Narayana Murthy on Leadership

N R Narayana Murthy | January 04, 2005

A leader is an agent of change, and progress is about change. In the words of Robert F Kennedy, 'Progress is a nice word; but change is its motivator.'

Leadership is about raising the aspirations of followers and enthusing people with a desire to reach for the stars. For instance, Mahatma Gandhi created a vision for independence in India and raised the aspirations of our people.

Leadership is about making people say, 'I will walk on water for you.' It is about creating a worthy dream and helping people achieve it.

Robert Kennedy, summed up leadership best when he said, 'Others see things as they are and wonder why; I see them as they are not and say why not?'

Adversity

A leader has to raise the confidence of followers. He should make them understand that tough times are part of life and that they will come out better at the end of it. He has to sustain their hope, and their energy levels to handle the difficult days.

There is no better example of this than Winston Churchill. His courageous leadership as prime minister for Great Britain successfully led the British people from the brink of defeat during World War II. He raised his people's hopes with the words, 'These are not dark days; these are great days -- the greatest days our country has ever lived.'

Never is strong leadership more needed than in a crisis. In the words of Seneca, the Greek philosopher, 'Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.'

Values

The leader has to create hope. He has to create a plausible story about a better future for the organisation: everyone should be able to see the rainbow and catch a part of it.

This requires creating trust in people. And to create trust, the leader has to subscribe to a value system: a protocol for behavior that enhances the confidence, commitment and enthusiasm of the people.

Compliance to a value system creates the environment for people to have high aspirations, self esteem, belief in fundamental values, confidence in the future and the enthusiasm necessary to take up apparently difficult tasks. Leaders have to walk the talk and demonstrate their commitment to a value system.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, 'We must become the change we want to see in the world.' Leaders have to prove their belief in sacrifice and hard work. Such behavior will enthuse the employees to make bigger sacrifices. It will help win the team's confidence, help leaders become credible, and help create trust in their ideas.

Enhancing trust

Trust and confidence can only exist where there is a premium on transparency. The leader has to create an environment where each person feels secure enough to be able to disclose his or her mistakes, and resolves to improve.

Investors respect such organisations. Investors understand that the business will have good times and bad times. What they want you to do is to level with them at all times. They want you to disclose bad news on a proactive basis. At Infosys, our philosophy has always been, 'When in doubt, disclose.'

Governance

Good corporate governance is about maximising shareholder value on a sustainable basis while ensuring fairness to all stakeholders: customers, vendor-partners, investors, employees, government and society.

A successful organisation tides over many downturns. The best index of success is its longevity. This is predicated on adhering to the finest levels of corporate governance.

At Infosys, we have consistently adopted transparency and disclosure standards even before law mandated it. In 1995, Infosys suffered losses in the secondary market. Under Indian GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles), we were not required to make this information public. Nevertheless, we published this information in our annual report.

Fearless environment

Transparency about the organisation's operations should be accompanied by an open environment inside the organisation. You have to create an environment where any employee can disagree with you without fear of reprisal.

In such a case, everyone makes suggestions for the common good. In the end everyone will be better off.

On the other hand, at Enron, the CFO was running an empire where people were afraid to speak. In some other cases, the whistle blowers have been harassed and thrown out of the company.

Managerial remuneration

We have gone towards excessive salaries and options for senior management staff. At one company, the CEO's employment contract not only set out the model of the Mercedes the company would buy him, but also promised a monthly first-class air ticket for his mother, along with a cash bonus of $10 million and other benefits.

Not surprisingly, this company has already filed for bankruptcy.

Managerial remuneration should be based on three principles:

• Fairness with respect to the compensation of other employees;
• Transparency with respect to shareholders and employees;
• Accountability with respect to linking compensation with corporate performance.

Thus, the compensation should have a fixed component and a variable component. The variable component should be linked to achieving long-term objectives of the firm. Senior management should swim or sink with the fortunes of the company.

Senior management compensation should be reviewed by the compensation committee of the board, which should consist only of independent directors. Further, this should be approved by the shareholders.

