesn’t mean you should let down your guard

The self-centredness and obnoxiousness of a toxic leader have an adverse impact on everyone at work. Not only does team performance plummet under their leadership, the organization at large suffers too. One toxic leader is sufficient to kill the vibrancy of a workplace and slowly sully the culture that once made it high performing.

Ideally, a business organization should not have any toxic leaders, but such bosses are all too common due faulty recruitment, weak human resources practices to identify and weed them out, and their own ability to successfully manage upwards.

So how do you identify a toxic leader in a workplace? Here are some common traits to watch out for.

They make people feel small

Interacting with this kind of boss is like having a silent battle. He (or she) always tries to dominate the discussion and prove his superiority. For him it’s always “my way or the highway”. If you have a different point of view or resist an idea proposed by him, he will try to put you down and could go to the extent of questioning your credibility and even the core competence for which you are known.

For him it’s always “my way or the highway”. If you have a different point of view, he will try to put you down.

On a good day, he’s patronizing and will try to imply that he is the benefactor of all good things in your life. He may also try to manipulate you by blowing hot and cold–sometimes he’ll be overtly nasty and at other times warm and kind… but that doesn’t mean you should let down your guard; something nasty could be up his sleeve. If you don’t have a high self-esteem to begin with, this kind of boss and leave you feeling devastated and worthless.

They look for scapegoats and lay blame

When his team does a good job, he takes all the credit and hogs the limelight. When things aren’t going so well, though, it’s everyone’s fault but his. He will look for scapegoats and pin the blame on them. He will never own up to any culpability even if the team in question acted in accordance with his instructions. If he makes a mistake, he will never have the humility to say: “I am sorry” or “It was my mistake”. Even if he does say these words, it’s usually for his own agenda. It goes against his character to actually take ownership of shortcomings.

When his performance is sub-par and his boss asks for reasons, his first reaction is to blame others–the team’s work wasn’t good enough, they weren’t creative enough…

When his performance is sub-par and his boss asks for reasons, his first reaction is to blame others–the team’s work wasn’t good enough, they weren’t creative or strategic enough, there weren’t enough funds, other departments messed up and so on and so forth.

He is a know-all and shows off his connections

This person knows everything and everyone. Sports, politics, the economy, you name it and he has an opinion and a self-conferred honorary degree. Artfully displayed books, many of which he may have never even ready, in his workstation and cabin will be props pointing to his passion for knowledge. In meetings, when someone, even another leader, is presenting on something no way connected with him, he will interrupt not to add value but to show off his knowledge. He will also drop names of influential people both within and outside the organization. He will display on his table pictures of himself with eminent personalities (who were probably dragged into the frame for a quick photo at a conference or social gathering).

He is insensitive and a bully

Despite his claims about being people-centric, he is insensitive to the needs and wants of people around him. He believes that if people have to be led it has to be done through fear. He intimidates those in his team and even his peers. If a team member does not meet his expectations, he rebukes him in public. He believes that when you shame people in public they do what you expect them to do. He does not shy away from using rude language. He bullies people by being sarcastic, shouting and threatening to sack them. For him it’s all about his personal goals and achievements.

He’s the one who’ll hound you with phone calls on weekends and holidays.

He’s the one who won’t give you time off to admit your child to kindergarten. He’s the one who’ll hound you with phone calls on weekends and holidays.

He will favour a few people who are close to him and be indifferent to everyone else. Those close to him act as his informers, lackeys and confidants. They can get rewarded even if their performance is sub-par.

He manages upwards and looks down on subordinates

It’s amazing to see the two faces of this leader. While he treats his subordinates and peers with contempt and disregard, he manages his relationships with those above with care. He treats his bosses like demi-gods. The nasty exterior confronting all those unfortunate enough to work under him transforms into charm and personability in front of those who decide his fate in the organization. Those he perceives as influential or important will be blessed with birthday wishes and Diwali gifts from him, while his team members or peers will be treated like something the cat dragged in.

The nasty exterior confronting all those unfortunate enough to work under him transforms into charm in front of those who decide his fate in the organization.

A business organization cannot afford to have toxic leaders. Top management should inculcate a culture wherein leaders hold each other accountable for such behaviours. Immediate feedback should be provided to those who show these behaviours. Even after mentoring and coaching, if the behaviour continues you need to take a call if the person should still be in the organization.

