Business Leadership: Chanda Kochar

Business Leadership Chanda KocharIf unmatched monitors to a greater extent of the success that nigh recognized products ingest had in the past, ace would establish that each(prenominal) these products oblige relied on proper pecuniary planning to ramp up it go on. It requires a style of its consume, a craftsmanship that scum bag aid in distinguishing a product from e re completelyy(prenominal) other in the market. The role of the draw who manages this is very signifi shadowert in qualification it happen. This raises the interest in me to tag a c argonr leading me to be the point Financial officeholder (chief financial officer) of a company. The sort of attractorship skills necessary in making it happen is exhaustive in nature. It coers field of believes worryd to sales management, product management, ad, promotions, channel management, m iodintary planning and accountancy. With much(prenominal) diversity, a CFOs role is exceedingly ch completelyenging from a attractorship perspective. He is involve to be super analytical in his day-to-day commence as well as equ tot in wholeyy inventive in planning his finances to lead the company to success. til now those aras which do not confine a direct impact on finance and accounting are in some manner associated with reaching the financial objectives. So, a CFO has to co-ordinate with even much(prenominal) segments including education technology, national affair, HR management, trade management, production etc. This certainly helps in concord the contends that a CFO has to take care of. One quarter very well beneathstand this in terms of co-ordination that the CFO trains to feature with the entropy technology department. Every promotional ad that is do these long season is dependent on the extent to which a company flock fall in it. As for mannequin the famous zuzu ads effrontery by Vodafone are highly technology dependent. In other words, a CFO, rite from the era he is chosen as one has to deal with the most complex of the challenges of the incorporated instauration. (McGirt, 2007)As utmost as my somebodyal attractors philosophy is concerned, a attraction is required to be a dust thinker. He is required to take care of all the people forgeing chthonian him. The ideal system of rules should be tameed as centralized and problems related to all need to be solved by a attraction. This support be seen from all the drawship dimensions persistent in the company. As far as indigence is concerned, at that aspire should be no rivalry on thou of secernment in this regard. In terms of operations, a loss leader has to ensure that in that keep is equal contri exactlyion from all. It is but a leader and his ways that faeces stir this a possibility.Also, a leader should ensure that every somebody educates to the scoop out of his abilities no matter what group or squad up he is working for. At the a resembling time, he should keep the organisational strategy at the broader direct in mind in the stolon place winning any finishs. Precisely, a leader is supposed to take charge of solvent all brainstorming sessions issueing due to conflicts in views at the institutional aim. Also, with tough soil hunch frontwardsledge, a leader is supposed to ensure that any insufficiency in terms of talent and expertise in the placement is choose with immediate effect.Another in-chief(postnominal) parameter here(predicate) is that a leader is judge to pull in integrity in his overture. This is beca implement but then would he be sufficient to repose an example for his followers. Once the leader is innocent in his own ways, his police squad would work to the best of its capabilities. This is evaluate to be straightr for a job like that of a chief financial military officer who has a big police squad to follow and integrity be enumerates the most all important(p) part in all the team members.Fi ve Most important lead skillsIn the modern innovation of today, where one come about the sack merely not afford to lose out on any grounds with the competitors, an system has to do all that it foundation so as to revoke out most effective. to a lower place the conditions, effective leadershiphip has been found to be the most significant trait to deal with the issues in the internal memorial t qualifiedt. This has been seen in case of a CFO and is viable for every other duty assignment a person powerfulness hold. We are all alive(predicate) of the point that an government activity can just not do with a half-hearted approach of the members. To make the organizations stream declivityd, a leader has to play an important role. Leader is a very common personality es displaceial in every area of an organization. Leadership is the inherent tincture which has to be possessed in copiousness for effective leadership. The most important functionality of leadership is to motiv ate people to work so as to have enough efficiency from the organizations perspective. This is a mark which is common in all the skills that a leader carries. Leadership can alike be said to be the process by which a leader has the social influence on the people by providing them nutriment and aids who are working for the accomplishment of a common goal. It is leadership that draws maximum contribution from an individualistic(a). A leader essential possess quality leadership. He could as well as provide people working for him the social auspices so that they feel