I've been asked, 'How can I ask for limits on senior management compensation when I have made millions myself?' A fair question with a straightforward answer: two systems are at play here. One is that of the promoter, the risk taker and the capital markets; and the other is that of professional management and compensation structures.

One cannot mix these two distinct systems, otherwise entrepreneurship will be stifled, and no new companies will come up, no progress can take place. At the same time, there has to be fairness in compensation: there cannot be huge differences between the top most and the bottom rung of the ladder within an organisation.

PSPD model

A well run organisation embraces and practices a sound Predictability-Sustainability-Profitability-Derisking (we call this the PSPD model at Infosys) model. Indeed, the long-term success of an organisation depends on having a model that scales up profitably.

Further, every organisation must have a good derisking approach that recognises, measures and mitigates risk along every dimension.

Integrity

Strong leadership in adverse times helps win the trust of the stakeholders, making it more likely that they will stand by you in your hour of need. As leaders who dream of growth and progress, integrity is your most wanted attribute.

Lead your teams to fight for the truth and never compromise on your values. I am confident that our corporate leaders, through honest and desirable behaviour, will reap long-term benefits for their stakeholders.

Two mottos

In conclusion, keep in mind two Sanskrit sentences: Sathyannasti Paro Dharma (there is no dharma greater than adherence to truth); and Satyameva jayate (truth alone triumphs). Let these be your motto for good corporate leadership.

The author is Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies.

Marine Corps Leadership Secrets Part VI

Know Your Team and Look Out For Them

As team lead, you need to know what the strengths and weaknesses of each team member are. For example, if one person is strong on writing backends and another is strong on UI, assign them to tasks that play to their strengths. If you need to cross-train members, put a strong member with a weaker member. The better you know your team, the more effective they will be. Likewise, if you don’t know or ignore team members capabilities and preferences, you will soon run into difficulty. Use your judgement to make the right choices for you, your team, and your organization.

Also, watch out for your team’s welfare. If a project sponsor insists on your team developing a 12 month project in 6 months, have the moral courage to stand up to them. Don’t just roll over and let your team suffer under an unrealistic schedule.

Keep Your Team Informed

In the Marines and Navy, scuttlebutt was originally the term for a cask of water. Of course, as men drew water they talked and thus the term came to mean exchanging rumors and gossip. The ‘water cooler’ rumor mill is strong in some organizations. As a team lead, it is your job to make sure that you keep your team well informed about your organization and that they aren’t depending on rumors. Playing “I’ve got a secret” with your team is a sure way to damage morale. Have the integrity and dependability to keep your team correctly informed.

Certainly, there will be times you have confidential information. In those cases, show your loyalty to your organization by keeping it secret. However, you should also look out for your team in this case, particularly if the news is bad.

Set Goals You Can Reach

How many team leads have gotten into trouble by agreeing to schedules that they couldn’t keep? A lot, I would wager. It is your job to only accept work that your team can accomplish within the time frame given. Read up on project estimation and negotiation tactics to help protect your team from futile death marches. Your team may be good but don’t ask the impossible from them. Likewise, giving little make-work assignments one after another to a team of crack developers will frustrate them. Set the right goals for your team.

Make Sound and Timely Decisions

Knowledge and judgement are needed to make a sound decision while initiative is needed to make it a timely one. If you’ve made a bad choice, have the courage to change it before more damage is done. While you should avoid changing your mind frequently, sticking with a failing plan or development tool decision will only bring more trouble upon you and your team. Part of making good decisions is knowing when to make a change and when to stick with it despite the odds.

Know Your Job

Honestly, if you don’t know programming well you really don’t need to have a team lead job. This should go without saying but many organizations promote faces and personality over technical skills. As a technical team lead or IT manager it is your job to stay informed on the latest trends. You don’t want to be the kind of manager who says something like, “Oh, Ajax, I clean my kitchen with that” or “Orcas? Yeah, I saw one of those at Sea World.” Instead, you want to be in the know on all the latest trends.

If you don’t know, then have the courage to admit it. Don’t try to fake it in a ‘pointy haired boss’ fashion. Instead, learn from your team when you can. This not only improves your knowledge but improves the morale of the team too.