3 Fatal Traps That Can Trip Up The Best Leadership Teams

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Are you a part of a leadership team where meetings and discussions are always smooth? Do your meetings run without any opposition? The team always seems to be in unanimity? Watch out, this rosy picture could end in tears.

Every organisation – whether it’s a manufacturing company or a bank or a hospital — has leadership teams. For me, every person who works in an organisation is a leader, but those who play a decisive role in charting an organisation’s future have a particularly great responsibility to steer clear of certain pitfalls. In fact, any team involved in strategic decision making should be very careful or else they can jeopardise the fate of the organisation.

Leaders should proactively look for symptoms and take immediate action if they see any of the following dangerous trends.

Extreme consensus-seeking tendencies

Are you a part of a leadership team where meetings and discussions are always smooth? Do your meetings run without any opposition? The team always seems to be in unanimity?

If multiple members of a team show extreme consensus-seeking tendencies, they may have fallen victim to what psychologist Irving Janis called “groupthink”.

When a few people propose something, others sometimes fall in line automatically. This could be because the person/s in question is more powerful, has a louder voice or is believed, for some reason, to be always right. Yet, those that toe the line publically may have a different point of view to share in private. Yet, they do not speak out because of the fear of rejection, annoying more powerful members or disturbing group cohesion.

If multiple members of a team show extreme consensus-seeking tendencies, they may have fallen victim to what psychologist Irving Janis called “groupthink”. This is a phenomenon where the focus of the participants is to maintain unity and ensure consensus instead of being effective and dong the right thing for the organisation. Because of this the team does not look at the various alternatives. This impacts the quality of the decision and innovative, successful solutions may never see the light of day. The impact of groupthink could make leadership teams overconfident and arrogant, and close their minds to outside ideas.

The Challenger space shuttle disaster of 26 January 1986 is widely understood to be a result of groupthink, wherein the NASA team’s organisational desire to have the launch resulted in overlooking a key technical issue.

Hence, it’s important to have rules and processes for running meetings and all should be encouraged to participate. The person who is running or chairing these meetings should encourage conflicts, dissent and debates and even invite outsiders for their point of view. I always advocate that such meetings should have a devil’s advocate so that points of view are challenged. Make sure all alternatives are looked at and that everyone provides an input before a decision is made.

Inhabiting Lake Wobegon

Lake Wobegon is a fictional town in a radio series called A Prairie Home Companion hosted by Garrison Keillor. He usually ends the show with these lines: “ “Well, that’s the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.”

“Lake Wobegon Effect” refers to the illusory belief of individuals that they are superior than others in capability, quality and achievements.

And from these lines was coined the term “Lake Wobegon Effect”, which refers to the illusory belief of individuals that they are superior than others in capability, quality and achievements. Psychologists call it the “above average effect”.

A leadership that succumbs to Lake Wobegon Effect is overconfident and arrogant, and not open to critique. There are other manifestations too, such as having too much faith in a firm’s product or services while the market could be disrupting. It could be the CEO overrating the capability of the leadership team. It could be the leadership team overestimating their understanding of what the customer wants. It could be having unfounded faith in the existing systems and processes. Or senior leaders believing that they always know best. When a leadership team does not reach out for inputs, it can lead to employee disengagement. The illusory superiority of the leadership can kill an enterprise.

So what should the leadership team do? It’s good to be confident but over-confidence is clear no no. Leadership team should reach out to others for ideas and for feedback on decisions. They should remember that they do not have all the answers and the best solutions come by involving all relevant people within and outside the organisation. Lastly, even if there is a belief that the approach being taken is correct, it helps to have a bit of self-doubt.

Getting blinded by the Halo Effect

The Halo Effect is the phenomenon wherein we make an overall impression of a person based on a single characteristic (either positive or negative). So, if a person is very good at oratory, for example, we might believe, without evidence, he’s a great writer and leader too. In the case of this phenomenon applying to negative traits, it’s known as the Horn Effect.

The Halo Effect is the phenomenon wherein we make an overall impression of a person based on a single characteristic (either positive or negative).

For example, just because an individual can pull off an effective town-hall, it’s assumed that he will be a good change leader. If a candidate is found to be attractive during an interview, he gets selected on the assumption that he will be effective in the job. During yearend appraisals, a boss may rate a subordinate’s overall performance very high based on his superlative performance on just one of the objectives. A person who is able to manage upwards is believed to be a great collaborator and someone who can deliver results. On the basis of his being a great marketing person, a Chief Marketing Officer is believed to be CEO material.

