Execution and Emotional Quotient: Essentials for effective decision-making

In this edition of the #CEOInsights, as part of the Great Manager Awards, we have?Vipul?Sabharwal, Managing Director at Luminous Power Technologies (P) Ltd. In his conversation with?Rahul Mahajan, Country-Lead of Great Manager Awards, he shares insights on crucial qualities required of managers for excellent execution and effective decision-making.

Rahul:?How will you describe your leadership style, and according to your colleagues, what are the dos and don'ts they would mention while working under your leadership??

Vipul: I don't think there is one fixed style of leadership that I follow. It is more of a situation leadership. Some situations demand quick decision-making, and we do not have the luxury of time. Decisions are required to be made in extremely short periods. In the pandemic era, since everything is happening digitally, people are making more decisions on the go.

But if I keep the situational aspect of it aside, I will say my leadership style is more participative. I like to have everyone's input and allow them to ask questions.?

"In the end, there should be a robust feedback mechanism that answers questions – What did we learn? Did we achieve exactly what we intended to? Did we fail in certain aspects? What could we have done differently? How could we have avoided those mistakes?"

I want people to be ready to make decisions quickly and ensure the decisions are right for the dos I have already mentioned. In failure cases, there should be a very detailed analysis of what worked and what didn't and look for ways to improve further from where we stand presently. Finally, when it comes to decision-making, there should be broader guidelines regarding the zones we are operating in and the decisions that are needed to be made.

I would say, do not hold back or delay bad news. Always bring the bad news as early as possible. Along with it, get some analysis as to what went wrong, what could have been the possible reasons, how could we have avoided it, or how should we move forward from this point on, ensuring the mistakes aren't repeated. This does not imply that I need everything always informed to me. Run your ships. But make sure the important ones should reach me in time. These are some of the expectations I would have from the people I am working with.

Rahul: Can you mention some of the people who have played the role of a mentor and helped you reach where you are today?

?Vipul:?Many names come to mind, but a few stand out, one of them is?my current manager, Mr. Manish Pant, he taught me how to manage partnerships and technology transformations.

Another gentleman that comes to my mind is Mr. Pradeep Pant. He is?currently a Business Consultant, and he had his longest journey in Gillette. I think there was a significant gap when I joined because he was at one of the apex positions of the organizations, and I was at the earlier days of my career. We used to spend time together. He used to guide me and clarify all my doubts. The learnings that I have had from all those interactions are something I have been carrying with me to this day. I reach out to him even today when I feel the need. He has played a significant role in charting my career, not overtly but covertly.?

The other name that comes to mind – Mr. Zubair Ahmed,?Regional Head, GSK Consumer Healthcare Asia Middle East. He was the CEO of Gillette for the second half. He coached me a lot in the mid-to-senior level transitions, guiding me at every stage. His teachings helped me make a lot of tough career choices and helped me understand what I wanted to do and which options I wanted to choose.

The fourth person would be Mr. Shiv Shivakumar, Group Executive President- Corporate Strategy & Business Development, Aditya Birla Group. He was my boss at Nokia. He is an extremely cerebral, well-read, and thoughtful person. I still consult him, not only because of his professional wisdom but also because he has a good read of me. His advice holds a lot of value for me because he knows me as a person. He had done my job before I took over, so I was very fortunate in this regard. He has been an excellent figure of mentorship in my career.

Rahul: What are some of the qualities or traits that you’d look for in your successor?

?Vipul:?Let me attempt 'a day in the journey' here. There's a lot of noise around me, including data, conflicts, agreements, disagreements, lots of highly persuasive ideas, etc.?

“All one needs to do is strike a balance. There’s an operational part which one needs to look after to make sure the ship is sailing smoothly, and there’s a strategic part which needs equal attention.”

?One should strike a balance by hearing the emotions, the noise, and once you hear the noise, you need to analyze. Now analysis can be hard-analysis or soft-analysis, which will eventually lead to the decision-making stage. Of course, the decision is a bit cold-blooded always, but execution brings excellence once you put the emotions and passion behind it.?

“One should be able to maintain this balance and understand what's good for the company by dissecting every aspect of a situation. So, in essence, there is a listening part, a clinical part, and a repackaging part.”

