Tell it like it is

Continuation of the conversation with Steve Correa, author of The Indian Boss at Work: Thinking Global, Acting Indian. If you missed Part I, listen here.  

In today’s episode, we continue our conversation focusing on the Indian affinity to communities, balancing a multi-generational workforce, gender fluidity in the Indian leader and imbalance in the way we treat women in society and at the workplace.

Get your free summary: https://stevecorrea.co/the-indian-boss-at-work/

Credits: 

1. Epic Cinematic by Scott Holmes on freemusicarchive.org; CC Attribution Non Commercial 4.0; Public Domain

What is Indian-ness? Is it jugaad? What are the facets of the Indian boss? Who is a DESI LEADER? 

I am joined by Steve Correa, author of The Indian Boss at Work: Thinking Global, Acting Indian.

In this two part series, we explore how well leaders understand ‘Indian-ness’ and the contextual cultural codes.  In this episode, we cover the concepts of Indian-ness, the role of Kaal, Desh and Patra in our worklives, contrast management philosophies prevalent in the East and the West, the 4 varnas of life as described in ancient texts,  the role of Dharma or duty and Karta or the head in work context. 

What no one tells you is that leadership is an art and a craft, but between the two lies ‘business’. I am convinced the ABC of leadership must be learnt. 

Get your copy: https://stevecorrea.co/the-indian-boss-at-work/

Credits: 

1. Storybook by Scott Holmes, on freemusicarchive.org, CC Attribution Non Commercial-NoDerivates 4.0

2. Barrel Exploding on sounbible.com, CC Attribution 3.0

"The right man at the right place is a devastating weapon”, motto of the US Special Forces, aptly summed up the LTTE says Abhay Sapru in his second combat novel, The Beckoning Isle. We discuss the IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force) in Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers, the paucity of war stories in India and the lack of readership of combat novels. We also cover bizarre occurrences in war and life and catch a rare glimpse of the effects of war on soldiers including post traumatic stress.  

Check it out: https://tinyurl.com/y5vmyogd

Meet the author: abhaysapru.com 

Credits: 

Free CC Attribute 3.0, Public Domain:  1. Storybook by freemusicarchive.org 2. Ruger 357 Magnum Gun Cock by soundbible.com 3. Deutz-Tractor-Engine - Erdie on freesound.com 4. Gun War - MysteryMan229 - soundbible.com

"Sense and soldiering often don’t go hand in hand; in fact, in a Special Forces unit, it is taught that it is bad weather that is ideal for surprise and one often hears the remark that a dark night and inclement weather is a commando’s best friend”. Those are the opening lines of Abhay Sapru’s combat novel, In the Valley of Shadows. First in a series of 3 novels, we talk about this book, fighting the mujahideen as a Special Forces officer and the stunning Kashmir valley.

Buy it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/308Jnsr

Know more: abhaysapru.com 

Credits: Thunder Strike1 by Mike Koenig under CC Attribution 3.0

What should I pay and what is my market worth are top-of-mind questions for any CEO and employee. The fact is rewards are personal, complicated and difficult to measure. Or are they? Join me as I chat with one of Asia's top experts on reward, Tzeitel Fernandes, Partner at Aon. 

In this conversation, we cover: 

- How one should think of rewards 

- The correlation between rewards, performance and underlying behaviour

- Cultural nuances to rewards across Asia 

- Radical transparency of pay and its prevalence in Asia 

- Pay inequity and gender (im) balance 

- Companies' response to disruption due Covid-19 and impact on performance targets, short term incentives and long term grants.  

- How the future of work is being re-defined after the pandemic and more. 

Featured in this episode are Utkarsh Biradar and Ganesh Balakrishnan, co-founders of Flatheads, an all-day work sneaker brand for men. Not new to entrepreneurship, having had a successful exit from their previous venture, they were poised to creating a digital first consumer brand in India. But the wily virus had other plans. Launched in Nov 2019, just a few months before Covid-19 struck and wiped out the demand for footwear, the episode covers their early journey and choices. We discuss scale, value of a co-founder in the entrepreneurial journey, designing products through a user centric approach, building solid foundations with experience, expertise and leveraging networks. Along the way, we shatter a few popular notions about ageism, for good measure. 

