What makes individuals with no relevant qualification or domain expertise get picked up for key posts and plum assignments? They possess intrinsic qualities and values that make them relevant and critical to any business...
A few days back, there was a news item that Dr S Jaishankar has been selected to become President of the overseas business of the Tata Group and that he will report only to the chairman of Tata Sons.
Who is Dr S Jaishankar? What was his experience in the corporate world? Dr S Jaishankar is a 1977 batch Indian Foreign Service Officer, who excelled in his diplomatic career and retired from the highest post of Secretary, External Affairs, Government of India, just a few months back. He does not have any experience of working in the corporate world. He does not have any degree or diploma in the field of management science. He is a postgraduate in political science from JNU and has a doctorate in international relations. He has been lauded for the work done by him in the jobs assigned to him, and the government gave him extension and now has relaxed the rules for him to join the private sector. A question can be asked as to why the Tata Group appointed a rank outsider to manage its business instead of an old corporate hand? This column proceeds to seek this answer.
In my personal job assignment as a senior tax officer, I had the privilege to closely see the workings of business groups and the corporate world. I saw that for entry at lower and mid level, corporate experience or management degrees were considered, but not for very high-ranking positions. Though such high-level entries of outsiders were few and far between, I saw that some very successful entrepreneurs who were not even very much educated had the knack to select some very talented persons. Professionals both from the corporate world and from outside were being picked up, and they contributed to the success of the business. I remember that during my younger days when I was in charge of tax matters of a leading group and most of my orders were against that group, yet I was offered a senior position in the group by the management of that group. I declined their offer as I enjoyed my job, but I asked them as to why they wanted to appoint an outsider who did not have management qualification or corporate experience. They told me that they look for many other virtues and that corporate experience was just one of such attributes.
What are the virtues or qualities which are essential for excellence in the corporate sector or in any business activity? The identification of the required quality may be a little subjective, related to the business philosophy of the business entity. However, some useful qualities visualised are discussed here which are the same in all areas of activities, not necessarily only in the corporate sector.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook has identified six core ingredients for success: 1. Ambition, 2. Vision, 3. Execution, 4. Determination, 5. Luck, 6. Timing. Unless a person has ambition he will not decide on doing something big. The doing something big has to be based on a clear vision, otherwise ambition will remain only a dream. Execution will mean actually working based on the set vision, otherwise vision will never take off. All these mean getting a good start and going, but it is determination which becomes a critical factor between success and failure of the project undertaken. It is normal that a new project will face problems and obstacles, and it’s our determination which motivates us to go ahead and succeed. There is no denying the fact that good luck plays a role as it certainly reduces our troubles and businesses should be started when the odds are favourable. Zuckerberg has identified the parameters for success in business but they are also very important for all our activities.
A person who reaches the top in his area of activity definitely has inner qualities that will help him do well in other areas of work also. Dr Jaishankar was a talented diplomat with inner qualities, and that is the reason that he succeeded. The Tata Group took him as a top corporate executive after his retirement only because of his inner qualities. The chairman, Tata Sons, was himself equipped enough to identify the qualities of Dr Jaishankar which may prove beneficial to the group. It is an intelligent selection. Lakhs and crores of people start their lives in the corporate sector every year all over the world, but see how many of them become Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or even our own Narayana Murthy. What distinguishes a small few from many others are their inner qualities and moral values. Many behavioural scientists have done research on the qualities which make people successful. People having these qualities in addition to domain knowledge of their areas of activities excel and become successful.
Some of these inner qualities outlined by researchers are: 1. Persistence, 2. Thinking big, 3. Self-confidence, 4. Unswerving commitment, 5. Tremendous willpower, 6. Patience, 7. Optimism, 8. Flexibility, 9. Thinking long-term, 10. Strong communication, 11. Risk taking abilitity, 12. Taking definitive action, 13. Leadership qualities, 14. Fearlessness, 15. Allowing work to speak, etc. The inner qualities of a person consolidate into a strong pedestal and if the same is supported by hard work and core competence, then there is no reason why that person will not achieve success in any activity he is engaged in.
Take the illustration of the Civil Services examination, which is considered to be the most difficult examination in the country. Roughly, 7 lakh students take the examination for about 1,000 jobs, which means that only 0.15 per cent students succeed. Students taking this examination are mostly bright graduates, many of whom are engineers from IITs, doctors and even management diploma holders from IMMs. Students work hard to crack this examination which is in three phases: preliminary, main and interviews.
There is no doubt about the hard work and intelligence of the successful students but finally when they become civil servants, some continue to remain outstanding and many fall from the high moral ground and become corrupt, lazy and vindictive. Students who fall as civil servants are those who do not have a strong base of inner human qualities. This is possible in all walks of life. In the corporate sector or in the business world persons devoid of inner qualities transform into persons like Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksey or Vijay Mallya for whom money is the only goal whether earned rightly or wrongly.
“We may remain unaware of our qualities, but the people around us will feel it, and we may be offered a higher job, a better business venture or more money. Our success depends finally on the perception of others about us”
There is a truth that to some extent success also depends on the outer environment, in addition to inner qualities. We have bright, hardworking youngsters with strong moral values who fail in India but they are very successful abroad. The only difference is in the environment they work. A helpful environment is always a strong contributory factor in the success of a person. We face the problem of unemployment in our country but our youngsters outside India become CEOs of high-profile multinational companies. It is the duty of all of us to improve the environment in our country by improving our education system by putting more emphasis on research and innovation. We should stop producing unemployable graduates and give importance to skilling the students. The government should work towards producing autonomous universities which come among the first 100 universities of the world. Our students are intelligent and hardworking but they need the environment to excel.
Success remains incomplete if the successful person is not happy. In fact, happiness is an important ingredient for continuous success. It works as motivation and it also supplies positive energy to work still better. If happiness is lost, then even if the person is successful in his career, he will stop doing things better or working harder and thus start decaying. In short, success and happiness are complementary to each other. Together with the inner qualities of a person, the strong moral value of that person brings happiness to him. Strong moral values include honesty, truthfulness, giving love and respect to parents and giving back to the society. Selfless caring and giving to needy ones give immense happiness. Money lying in our banks definitely make us feel good, but the real happiness comes when some money is given to people who need it with humility, and without any ego or elitism. See the smile on the face of people whom you have helped and that will work as the ignition fuel of potential energy in you. The strengthened positive energy will give a strong kick for our success and happiness.
Yes, inner qualities and strong moral values form our pillar for success, but there is yet another segment which has to be strengthened and that is our health. We have to be good human beings and try to be successful persons but our happiness will still remain away from us if we are physically not healthy. How can we enjoy our wealth, power and position if we have pain in our body? Can we enjoy our life lying on the hospital bed? Definitely not. Hence our fitness becomes a necessary component of our happiness and also our success.
We need to develop ourselves on all the parameters as discussed for ultimate success. We may remain unaware of our qualities, but the people around us will feel it, and we may be offered a higher job, a better business venture or more money. Our success depends finally on the perception of others about us.
by S K Jha
