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Teams That Play Together, Achieve More Together

February 26, 2018
teams-that-play-together

One of the biggest challenges that entrepreneurs face is – “How do I grow a team that will grow my business?”  Here are some simple steps that I learnt and have continued to help me as I advise CEOs to build great teams.

Twelve years ago, I moved from my Financial Controller position to being the Project manager of a business transformation project in Kazakhstan.  This project was to be followed by a similar project in Russia.  The Kazakhstan implementation was a disaster leading to delayed delivery of the project, project cost overrun and a dissatisfied client.  Luckily, I had a leader as a manager who asked, “so what can we learn from this?”.  We implemented the lessons learnt from the Kazakhstan project in the Russia project to astounding success.

Below are the five top lessons in team effectiveness that I learnt :

  1. Recruit well – Key to having a great team is hiring the right people. Now the question is, what is the right team?  My experience was to hire a team with not just great skills but also with the right values.  In the Kazakhstan project, I didn’t have much choice in the selection of the team.  We were handed down a team that I had to work with.  While everyone said the right things, not much got done.  When we moved to the Russia project, I had the mandate to hire the team.  So we not only hired for skill but also for the right values – in our case, a can do attitude, willingness to go the extra mile and put up with tough conditions.  And yes, once I had hired my first team member, then both of us together hired the next and so on.  So everyone had a stake in who was hired into the team and was responsible for his or her success.

 

  1. Early buy in to team objectives and values – In the first project, since the team was handed down to us, we believed that they all knew and had bought into the team goals. Soon, it was clear that while most team members said all the right things when it came to committing to deadlines and processes, their heart was not in the transformation as they believed that it would result in many of them losing their jobs once the project was complete.  By the time we realised that, much time had already passed.  In the Russia project, we not only hired for skills and attitude, we also took the time to inspire them into the vision of the program, explain the objectives, possible outcomes and expectations of the project to the team.  This had a huge impact in creating the right environment for the project to be executed.

 

  1. Constantly build trust – As a team leader, if there is one thing that I learnt was the need to constantly work on trust – not just within the team, but with stakeholders – internal and external. Given the nature of the project, there was always a sense of mis-trust with regard to how employees would be treated upon completion of the project.  In Kazakhstan, this was compounded by the differences in language between the team members and with the stakeholders.  For the Russia project, we had one of the team members translate all communication, verbally and in writing so that nothing was lost in translation.  Also, we realised that communication, and sometimes excessive communication, was necessary to ensure that all team members were equally participative, and there were no gaps in understanding.  This sometimes meant that I had to communicate with all team members in group and separately, multiple times of the day.

 

  1. Play together, achieve together – One big differentiating factor in the Russia project was that we mandated that the entire team was going to have fun together, multiple times during the course of the project. This meant that some of the team members took it upon themselves to create practical jokes on team members – all in good taste and humour.  Others ensured that we took adequate time off from work to celebrate small victories on the way.  This helped in breaking down barriers.  One such example was attending a Russian wedding and dancing to the seemingly endless toasts that are a highlight of their culture.

 

  1. Learn to Let go of position – Probably the biggest learning that I had as the Team leader was that each team member had the capacity to lead the team when required. I learnt to let go of the title and become the follower when required with the full confidence that the team knew that the buck stopped at my desk.  It wasn’t easy initially, but as I learnt to trust the team, as we learnt to trust each other, as barriers broke down, letting go became easy and ensured that the team was never without a leader, regardless of my physical presence.
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Break the Glass Ceiling; Become Successful

February 20, 2018
break-glass-ceiling

Some summers ago, at a networking meet, I met a  young chartered accountant who said, “Shridhar, I still remember  the motivational  talk that you delivered about a year ago – from CFO to CEO.  You told us to break the glass ceiling.  I know that soon I am going to do so – to setup my consulting firm.  I just don’t know yet what to do.  I’m afraid of doing something ordinary.  I want to do something new, something that has not been done before, something that will shake up the industry and make people notice!”

Most people associate the proverbial glass ceiling, (something I believe each one of us has, the difference is a matter of degree), with fear of the future, fear of taking risks, fear of failure, staying in the comfort zone and many more such FEARs.  What I discovered that day after talking to the young man was something different – a different kind of glass ceiling.

Let me recapitulate and explain.

Life, mistakes, experience – whatever you may want to call it – taught me that each one of us is capable of immense, nay, unlimited potential.  We have been endowed, from the moment we set foot on this earth, with whatever it takes to be great, to be successful, to be remembered for years to come.  Each one is born with the same physical, mental and physiological faculties.

