With more and more Indian executives being posted abroad - especially in booming sectors such as IT, Pharma and FMCG, Indian companies have felt an increasing need for the chosen people to be trained in the culture and the ways of the country of posting. This has meant the rise of a new breed of trainers in culture and special classes for country specific culture training to help such executives fit smoothly into their new roles.
But have we ever stopped to think about the Indian manager who is about to take up a position outside his native state? Have we ever thought of the need for training such individuals to quickly settle down into their new roles they are about to take up? Why do I say this? Hear what some expat CEOs have to say. Kwon of Samsung believes serving in India is like serving in many countries. Michael Bonham, who is the Ford India CEO supports this view. When he shifted to Delhi after spending nearly three years in Chennai, he actually thought he had shifted to a "different country." So how does one go about learning about these countries within a country and our cultural traits and attitudes? How does one go about decoding what the Economic Times calls the desi dynamic? Learn from the experiences of expat CEOs posted on Indian shores. Why? Because they notice things which we as Indians don't and they put a light on attitudes which we take for granted.
For many of us our attitudes and beliefs about different communities are the cultural stereotypes handed down to us from our parents and friends, (the Bong is sentimental, the North Indian is aggressive etc). And these become the drivers influencing our behavior and responses to people from these communities which can come in the growth path of executives who aspire for leadership roles. For, as Jacques Challes the Managing Director of L'Oreal puts it, "India is about the future of business." Moreover Challes believes that in India "you are constantly building" unlike his own country France, where everything is static. Since the business of business is primarily about managing people, and the Indian environment is one of constant change, where do we begin? With one of Challes observations.
Challes has observed that the power distance between the field staff and the highly educated managers at headquarters, is so big, that they are not able to communicate effectively. The loss in translation is the reason why strategies created at the top are often not executed efficiently in the field.
But have we ever stopped to think about the Indian manager who is about to take up a position outside his native state? Have we ever thought of the need for training such individuals to quickly settle down into their new roles they are about to take up? Why do I say this? Hear what some expat CEOs have to say. Kwon of Samsung believes serving in India is like serving in many countries. Michael Bonham, who is the Ford India CEO supports this view. When he shifted to Delhi after spending nearly three years in Chennai, he actually thought he had shifted to a "different country." So how does one go about learning about these countries within a country and our cultural traits and attitudes? How does one go about decoding what the Economic Times calls the desi dynamic? Learn from the experiences of expat CEOs posted on Indian shores. Why? Because they notice things which we as Indians don't and they put a light on attitudes which we take for granted.
For many of us our attitudes and beliefs about different communities are the cultural stereotypes handed down to us from our parents and friends, (the Bong is sentimental, the North Indian is aggressive etc). And these become the drivers influencing our behavior and responses to people from these communities which can come in the growth path of executives who aspire for leadership roles. For, as Jacques Challes the Managing Director of L'Oreal puts it, "India is about the future of business." Moreover Challes believes that in India "you are constantly building" unlike his own country France, where everything is static. Since the business of business is primarily about managing people, and the Indian environment is one of constant change, where do we begin? With one of Challes observations.
Challes has observed that the power distance between the field staff and the highly educated managers at headquarters, is so big, that they are not able to communicate effectively. The loss in translation is the reason why strategies created at the top are often not executed efficiently in the field.
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| The Indian manager has a unique set of attitudes, knowing which, can help us grow quickly in our leadership roles |
So how can managers cut this loss in translation? How can s/he improve execution of his or her painstakingly planned strategies? The learning about the desi dynamic of the expat CEO trying to settle down into his leadership role in India, holds important lessons for us.
Yves Martinez of Legrand has discovered that its not enough to set targets and issue instructions to his managers you have to take time to convince the internal teams. "...people want to understand what they are doing, they want to take time over it."
Benoit Lecuyer, the MD of Hager Electro believes that management in India is more personal and therefore managers have to make people the centrepiece of business and life. Instead of calling large meetings with 50 people, they should call the managers for one-to-one discussions. This helps the manager and his senior to get to know one another better.
Kiminobu Tokuyama CEO of Nissan Motors seconds this view when he observes that Indian managers are rich with ideas and views but in business meetings, they do not express any disagreement with their bosses. "My constant effort," he says. " is to create an atmosphere of mutual respect, trust, confidence and fearlessness and thereby enable free flow of honest opinion from all."