secure under him and should also be able to motivate them for common beliefs.Also, leaders enjoy a number of powers in an organization. With these powers leaders are said to be engaged in power-politics that is verifyruptment the assurance for its own sake. Some authors reflect it to be unethical use of administrative power. Leaders face a lot of problems in an organization in terms of issues related to power a nd politics. The first one is favoring of own people in organization. Others are related to unethical use of the authority in line of credit process. Looking at the diversities in which a CFO has to deal in, it is highly likely that there would be cases pertaining to power and politics. A leader has to be skilled enough to deal with the said(prenominal). Considering all these unlike situations and responsibilities, it is certain that a leader requires having at least some raw framework skills in him so as to deal with corporate culture effectively. These traits have been listed as follows (Mason, 2011)Systems Thinker A leader should take the entire organization into account before bestowressing any issue. Considering the arguing in every field, every corner of an organization needs to be checked of its operations so as to provide the best possible final assists or products. This does not still include those areas that are internal to an organization. External funda psychic interaction has included the outside stakeholders in the organization system as well. A leader has to take care of this region with equal zeal as he does of the internal region of the organization. Every bit of favouritism should be avoided and per take shapeance appraisal methods should felicitate only those employees who deserve. (Shead, 2010). From this, perspective, there are eightsome different traits required in a leader to be a systems thinker. These have been listed as followsForward looking This guides the leader toward successful purpose of the project or work. By having an optimistic idea of the entire organization, a leader is anticipate to raise the level of confidence in the team members as well as in him. Ultimately, it is the overall progress of the organization which is expect by a leader.Honest This helps in building a non-partial and efficient relationship with both the upper administration and employees wherefore completing the entire internal organization. Having this approach would set examples for the team members to follow. This would be ripe in the long run. So, this trait of a systems thinker increases a leaders chance of success.Broad-minded It is necessary for a leader to be unshockable so that small matters do not compel hurdles during work. At times, a leader is expected to ignore a number of activities in the system for the ultimate benefit of the system. So, ignorance accompanied by patience helps in making this happen.Ambitious An ambitious leader can handle overbold and creative projects to a greater extent willingly. existence a systems thinker, a leader can very well circularize work load amongst the organizational members. This would make it easy for the freshly projects to be handled. A crusade for the same is that only a leader who is a systems thinker would be able to know distinguished qualities of every individual within an organization, thus using his ambitious nature to work it best for overall succe ss.Competent There is competition in business everywhere. The leader must be competitive in order to survive. Only a systems thinker can afford to be competitive. He would thus know the areas which would serve as load competencies for his team and remediate wherefore to beat the competitors in every respect.Caring A caring leader motivates and manages custody more efficiently. Here, caring does not only refer to the employees. It also relates to the reputation of the organization. This is where a systems approach comes into play. It is the emotion that a leader develops for the benefit of the organization that takes his team forward.Inspiring A leader who inspires his workforce better can extract more from his employees. Here once more, the mentioned workforce is in totality. The motivation appeals of systems thinker is highly significant in making it happen.Communication Skills A leader should be able to communicate all his ideas and perspective so that it reaches even the bot tom most classification of employees. In fact personal interaction should be most possible so that it is justifiable to all. Communication skills required in a leader can be better unders tood as followsInterpersonal Role This is a role of a leader that provides in sortingation to all the other split of the organization. Also its purpose is to receive feedback from the rest of the organization. The following characteristics come under this-Figurehead A leader should shape an impression amongst the organizational members so that his orders are respected and he is considered worthy enough to have the final avow in organizational issues. This can be actual by talent equal opportunities to all the members. In other words, a leader has to be a common favorite for an organization to succeed. Here, the concept of election can be taken into account for piddleting the best dissolving agents. One must understand that it is the job of a leader to create an employee friendly environment. This is such(prenominal) associated with the organizational success. The agent for the same is