To be able to synthesize what the audience is going to watch, and come to the decision-making, is essential. The ability to understand the best method of execution, segregate strategic and operational issues, and analyze if we are doing enough or are we going to miss the mark, is something that is essential. Sometimes one needs to tweak a decision to overcome a challenge, which might open doors to new challenges in the future. One should have a long line of sight to understand the impact of a decision made today in the next 3-5 years.

Rahul: If I talk about mid-level managers and not leaders or new joiners, what are the crucial competencies or capabilities which, according to you, make a great manager?

Vipul:??I think knowing the job inside out is crucial because that's the administrative part that one must perform. One needs to keep an eye on their performance and ask the question, 'Am I excelling at my job?' One might excel at one thing today and a completely different something tomorrow. It all comes down to how you move these needles as you grow.?

Ask yourself, "Within the gamut of my framework, am I making the right decisions? Am I taking enough decisions or throwing decisions to others' shoulders?" I would rather have people who make more decisions even if they make a few mistakes. They should also clearly understand why such mistakes happen and how to correct them because they are the learning managers.?

“It's humanly impossible to get a manager who gets all decisions correct. So, for a mid-level manager, it is crucial that they are in the guided zone and is constantly making decisions.”

Some people move fast since, for them, experience and gut both play along together. They indulge in a lot of intellectual thinking, debating, aligning thought processes, getting challenged as well as challenging others. To me, speed is something some acquire with time and some have it imbibed naturally. And that's ideal because if we have all the members with equal speeds, it becomes difficult to manage since the expectations will be different.

Rahul: In a limited time, if you are required to ask just one question to a candidate in an interview for a leadership position, what would that question be?

Vipul:?My question would ideally be focused on the person's leadership style. The leadership style emerges from the journey a person has had. How that journey has shaped someone, how they have behaved in different challenging situations, and how they have adapted their leadership to achieve success.?

So, my question to the candidate would be about their journey, the overall experience, all that they have learned from these experiences, how they have been applying this knowledge in their journey so far, and how they have leveraged the experiences or challenges to their learning agility.?

“People get paid not just for knowledge but also for the ability to make decisions. What decision they have made is one thing, and how the decision was made is something far more important.”

Any decision can go either right or wrong, but it speaks a lot about the person if the decision-making process is correct. Therefore, this process is highly critical in shaping up one's leadership style.

Rahul: What is the vision of the firm, and more importantly, what’s your approach of cascading this information down to the last employee?

Vipul:?That's a great question. I would say that we cascade not just the vision but the culture as well. Both need to go down to the last employee. There is a macro-vision and a micro-vision. The culture gets percolated by how we conduct ourselves and allow others to conduct themselves. When we have our town hall meetings, which are once a quarter, we are very happy when we get questions.?

“Culture dissemination is how we conduct ourselves. we encourage employees to feel free and fearless and to voice their queries, suggestions, and opinions without any hesitation.”

We do not like people who whine. We look out for positive contributions. We do cascade the vision via annual meetings as well, but we also keep all modes of communication active. When we consistently keep communicating the same message, the vision gets percolated down. And we need to ask ourselves – “Are we true to our vision?” and it again boils down to culture dissemination. Even the smaller, informal chats have a lasting impression on communication between employees.?

Rahul: What is the most common piece of advice you find yourself sharing with the younger generation who are about to begin their careers?

Vipul:?I think I must compliment the fact that the younger generation is very well-read and well-informed, thanks to the technology and their will. When I started my career 30-40 years ago, we had to try to know even a small thing. It's great to see how well the younger generation is equipped. Today when we open our office, the first group of people we see are the millennials. When asked why they are not working from home, they answer that they have been missing the workspace.?

My advice to the younger generation would be to look at A, B, and C and then take a decision. I feel they are looking for participative decisions. They should look for directional decisions. Keep an open mind, synthesize the situation, understand what can be done and what isn't feasible, and then decide whether you want to take the decision or not. Look for opportunities to talk, discuss and get as much feedback as possible.

Rahul: If you go back 20-25 years, what advice would you give to your younger self?

Vipul:?I think I would say to my younger self to try different things, to try and build a more balanced career, and most importantly, to focus more on communication skills. I learned it the hard way, maybe towards the mid-part of my career. I would advise my younger self to build a more versatile form of communication at an early stage. Secondly, I would advise myself to be socially active and write if I could, because that helps in clear the mind.

“The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the?quality of our lives.”

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