In effect, the halo effect can hinder objectivity and prevent one from seeing an accurate picture of a situation or person.

The antidote for leadership teams is to be aware of the trap. Let objectivity rule all decisions of the organization and whenever taking a view on a person, make sure the halo is isolated and all available data is looked at. Certain decisions should never be taken in isolation but in a group. Let collective wisdom prevail.

4 Communication Lessons That Business Leaders Can Take From Donald Trump

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While some critics say Donald Trump is “incoherent” his message is certainly getting across to large numbers of people. Clearly, one of the reasons for his success so far has been his communication style – right from the facial gymnastics to the verbal punches to speaking like a fourth-grader. Here are some takeaways from his style for business leaders.

The hot topic of discussion just about everywhere these days is Donald Trump. Until a few months ago, everyone knew him as a flamboyant billionaire, a successful institution builder, a TV personality. When he decided to enter the US presidential race, no one took him seriously at first. They were mistaken in dismissing him. His popularity ratings are high and he’s ahead of the pack. Not only has he built up a support base in the US, he has garnered admirers as far away as India. Whether or not you agree with his controversial views, his tenacity to get where he has on the political playing field is worthy of some applause. Whether he will get the final nomination of the Republican party, only time will tell. However, like him or hate him, he is force to reckon with.

When he says things like “I am really rich” he isn’t making an empty boast.

While some critics say he is “incoherent” his message is certainly getting across to large numbers of people. Clearly, one of the reasons for his success so far has been his communication style and how he is able to connect with many people. Here are some takeaways from his style for business leaders.

1. He’s not afraid to trumpet his achievements

Donald Trump is not one to mince words. When he says things like “I am really rich“, or “I’ve made a tremendous amount of money and I’m willing to put that skill to use in this country” he isn’t making an empty boast. Those are facts and they have a bearing on what he is trying to do. When he talks about his being rich he wants to say he has money and so does not need to go after donors and lobbyists for their support. It’s also true that he has been a very successful businessman who built a huge business empire. Why should he be apologetic and shy about his achievements?

Takeaway for business leaders: If you have accomplished something, you should talk about it. No use being coy about it. Others should know what you have achieved, and it also helps the cause of your organisation. Of course, you must be certain that any chest-thumping on your part stands up to scrutiny and challenges.

2. Trump’s “gurning”: The power of imperfections

We’ve all been quite captivated/entertained/amused by the facial gymnastics of Donald Trump after every GOP debate. While some sniff that these contortions do not behoove a presidential candidate, I have a different interpretation. I believe it shows Donald Trump’s authentic self. He does not come across as a person whose expressions are choreographed and put-on. Most important, it shows that despite being a billionaire and a potential presidential candidate, he is not perfect. He is like anyone else. I believe this “shortcoming” of his helps him to connect with the audience. Remember, when a leader reveals his shortcomings, he solidifies his trust with his followers.

When a leader reveals his shortcomings, he solidifies his trust with his followers.

Takeaway for business leaders: Don’t try to project yourself as impeccable. Go ahead and communicate a shortcoming. It can be a great way to establish a connect with your followers as you will come across as someone who is a flawed human and not a perfect creature. Stars like Akshay Kumar, who often speaks of his early struggles, resonate with a wide variety of audiences just for this reason. People can aspire to be like him, because he was once like them. Just remember never to share a weakness pertaining to your profession as it could make your career go awry.

3. Keeping language simple

Have you observed Donald Trump speaking? Compared to the other candidates he uses simple, sentences and words which any one can understand. What he says is filled with emotions and anger. This resonates with the voters as it echoes their pains.

A study done by University of Pennsylvania linguistics professor Mark Yoffe Liberman in September 2015 compared the words used by Donald Trump with that of Jeb Bush. The research found Jeb Bush’s commonly used words were “strategy,” “government,” “president”, “state”, “growth” etc. Donald Trump’s most used words were “I”, “they”, “Trump”, “China”, “money” etc. The policy-like words of Bush are sometimes less effective that Trump’s simple statements.

An analysis found Donald Trump spoke like a fourth grader… it increases his appeal for those who are less educated.

