Riding The Tiger

Riding the Tiger is about how people react, respond, and courageously lead during turbulent times.  This book gives you a specific, step-by-step approach to this organizational renewal spurred by leadership through learning.

You’ll receive fantastic insights and practical guidelines that can be implemented by leaders in any organization facing turmoil—and these days that includes most of us. The turmoil could be a result of significant change or lack of change; of rapid growth or rapid decline; of a merger, acquisition, or takeover; or of key leaders joining or leaving. It may be more extreme, resulting from a calamity such as a financial scandal or the theft of intellectual property, or an unnatural (terrorist attack) or natural (earthquake, monsoon) disaster affecting any part of the organization.

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CP Gurnani, CEO of Mahindra Satyam says, “While many continue to concentrate on what happened, how it happened, why it happened, and the sensationalism of the crisis, I am delighted that Priscilla and Ed are reaching out to the world through this medium as they present an objective view of what transpired inside the organization and how crisis engineered us even better, where we got far better prepared for the future.”

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According to Mukesh Aghi, CEO of Steria, India — “A smooth sea never makes a good sailor. Turbulence is essential to build character and strengthen resolve. Every organization and individual will have their moments of riding the tiger. Leading with a clear focus and with Integrity is essential to adequately manage these choppy times. Reading this book was enriching, educating, and entertaining.”

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INDIA PUBLISHER:  Cengage Learning

Write to Sunil Agarawal to find out where to buy the book Sunil.Agarwal@cengage.com

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LAUNCH ACTIVITES

September 3^rd:  St. Mary’s College is sponsoring an event at the school and that evening at La Makaan

September 6:  Steria is sponsoring a Panel and Book reading at The Connaught, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts

For an invitation about launch events or more information about the book please write to info@nelsoncohen.com

Joshua Craver’s Real-Time Learning Experience

As a designer of the real-time learning process and a performance consultant based at Satyam, I participated in one engagement that epitomized this type of learning. The members of an onsite account team from Satyam were working with a large customer—a Fortune 100 company—with which they wanted to improve their relationship. Satyam’s account leaders wanted our help as performance consultants in meeting two goals: first, to enable Satyam to grow from being the customer’s core partner to being its strategic partner— meaning more opportunities for project wins; and second, to improve Satyam’s score on the customer’s satisfaction survey from 3.67 to more than 4.0 on a 5.0-point scale.

While collecting data during stage 1 of this real-time learning process, we learned that for the past two quarters, this account team had seen increasing revenue but not won any new projects and that the annual attrition rate for Satyam’s onsite team was nearing 20 percent. The team identified an increasing threat from other service providers and informed us that there would be projects worth millions up for bid in the next six months. Though the customer was continuing its healthy growth and dominance of its industry, its external perception in the marketplace was not stable. For instance, during one visit we had to make our way through a crowd of protesters upset about its perceived lack of eco-friendly practices.

Armed with extensive data from stage 1, we began to ignite change onsite, stage 2 of the real-time learning process. We started the week with a dinner for Satyam’s employees and their families. This helped us get to know the team on a personal level and build trust which would be necessary for our work together. During this week-long stage, we spoke with 18 of the customer’s managers, had development conversations with 26 of our onsite employees, and observed 16 meetings. We found that Satyam’s employee turnover was essentially due to a lack of cultural integration with the new country where they had been asked to move (mostly from India) and a lack of customer integration. We provided 12 learning and development sessions, all outside billable hours. Throughout the week, observed the Satyam team and customer interactions to ensure that behavioral change was happening, and we ended the week with an action planning session for all stakeholders. This customer employed four vendors with similar capabilities and remarked that our learning and development services differentiated us from our competition. The customer saw this engagement as enhancing its communication and working relationship with the Satyam team, which was previously as roadblock to a true partnership.

During stage 3 of the real-time learning process, sustaining change, we began with writing and socializing the final report. This final report documented all aspects of the engagement. We documented all stakeholders’ initial goals, feedback, and thoughts. In addition, we prepared our analysis of the account’s current state and opportunities for team development, which included an action plan to strengthen the relationship and business development.

From this point we had weekly coaching sessions with Satyam’s onsite team leaders, monthly follow-up meetings with the onsite task force, and conversations with key customers to monitor the team’s progress. As a result of this engagement, Satyam’s team reached its goals outlined from the start. It achieved strategic partner status and a satisfaction rating well above 4.0 during the next customer satisfaction survey, thus well positioning the team for business development.