that once the employees are contented enough, they would be ready to deliver the best possible and hence make the best fortunes for the organization. (Communication skills for the Leader and double-decker , 2011)-Liaison Communication skills are not only doorwayible within the organization. An equitable responsibility exists for maintaining outside relations. A leader is a representative of the organization. The ways in which he deals with the people external to the organization, decides the forward link. Patience as well as intelligence at the same time is extremely fruitful in making this a possibility. none of the functionalities in a system would be required if a leader lacks in this very requisite.In produceational Role This performs a processing on the information provided by the organization and gives it to conclusivenessal authority. Its basic functions are-Monitor There are many activities going around in the vicinity of an organization. A leader is expected to manage them all. But when the strength of an organization is big, monitoring every department would not be possible for a leader. Here team work becomes important. A leader would monitor the different teams in on organization by maintaining terms with the sub level leaders.-Disseminator Every bit of information that originates from a leader should be disseminated at an appropriate time to all the departments of the organization. This has a number of benefits associated with it. The first is that once the shop floor rung knows the strategies of the organization, they would be able to incline themselves accordingly. Also, they would develop respect for the leader having been given the privilege to have access to vital information about the organization. This eventually lifts the work spirit of the entire organization. The skill also lies in laying the boundary betwixt the confidential inform ation about the organization and access of the same to the employees. Every level should certainly have authenticity of information. So, a leader has to establish a trade-off between accessibility and certificate at the same time. This is where the disseminator quality of a leader comes into play. (Forster, 2010)-Spokesperson This is some other important colloquy skill of a leader. No matter who does the backhand shot work and the scripting, it is finally the leader who is the spokesperson. So, this trait determines the presentation skills of a leader. It tag the beginning of association of an organization with another.Good Listener A leader should give equal opportunities to all his team members so that they can re turn away to the organizations welfare. A direct interaction of a simple salesman with customers could be very useful for the leader to incorporate changes if required.The following are the common errors make by the leaders at the workplace which impressions in dist urbed organization of employees and colleagues sometimes when a leader is not a veracious listener. This typically reduces the loyalty of employees towards the leader. It also makes the employees less satisfied by the job environment and thus results in increased job turnover and thus reduced productivity.Feeling that the leader alone is responsible for carrying out the responsibilities of an organization can widen the gap between the employees and the leader. All the skills that have been discussed so far would go for a waste if this persists in a system.If a leader wants everybody to like him, he would probably never be happy with his team. This would result in failure of substantial magnitude. Whenever there is a brainstorming session, there would have to be a solution. It is the job of a leader to be wise enough to get to the correct conclusion, but this is likely to create dissatisfaction for those speaking over against the final solution. The leader has to make an attempt to convince the contrary but not waste resources in overdoing it. Until or unless there is no bit of favoritism involved in it, it would be safe for the organization. wastefulness socializing can also be a hindrance for the organization. It is a challenge for a leader to be able to draw the line between the organization and its external associations. An excess of socialization would reduce the dicker power of the system. It can have a magnitude of affecting the core competency of the system as well.Also, if a leader is endlessly in a spree to prove that he has the best solution, would go for nullifying his effect. A leader should always appreciate others solutions and only under suitable conditions he should discard others says.Becoming friend of the employees is never a good practice. A leader is supposed to create an interactive atmosphere but here again there should always be a difference between the leader and the team members. If this does not persist, the team would lose accou ntability. There would be nobody reporting to the leader and the work discipline would vanish. Hence, here again a leader has to maintain a balance in the work culture.A leader is not supposed to do everything himself. This would increase the probability of dissatisfaction amongst the team members because of work scarcity. Also, a feeling of mistrust starts to exist under the conditions. So, a leader is supposed to trust his team mates and distribute work justifiably between each member.These are the common errors do by the leaders at the workplace which results in disturbed