Further, another analysis done by the Boston Globeduring October last year, using a common algorithm called the Flesch-Kincaid readability test, found Donald Trump spoke like a fourth grader. You may turn up your nose at this but it increases his appeal for those who are less educated. What he says gets understood by large number of voters.

Takeaway for business leaders: Use language which will be understood by your audience. If you are a chief technology officer and talking to the front-line employees of a company, un-complicate what you say and don’t use esoteric IT jargon. I know of a CEO who regularly shares the company’s performance with his employees in large town-halls. When he does it he transforms from being a successful finance professional to that of a teacher who simplifies complex financial ratios to terms that even non-finance folks understand. His employees just love it.

4. The art of direct speak

Donald Trump speaks with sometimes shocking candour. He is not politically correct. He speaks his mind, and it gets him into trouble at times. Haven’t we heard those statements: “He’s not war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured” (on John McCain), or “Look at the face! Would anyone vote for that?” (On Carly Fiorina). While the content of some his utterances are downright offensive, Trump’s forthrightness adds credibility to his persona. He comes across as someone who speaks his mind and says what he means.

While the content of some his utterances are downright offensive, Trump’s forthrightness adds credibility to his persona.

When most politicians speak, they are generally careful and ambiguous. They sound sophisticated, scripted and often qualify what they say to not get caught on the wrong side. This at times can appear phoney. Donald Trump breaks this convention and his followers just like him more for this. They know he need not be politically correct as he is using his own money.

Takeaway for business leaders: It helps to be direct. Don’t be verbose or sidestep issues, as your people would like to know where you stand. When a leader is upfront with his team he or she is being honest and avoiding being misunderstood. Be candid when you’re conveying both good and bad news. However, if you are conveying a tough message, ensure it does not impact the dignity of the person.

5 Deadly Habits Of Bosses That Kill The Trust Of Employees

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As a boss and a leader, never take the trust of your teams for granted. You have to continuously work on it despite your achieving success in the organisation. Sometimes it’s the small things that can erode trust, so be on the watch.

Being a boss is never easy. It’s a 24 x7 gig in which you have to be eternally vigilant of what you are doing and how it’s impacting those around you. You are constantly being watched by your team members, colleagues and those you influence. Very often, successful business executives don’t realise how their inadvertent acts can attenuate the “trust” that is fundamental to their leadership.

You have to be especially careful if you have been doing well and have been moving up the corporate ladder. I have seen bosses who begin to believe that because they have done well, they don’t have to bother with “soft issues”. They believe nothing really matters other than meeting their KRAs (key results areas) and keeping those above them happy. Some bosses don’t realise that what they sometimes term as “non-material actions” can create a “trust-deficit” and impact their ability to influence those they lead. This does not happen overnight, but slowly the team weans away from the boss.

Building and sustaining trust does not mean being nice but doing what is right…

Remember, for employees trusting a boss is about having the feeling that he will do the right things for them and the organisation at large. Just to clarify, building and sustaining trust does not mean being nice but doing what is right, which could sometimes even mean conveying tough messages to employees without impacting their dignity and self-confidence.

At a conceptual level, trust gets built through the competence and character of a leader. This has various dimensions and is a subject for another time. What I am sharing here are common behaviours of bosses that can destroy the trust of those they lead. Since a boss is a leader, both these words have been used interchangeably.

1. Always being stuck to their mobile phone

I don’t know if it’s due to OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) or scant respect for those around, many bosses seem unable to keep their phones aside during business review meetings or even one-on-one discussions. When a leader is busy on the phone during meetings, it shows that something else is more important than the discussions underway. It may seem like a small, unintentional thing, but it shows the low level of concern the leader has for those around.

Remember: Consciously keep aside the mobile phone before a meeting and proclaim loudly, “Let me put the phone away.” And then don’t look at the phone until the discussions are over.

When a leader is busy on the phone during meetings, it shows that something else is more important than the discussions underway.

2. Being distracted during one-on-ones

Not being mentally present during a one-on-one discussion is a behaviour that bosses think they can get away with. Unfortunately, it’s pretty obvious to the other person that the boss’s mind is elsewhere. Even all the attentive nodding in the world can’t really mask it. This is because the human mind can identify images that are seen for as little as 13 milliseconds, which means that the person opposite can pick up the minutest of facial expressions – including a glazed look in the eye, a tiny delay in response and so on. The impact this has is that the person may feel that they are unimportant to the boss.