When the Satyam debacle occurred, we coached Satyam’s key team leaders for this customer’s account on how to manage the customer relationship and their teams during the crisis. We, as performance consultants, became trusted advisors to the Satyam team–and the team achieved the same status with the customer. Today, this customer is still using Satyam’s services.

I received your book on Friday and have read it twice!  I will be reading it many times more, it’s like a new bible of usefulness in the work that I do.

As to page six, paragraph two “Somehow, something good must come from this catastrophe.” – Something phenomenally important and inspiring has indeed come from an event that I almost wish to have been part of.  Many congratulations to you both, I know too many people who very quickly wish to distance themselves from disaster, however, you have courageously ensured that all the good lessons and experiences are captured here for all time and in a most constructive and humanistic fashion. Genius!

I could almost write a whole book of praise after two reads!

I do hope that the “leaders” of the financial crises buy your book and learn from it.  Some day, when I put together my own book of life experiences in helping people to deliver sustainable change, I’d be grateful for your counsel. Many things in your book clearly articulated thing that I already knew but did not consider so deeply until now.

My very best wishes and look forward to reading of your next adventures.

Regards

Diane McWade
CEO
Evolution Network Limited
http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=7256585&trk=tab_pro

The Voice of Tony Chapman, Leader,
School of Leadership

With more than 20 years of experience in media and television production, I had decided it was time for a change of pace. I joined the School of Leadership at Satyam in March 2008 as a leadership development consultant. I quickly became immersed in the training programs, teaching conflict management tools, tips on executive presence, and presentation skills.

At the end of 2008, my family traveled back to Australia for the Christmas break. On the evening of January 7, I was at a party at my sister-in-law’s in a beachside suburb of Melbourne. It was the usual raucous family event, with friends dropping in and wine flowing. In the midst of all this, I decided to ring the office in India. This is how I learned about the massive fraud. I felt a bizarre sense of dislocation, magnified by the distance between my family there and my colleagues in Hyderabad. I imagined what they must be going through and their reactions to this news.

On my return to work a few days later, it was clearly “all hands on the pumps.” Faculty and support staff were gearing up for crisis management and morale-sustaining initiatives that could be disseminated to the staff at zero cost. One key communication platform during this time was the webcast studio we had been testing for the past year, known as Planet Satyam. As web television assumed growing importance as a communications tool that could operate on a minimal budget, I was drawn into working in the studio. My plans to develop my skills as a leadership learning professional were put on hold. We had a number of memorable webcasts, including series such as Rise of the Phoenix and Weathering the Storm. At the end of January, we ran a five-hour-plus webathon to raise funds for a local orphanage with which we were heavily involved. We had one camera going live and another crew picking up interviews at the back of the webcast area. The enthusiasm of everyone involved carried the day, and we managed to raise a considerable sum. By the end of October, web television was being used to deploy almost 90 percent of all learning. My desire to be a leadership development professional remained sidelined, so I decided it was time for me to move on.

I had been providing leadership development and executive coaching for leaders from Fortune 500 companies for many years before moving to Hyderabad to work for Satyam. There, my responsibilities included building a global executive coaching program for the company. We began with the most senior leaders and then cascaded coaching throughout the entire organization. From the beginning, it was a formidable venture. The cost of doing business in India was significantly lower than in most countries where Satyam had offices. This factor, and the added factor of the culture’s reticence to use external coaches, resulted in our decision to build an internal coaching capability. Building a strong, professionally trained, and competent resource pool of coaches was paramount for our strategy. Further, it was imperative that we meet the needs of our diverse culture. Though mostly of East Indian origin, our customers and onsite employees represented differing national origins, and therefore our coaches needed extensive training in cultural awareness.

When I arrived in India in 2005, I discovered that coaching was not well known there. Most saw coaching as a “remedial” approach for those who were struggling—all but a “last ditch effort,” before they were asked to leave the organization, or school, where their success or failure might well determine their destiny. With this kind of a perception, and in the predominantly Indian-centered corporate headquarters, coaching would have a long, uphill battle to be seen as a strong resource for leaders. In one conversation with one of our most senior leaders, we were told, “Yes, I can see this as a tremendous asset; I have some leaders I want to refer to you.” Our response was, “That’s wonderful, and how could coaching affect your own growth?” By allowing this leader to realize that he could reap value, he was also willing to present himself as a role model and catalyst for others. Taking all this into account, it was apparent that a massive shift in the perception of coaching was required before executive coaching services could be successfully launched.

