Satyam crisis: Leadership lessons
9 Oct, 2010, 02.45AM IST, Moinak Mitra, Economic Times Bureau
“Do you know there was a fire drill at Satyam’s School of Leadership a few years back?” asks Ed Cohen , the dapper 51 year-old ex-chief Learning Officer of Satyam Computer Services . Of course, when the ‘fire’ broke out, Cohen was aghast to see people strolling out of the building casually.
He took it upon himself to explain to his colleagues why they should never take a crisis lightly. “When a crisis happens, you need to put a plan together for what you need to do and use the time to re-look at your core purpose and values,” says Nelson. The words turned out to be prophetic. On January 7, 2009 a multi-crore accounting scandal hit the company with promoter Ramalinga Raju admitting fraud.
After spending a year at Satyam post scandal, Cohen and his wife Priscilla Nelson begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting , who also worked at Satyam as global director of learning, quit their jobs. But the remark made by Satyam founder and chairman Ramalinga Raju in his confession — “It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten” — stuck with them. No wonder then that their new book bears the title Riding The Tiger.
