Prioritizing willpower, empathy and right attitude : Choosing a Great Manager

In this edition of the ‘CEOInsights’ as part of the Great Manager Awards, we have?Balaji?Viswanathan, Managing Director & CEO at Expleo Solutions Limited. In his conversation with?me, he shares some insights for developing crucial competencies to be a great manager.

Rahul: How will you describe your leadership style and, according to your colleagues, what are some do's and don'ts they would mention in terms of working under you?

Balaji: I started my career as a front office staff at HSBC and have grown and evolved personally and professionally since then. I have always believed in mutual respect. I am a reasonably democratic person. I always encourage people to share their views, opinions, and suggestions whenever they have one. Treating others in the right way is the first pillar of my leadership style. There is a saying that 'your character is defined by how you treat people particularly who are not at the same level as you are.'?

“The way one treats others speaks volumes about the person."

I have always been actively conducting 360-degree feedback, officially or unofficially, because feedback is extremely important to me, and it helps me improve myself and work on my shortcomings. As a result, people have this faith in me that I will deliver if I take some tasks on. I intend to maintain this reputation.

“I firmly believe in treating team members, or anybody for that matter, the same way as I'd like to be treated myself. That is the fundamental for me as a human being and leader”

The first thing my colleagues will probably tell you about me is that I have never been temperamental. Some of them may describe me as 'autocratically democrat.' I always like to be participative, but at the same time, quite assertive as well. I also expect people to deliver on their commitments once they have taken on specific tasks. We need to accept failures, however it’s important to recognize, improvise or move on soon enough.

Rahul: What's your firm's vision, and how do you cascade that vision down to the team and inspire everybody to work towards it?

Balaji:?The vision is three-dimensional. We focus on what we want to achieve, which includes growth, profitability, capability and the scale we want to build for ourselves. We had set a target for ourselves three years back, to reach 100 million, while we were at 40 million then. We are well on course to achieve that.

In terms of profitability, we have defined what our targets will be. More importantly, after we became Expleo, which made us an engineering, technical services, software testing, and a quality assurance company, the scenario has undergone massive changes. The testing/quality assurance industry has seen a full 180-degree shift in the last 5-6 years. Testing is no longer a standalone stage. It is tightly integrated with the overall product development lifecycle.

Everything needs to be agile and integrated nowadays. We moved to a T-shaped organization, which means we will have the expertise for the specific vertical we want to work on. Still, we also need to have a horizontal base that covers the technology domain, functional elements, and expertise on the industry's fast-selling products.

We have built product partnerships in the last few years and have actively invested in technology expertise. We have hired industry technology experts in DevOps, Agile, Software Development and on the automation led 'New Age' testing mechanisms. So basically, our focus has been to move from the 'traditional functional testing company', to a techno-functional digital-enabling company.

All of us in the leadership hierarchy carry small, laminated cards that we print every year. We mention our targets, how compliant and standardized our processes should be, the level of automation that we need to achieve, how we should empower our people, etc. Another way to cascade information is to keep sending emails, regular connects (not just updates) to keep everyone abreast of what we want to achieve and how we are going about achieve?it.

It's essential to work through all three dimensions of this vision and ensure that we stay course, make practical adjustments and engage with the team(s). Investment in talent capital is non-negotiable, and we ensure that our people's development aligns with the industry movement and support every individual's career aspiration and bridge the rural-urban divide. We recently launched our sixth Centre of Excellence Centre in India, and the new facility is in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, designed to train and nurture talents from in and around the vicinity to help them thrive to their fullest potential.?

We also emphasize that our talents perform reliably in every position, innovate for impact, support the communities, and reduce our environmental footprint. In doing so, we create more opportunities, making everyone a contributor towards the constant endeavour of building a better society.

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Rahul: What are some of the X-factors you’d want your leadership team to develop?

Balaji:?The first thing I would talk about is the right attitude. Skill is something you can always develop, but the will or the right attitude is more important.?

“You can buy or build skill, but you can’t buy the will or the right attitude.”

?One can be the best technology person from the perspective of the domain, but if the right attitude is missing, then the contribution will be limited and sometimes counterproductive. Second, he/she must understand the business mechanism. The important avenues they must invest themselves in are the client's needs, how it impacts the business perspective, and what the market needs presently.

The second element is adopting the right way to interact with your team. When interacting with the younger generation, especially people between 22-28 years of age bracket, who join the organization with abundant talent, you can't be regimental and need to encourage, nurture and build on the differentiated thinking and innovation.