We developed a two-pronged approach. The first prong involved one-to-one engagements with senior leaders, getting them acquainted with the infinite possibilities for building on the success of a solid career. We began by telling everyone that coaching was for successful leaders; we were not there to “fix” anyone. It started slowly, and over time it began to gather a following. The second prong entailed more comprehensive programs, including “group coaching” programs for new and emerging leaders, and coaching support for those pursuing new leader certificates and global business leadership opportunities. This further embodied the core messages of our coaching relationship: trust, partnership, and accountability. The pipeline for coaching included individual senior leaders; leaders in transition; new leaders, both promoted and hired from outside the organization; and emerging leaders.

To prepare professionals as coaches, we sought the right training. We worked with several external providers and also developed our own internal certification program aligned with the organization’s core competencies, as well as the core values and code of ethics of the International Coach Federation. Armed with our new internal program, we groomed a strong contingent of 45 professionally trained coaches who stood ready to match their skills with the needs of our leaders. By 2009, we had the largest internal professional coach program in Asia and quite possibly, the largest in the world. Coaching was the cornerstone of all our professional service offerings. Executive coaching became a critical service, noted in each and every award the organization received between 2006 and 2009. Our coaching model has been used as a baseline by other organizations throughout India as they have created their own coaching programs.

Rohan Shahane’s Coaching Experience

Rohan Shahane served as the lead for executive coaching at Satyam. He assisted in the deployment of coaching programs. He shared his experience: “As I looked around the organization, I found leaders and business units in some places who, even though bruised and injured, were able to march on. What was happening here? How was this possible? What did it take for them to soldier on? There were many reasons expressed. A sense of commitment and loyalty to the organization, pride in one’s work, solid camaraderie among the team, and a deep customer relationship were just a few. However, there was one thing in common that stood out strongly: These leaders were authentic, transparent, and humble. The crisis has thrown up many lessons for all of us, and the one enduring lesson that I take from this experience is what I have begun to call ‘fearless authentic leadership.’”

Lessons Learned by Sanjay Devudu, Senior Leader

Once the emotional concerns of our own teams were addressed, it was important to keep people engaged in supporting the organization during this difficult time. What actions could we, as learning leaders, take to help tide over the situation? It was also important that we look beyond our own unit/function and consider the bigger picture.

Our key lessons included

Communicate, communicate, and communicate some more!

• Deal with emotions first, business issues next.
• Don’t miss the larger picture.
• Make the necessary tough decisions; let there be no hesitation in doing so.
• Help other leaders who need the support to tide over the situation.
• Take care of yourself and one another.
• Be tuned in to the world around you.

All learning professionals need to take on the additional role of brand ambassador. The internal and external brand will most likely be severely damaged. They need to understand how to interact with the media, how to respond to internal queries, and, most important of all, how to remain calm in the face of uncertainty. During our first meeting after the news broke, a learning professional asked, “If we are to take care of everyone else, who will take care of us?” We responded, “We must take care of each other.” This is accomplished through daily updates, regular meetings, informal gatherings at the coffee station, and frequent impromptu celebrations of even the smallest successes.

Leadership Development Consultant

What could we offer to the leaders, when—clearly—whatever tools we had reinforced earlier did not include managing a crisis of this sort? As I was trying to make sense of my own reactions and fears, the learner in me desired to know what others were thinking. As I spoke with leaders, I found their tone to be “protective” for Satyam. It was heartening to observe that many leaders wanted to step in and help.

Satyam as an organization had invested significantly in learning, and so I asked if learning played a role in their strong demonstration of leadership. Many leaders gave credit to the leadership development we provided, stating that it helped them understand how to “lead from the front, motivate teams, talk, network, and collaborate.” We had taught our leaders to think about the impact of their behaviors on others. Some said the learning helped identify inherent strengths. One leader told me, “Leadership training has given me confidence to face any situation, including this one!” It is true that anything you repeat as a mantra gets ingrained in the individual’s psyche. . . .“no one wins unless everyone wins” was one such mantra that had penetrated the minds of our leaders. Here is one example of how we gathered strength from another. My colleague, Nicola Klein, and I launched a training program for a response team on counseling services. The program started right after a critical announcement that was filled with even more bad news. Everyone was shocked. Nicola and I were totally broken inside and forced to face a room full of distraught faces. In my mind, the voice rang again, “What’s the point? What can I tell them?” I forced myself to calm down and started the session by saying “I know what you are feeling right now because I feel it too. I am wondering how we can take this session and how we would be able to focus. Let’s not park our feelings. Instead, let’s identify them, because this is how any individual would be feeling when seeking counseling help.”