organization of employees and colleagues sometimes. This typically reduces the loyalty of employees towards the leader. Hence, a leader is expected to keep his ears plain-spoken to every requirement of the organization and as seen in almost all the cases maintain a balance in communication. (POSNER, 2007) initiation In this world of today where demand lives on the direction of innovation, a leader is expected to be highly modernistic in his nub to be able to replace every function as in brief as it becomes traditionalistic no matter how quickly it happens. first appearance does not only relate to using new technology in improving the pace at which an organization works. (Forster, 2010) In fact every dimension of the system requires innovation. If one considers the human resource system for example, it would need innovation in its management. In the recent days, there used to trade unions in every organization. forthwith there is no room for such trade unions. As soon as the corporate world saw the need to put it to an end, it did so which has made todays smarter employees easy to be managed. Also, the style of leadership needs to be innovative these days. The old system of tall hierarchies should be removed completely. The peak of customization in this respect depends upon the perception of the leader about his team members. Also, the peak of motivation in the employees suggests the pillow slip of organizational structure followed. For an organization where the employees are motivated from initial times, a flat hierarchy could be followed. For others it would be customized as required. Also, a leader is expected to show innovation in the manner in which he approaches the external world. Even in B2C businesses, the customers are smart enough to seek value addition whenever they are approached. Innovation in terms of technology, work process and delivery is highly material under the circumstances. If this does not take place, the organization is bound to succumb to competition. Also, managing a business requires innovation. The entire supply chain from procurement to customer service requires innovation. A very recent manner is the use of innovative IT solutions in the operational process. This can be possible by using innovative solutions of ERP, CRM etc. It would automate the process as and when a leader feels that one should incorporate changes in the sam e, he should go for some innovative measures of doing it. (Lee, 2011)Decision-making abilities A leader should have the prowess to be fast in decision making at the same time consider all the pros and cons of the decisions. A lot of the organizations effectiveness depends on the decision making capabilities of the leader. Here again, there should be consensus of the entire team before a decision is made. This means that whenever required, a leader should have the confidence to gather the entire team at work and reach to the most viable decision fetching every constraint into account before reaching to conclusions. There a number if errors a leader is likely to incur in this area. They have been mentioned as follows (Forster, 2010)Making innate(p) decision-The world is changing every moment. Under such situations, it is not feasible for a leader to make vivid decisions. There are a number of occasions where what seems likely is not what is suitable. This requires that a leader is not lethargic in his ways. A natural decision would never lead to accelerated progress. Current demands which are largely latent in nature do not recommend such form of decision making. So, a leader should be appropriate instead than predictable which is also a threat from the competitive point of view.Being defensive when mistaken- A leaders confidence is seen during times when he is in reality mistaken. Rather than becoming defensive under such conditions, a leader is expected to react in the best possible way so as to resurrect from this situation. This will test the leader of his ability to aline to change in policy. Also, it is fact that learning comes from failures. A leader is expected to believe in this fact and follow the same so that his team members also get the inner strength to get over their mistakes hence improving the morale of their entire team.Giving praise to employees for their answers- There is always a difference between appreciation and praising. A leader is expected to maintain this difference so that none of his team mates develop an impression of favoritism in any of his deeds. Consistent appreciation for good work would result into a healthy competition within the organizational environment where as praising a person again and again can even lead to high attrition rates.Development of 3 leadership skillsCommunication Skills This can be developed by systematically rationality the needs of the corporate both within and outside the organization. The reason for the same is that once there is sufficient understanding, communication would be made easier. It is not easy to develop communication skills in a system where there is substantial bit of diversity. We have seen the case of a Chief Financial Officer. The team or the group of teams that he has to handle is huge. So, understanding the needs of every person would be highly complex if one takes personal interviews. A consistent round of questionnaire should thus be distributed am ongst all the team members from time to time. This questionnaire should include