Ah!  I know you are asking – come on Shridhar, not all are the same.

If you don’t believe me, come with me on a short journey.  Minutes after my daughter was born, she was whisked away by the nurses to another chamber to be cleaned, bathed and fed.  After the excitement had subsided in the delivery theatre, I decided to take a sneak peak at my daughter.  So I asked the nurse where my daughter was and she replied, “please go to the next chamber and ask the nurse there.”  I decided to look for myself and tip-toed to the chamber.  What I saw next stunned me – rows and rows of new born babies, some asleep, some awake, some smiling, some wailing, some dark, some fair, some hairy, some bald – and amongst pink islands of cute faces, all wrapped and tucked in – where was my daughter?  I just could not recognise her.  Until the nurse came to me and asked my wife’s name, not my name, then went to the crib and checked the tag on a baby’s wrist and brought her to me, “here’s your daughter!”  The CA in me brought forth my professional skepticism, and I immediately checked whether there were no fingers and toes missing!  Humour apart, what I realised was that except for a few visible differences, most new born babies look exactly the same.

Then why do some grow to greatness and others don’t.  We all know the part that heritage, culture, background, family, environment, et al play in the growth of an individual.  And we are also acutely aware that these are not necessary conditions for success and greatness.  As our great nation has seen, we can see this aspect of life being played out on our television screens, newspapers and media.  Dynastic scions flounder, a common chaiwala conquers, the common man reaches for greatness.

The answer is not difficult to fathom.  All we need to do is the scratch, and scratch really hard, at the surface and look deep ……… within!

Anyone who has achieved success, greatness, victory – has always broken the proverbial glass ceiling – not by one big karate kick or by a single humungous effort.  But by slowly chipping away, minute by minute, millimetre by millimetre.  Something akin to how a sculptor creates a masterpiece – by taking a huge block of stone – rough, without a shape and slowly chips away, bit by bit to create a masterpiece that stands the test of time.

Breaking the glass ceiling is not a single gargantuan effort to do something great.  It is the result of many small steps that each push you in the direction that you wish to proceed.

Below are some steps that I believe will help you break the glass ceiling.

  1. Aim big, but start small. Have a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal – Collins/Porras – Built to Last : Successful habits of Visionary companies) but start with small steps.
  2. Celebrate the small risks. Each step you take in the direction of your BHAG is a risk – so at each stage celebrate your mastery of the risk.  This will help you get used to taking risks and set the stage for bigger risks.
  3. Respect your co-passengers. Take them on the journey with you and respect their feelings, talk to them about their fears and eliminate their fallacies.
  4. Focus on the results. Keep focusing on the results and don’t get swayed by the minor irritants that threaten to distract you from your journey.
  5. Enjoy every moment of the journey. While you use the past to learn and the future to guide, enjoy every moment of the journey by relishing the small victories.

The steps above, though not exhaustive, have helped me break numerous glass ceilings in my life.  To move from being an accountant in a small firm to growing as a senior finance executive of a multinational firm.  And then when I quit my corporate life, in my journey as an entrepreneur.  I know it will help you in your journey as well.

Albert Einstein said – A man should look for what is and not for what he thinks should be.

Isaac Newton said – If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Neither of these two great men achieved anything in a single stupendous effort.  Their success and greatness came from years of painstaking effort, bit by bit.

So what was my advice to the young chartered accountant?  I requested him, “don’t look to create something unique because in the thousands of years of human endeavour, there are very few things that may yet need to be invented.  Instead, look at your expertise and see how you can improve upon things that already exist.”

You too can! Break the glass ceiling!

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5 Secrets to Sustainable SME Profitability & Growth

February 7, 2018
5 SECRETS TO SUSTAINABLE SME PROFITABILITY & GROWTH

Have you ever wondered why and how some organizations, don’t sweat the small stuff, and continue to remain at the top of the heap regardless of worldwide recession, man-made disasters or natural calamities?  

And why some others, seemingly financially strong, sink without a trace or are badly mauled when the tsunami of economic woes hits with all its fury?  And when this happens, the best employees, the greatest yet most undervalued asset of any organization, either are dumped as the ship sinks or intelligently make their way to the former set of organizations………… or become entrepreneurs or self-employed!

The answer is very simple – the former set of organizations knows the secrets to Sustainable Profitability and Growth, what I call Financial Leadership & Excellence.  Examples of these organizations are GE, Toyota, Dell, and Infosys.   On the other end of the spectrum are companies that failed miserably on the test of Financial Leadership & Excellence – Enron and Satyam just to say a few.

