'B-school should teach leadership styles and values'

The hard-core tools of management are taught well, but the soft skills are missing

When I got admission to Stern School of Business, New York University, a friend who had been to a school there warned me: New York (NY) city is full of "muggers", if you haven't been mugged in the first 364 days, don't go out on the 365th day!

On that note, I set out for Stern, the school that absolves its lack of campus (it is located in the heart of Manhattan) by the claim that "New York is your campus"!

At Stern I learnt the tools of corporate life: corporate finance, international banking and marketing, management communication and so on. I got cultural exposure through international students and was doctrined into the student-life in America.

I developed independence, learnt assertiveness to survive in the brutal American individualistic system and imbibed a team spirit.

I also took classes in Jazz dancing and martial arts. After graduating with honors, with an invitation to do PhD and two job offers in hand, the world was my oyster.

However, I soon discovered that what I had learnt were the hard-core tools while the so-called softer aspects like leadership, corporate values, culture and ethics had not been touched upon.

As I moved from the headquarters of an American Bank in NY to its branches in Mumbai and Seoul, on to a British education institution in Riyadh and now, to an Indian HR consultancy in Gurgaon, I discovered some important facets of leadership that had eluded me in the theoretical dimensions: that a leader gives the organisation its sense of direction and focus.

The quality and character of the leader determines an organisation's performance and results. Leaders who conduct themselves ethically and treat people with dignity and respect.

Some critical lessons in leadership that could have been mandated in our courses are education and case-studies in leadership styles and values. This would have given us a better insight into what works and what doesn't.

In my progress through life and work, I stumbled upon some of these: the purpose of leadership is to create more leaders, not more followers.

Contrary to one's standard belief, leadership has to be cultivated not just at the top but throughout the organisation. Leaders must create feelings of significance (of being valued) and excitement among followers.

I also learnt that leadership style is situational: that a coercive, top-down, achievement-driven style can be quite effective in an environment with competent, motivated people needing little direction.

I experienced this with a hard-nosed Chinese boss in Seoul, where his pushy, and insensitive style yielded results in the consumer financial services area at the expense of our morale!

"Coaching" and "self-disclosure" are concepts alien to most MBA curriculum. Experience has taught me that coaching is sustained and structured coaching utilising the tools developed by modern HR practices.

I found out that the "self-disclosure" tool of opening oneself up for criticism builds credibility and humanity. I discovered that managers, through self-management and empathy, can influence the moods of those working under them.

It is assumed that ethics are taught at home; however, work ethics need to be reinforced in a B-school curriculum. It is necessary to propagate the notion that "uncompromising integrity" is not just good ethics but good business.

My MBA course failed to convey to me the value and potential of the ability to trust.

Most of us, especially in India, are schooled in the need for constant verification, control, and suspicion in our business interactions with others. My working for some good leaders taught me that "I shall trust until the trust is betrayed".

Another area that B-schools should focus on is process excellence or the Six Sigma breakthrough strategy, focusing on treating every activity as a "process".

This represents a paradigm shift, from exclusively holding employees responsible for performance, to greater management accountability for processes and systems.

In the Indian context, there is a growing awareness that quality as "achieving value entitlement for the customer and provider" under Six Sigma is helping companies reap significant financial benefits.

The writer is chief financial officer, GrowTalent Company Limited