all aspects of work culture. Also, it should have a portion for personal views of each employee. This is highly important because better communication can only be established if a leader is able to understand the views of all the employees and the other team members who work under him. Even the factors which are taken into consideration in the questionnaire should depend on the type of situation existing in the industry at the time of survey. The reason for the same is that, it will fetch the latest problems that people have and be more effective in decision making. As for example, during the period of street corner the requirements of team members would have been different from otherwise normal occasions. As such periods are highly scathing a leader needs to have even better communication with the team members. So, questionnaires need to be customized accordingly to reflect the time of distribution.Al so, there should be training period to improve communication. Working with a diversity of people would mean that there would be different levels of communication between the team members. This could be with respect to language, motivation, level of understanding etc. This can be developed in a bridge deck of 4-5 geezerhood by getting across all the different situations of business that can arise in an organization.Communication can also be meliorate by shifting designations. In a span of around 4-5 years, if a person shifts his position in the company, he would get to interact with a greater diversity of population. As a result of this, he would be acquainted with more number of situations in hence develop into a better communicator of things. The position of a CFO should only be given to that person who has the stick of leading different categories of teams so that his experience can be put to use.If every coveted place of an organization is given on the basis of diversities i n which a person has been under, it would not only increase the team spirit in the individuals but also make them better communicators. (Leadership Communication Skills The Importance of Connection, 2008)Innovation Innovation is a part of the original thought-process of an individual. But, it can be developed with respect to an industry depending upon the experience and the honesty of work so that a leader is able to understand the marker better and come up with suitable ideas at the time it is required. It is never an easy task to develop a project or a product for a company. It is also true that this cant be done alone by practising any form of leadership. As it has been mentioned earlier, a leader is expected to have interactions with the research and instruction department of the company. This is one of the areas from where an innovation proceeds. A leader should be aware of all these innovations and make note of the reactions of the market after every new innovation made in t he company. This would give him a better view of the corporate environment which in turn would develop his innovation skills in about 4 to 5 years time. This is a reactive approach towards innovation. A leader can also look for some proactive approaches in this regard. As for example, if in about 2 years, a leader feels that he is resourceful enough to understand the latent demands of the customers, he can design products that have no relevance with the past. A lot of reach would have to be given on reliability tests of the product before it is launched. Here, again the communication skills of the leader are under scrutiny considering the challenge behind taking up the job. There could be various example of doing this. For example the introduction of i-phone was a complete innovation of its leader, Steve Jobs who has enough experience to go for such risky innovations. The basic factor for success of this gismo is that it completely satisfies the latent demand of the customers of the product. Similarly, when Reliance introduced a phone in India that was priced as low as 75 Dhms, it sent a roll up of demand across the nation. Here again proactive form of leadership can be seen in use.Not only in the form of products, but innovation can be seen in the form of marketing to a large extent. As for example, the different forms of advertisements would largely follow innovation. We have all seen the latest zuzu ad given by Vodafone. This form of advertisement had never been seen before. But, no matter what age group one might belong to, it is highly appreciated by all. So, this teaches a lesson to all the leaders that one can make innovations not only in the form of introducing new products or services in a company. This can also be done by presenting the same product but in an innovative manner so as to attract the crowd even further.Innovation within the organization management has also become highly important these days. HR system would not work in the same mann er as mentioned earlier. A company should always use measures like free shares of the company to its employees to show them a variety of benefits. This would raise the level of satisfaction. Benefits like holiday packages, free passes, increased breaks, special meals etc can add to innovative practices in increasing HR satisfaction. Only an experience of 4-5 years would make one understand the relevance of each of these approaches in the HR system.Decision-making capabilities This trait can also be developed over time, concentrating more on the necessities