For John Matthew, chief executive of an upcoming IT firm, an unusual appointment awaits. Though a little uneasy about the whole deal, Matthew is looking forward to his meeting with one ?Sam?, who happens to be a leading executive coach in India. Having just taken the reins of the company in his hands, Mathew not only desires to build a brand name for the IT firm but also project himself. It?s not tough to guess why corporate legends like Jack Welch, Richard Branson and Steve Jobs are his idols.
Not very far away from John?s office in uptown Bangalore, N Anand is taking a different type of coaching. Spearheading a pharma company, Anand has management issues at hand, which his coach is helping him resolve.
They say that behind every successful man is a woman. However, in today?s time, if someone says that behind every CEO (who is a brand by himself) is a vigilant strategist or a coach, it wouldn?t be entirely wrong.
Internationally, the trend of executive coaching and image management of corporate leaders is a rage. In India, though, it is still executed behind closed doors and talked about in hushed voices. Nevertheless, the phenomenon is pretty much in existence and is gaining ground by the day.
Says Ramanujam Sridhar, CEO of Brand-comm, ?Customers wish to deal with companies that have visible leaders. Investors wish to invest in companies that have ethical leaders. And management students wish to join companies that have dynamic leaders.?
Talk of CEO brands churned out by India Inc and some names that instantaneously come to mind are Narayana Murthy and Vijay Mallya among others. If Murthy is a down-to-earth, self-made man with local roots, Mallya is a flamboyant to high-spirits tycoon. Without doubt, both leaders are mascots of their companies (with Mallya even acting as an ambassador) and their public image is in sync with their organisations. Well, not everyone is gifted with such an admirable personality and the way out certainly is to build one!
Companies are not only spending millions positioning their brands, but are also investing in building their CEOs as brands. And the need is like never before. Particularly since India is going on an acquisition spree abroad and foreign interest in the country is increasing with each day. Moreover, the country?s bourgeoning media is making it increasingly difficult for CEOs to have control over their image and in some cases to create the desired equity. That?s where public relations agencies and other personal branding experts come in handy.
From the kind of clothes they wear to press conferences, summits, TV interviews, et al, to the choice of words, and presentation slides, CEO are getting advice on everything that can impact or enhance their ?image?. The choice of media, especially in terms of Page3 parties and lifestyle events is another crucial part of image management. Says Rahat Beri, COO, Percept Profile, ?A manager of a serious IT company going to a lifestyle event doesn?t go very well with the image of the company.?
So, is there an effort to synchronise the CEO?s image with that of the organisation or industry? Sure, there is, says Dilip Cherian, founder-partner of Perfect Relations, ?If someone is heading a BPO we focus on human management skills. If he/she belongs to the paper industry we bring out the low cost manufacturing aspect. We try to do 50% synchronisation and the rest depends upon the individual.? According to Sridhar, interesting facets attached to a CEO?s personality come in handy when ?the company is new and there is not much to say. Then we peg our communication on the fact that he is a family oriented man, or has a humble background, etc.?
While the trend was virtually non-existent a couple of years back, it is picking up momentum now. Says Harshwardhan, managing partner, Mutual PR, ?One thing that we learnt from global integration of the economy is the importance of packaging and branding. We are catching up and examples like Indra Nooyi, LN Mittal, Anil Agarwal and Nandan Nilekani are motivating other equally competent CEOs to make conscious effort at image management.? In the opinion of Jagdeep Kapoor, CMD of Samsika Marketing Consultants, ?In the times to come, it may become very important for CEOs to remain fit, for if the CEO is unfit, public may view him to be unfit (for his position).?
And image management is not only about CEOs . Now that companies are allowing people down the line like brands managers and HR heads to take the lead, it has also spurred a need for media training programmes at all senior levels. Such programmes involve tips on how to handle media, crisis communications, giving sound bites, looking good , body language, et al. Says Meenakshi Bhalla, president, Ogilvy PR Worldwide, ?Generally speaking, many of the CEOs fight shy of any media related spotlight.?
Ravi Shyam, chief executive of Media Training Worldwide which has worked with companies like Unilever, Raymond, UTI, HPCL, etc, says, ?There is tremendous amount of interest to conduct such programmes. particularly since there are too many opportunities now.
If one company doesn?t talk, someone else will.? According to Ravi, firms are ready to shell out as much as Rs.20,000 per person for a one -day workshop.
Now that Indian CEOs are waking up to the many charms of image management, what is it they need to work on to be at par with their global counterparts?
Experts are of the opinion that
Indian leaders are second to none, and all that needs to be done is some branding and positioning. And Kapoor has a simple formula: Market yourself as you would market your product, apply all the rules and there, you have a brand called ?YOU?.