Teamwork

Encouraging teamwork seems like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? However, I’ve seen a number of teams fail because of interpersonal problems, cliquish behaviors, backstabbing, work hogging or avoidance and other such problems. Make sure that the people on your team are getting along. If they aren’t, find ways to help them deal with each other and, as a last resort, find a way to restructure your team. Ignoring these kinds of personal problems will only make things worse for your team. If you find one member is hogging all the work or avoiding taking on work, make an effort to better distribute the work. Whatever you do, don’t entertain gossip about a team member from another team member. This is a major morale killer.

Also, try to schedule social time together for the team. This might be as simple as lunch or drinks after work as a team once a week or so or something more elaborate on a less frequent basis. Be careful not to exclude some team members from these activities and try your best to schedule them in such a way that everyone can attend easily. While people may not show it, being ‘disinvited’ from such gatherings can be quite a morale killer

Marine Corps Leadership Secrets Part V

Take Responsibility For Your Actions

As the leader of the team you are the one responsible not only for your own performance but that of the team as well. If your team makes a mistake, you are the one who is accountable for it. You don’t pass the blame on to a subordinate. Nobody above or below has much respect for a leader who does this.

You’ve been given the authority to manage the team so exercise it using the traits of judgement, tact, and initiative. Have the moral courage to be loyal to your team and your organization. Ultimately, your goal is to be responsible for success, not failure, so use these leadership traits to bring in a successful project. Even if things don’t always go 100% according to plan, you can still extract a degree of success through good leadership.

Sadly, some organizations may not give you a lot of authority as a team lead. In a situation like that it can be difficult but do your best using what little you have to bring about positive results. That too is good leadership.

Seek Self Improvement

I’ve seen a number of people allow their technical skills to deteriorate as they moved into a lead or management role. This isn’t a good thing. Even worse, they don’t make an effort to improve their leadership and management skills. Don’t be that kind of person. Instead, choose to stay current with your technical skills while improving your project management, general business or other related skills.

Take the time to examine where you’re at to see if you measure up. If you find yourself lacking in any area, seek to improve it. If you honestly think your skills are up to date and strong, seek new areas to learn about. For example, if you know VB.NET well, spend some time learning C# or Java. If you know project management, learn some accounting methods. Just don’t stay static.

Set the Example

A big part of leadership is setting the example. This not only applies to how you do your work but the way you do your work. Which do you think will inspire your team more, coming into work late, half doing tasks and making excuses or arriving on time or early, doing excellent work and taking responsibility? When it comes down too it, setting a strong example does more than any instruction or discipline will ever do.

Ensure That Work is Understood and Completed

A common problem in software development projects is poor communication. If your team doesn’t understand what is to be done, it is likely that what they do won’t be right. As the team leader it is your responsibility to see that the work to be done is understood by all. If there are missing pieces, it’s your job to seek them out from your management or project sponsors. It is also your job to clearly communicate the project goals and timeline to the team. They’re looking to you for this information and if you don’t provide it, you’re almost guaranteeing something will go wrong.

You’re also responsible for seeing that the assigned work is being done correctly and is moving toward completion. However, you don’t want to be a micro-manager. After all, these are supposed to be professionals you’re working with, not ditch diggers. Avoid asking for daily status reports or (shudder) holding daily staff meetings. Instead, use email, source control, and other tools to keep an unobtrusive finger on the pulse of a project. If you note a problem, quietly take it up with that team member in a positive manner. You’ll find this approach puts you in closer touch with the status of a project than any make-work status report ever will.

That’s all for this part. I’ll be wrapping up this series in the next day or so when I go over a few more principles of leadership. If you have any questions or comments about this series, please feel free to leave me a comment.

Marine Corps Leadership Secrets Part III

In this third article in my series we will continue to take a look at how to apply United States Marine Corps leadership traits and principles to software development team leadership. ( this part I’ll be discussing the leadership traits of Justice, Enthusiasm, and Bearing.

Justice

A sense of justice. What does it mean to you? In the context of this discussion this means fair impartiality, of taking actions that are fair and just to all.

