INSTITUTIONAL LEADERSHIP

(In some of the European universities, post graduate students in engineering disciplines are asked to submit reports like the following as part of their course work.  These are the questions faced by one of my friends who heads an engineering college in South India.  I like his responses to the questions; and I guess you might like them too.) 

 [1] What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced getting to the point in your career you are today? How did you get past them?

Every man who is in his late forties and who has come to find himself at a seminal place in the organization he works for or in the entrepreneurship he runs would tell others, very readily, of many blockades that almost proved insurmountable.  Life is full of struggles, and more so for a person who hails from deepest hinterlands of southern peninsula of India.  I finished my schooling in the late Seventies when it was nothing less than a miracle for a village boy to intrude onto corridors of technical institutes located in metropolitan cities like Chennai. 

My first challenge was to convince my agricultural parents to allow me to test the waters of higher education.  They were unwilling and were so conditioned to believe that higher education in cities would do great harm not only to their meager revenue but also to the well being of their son who was rather desperate to step into impending temptations of metropolis.   I had to convince them.  That was, I would say, my first big challenge.

My second challenge was a sense of alienation I underwent during the first years of my urban life.  It appeared to me so unnatural that I could not fit myself in the schemes of things there.  Braving the poverty while fighting it out with the challenges of Engineering Education was, in the beginning, truly frustrating.  This, I would call, my next big challenge.

My next challenge was about honing up right qualities to be become an educator in the fields of engineering and technology.  Communication was my big challenge, though I was comfortable with the content I had to conduct to the students.  It was, more or less, like learning while teaching. 

I could walk past the challenges aforementioned in a manner that could be described ‘dignified’ not because I sought help from outside but from within.  Every problem and every challenge made me increasingly stronger and more insightful.  In a way, while looking back, I am satisfied that I believed in the one who would never betray me, that is, me.  Yes, I believed in myself.  I knew that, from the core of my heart,  I could win the war if only I could endure the battles. I am happy I did.

[2] What is most rewarding about the position you are in today?

Empowerment.  This is the most rewarding experience my present position gives me in abundance.  I am in the task of empowering legions and legions of students who look forward to me and my team for the help they need in terms of their education, career and life.  And my team and I are so possessed with a sense of duty that we can ill afford to lose the sight of our mission.  We empower generations.  Nothing could be more rewarding.

[3]What advice would you give someone just embarking on his or her career?

Keep going.  Don’t lose sight of the goal.  Don’t get lost on the way.  It is often the last key in the bunch that opens the door.

[4] What are the top traits you look for in employees?

Willingness to share the vision of the institution and the leader.  Determination to commit himself to the cause.  And the gumption to move earth and heaven to accomplish the vision. 

[5] What do you do that helps you be effective as a leader / manager?

I go to any length to prove that I am no different from my team. I can be only as good as my team.  Though I could understand why certain things are not done to the best of our ability, I do not tolerate unwillingness from my team members.  Continuing in the team means sharing the vision of the team.  Sharing the vision ultimately means commitment  and dedication.  I set precedence with my attitude toward an assignment we would take up. 

When things are not as hopeful as I believed, I do not hesitate to seek help and assistance from my well-wishers in the field.  Having quite a few comrades in the field helps you resolve issues.  After all, collective wisdom can be better than a single brain.

[6] What is the best business book you have read?

Uncommon Ground: Dialogues With Business And Social Leaders by Rohini Nilekani.

[7] How do you ensure your organization and its activities are aligned with your “core values”?

By the time I could become the Head of an Engineering Institution, it was no more secret in the circles what I stand for.  Before approaching me for the post of the Principal, the management of our institution has got to understand, from my previous employers and formerly colleagues, the vision I hold to in my career.  It was a sweet coincidence that the goals of our management go hand in hand with those of mine. 

 I am flexible to a great extent, though overstretching is resisted with daring fortitude. Working with the organization for a good deal of time helps to understand each other.

 [8] What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?

Believe in your team.  You are only as good as your team.  Welcome a good suggestion from anybody in the team.  Make everybody feel equally important.  And, no nepotism, please.

 [9] Where do the great ideas come from in your organization?

From the team.  From the leader.  From the expert.  From the technician. And, from the last man in the organizational hierarchy.  As long as the idea is great, no issues are there really about the source.

 [10] How does your organization decide which new technology to pursue?

Pertinence. Usability. Affordability.  – These are the parameters with which we decide before adopting a new technology.

[11] Are you more comfortable with verbal or written communication?

I am comfortable with both the medium.  Context determines selection. 

[12] How do you delegate responsibilities to your team?

Horses for courses.  I know my team well.  I know the strength of each member.  I just synchronize the right man with the job on hand.

[13] How do you encourage the development of your employees?

As said somewhere earlier in the questionnaire, we believe in empowerment.  We empower not only our students but our staff as well.  They know how I grew up.  I tell them, not by words but by action, what to avoid and what to absorb in their career.  I keep telling the boys to remain humane with fellow beings while remaining tough on the job.  I encourage them to further their academics.  I encourage them to take research studies.  I encourage my staff to come out with more research articles to their credit. I give them the backroom support in all their academic furtherance and in enhancing their employability.  We conduct many Faculty Improvement Programs (FIP).  I do not fail to elevate the right man to the deserving altitude at the opportune moment.  And, no partiality is permissible.

[14] How would your staff and colleagues describe your leadership style? If possible, give an example to support your answer.

A true democrat.  An approachable principal.  A man on ground zero.

The professor who was teaching Engineering Graphics had to leave our organization all of a sudden, on personal grounds.  With his exit, there was none to take up the responsibility.  In the meeting conducted in reference to the issue, all my staff asked me if I could be the stop-gap arrangement as every one of them was busy with handful of activities.  Moreover, we were approaching the Semester end.  None was reluctant to ask me. 

[15] Name some situations in which a leader may fail.  Tell me about a time when you failed as a leader.

When a confidant betrays, the leader fails.  And there were instances where I was betrayed by the ones in whom I reposed faith in good measure. 

I don’t want to go into details as that would rupture the healed wounds.  All I can say is, when people betray you, they don’t tell who you are but tell you who they are.

[16] What was the most significant change you brought about in your organization?

Direction.

[17] How do you organize projects and prioritize tasks?

By delegation.  So far as prioritizing tasks are concerned, significance and deadline are the guidelines.

[18] What advice you give to a person who has to accept the transition from Engineer to Leader.  If you wish to give some examples, please do.

Believe in you.  No short-cuts.  Humaneness tinged with pragmatism.  Listen to others and decide yourself.

My day-to-day enterprises are based on these very values.  Every day in the week is a testimony of what I believe in.

       Thank you.