Reach out: 

Utkarsh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/utkarshbiradar/

Ganesh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ganeshbalakrishnan/

https://www.flatheads.in/

Have you heard Heather Small’s iconic number “Proud”? I heard this song for the first time in 2000 at a packed auditorium under dazzling lights, great acoustics and mesmerizing visuals followed by a loud roar of applause as Glaxo and SmithKline announced their merger.  Half a dozen or so corporate executives gathered on stage to unveil the newly formed entity’s vision, mission, values, and strategic priorities. Do more, feel better, live longer - powerful words that make up GlaxoSmithKline’s purpose statement. As an impressionable young executive in her first job, I was gob smacked and filled with pride in the work I was doing and love for the company.

Fast forward a few decades and those words and Heather Small’s song still stay with me and guide my work and life.

In my work with startups and SMEs, advice revolves around 3Ps - purpose, performance, and pay.

- Start with “purpose” to define the talent strategy, values, a robust organization structure and a strategic workforce plan tied in with business milestones. All the hard wiring of the soft stuff and the key pillars of a great recruiting machine. 

- Put in place a coaching culture to deliver extraordinary results.

- Finally, craft a meaningful reward strategy that links purpose driven performance.

In my work with more established firms, it is about moving from process to impact.

At a time when corporations around the world are moving beyond the narrow definition of maximizing shareholder value, and expanding their scope to include the well-being of the larger community and all stakeholders, a purpose led goal and culture are at the heart of everything they wish to accomplish. Purpose statements are democratic in that they apply to companies big and small, communities and individuals. 

Are well-crafted purpose statements the purview of large corporations with smart copywriters? How does purpose guide the entrepreneur and the small business owner? To find out, I started interviewing some remarkable people who have gone on to do great things in their lives and put those interviews out in my podcast, Tell it like it is.

Season 1 covered some great stories including some smash hits like Lessons from the Special Forces featuring Abhay Sapru and Help Thy Neighbour featuring the residents’ association of a large condo.  Others that I thought had tremendous potential are the Beer Geek featuring Navin Mittal and Feeding Fellow Indians featuring a bunch of volunteer professionals who went on to provide 5MM meals during the lockdown. 

I’ve had great fun listening to and telling their stories and in the process, I learnt something new from each interview. 

Here are some of the things I learnt:

- Interviewing is an art, it involves tremendous research and even after 21 years spent in interviewing people in my day job, there is still something new to learn each time.

- Building a narrative is key to storytelling.

- Editing is tough, ruthless and I have tremendous respect for editors who literally polish rough stories into shimmering diamonds.

- Once an episode is published, it no longer remains “my story”. It belongs to the listeners. They react to it in ways known and unknown and I don’t think I will ever be able to predict or program audience response.

As Season 1 comes to an end, and I take some time to recharge and research new stories, I thank you for listening and sending me your love, criticism and feedback. 

Season 2 will be out soon with new stories, tighter edits and some fantastic people. Do check in. Stay well, stay safe. 

You know you are in for a fun and geeky chat when your guest starts by saying, "Man got civilized because he wanted to drink beer". In conversation with Navin Mittal, a passionate brewer, foodie and the co-founder & partner at the Gateway brewing company in Mumbai. 

In this episode, we cover: 

- Discovering a love for beer and educating oneself through blogs, podcasts and experiments with ingredients, roasting and flavours

- Making the "fear of failure" drive you to perform in everything you do 

- Navigating "babu-dom" to get permissions and setting up a micro brewery 

- The frustrations of a micro and small enterprise owner in the real world of manufacturing and services 

- Lockdown and having to drain craft beer   

- Future of resto-bars, regulations on beer delivery and more...    

You can catch his experiments on indianbeergeek.com