For example, to be just in your day-to-day work, this means that you don’t play favorites. If you always give the best assignments to the same person and the worst assignments to other people on the team, how to you think it would affect team morale? It’s easy to guess that those given the bad assignments would probably not think that highly of your leadership ability and it will impact their attitude and productivity.

Being just also means keeping your emotions and prejudices out of your decisions as much as possible. While this is often company policy when in comes to some groups, such as race or sex, just because a particular type of person isn’t on this protected list doesn’t mean that you’re allowed to treat them unjustly. You should treat all of your subordinates justly. If you don’t like someone on a personal level due to an annoying trait that grates your nerves at an emotional level, don’t take it out on them by assigning them all the grunt work or using them as a pawn for layoffs. Instead, work on getting to know them better or, if you can’t treat them justly, help them find a place within the company where you won’t be their supervisor.

In short, unjust treatment will harm team morale and undermine your leadership while just treatment for all will have the opposite effect.

Enthusiasm

This doesn’t mean that you have to be a rah-rah cheerleader. Software developers typically don’t like phony behavior and such insincere behavior isn’t what you’re looking for here. What you are looking for is showing an interest in the work your team is doing.

Let’s imagine a scenario where a developer on your team wants to show you a new algorithm they’ve developed. Sadly, many a team leader would blow off such a request in favor of other ‘more important’ meetings. This syndrome becomes worse at higher levels where the manager doesn’t have a good feel for the development tools being used and has a tighter schedule. How do you think the enthusiasm level of the developer who’s brushed aside will be afterward? That’s right, not so good. Do this enough and the whole team is in the dumps.

Maintain enthusiasm within your group by being a sincere cheerleader and coach for their efforts. If they’ve worked hard, acknowledge it and applaud their efforts. If they’re struggling, be a mentor and help them find a solution through positive methods.

Also work hard to avoid outside problems from dampening your team’s enthusiasm. While sometimes this is unavoidable, you can do your part by not complaining to them about the direction the company is taking. Try to keep things on a positive note as much as possible in these situations. Doing so enhances your leadership of the team and, at the very least, improves the morale of the team where mutual misery will only weaken it.

Bearing

Everybody knows the look of a squared away Marine in uniform. Movie characters like Jack Webb’s The D.I. or R. Lee Ermey’s Gunny Hartman in Full Metal Jacket or John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima have burned in this image. So, do you need to be all spit and polish, tough as nails, cussing and swearing to have bearing as a software development team leader? No, bearing is really deeper than physical appearance, it’s an attitude, a state of mind.

I don’t want to totally discount physical appearance though. If your company has a dress code, live up to it. Being slack in this area will only encourage yourself, and the rest of the team, to be slack in other areas. If you’re lucky and don’t have a formal dress code, consider casual dressing for success. You might be surprised how much a neat look improves your leadership.

But, beyond the physical, what is bearing? It is how you conduct yourself verbally and emotionally. If you rant and rave at your team, you’ve lost your bearing. If you cut down a team member, that’s loss of bearing. If you make a joke out of handing out work assignments, you’ve lost your bearing. If you engage in sarcasm, you will lose it as well. However, if you conduct yourself with dignity, show that you’re more interested in being understood than impressing others, and make yourself approachable, you will develop excellent bearing.

Marine Corps Leadership Secrets Part II

In this second article in my series I’ll continue my explanation of how to apply United States Marine Corps leadership traits and principles to software development team leadership. In this part I’ll be discussing the traits of Decisiveness, Dependability, Initiative, and Tact.

Decisiveness

Nobody likes to work for someone who leaves important decisions up for debate by the group or who simply leaves them up in the air, unmade. Nor do they like to work for someone who is inconsistent or wishy-washy. Managers who publicly vacillate over making key decisions usually lose the respect of those underneath them. However, people will respect a leader who can make a decision, tell everyone the decision in clear, confident, terms and then stick to it. They’re a person who says what they mean and means what they say.

