Riding The Tiger

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.’”

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.

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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

Rebuilding a reputation is a challenging task. If a company has had a good reputation going into a crisis then consumers are more willing to forgive, if not, the payment is dear. Building a conscious culture has been cited as an excellent example of how organizations thrive in good times and survive in bad times.

Looking at BP’s culture, how will they overcome the shame that their employees are now carrying with them? Taking measured steps to communicate with employees, to let them know everything about what is known and unknown is the first step. Beyond that, BP needs to invite their people to be a part of the solution (which is much more than capping the well in the gulf). BP could reap the benefits of maximizing the contributions of their dedicated workforce. If BP takes the right steps to reduce the fears of their people and to engage them in the process of revisiting their culture from the inside-out, then they will reap the benefits of having more than 100,000 brand ambassadors. Their employees and their culture could actually grow stronger as a result of this catastrophe. From their conscious culture, an aware, mobilized workforce could become a part of the story of BP’s turnaround. BP leaders need to “care for the wounded” and that includes their employees. Remember healing always starts from within. These lessons don’t have to be learned in crisis. Organizations can create and sustain a conscious culture that welcomes the positive accidental influences and eliminates the negative.

In contrast, Toyota, in its Lexus model, had to issue a major recall when it introduced the Lexus saloon in the US market. It was expected that their brand would take an enormous hit, yet the efficient manner to recall actually reassured customers, built confidence, and bolstered brand loyalty. Transparency is key here. Organizations that take responsibility and act swiftly and decisively are able to rebuild their reputations faster. While Toyota’s stock plunged, it is again on the rise.

We are proud to announce the scheduled appearance of Riding the Tiger: Leading Through Learning in Turbulent Times co-authors,  Ed Cohen and Priscilla Nelson, on the Fox News Strategy Room this Tuesday at 8 am PST, 11 am EST, 2:00 pm GMT, 8:30 pm IST. The Strategy Room is the web’s most talked about live show providing entertaining discussion of the day’s top stories, plus a variety of hour-long shows on topics like business, health, technology, and entertainment.
Diane Macedo will be hosting Pris and Ed.  She will be discussing their new book. 
Fox News Strategy Room:  http://live.foxnews.com/strategy-room

Every week I like to round up five blog posts that I found to be especially good reading over the past week.  Below are five posts I recommend checking out from the week of June 21st – 27th, 2010.  Enjoy!

Gina Trapani, Fast Company: Work Smart: How to Avoid “The Busy Trap” – In our work lives, there is the “perfect world” where we plan out our tasks and projects for the day and complete them one by one in order of importance, and then there is the “real world” where emergencies and interruptions are frequent and can easily derail an otherwise productive day.  Gina refers to this as the “busy trap” and has some thoughts on how you can work smarter and avoid it.

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The last 18 months have spawned a lot of advice on leadership in turbulent times. But this post on a book by former Satyam Computer Services employees holds extra weight because of the depth of Satyam’s difficulties and the leadership lessons it learned while trying to recover.

Founder and chairman Ramalinga Raju’s confession to accounting fraud in 2009 left the business battered, its reputation in tatters and morale among over 50,000 employees decimated.

In their book, “Riding the Tiger – Leading through Learning in Turbulent Times”, authors Priscilla Nelson and Ed Cohen chart how it rebuilt itself deploying a “Lights On” strategy indicative of the business’s desperate need for transparency and integrity.

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In January 2009, founder and chairman of India’s Satyam Computer Services—the “largest publically traded company you’ve never heard of”—Ramalinga Raju confesses to massive accounting fraud and resigns. In a five-page letter to the board, he described the problem saying, “It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten.” In an instant, he left behind him, chaos, distrust, and plummeting moral among his more than 53,000 employees. But Riding the Tiger is not about how the Enron-like tragedy occurred, but how a leading through learning strategy calmed the chaos and helped the company recover and rebuild.

Authors and former Satyam employees Pricilla Nelson (Global Director of People Leadership) and Ed Cohen (Chief Learning Officer) share the take-away lessons learned on the road to recovery and renewal. Step one was what they eventually called the “Lights On” strategy. That is “deciding exactly what must be done to keep the business moving and doing only that which is critical to help the organization stabilize.” They describe 6-steps—beginning with hold everything and build an adaptable stop-stop-continue plan—based on the two pillars of learning and communication.

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