Remember: Make a conscious effort to make sure you are fully present during the conversation. Be mindful of staying in the moment and not getting lost in your own thoughts.

3. Not owning up to ignorance and mistakes

A leader is not expected to know everything under the sun. There are things that they might not know. They should have the humility to acknowledge this to the team instead of putting on an all-knowing façade. A leader should be able to say “I don’t know” with confidence. The team will appreciate the candour — they can easily see through bluffing.

Similarly, a leader should be able to own up to mistakes with an “I am sorry” or “It was my mistake.” If he looks for scapegoats or just keeps quiet, he shall lose the respect of his team.

Remember: Owning up to what one does not know or what one has done wrong, does not make you weak. Rather it demonstrates your courage as a leader and the team’s respect for you will go up.

A leader should be able to say “I don’t know” with confidence. The team will appreciate the candour — they can easily see through bluffing.

4. Having a loose tongue

The relationship between a boss and subordinate is quite like that of a doctor and a patient. Bosses are often privy to private information about employees (ranging from details about their professional performance to personal matters). The golden rule for a boss is to never talk about personal details employees either when they are in the organisation or when they’ve moved on. I know this leader who shared some personal details of one of his subordinates with a friend thinking it would ever go forward. However, this somehow reached the ears of the subordinate after a couple of weeks. The leader did not even know but he had lost a trusted subordinate forever.

Remember: Loose lips sink ships.

5. Not keeping promises

I have seen bosses who have a tendency to make hollow promises to their teams. They may do this for various reasons: to calm an irate employee, to divert attention, to alleviate fear, to reduce uncertainty, sometimes they just do so casually. They make these promises without thinking of the consequences or of the actions that will from that point be expected of them. But an unkept promise can completely erode trust for a boss. Just as a boss holds teams accountable for what they do, she should also be accountable for the promises that she makes.

Remember: Be very careful before making any promise, big or small, to an employee. When a boss breaks a promise, subordinates feel let down and lose their respect. The boss, on the other hand, loses credibility. Don’t forget that you’re a leader. And a leader never breaks promises.

As a boss and a leader, never take the trust of your teams for granted. You have to continuously work on it despite your achieving success in the organisation. Sometimes it’s the small things that can erode trust, so be on the watch.

7 Reasons Why Leaders Shed Tears in Public

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Two decades or so ago, there was an unsaid rule about showing emotions in public: don’t do it. Crying, especially, was seen as a sign of weakness. Fast forward to 2016, and the world seems to have embraced emotions like never before. Tears are shed freely and sobs are no longer stifled. Modi, Putin, Obama – they’ve all done it.

Two decades or so ago, there was an unsaid rule about showing emotions in public: don’t do it. Crying, especially, was seen as a sign of weakness though there were a few exceptions to the rule.

Fast forward to 2016, and the world seems to have embraced emotions like never before. Tears are shed freely and sobs are no longer stifled. We have all see the previous speaker of US Congress John Boehner crying quite often, including when the Pope addressed the US Congress in September last year.

In the first week of January we saw President Barack Obama shedding tears during his gun-control speech while talking about first-graders killed by the bullet. Even leaders with a so-called “tough and macho image” aren’t afraid of getting emotional now and then. This list includes leaders such as President Putin (such as during the 2013 Police Day celebrations) and Prime Minter Narendra Modi (at the Facebook headquarters as he talked about his mother).

[W]hen the tears roll out at the right moment, they make the leader look more authentic and sincere

It’s just not politicians who have turned emotional. Last week we saw Nikesh Arora of SoftBank getting chocked up during his acceptance speech after he received the Global Indian of the Year award at the Economic Times Awards for 2015, in Mumbai. The list goes one.

But why did these leaders cry?

Well, let’s not forget they are all human beings. Like everyone else they too have emotions that sometimes leak out. What’s more, crying is no longer seen as a sign of weakness. If anything, when the tears roll out at the right moment, they make the leader look more authentic and sincere.

Let me share with you my take on why leaders cry:

1. When something stirs the subconscious

When memories of past experiences hide in the subconscious mind and something brings back those images, a leader can become emotional. This is what seems to have happened to PM Modi at the Facebook office at Menlo Park. When Mark Zuckerberg asked Narendra Modi to tell him about his mother, it seemed to release his feelings of pain regarding his mother’s sacrifices as he was growing up.

