Lessons in Succession Planning – from Narendra Modi

(This piece was written during the run-up to the 2014 general elections. Suddenly looks relevant in light of the Tata-Mistry saga)


Over the last few days we have been hearing how Narendra Modi has been ruthless and shunting out the old guard in the BJP. People have been talking about how seniors deserve respect and Modi is not giving them enough of this.

While by no means is this a piece on BJP politics, one cannot but see similarities to Corporate world. Don’t know if Modi is picking lessons from Corporate or the Corporate world has to learn some stuff.

A lot of times, when the person at the top changes, so does the management structure at Level 2 or even Level 3. The CEO brings with him / her, his/her own set of people whom the CEO is comfortable with. It is extremely important for the CEO to have a free hand in this. While the organization is going through a change, it cannot change its stripes fast enough with older thought processes.

First of all let us understand why, this change is required. The earlier CEO may not have got the results or simply has resigned / retired due to age / tenure. In the first case, there is a need for new ideas and new processes. Each CEO will have their own protégés or trusted lieutenants. Change is the most difficult thing to accept and hence, these trusted lieutenants could cling on their older beliefs, which are not giving results. Thus there is “deadwood” in the system which needs to be removed or else the jungle will just not grow.

The new CEO sets about just doing that. In case a successful CEO moves on, he is replaced from someone within the system, generally who is a protégé. This person goes about on the same path as the previous CEO and hence faces lesser resistance. However this person faces different problems. This person is suddenly now asked to head a team, which comprised of peers. It is a very tricky situation and people are firstly unhappy of not having made it to the top. They believe that they should have been the chosen ones and hence starts the process of “sabotage”.

Hence in both cases, one finds that teams change with change of CEOs. A prime example is of a leading private sector bank in India, where, when a highly respected and successful chairman stepped down, the entire management team was shunted out (or moved out).

The new CEO needs a free hand to succeed. Does it mean, none of the old loyalists survive? Not necessarily. People who are “loyalist” to the person may get shunted out. People who adopt change and accept the new guard will survive in the new system. A prime example is another Advani loyalist, Sushma Swaraj. While she has accepted Modi’s leadership, she is making noises in the way some people are being treated. Why is she not being shunted out ( As I finish writing this she may be…)?

Remember the world at the top is very lonely. It is very easy to be surrounded by sycophants or yes men. Sometimes the advice can be everything the new person does is right and everything the old person did was wrong. This statement can be nothing further than the truth. Also one can be blinded by success or potential success. Jamie Dimon says, you need to be surrounded by people who tell you the truth. If Modi has to succeed, he needs a Sushma Swaraj, who will tell him the truth even if it is bitter. However there is a difference between “sabotage” and “constructive criticism”. While “sabotage” is a word from the world of espionage, it exists in all organizations (political as well as non-political). The perceived dividing line is very thin. As long as it is constructive criticism, Sushma Swaraj has an extremely strong role to play.

As a matter of fact, she could turn out to be Modi’s biggest asset. She is the “mirror” in Modi’s party and has her value in the entire scheme of things.

We could actually be seeing a great story of change management in an organization, where corporates have to learn from politicians!

Standards of Living

“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” This is one of the things that I had learnt as a child. Twenty years of Corporate Career have ensured that I do not have any of the three attributes mentioned above.

The first few years of corporate life are spent in proving yourself. 15 hour work days are the norm.  If you leave office at half past five or six, comments about leaving half day are normal. So the entire day is spent having endless cups of coffee networking and then working furiously after 5 to impress the boss and other colleagues. Of course there are fringe benefits like ensuring that your departure time ‘coincides’ with that of some interesting colleagues. Adds a little spice to a completely boring life.

Then when you start getting older, the ‘interesting’ colleagues lose interest in you. So now your late evening journey from office to home gets frequently interrupted at a watering hole. Inherited health, studied wisdom and earned wealth get sacrificed during the journey from office to home. The accumulated balance of all the three attributes is very limited. So one fine day, I decided to quit Corporate life and follow the above wisdom, which I learnt in school.

The time I used to leave from office, is the time I go to sleep today. The time I used to return home after a party is the time I wake up. But leaving corporate life ensures, that wealth of the material kind is a bit scarce.

In order to hoard and save on this scarce commodity, I decided to go to work by public transport last week. The first stop was a shared auto rickshaw which would take me to the nearest suburban railway station. I found myself in the company of two middle aged ladies and a young driver. While I was busy reading an article on my cell phone, one of the ladies shrieked. The auto had just avoided an oncoming car. I suddenly realized that we were in the wrong lane. Majority of the traffic was coming from the other side. It was directly out of the movie Octopussy, where Vijay Amritraj drove James Bond in an auto at breakneck speed through the streets of Rajasthan. Fortunately I was not on a secret mission, nor were we escaping from some gun toting villains.

The next stop was at a traffic signal. We were supposed to go right, and the signal for us was red. However red lights don’t stop daredevil auto drivers. At a speed which would put Lewis Hamilton to shame, he swerved left, cut through the traffic at 90 degrees, took a U-turn and then turned left to go coolly on his way. All the while listening to Bollywood music.

Finally we decided to protest and interrupt his music concert.  He was grossly irritated at listening to a sermon early in the morning. He squarely passed the blame on other commuters. Apparently, in peak hours, commuters pester him to go fast, break all kinds of traffic rules and ensure that they reach the train station quickly. He went on to add that this has been a phenomenon, since fingerprinting has been introduced at the workplace.

Fingerprinting ensures that the entry time is captured accurately to the second. Thus people coming late are easily identified. In an era of 15 hour work days, where performance matters, people are still being pulled up for punctuality. The person who introduced fingerprinting access as a security feature would never have imagined the risk it could bring with it.

In this race to survive, we are compromising basic safety. Apparently it is the educated class which is encouraging people the break the rules. Those of us who drive will vouch that there is no shortage of people driving on the wrong side of the road. I have had cases, where people are honking behind me when I stop at a red signal, making me wonder, whether stopping at a red light is an offence.

On a different note, when I see people in fancy cars throwing bottles, coffee cups and pieces of paper on the road, I wonder whether these people are educated. Education is supposed to make the world a better place. It is also making the world a competitive place. Is it this competition that is making us lose our basic civic sense? Or is it the power which gives people a sense of entitlement to do what they wish.  And where does power emanate from? Does it come from money or from position, status? Wherever it comes from, with a brash display of power especially in simple tasks like not following traffic rules and littering the roads, what kind of example are we setting for our children?

It is very clear that education does not make us wise. Is it the rat race that is making us lose our wisdom? The chase of greater profits, has led to better income, more and bigger cars, better standard of living. But wisdom is lost and we are chasing material benefits even by putting our lives in peril.

The standard of living has improved. The standards of living have fallen.