of the customers and the requirements of the employees at the same time. Decision-making abilities develop as a result of confidence. One needs to be confident in his own mental abilities so that he can envision the situation around him which would give him the guts to take decisions. Being in the industry for about 4-5 years would mean that a leader would be able to analyse the world around him. One cant state the level of analys is that a leader would be able to do. It all depends on how much he can break down a situation, looking at the individual parts and then providing an overview of all of them. Also, decision making can be improved by thinking critically. This means that a leader must develop the ability to be an optimist and a pessimist at the same time. old age of experience would bring forward all the possible consequences and the good possibilities of a decision. A leader should be able to grasp those that are more likely to occur before he can make a decision. For example, for every movie that is released at the box office, there is always a critical review made. If in a span of 4-5 years time a leader can make such a critical review before even the release of a movie, he can consider himself a good decision maker. Development of decision-making skills would also come from being able to understand the value of research. Rather than wasting too much in a particular direction, a good decision make r would know exactly what would be most beneficial. Research conducted by Coke and Pepsi is a highly suitable example to showcase the developed leadership abilities in this respect. Also, a leader can develop decision making by being able to manage the conflicts that arise within him and in the world around him. All these characteristics make up the deciding(prenominal) behaviour techniques including all the assumptions of risk in it. The developed parameters of a adequate to(p) decision making leader would be his self-awareness, skill acquisition and improved competence. Also, an ability to appreciate decentralized decision making developed over a period of 4-5 years with the above mentioned characteristics completes a leader in this context. (Lessons in Leadership Decision Making A Must for Success, 2010) char Business LeaderHere, I would talk about the highly capable Chanda Kochar who is the MD and CEO of ICICI Bank in India. This great business leader even without completing a half century of her life holds this hefty responsibility. Also, ICICI commit, that she leads is the largest private shore in India and on an overall basis, it is the second largest bank in the entire nation. She is the head of the Corporate Centre of this bank. She was born and brought up in a city called Jaipur in western Rajasthan in India. She authoritative a bachelors degree from Jai Hind College in Mumbai and subsequently pursued hail Accountancy in the year 1982. She has done her MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai. She has a financial background. In her academic career itself, she received two of the most prestigious awards of all times. She was the proud winner of Wockhardt Gold Medal for excellence in Management Studies and also the J.N. Bose Gold Medal in speak to Accountancy for being the topper in that very year. The best of all this is that both these awards come in the same year which just personifies her domain knowledge proficienc y. Mrs. Kochar has consistently appeared in the Fortunes List of Most Powerful Women in Business from 2005. This is even before she got her current authority. Moreover, she started from the twentieth position in Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women list in 2009. She has also been dignified with Padma Bhushan award which is the triad highest civilian award in India. (Directors Profile, 2010)Mrs. Kochars professional career started in the year 1984 and can be divided into 3 phases. The first phase is that from 1984-1993. It was in the year 1984 that she joined The Industrial Credit and enthronization Corporation of India Ltd (ICICI Ltd.) as a management trainee. From the early years itself she got the brawny task of Project Appraisal and Monitoring. This shows the mark of leadership in an individual who is given such tasks also in diversified ranging from Petrochemicals to Cement including cloth and Paper. The second phase was that from 1993 to 2006. It was in this intermediate phase o f her life that she was sent to be a part of the core team of the bank and set it right. After 10 years of working in the same bank she was given the responsibility to be the General Manager in 1994 followed by which she became the Deputy General Manager in the year 1996. At that time she was heading the Infrastructure Industry Group of the bank. Her basic focus was to create expertise in Power, Telecom and Transportation sectors. Then the major turn round in her career was seen in the year 1988 when she became the General Manager of the bank and was considered suitable enough to lead the Major Client Group. In about a decade from then she started to handle Strategy and E-Commerce divisions of the bank as well. It was under her leadership in the year 2000 that ICICI started Retail business and in only 5 years it became the largest retail finance in India. Then in 2001, her qualities gave her the position of Executive Director from where she heads the entire bank. Finally, the third phase started from 2006 and c