2. When something connects viscerally

This happens when an event makes you feel within your gut. It is instinctive and the feelings are difficult to control. President Obama’s tears during the gun-control speech seem to be exactly for this reason. The tears were due to the feelings he felt within for those first graders shot by the gunman. I don’t agree with recent Fox news contributor Andrea Tantaros when she said that the President’s tears were not real. I was watching the telecast on CNN, Obama was very natural.

A leader cannot shed tears showing he is disturbed or shaken. And you have to know when to stop (i.e. quickly).

3. When feeling sad

In this case the emotions come to the fore due to the emotion of sadness or grief. At ET Awards Nikesh Arora seemed to be saddened by the fact that his parents could not make it to the event due to the ill health of his father who was in the hospital. As he recounted his father’s sacrifices and his contribution to his life’s journey, he was clearly emotional. He seemed sad that his father could not be there to cheer him on as he received prestigious Global Indian Award.

4. When feeling spiritually connected:

These are tears that emerge due to a spiritual connection a person has with someone he reveres. This could happen when you go to a place of worship which you may be longing to visit or you meet a religious leader with whom you feel spiritually connected. John Boehner’s tears during the Pope’s visit seem to be because he feels spiritually connected to him. He was also awestruck by being at such close quarters with the biggest spiritual leader of the Catholic Church. As he admitted, “When you grow up Catholic, you learn about the Pope as a distant figure, closer to God than any of us. Too have him here, at our Capitol, among our people, is a once-in-a-lifetime moment. A glimpse of grace.”

5. When hit by nostalgia

These tears are due to a sentimental longing for a past period or a past association. For example, a CEO, known as a tough task master, could not control his tears on his farewell. The tears were out of nostalgia and the great time he had had in the company.

6. When happy

These are tears that fall due to joy. When President Putin won the Russian elections in 2012 and thanked his supporters at a rally, one could see tears brimming out of his eyes. They were tears of happiness for having come out victorious. I also sensed there was an element of gratitude.

7. When feeling a sense of gratitude

These tears surface when a leader feels grateful to someone or something. The example that comes to my mind is that of Narendra Modi, then Prime Minster elect, cried in front his party members in the central hall of Parliament in 2014. These tears were out of gratitude to his political party and to the citizens of this country for giving him an opportunity to lead the nation.

Clearly it’s okay to cry, and it can make you look like a natural and authentic leader. But context is very important. A leader cannot shed tears showing he is disturbed or shaken. And you have to know when to stop (i.e. quickly) – you can’t be a blubbering mess.

4 Things That Every CEO Should Learn From KV Kamath

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My impressions of KV Kamath are from my stint at ICICI Bank from 2002 to 2010. I was a part of the organisational excellence group which he had set up to drive quality practices across the bank. Here I will focus on the qualities that impressed and inspired me most, and which I think every CEO should inculcate to build a successful institution.

KV Kamath is the first chief of BRICS New Development Bank, handpicked by the Modi government in May last year to set up this $100 billion institution. Most of us have known him as the chairman of both ICICI Bank and Infosys. He is among the most respected business leaders from Asia and a change leader par-excellence who transformed the way India does banking and for pioneering many technology innovations in the field. As CEO of ICICI Bank, he is credited to have transformed a developmental financial institution into India’s second largest bank. He has successfully mentored leaders who are CEOs of leading corporations. As non-executive chairman at Infosys, we have all read how he played a role in getting Vishal Sikka as the CEO.

My impressions of him are from my stint at ICICI Bank from 2002 to 2010 (he was the CEO until 2009 after which he became the non-executive chairman). I was a part of the organisational excellence group which he had set up to drive quality practices across the bank.

K V Kamath exhorted the quality team of which I was a part, to look at basics before adopting complicated approaches.

It’s not easy to talk about a stalwart like Mr Kamath. He is truly a multi-faceted leader. So much has been written about him and his accomplishments. Here I will focus on the qualities that impressed and inspired me most, and which I think every CEO should inculcate to build a successful institution.

1. Never forget the basics

Mr Kamath is a firm believer that as an organisation grows and does newer stuff, it should never forget the basics.

