From a sheer leadership perspective, Infosys has been losing strength steadily.
Nandan Nilekani moved out of the company to pursue his
national interests, Phaneesh Murthy had to leave in controversial circumstances, Mohandas Pai left the organisation earlier this year and now the founder chairman himself has left.
So the immediate question that comes to mind is, are there enough leaders at Infosys? Will the firm suffer on account of not having enough able people at the top? These are justifiable concerns. The bunch is not just as strong, though there are still leaders like CFO V Balakrishnan, BFSI head Ashok Vemuri and manufacturing vertical head BG Srinivas. But going forward that may not be enough.
Matt Barney, vice-president and director of the Infosys Leadership Institute, is of the opinion that Infosys will never be short of leaders. Matt is responsible for identification, development and succession of senior and high potential leaders. And that?s a skill that Infosys will surely need now. Clearly, leaders can?t be found on trees and I don?t think they can be created out of thin air either.
Internationally, there is this feeling that there are far too many bosses and too few leaders. The distinction is far too clear to be elaborated on. Matt adds a rider there. He feels it?s not about any leader, but the right leader. ?It?s very crucial whom one is following,? he says.
It?s quite strange that a sector which was once full of admirable leaders has stopped producing even moderately successful leaders. We are still talking about the same set of leaders who carved a niche for themselves in the 1990s. So we have the same old Murthy, Premji, Nadar, Soota, Bagchi etc. Francesco D?souza of Cognizant is probably the only new exciting leader.
There could be reasons for this. The question that begs to be asked is whether software firms are increasingly becoming undemocratic set ups. A decade ago, many of the IT firms had more spokespeople who spoke their mind. But today?s leaders look handcuffed. The so called communication specialists are all over the place, killing individuality and flair. The result is that they all look like bricks of the same wall. Infosys is still the exception to the game with leaders like Balakrishnan and Nandita Gurjar available for an intelligent chat.
Leaders in many of the other companies look shackled. Now, I am not saying that they should wear their hearts on their sleeves, but one should always be prepared to speak about industry trends and communicate on the latest developments in the technology world. After the advent of social networks the world is communicating more, not less. But some communications people controlling these leaders feel that it?s their job to make them speak less. And even if they speak, only utter mundane stuff. The fact is leaders speak and write more, our specialists have invariably more work to do. And sometimes, some exercise in damage control as well. This has created a situation where leaders have become puppets in the IT sector.
Freedom for spokespeople, anyone?
Alvida, NRN
NRN?s farewell party on Friday evening at Infosys was an emotional affair. No cameras were allowed to capture the scenes though. The event was warm and friendly, and the man in the centre of it all was his usual studied self. They do not make them like NRN anymore, and it will be quite a while before someone of his stature can emerge on the IT horizon. Take a bow, Mr Murthy. You will be sorely missed.