March 29, 2024

Global Manager: Managing a Company With a Helicopter Vision

Piyush Gupta is chief executive and director of DBS Group, a leading financial services group with headquarters in Singapore.

Q. Do you remember the first time you became a manager?

A. It was my first job, working for Citibank in Calcutta; I was 22. The Citi system was to start in the back office in operations as a manager of clerical staff, and for that first job I had a team of about 20 that supported me; their average age was about 50, which was older than my father at the time. Citibank’s culture is all about first names, but the Indian culture is to always show a lot of respect to your elders, and I really couldn’t address them by their first names, so I had to figure out how to suffix it. In Calcutta you use a suffix called “da” to show respect, so that is what I started doing, like “John-da.”

Q. What were some of the early lessons?

A. To earn the respect of a bunch of people that have been doing the same job for 25 years and know a lot when you are the new kid on the block, and their manager, you’ve got to listen. And I think it’s a good lesson to keep in mind for any leader: In any new position you come in to, you’ve got to listen. I call it my 100-day rule, where I spend the first 100 days listening and figuring it out. You learn about the history, the context of how they were doing things a certain way and why it all matters.

And in the part of the listening, you learn to appreciate people’s strengths because everybody has some. It’s a big part of gaining acceptance and credibility if you recognize what they have done, because people like to be acknowledged. Only after that can you begin to demonstrate that you know what you are doing and you work hard.

Q. What were some of the early mistakes you made?

A. One of the things it took me several years to realize is that in this drive to gaining acceptance and acceptability, you can overdo it. I used to spend time in coaching to help people to achieve what I thought they should be able to achieve, and part of that was about gaining acceptability, wanting to show people I really cared and made an effort. But over the years, I’ve come to realize it’s actually quite expensive. You wind up spending six to 12 months with somebody and you’re still unhappy because they haven’t got where you wanted them to be and you end up creating compromises.

Q. So what do you do?

A. You end up having to bite the bullet in the end, and that’s one of the main lessons I’ve learned in a leadership role. You have to bite the bullet sooner. Now I figure out that if I don’t have a 75 percent chance of having a person succeed and I only have a 50-50 chance, it’s unlikely to work and I’m better off helping that person find something they’d rather be doing and getting somebody who has a better likelihood to succeed.

Q. So you have to make some tough decisions about firing people?

A. Yes, and I’ve made my fair share. But you can do it nicely. I’ve never had anybody that I’ve laid off be unhappy with me. In most cases, I’ve helped them find something that I thought was more suitable for them. In some cases, I just told them it doesn’t work and explained why, but then give them some time to find another job, be it three months, or in one case it was one year. It can be tough love.

Q. How would you describe your management style?

A. It’s a bit of a cliché, the helicopter vision — zoom in, zoom out — but I actually do that quite well. I can think big picture, which I think is an important role, and I can also be very detailed. Sometimes people can be a bit worried because I know my stuff and I probe a lot.

Q. Does your management style depend on culture?

A. Asians in general expect a more paternalistic culture, partly because there are so many family-owned firms driven by a patriarch who is the head of the family that sets the direction. In an American culture, people expect you to give them a lot of room so they can get on with it. So one of the big culture issues we’ve faced at DBS is to move away from that top-down approach. I want people to be able to make their own decisions, and that’s not that easy to do.

Empowerment is an easy word, and in the Asian culture context it’s not so much about giving power but a lot more about accepting the power. One thing that is important is for people to understand that it’s O.K. to make a mistake. You learn by making mistakes — as long as you don’t make the same ones again and again. Once people start getting comfortable and realize they won’t get punished, they are willing to take on more risk.

Q. Can a corporate culture trump a social culture?

A. Absolutely! I saw it at Citibank. I can assure you that people here in Singapore at Citi are not shy about speaking up. So I do think you can create a corporate culture that trumps the Asian culture, but it requires work. It gets formed over many years by building little bricks about what behaviors are acceptable and what behaviors are not, and creating an environment that recognizes these good behaviors.

Q. What do you look for in your young leaders?

A. I have a “four I” framework.

Individual accountability. You should not pass the buck. Frankly, it’s quite easy to say, “I did my share and somebody else didn’t,” but true leaders really take accountability.

Initiative. I call it “outbox management.” People spend their time on the in-box, reacting to things coming to them, but true leaders have the knack of spending half of their time creating their own agenda. Don’t just be responsive to third-party agendas.

Innovation. You have to drive change, otherwise you stagnate. You must have some lateral thinking out of the box.

Inspiration. You have to be able to take people with you, from your shareholders and board to people working around you.

Q. What is your main strength when you look at those four points?

A. Tough question. You’ll have to ask others.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/business/global/02iht-manager02.html?partner=rss&emc=rss