Indian CEOs more receptive to new ideas

'Indian CEOs more receptive to new ideas'
18 Sep, 2007, 0447 hrs IST,Malini Goyal, TNN

With rising scrutiny from regulators and the media and increased board activism, life for CEOs is becoming difficult and uncertain. Marshall Goldsmith is one of the most successful executive coaches in the world.

He has coached the heads of companies like Ford Motor, Glaxo SmithKline and is well known in companies like Toyota, Motorola and Boeing. Goldsmith, a practising Buddhist, draws a lot of inspiration from Buddhism. He spoke about CEO coaching and leadership issues. Excerpts:

What’s your job like?

My clients are leaders — one half of them are CEOs and the other half aspiring to be one. There were times in the past when I failed. It happened because I had this hallucinogenic belief that I can improve others if given a choice. But now I believe my stuff works only if the person is willing to try. My coaching is not intellectual or technical that it needs to be updated. It has to be given a fair chance and the CEO has to be willing. The demand has been growing. I have coached some of the most successful CEOs.

Coaching is hard work — it’s challenging helping people to deal with issues. I also teach and enjoy it. Writing is the hardest bit — but I think it has the broadest and biggest impact. Several million people have read my books.

What do you think is the biggest problem that CEOs are grappling with?

They have this need to be always right and believe how smart they are. Even here in my class in Hyderabad (at the Indian School of Business), when I asked my class where do you count yourself in the organisation, 60% said they considered themselves among top 5% in their groups. Leaders are too hung up on winning. But there are times when not winning is worth it. There is a price to be paid for winning — and sometimes it isn’t worth it.

Can you tell us about a behavioural flaw you often see in leaders?

It happens often — there is this young smart executive who comes and shares his idea. You say great idea and then tell him “why don’t you add this to it”. As a leader there are times when you want to add value. You might have improved the quality of the idea by 5%. But what you have also done in large measure is that you have taken away the ownership of the idea. “It’s no longer my idea” — that executive says to himself.

How much do you think all this reflects on one’s personal life?

What you are at work certainly affects life at home. If you are stubborn and opinionated at work it is highly unlikely that you would be any different at home. The need to prove how smart they are and constantly listening to others saying how smart they are literally shuts a lot of CEOs out from a lot of real stuff.

You have been interacting with CEOs closely. What are the big changes you see?

Globally, the role of a CEO has changed a lot. In the US, salaries have gone way up and tenures have come down. And there’s more pressure. The role of the press has become more critical. If you are a CEO today you ought to be many things simultaneously. One of my clients who is No 2 to the CEO once said “it means I have to watch everything I say”. It is like being always on stage.


Does it show in the way CEOs are managing?

Leaders today also work far harder than in the past and there is no job security. Earlier it was much easier to keep coasting even if you weren’t driven as a CEO. But today it’s much tougher — you have to be psychologically much more committed to it.

It has got to do with globalisation — it is a highly competitive environment with competition coming from all over — Vietnam, India and it is very tough to maintain your edge. Also, the growing reach of technology in one’s life means that a CEO today ends up working 68-80 hours per week.

How do you pick a good coach?

The biggest problem is the ego of a coach. In situations I have failed I think it was because of my ego. I think the focus should not be on the coach but on the client. Nobody gets better because of great coaches but because of great clients. Coaching isn’t a function of great coaches but great clients. Success or failure is not about me but about people.

I like measuring things — and I think the most effective way to measure my work is to get paid for results, not my input. How much time do I spend is a very bad way to measure my work.

What’s your take on India and Indian leaders?
In the last 20 years I have seen dramatic and exciting changes in India. It is evolving into a global power and the socialist environment is giving way to a capitalist one. India and Asia hold a special place for me. This is where Buddha came from. Leaders here happen to be very good and are quite receptive to learning.

One thing I keep saying — teachers are as good as their students. I find that Indian leaders today are much more sophisticated than they were 20 years ago and receptive to new ideas — much more than even the US ones. While at a macro level things may be different but at micro level, leaders across the world face similar kind of challenges.

What’s your new book about?
Successful people often believe that the behaviour that got them there will take them to the next stage, failing to realise that their success has come in spite of their behavioural flaws or that their behaviour is preventing them from realising their potential. This book (What got you here won't get you there) helps people identify and break the bad habits that are getting in their way.