It’s been almost a year since that fateful moment, and most of us are still reflecting on what has happened. Our responsibility as learning professionals is not one to be taken lightly.

Here is an article we thought would be of interest to you especially in these times when the debate about customer or employee first continues.
Please also read the comments, one of them quoted from our new book, Riding the Tiger
What do you think? Share your thoughts…

 SmartPlanet
For better customer relationships, concentrate first on employees
By Heather Clancy | Jul 23, 2010 |
The first priority of every company should be serving customers, right? Wrong, according to a new book from IT services firm CEO Vineet Nayar, called “Employees First, Customers Second: Turning Conventional Management Upside Down.”
This is the management philosophy that HCL uses to run its business, a philosophy it embraced back in 2005. Why should you listen? For one thing, HCL actually grew during the 2008 to 2009 recession, recording revenue expansion of 23.5 percent last year alone.
The issue for Nayar is that managers don’t spend enough time concentrating on empowering and “enthusing” the employees that have the most contact with customers. Here’s his observation from a press release about the book:
“Perhaps the biggest surprise for readers of my book will be that Western-style companies can achieve even greater success by making their approach to business more democratic. Companies with traditional top-down, pyramid-like hierarchies with rigid reporting structures make it very difficult for critical competitive information, garnered on the front lines, to flow uphill to the C-suite, where strategic business decisions have traditionally been made.
This is not to suggest that you should coddle your employees. This is a strategy focused on accountability and results. Those results are transparent to everyone. One example given in the book focuses on the company’s 360-degree performance reviews. If you are asked to provide feedback, you are given the results of that entire review. That applies all the way up to the chief executive himself. The way in which this happens is described in this book excerpt on the BusinessWeek Web site.
HCL believes that this sort of transparency — the transparency you see in social networking communities — will be particularly instrumental in motivating the workforce of tomorrow, Generation Y.
The services firm commissioned a survey among private sector employees to help share the ideas put forth in its CEO’s book. One finding was that 59 percent of the individuals surveyed said that they often see problems that have eluded the notice of their managers.
Close to 90 percent said they would be eager to share their observations for improving the business with their managers — if such behavior was encouraged and rewarded.
But, the problem is that employees today feel undervalued, according to the research. In fact, almost half the respondents said that employees are the least valued group with their company, after customers and top management. What’s more, about 20 percent said that when the present supervisors with a problem, the person promises to address it but never does. Personally, I would expect this last number to be higher and I’m glad that it is not.
The data was gathered during May and June 2010 from approximately 700 employees working for private sector firms with at least 300 employees.
I’m not a manager anymore, but I used to be, and I do know that the biggest motivator for my team was transparency.

Read More

Organizations are made up of both conscious and accidental cultures and turbulent times truly magnify both.  The conscious culture comes from what’s written and documented.  Its accidental culture comes about from those accepting and performing around unwritten or unspoken behaviors and norms passed from one employee to the next, and even one generation to the next.  Most likely an employee “knows” that it is part of the culture, yet it has never been documented. Accidental cultures can create both positive and negative outcomes.  Here are examples of how the accidental culture emerges:  At one business, a team has an impromptu happy hour every Friday where they celebrate all their accomplishments, welcome new members and say goodbye to those leaving. 
 
Another business tolerates leaders and managers that chastise employees in front of others.  Yes, we’ve all seen this at some point in our careers and maybe you are currently experiencing this kind of culture in your organization.  Obviously you would not see anything written that encourages this behavior which is why this is a good example of how accidental culture emerges.  And in fact over time, it may become so acceptable that it is actually not considered a violation of core values when it happens.
 
Sometimes process leads to accidental culture.  Many organizations require their people to complete times sheets (beyond the hourly workers).  This is quite common in service organizations where time is billed to the customers.  Logging hours spent on each project is a mandatory part of the job and yet while necessary, it can accidentally create a “watch the clock” type of culture.
 
As stated earlier, a conscious culture evolves from written and spoken goals, values and behaviors, and practices that are taught, measured and reinforced in the organization.  There are distinct benefits to a conscious culture:
 
·       Leaders more rapidly assimilating to the culture
·       Employees more quickly understanding the range of acceptable behaviors
·       Recruitment is easier
·       It is easier to identify and take action when there is a lack of fit.
·       There is a likelihood of successful integration in the case of a merger or acquisition
·       Systemic change is easier because there is no battle between the conscious and accidental cultures