A very important insight comes from Neil Mills, CEO of Spicejet. He calls for dealing with people as individuals and not as members of a community. He believes that there is no such thing as a common Indian culture, for instance, a person with a south Indian name could be more north Indian, because he has lived in Delhi all his life. This means one has to tailor the way instructions are given to people based on their divergent backgrounds and not as a Marwari, Tamilian, Bengali etc.
So there you have it - the desi dynamic decoded. Now to set about internalizing and validating the observations in our corporate lives and leadership roles.
5 comments:
I am a Authorised Distributor for MNC dealing in Cutting Tools and located in Pune .2 points on which I agree and would like to write my views
a) Mr.Kiminobu Tokuyama CEO of Nissan Motors view when he observes that Indian managers are rich with ideas and views but in business meetings, they do not express any disagreement with their bosses " what happens is that the people working under him ( manager) have to face the wrath when they face the end-user or consumer to implement the ideas / decision .
b)Insight from Neil Mills, CEO of Spicejet. He calls for dealing with people as individuals and not as members of a community. He believes that there is no such thing as a common Indian culture, for instance, a person with a south Indian name could be more north Indian, because he has lived in Delhi all his life. This means one has to tailor the way instructions are given to people based on their divergent backgrounds and not as a Marwari, Tamilian, Bengali etc.......yes very true it is not only company to company but it happens in one single company that you visit / deal with that you come across people with different mind sets and we have to always deal with people as individual and nothing else .
This is a great article on Desi Dynamic .
Shabbir, I think what Tokuyama was saying is that the people under the manager do not open up. This may be attributable to the respect (unfortunately declining) Indians have for authority.
Yes, I agree with you that it is important to deal with every person as an individual and nothing else. Unfortunately many of us have this attitude of judging people on the basis of their community which could have unwanted consequences.
This is a good topic and begs a question and reflection....
Why do Indians see the need for coaching to send their workers abroad but foreigners to India do not see the same need?
Furthermore on this same topic, with offshoring and outsourcing- companies abroad setting up shop in India- many may send an NRI to fill that position in India. In such a case the company may actually believe there is LESS need for a training for an NRI because 'Hasn't he or she grew up India? They should be able to understand both cultures and do what we need them to do!"
That is a myth that needs to be dispelled. I would think many NRIs who get sent back in this position have been educated abroad and / or at least worked their way up in the company abroad for the past 8-15 plus years. Many such returnees are not likely to be freshers. So, the answer is NO they will not completely understand the Indian ways. Especially if they have never worked in India, they have been professionally groomed in US (abroad) and to come to manage in India - it's managing across cultures. The Indian who comes back to do this is in a unique situation of (1) the US company wanting the NRI to manage the American way (2) the local Indians thinking 'Why is this guy not understanding us, isn't he Indian and (3) Balancing these both and being able to send back balanced work updates to the people abroad.
Jennifer, you have brought forth important points about desi attitudes.
The first one is about why Indians on posting abroad are put through a culture familiarization process of the country of their posting, while foreigners coming on deputation to India are not. I believe this is because of the Indian sensitivity to cultures other than their own. India, as you may be aware, has always been invaded - but has never been the invader. The waves of cultures which have swept through India because of this, right from C.Asian, Greek, to Persian and Mongol, may have left their mark on our sensitivity to other cultures. Even in places where Indian (as in Hindu) culture has spread through trade, as in S.E Asian countries, it has never been forced, but has been accepted voluntarily. This I believe in large part is because Hinduism is not an institutionalized religion but a way of life, a social charter for community living. This characteristic of Hinduism may also be a driver of our sensitivity to others. As a result, we are nation comfortable with grey (as opposed to seeing things in black and white) of Western cultures. This comfort with ambiguity, far from giving us a sense of complacency, has made us more sensitive to others. Perhaps that is why, Indians realize that learning about other cultures, could help them to settle down and deliver faster in their countries of posting.
Regarding your view about suitability of foreign based Indians for country head positions in India, i agree that their ability to deliver because of their ethnicity is being exaggerated.
Mr. Uday,
Thank you for your responses.
I am fascinated about the thought of how invasions on India allowed Indians and continue to allow Indians to be more culturally sensitive. This being so- I would feel India *needs* cross cultural training much less than say a typical American coming to India, let's say. But the reality is it's happening on the ground in the exact opposite fashion.
Ambiguity- I agree there are many more shades of grey in India - with so many aspects of daily life that are not experienced in US.
Coming from a guise of certainty in USA to ambiguity in India is very tough. But going from ambiguity to certainty (India to US) must also have it's unique challenges as well.
Thanks for challenging me.
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