This doesn’t mean that you should be inflexible about the decisions you make though. Situations change and, when they do, a leader is required to decisively act upon the new information. For example, a development tool a lead decided upon isn’t working right due to serious bugs that the vendor isn’t going to fix anytime soon. Instead of muddling on toward failure, the decisive leader takes steps to fix the problem quickly and save the project.

Being decisive also means be accountable for your decisions. If you make the call, you are responsible for it. Don’t pass the buck to your team members, peers or your management.

Dependability

Can your team depend on you? Can your management depend on you? Dependability works both ways.

To be dependable to your management is really basic Work 101 stuff. It means you show up on time, that you don’t make excuses or complain without a good reason, and stay on the job until it is completed. If you aren’t doing these things for your management, then why should you expect those you’re supposed to be leading to do the same for you?

How can you be dependable to your team? You do this by first of all being an example as I mentioned above. You are the role model they’ll look to, for good or for bad. However, it goes beyond just that. It means that you are willing to stand with them if there is an emergency that needs to be handled or if there is extra work needed to complete a project. If the team is coming into the office over the weekend to work you should be there too if at all possible. If there is a disaster, like a failed database, you are there working to correct the problem, even working through the night and into the next day if necessary. Your dependability will inspire those working for you while shirking your responsibility will, over time, demoralize your team.

Initiative

If you only do what you’re told to do and wait for others to take action, well, you aren’t much of a leader. Take a look around and see what needs to be done to either help you reach your goals or that’s keeping you from reaching them. For example, if someone on your team is having a problem with their PC, take the initiative and help them get it fixed. If there is a new tool that would greatly speed the development of your project, take the initiative and get it in for testing. Are there classes you and your team could take? Get them signed up.

Don’t be satisfied with the status quo. Learn to think outside the box and to solve problems in new ways.

Tact

Tact. It means a sense of what to do or say in order to maintain good relations with others or to avoid offense. You may be surprised that this is on a Marine Corps leadership list after seeing movies or TV shows about boot camp. You see a lot of insults and screaming and yelling there. But, courtesy and respect plays an important role within the chain of command once a Marine leaves boot camp. Likewise, the courtesy you show to your team and to your management is important as well.

When you assign work, do it in a courteous, direct and personable manner. This helps insure the work will be understood and will be carried out correctly and with enthusiasm. If you give out assignments in a careless or brusque manner it might very well have the opposite effect.

Tact also applies to how your respect your team member’s time, property, and feelings. Wasting their time in useless meetings, not respecting their property, or hurting their feelings, intentionally or unintentionally, will hurt your authority within the team.

The simple management axiom is to praise in public and reprimand in private. This is one of the key ways to be tactful with your team. A public reprimand or even one that is private in name only can seriously damage your credibility within the team and harm morale. If you must reprimand, make sure that you are fair, firm and friendly about it.

With your managers, you should approach them in the manner that you would want to be approached if you were in their position.

On Leadership - Excellent Article from the net

7 Secrets of Leadership Success

From Paul B. Thornton

Part 1: Top Business Leaders Share Their Best Business Success Advice

Fortune magazine once published an article entitled “The Best Advice I Ever Got.” It was a great article that offered wit and wisdom about achieving business success. I liked it so much, that it motivated me to produce my newest book, Leadership: Best Advice I Ever Got, which describes the best leadership advice 136 successful CEOs, coaches, consultants, professors, managers, executives, presidents, politicians, and religious leaders received that most helped them become effective and successful leaders.

Here are seven secrets to leadership success:

1. Leadership is about making things happen.

If you want to make something happen with your life – in school, in your profession or in your community, do it. Perceived obstacles crumble against persistent desire. John Baldoni, Author, Leadership Communication Consultant and Founder of Baldoni Consulting LLC, shared this advice that had come from his father, a physician. He taught him the value of persistence. At the same time, his mother taught him compassion for others. Therefore, persistence for your cause should not be gained at the expense of others. Another bit of leadership wisdom!

2. Listen and understand the issue, then lead.

Time and time again we have all been told, "God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason"... or as Stephen Covey said, "Seek to understand, rather than be understood." As a leader, listening first to the issue, then trying to coach, has been the most valuable advice that Cordia Harrington, President and CEO of Tennessee Bun Company has been given.