“Your attitude regarding how you manage this generation gap is the key."

I look out for important traits of cultural alignment and enabling people to grow rather than the old factory mentality of simply following?orders. Third, the technology industry is constantly changing, and we need people who believe that learning never stops. Finally, I learn a lot from our clients and team members particularly the new joiners who have less than 2-5 years of experience.?

“Its important for the Leaders to pass on their knowledge, skill and positive attitude to their team members and help them grow faster than you. If your learnings are applied in the right way, it should always be faster for your team member.”

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?

Balaji:??There are always certain things that don't even require asking. You have a look at the profile of the person, etiquettes of online setup like switching on the video upfront instead of waiting for the interviewer to ask for it, how they dress even if they are coming for a virtual interview, what are their facial expression, etc. All these things are worth more than the words they will say. When you are interviewing someone for a leadership position, it is evident that the person will come well prepared. They will say the nicest things and what you would want to hear as an interviewer.?

“It is the 'invisible' or the subtleties that matter more, than words.".

So, if I can ask only one question, I would ask them, "What makes you tick?" These questions will help me gauge the integrity and the level of truthfulness between the CV and the person. I dread flowery CVs the most, and I would rather evaluate the person based on his responses, body language and expressions than their CV.

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

Balaji:?My mentors have been those people who have given me opportunities beyond what's there on my CV. I got the opportunity to run sales, products, and technology for one of the largest banks in the country. It was all because of my mentors' trust and confidence in me. That's why I keep saying that nothing is impossible as long as you put your 100% into it. My first boss was Mr. Chandramouli, the regional business manager and then I had a friend and mentor in Mr P Kumar both at HDFC Bank. They both joined Yes bank later, and I followed suit. Mr Chandramouli later moved on to the BPO industry, and gave me an opportunity in this completely new industry and in a very different role. He used to say,“Dream big, and make sure that you give more than 100%t to achieve them."

When I moved from being just a sales guy to someone who was rolling out new technology and Digital products, they were the ones who always stood behind me and gave the confidence to take on new challenges and helped learn a lot.

My bosses at Mastercard would be the third and fourth persons – Mr. Sameer Wakeel and Sunny Sanon. These gentlemen took me from HDFC bank to run Ops and Technology for some 37 different supporting banks in the entire South Asia region. They probably trusted what I said during the interview, not just my CV.

My boss at Concentrix, Ms Winnie Sun is someone who I admire and still trying to emulate. The ability to handle multi-cultural teams, engaging with Global clients, understanding of the nuances of each client and respect for others is something that she could easily manage and always set the bar very high.

Finally, I would mention my Executive Director and Super boss, Mr. Srikrishnan. I got a lot of opportunities from him at Yes bank when he had moved from HDFC to Yes Bank. He always helped me as I grew in my career.

Rahul: With your present knowledge and experience, what advice would you offer to your younger self who is just about to start his career?

Balaji:?I would say two important things to my younger self. First, "don't be scared of taking risks at the appropriate time." Secondly, you need to know when to change course, improvise or drop the idea (like the stop loss in stock market). There have been a couple of instances when I feel I should have stuck on a little more instead of being carried away by small failures, but there is no point in pondering over the past and need to move forward with 100% conviction.

“If you have the right leader to back you, and there is enough mutual trust between you and your organization, then you have all the crucial elements required to grow into a leader.”

Rahul:?What would you say are some of the most crucial competencies that a middle-level manager should have to be a great manager?

Balaji:??First and foremost, for a good manager,?a?positive mindset and attitude?are?most important.?

“Only when you are positive, you can dissipate that positive energy to your entire team.”

?These managers are the face of the organization for over 80% of the population. If they don't feel positive or feel unable to transfer that positivity to others, it becomes a huge disservice to you and your own team(s).?

The second important is to have the confidence to speak out. If they don't speak up, we are losing out on many bright suggestions, opinions, or unsettling facts under the carpet. The third element would be the willingness to learn constantly, and I don't just mean technical learning. You can learn at home and bring that learning back to the office, and vice versa.?

“If you don't have that quest for learning and only executes orders, you'd be doing a disservice to yourself even if you meet all objectives."

Fourth, knowing the market trends is crucial, especially for mid-level managers. It would be best if you read the possible competition and be updated on what's happening in the market, what new things are going to come up, etc. Finally, how you treat your people is very important, and it constitutes basic humanity.

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