In the early 2000s, when the entire world was talking about management approaches such as Six Sigma, Business Process Reengineering and TOC (Theory of Constraints), K V Kamath exhorted the quality team of which I was a part, to look at basics before adopting complicated approaches. His view was that an organised workplace is the very foundation of a process-centric enterprise. That’s when we embarked on an enterprise-wide 5S deployment program which saw significant improvement in workplace efficiency and branch experience. (For those uninitiated to 5S, it’s a Japanese quality approach for building workplace organisation and efficiency in manufacturing companies).

Sceptics were shocked to see how a shop-floor concept from the manufacturing world successfully applied to banking. He was right, with a foundation of “workplace organisation” in place it was so easy to layer the organisation with end-to-end processes and use improvement approaches such as Lean, Six Sigma etc. KV Kamath was not a bystander is this effort. For example, the first deployment of 5S happened in his office and he always found time to regularly review progress. He communicated its importance in relevant forums and was part of many recognition events.

I think the takeaway for CEOs is that while it’s always easy to get lost in exotic management concepts, they should never forget the basics that build the foundation of an enterprise. Also, sometimes it’s the unglamorous stuff which can deliver huge benefits to an organisation.

2. Set audacious goals and let teams experiment

KV Kamath always set audacious goals and pushed teams to achieve them. He urged teams to experiment with ideas and approaches by reaching out to new markets, adopting newer technologies, trying out new processes etc. When he did this something brilliant happened. The teams got excited, questioned the way they operated and made new things possible. Not only were teams able to achieve goals that appeared insurmountable but it also helped them to discover that they could accomplish more than they thought possible. These successes made them more confident to aim for higher goals next time. Even if they did not achieve what they had set out to, they achieved much more than they would have had they followed the business-as-usual approach.

Once a problem was solved and brought to a new level of performance, he would further raise the standards.

One such audacious goal was the 90-day rule that he set in the organisation, giving teams the goal of completing projects within an ambitious timeline of 90 days.

As I see it, he is a leader who is a firm believer in experiments and the ability of teams to change things around them and achieve the impossible. He was fine if a few of these experiments did not achieve their full objectives but what he looked for in teams was passion, Spartan determination and the drive to never give up in adversity.

The other thing that he did was never allowing teams to be satisfied with achievements. He continuously raised the bar. Once a problem was solved and brought to a new level of performance, he would further raise the standards. He is a firm believer that if things don’t continuously improve, they atrophy as the context changes and new problems arise.

For a CEO, the takeaway is to set big goals, push teams to experiment and achieve the impossible. Once they achieve the “unachievable”, raise the bar. What Mr Kamath’s leadership tells us is that sometimes even teams may not know their true potential.

3. Adopt an explorer mind-set

KV Kamath always urged teams to look at things outside one’s experience, holding that innovative solutions emerge when we move beyond our habitual thinking patterns. He would urge us to seek newer experiences that could suddenly throw up solutions that could be implemented in the organisation. When we faced a problem, he would ask us if we had looked at other industries and how they may have addressed the situation.

For example, we learnt quite a lot about customer experience from airlines. To make banking operations more efficient we spent time in automotive companies to see what concepts could be picked from the assembly line. I was myself involved in a few of those exploration exercises and learnt from organisations such as Disney, Toyota, US Bank, General Motors etc. And note, KV Kamath practiced what he preached. For example, the 90 day rule that I mentioned earlier had been picked up by him in the US and later implemented in the organisation.

What a CEO needs to learn from him that humility is a quality that must be consciously nurtured and practiced on a day-to-day basis.

The takeaway for a CEO is that don’t just confine yourself to the corner-office, there is a lot to learn beyond one’s current context.

4. Practice humility

This is a trait in him that I always found so special. Despite achieving so much in life, he was so down to earth, the complete opposite of CEOs who lose their connect with employees once they get into the corner office bubble. At ICICI Bank, we always knew his doors were open for employees. When employees met him, there was always this feeling that he had their interests in mind. He was open to their ideas and always keen on knowing what could be done better.

For example, when I was leaving ICICI Bank in 2010 and requested a meeting, he immediately agreed. He spent an hour with me and even thanked me for my contribution. Mind you, I did not report to him but he still found time to meet me despite his busy schedule. Even after that whenever I reached out to him for some help or guidance, he always responded without any delay.

The humility of a leader does not come to life through big proclamations but is in the little things that are done every day. What a CEO needs to learn from him that humility is a quality that must be consciously nurtured and practiced on a day-to-day basis.

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