3. Answer the three questions everyone within your organization wants answers to.

What the people of an organization want from their leader are answers to the following: Where are we going? How are we going to get there? What is my role? Kevin Nolan, President & Chief Executive Officer of Affinity Health Systems, Inc. believes the more clarity that can be added to each of the three questions, the better the result.

4. Master the goals that will allow you to work anywhere in today’s dynamic business world.

Debbe Kennedy, President, CEO and Founder of Global Dialogue Center and Leadership Solutions Companies, and author of Action Dialogues and Breakthrough once shared this piece of advice that was instrumental in shaping her direction, future and achievements.

She was a young manager at IBM just promoted to her first staff assignment in a regional marketing office. For reasons she can’t explain, one of her colleagues named Bookie called her into his office while she was visiting his location. He then began to offer unsolicited advice, but advice that now stays fresh in her mind. He mentioned that jobs, missions, titles and organizations would come and go as business is dynamic - meaning it is always changing. He advised her not to focus your goals toward any of these, but instead learn to master the skills that will allow you to work anywhere.

He was talking about four skills:

• The ability to develop an idea;
• Effectively plan for its implementation;
• Execute second-to-none;
• Achieve superior results time after time.

With this in mind, Kennedy advises readers to seek jobs and opportunities with this in mind. Forget what others do. Work to be known for delivering excellence. It speaks for itself and it opens doors.

More of the best leadership advice ever received by successful people, advice that helped them to become effective, successful leaders:

5. Be curious.

Curiosity is a prerequisite to continuous improvement and even excellence. The person who gave Mary Jean Thornton, Former Executive Vice President & CIO, The Travelers, this advice urged her to study people, processes, and structures. He inspired her to be intellectually curious. He often reminded Thornton that making progress, in part, was based upon thinking. She has learned to apply this notion of intellectual curiosity by thinking about her organization’s future, understanding the present, and knowing and challenging herself to creatively move the people and the organization closer to its vision.

6.

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Listen to both sides of the argument.

The most valuable advice Brian P. Lees, Massachusetts State Senator and Senate Minority Leader, ever received came from his mentor, United States Senator Edward W. Brooke III. He told him to listen to all different kinds of people and ideas. Listening only to those who share your background and opinions can be imprudent. It is important to respect your neighbors’ rights to their own views. Listening to and talking with a variety of people, from professors to police officers, from senior citizens to school children, is essential not only to be a good leader in business, but to also be a valuable member within your community.

7. Prepare, prepare, prepare.

If you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail. If one has truly prepared and something goes wrong the strength of the rest of what you've prepared for usually makes this something easier to handle without crisis and panic. One of the best pieces of advice Dave Hixson, Men’s Varsity Basketball Coach at Amherst College has ever received and continues to use and pass on is this anonymous quote -“Preparation is the science of winning."

Along with this are two expressions from Rick Pitino's book Success is a Choice, which speaks to preparation. Hixson asks his teams every year: "Do you deserve to win?" and "Have you done the work?" This speaks to the importance of preparation toward achieving your final goal. If you haven't done the work (the preparation) the answer to the second question is an easy "no!"

Great advice comes from many sources – parents, other relatives, consultants, bosses, co-workers, mentors, teachers, coaches, and friends. The important point to remember is to stay open, listen to everyone, but also develop your own leadership style.

Paul B. Thornton is President of Be the Leader Associates and author of seven books on management and leadership. His latest book, Leadership: Best Advice I Ever Got, is available at WingSpan Press, amazon.com, and bn.com.

from http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/smallbusinesslearning/a/leadershippt.htm

Paul B. Thornton presents more of the best advice for achieving business success that seven top leaders ever received on the next page. Click to continue reading about effective leadership.

Preamble

Everyday I come across a number of 'ponderables' - in emails, on sites, in books, and in conversations. Through this blog, I will attempt to collect them in one place so that I, or anyone else who is interested, can access them easily from any place. I will also upload some of my collection of 'points to ponder' over a period of time.