This concept is equally applicable to small and medium organizations as with the large companies.  During the recent economic tsunami that hit the world and more particularly, Dubai, a number of large, medium and small organizations that looked very profitable and successful have vanished from the economic landscape while others have survived, barely so.  We do not have to look very far and wide to see examples of this phenomenon.

A case in example is a company that I closely worked with between 1998 and 2008. Within a few months of joining the organization, the share price nose-dived after the announcement of financial irregularities.  This resulted in large scale lay-offs, reduction in costs and significant erosion of profits.  Needless to say, soon enough there was a change in Management.  The new CEO of the organization realized the need for a change in organizational culture shifting the focus from short-term profitability to long-term sustainability.  By 2008, the company’s share price had increased 300% from 1998 levels.  The recent economic downturn affected the share price but given the strong foundation of the organization culture, the share price rebounded and has made significant gains.  Very simply, the company moved from short term Financial Leadership focus in 1998 to long term Financial Excellence and by 2008 was reaping the benefits of this change.

What is Financial Leadership & Excellence?

Financial Leadership is defined as the ability of an organization to inspire confidence amongst its stakeholders for better financial returns.  

The 5 C’s of Financial Leadership indicate the ability of the organization to:

  1. Generate positive operational Cash flow at all times
  2. Drive higher Customer satisfaction resulting in Increased revenue
  3. Control and manage Risks effectively thus deliver predictable results and lower costs
  4. Improve Cyclical velocity resulting in higher returns on assets and inventory, lower receivable days
  5. Create value for the Shareholders

Financial Excellence is defined as the ability of an organization to sustain Financial Leadership over successive business cycles.

Organizations achieve this through the 5 C’s of Financial Excellence:

  1. Core Values, Vision & Strategy – Values that guide the organization and its people in its conduct internally and externally
  2. Competence – Actively working towards improving the competence of its People, Processes and Technology
  3. Compliance – Ensuring that the organization and its people comply with the Laws of the  Land that it operates in and also internally to the organization’s Core Values
  4. Communication – Epitomizes the highest level of Communication internally within the organization and externally to stakeholders
  5. Commitment – The Management shows and expects Commitment to Financial Excellence, both internally and externally

Look at the following graph.

Typically, most organizations follow the path along the red line through their life-cycle.  They aim to achieve Financial leadership, aiming at cash flows, profitability and growth without much attention to Excellence.  The key focus is on organizational effectiveness, measured by increasing revenue; focus on profits and balance sheet growth.  While they focus on short term success, these organizations also have chronic high employee turnover, constant change in strategy to meet short term needs, and a dubious record of compliance in the absence of clear Core Values and Vision.  When tragedy strikes in the form of an economic downturn, these organizations suffer significantly due to weak foundation on which the business is based.  Employees quit like rats abandoning a sinking ship, revenue and profitability are eroded and shareholder value suffers.  Those organizations that survive the downturn then realize the need for a values based organization and long term strategy leading to a drive towards Excellence.

Few organizations follow the path along the green line.  This alternative path of trying to achieve Financial Excellence takes a long term view of business.  The management of such organizations establishes strong Core values early on in the organization’s life-cycle.  Though profitability and financial growth is important, it is not the only criteria for business decisions.  Consequently, these organizations may struggle for financial stability initially.  If economic downturn strikes early in the life-cycle of the organization, these organizations also suffer dramatically due to poor financial results and pressures of the market to deliver results.  Sometimes, the management in such cases is unable to sustain business.  Organizations such as these that survive the downturn show a fast recovery and higher than expected financial return due to strong employee morale and a sound foundation of business principles.

The ideal scenario is for organizations to strike a balance between Financial Leadership & Excellence and grow the organization along the blue line.  Though easier said than done, the recent economic events clearly dictate the need for:  

  1. a strong foundation of Core Values and Vision;
  2. Competent people driving Compliance with External Laws and internal Values
  3. a combination of effective Communication and Commitment.  

Business Plans drawn up for such organizations should be critically examined for a long term view and the ability to be funded, internally or externally, during the early days to ensure financial success.  Organizations that adopt the ideal path are most likely to succeed in the long term while continuing to meet short term objectives.  

If you have read this article this far, then I ask you three questions –

  1. Where is your organization on the path to Financial Leadership & Excellence?
  2. Can your organization achieve Financial Leadership & Excellence?
  3. What can you do?