Leadership - Dust away that Aura of Useless
leadership!
Monday, May 16, 2011
By Rabia Dhody
Rabia Dhody is an MBA from University of Pune, and is currently working as Motricity- HR Head South
Asia. Prior to Motricity she has worked as HR Business Partner with Dell India and as manager with
Reliance Capital - Life Insurance Division. read more
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Employees leave their managers and leaders and not the organizations
I am unhappy at work! My Leader seems to get work done by pressurizing me!! –
Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's
performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal
limitations.” — Peter F. Drucker
Many of us may recall failing to accomplish a task as a youngster and being

admonished with the adage, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. So what is
it that makes us either excel or lose our cool and interest and start looking out. What
are our drivers of engagement?
We’ve all heard the phrase “Employees leave their managers and leaders and not the
organizations”, but how many of us have given it a fair chance to change the system
and culture in the manner we feel most comfortable in? You at all levels may not have
the power to change the way an organization works, or your team works, but can
definitely tread your leaders Footsteps , the one your idolize!
We now all know why companies want engaged employees – engaged employees are
those who work longer hours, try harder, accomplish more and speak positively about
their organizations. Engagement is an amalgamation of commitment, loyalty,
productivity and ownership. It’s also a critical element of competitive advantage for
most organizations. We all know employee engagement is important, but where should
you start? According to most experts, the most influential factor is leadership. That’s
right – it starts at the top! Leaders are the lens through which employees view your
organization. In fact, how they feel about their direct manager is directly correlated to
how they feel about their jobs and the organization as a whole. So what can Leader’s
do to drive employee engagement?
It is said that all true leaders have the ability to translate intention into reality and to
sustain it with action and behavior. It turns out that people are motivated by interesting
work, challenge, and increasing responsibility--intrinsic factors. People have a deep-
seated need for growth and achievement and recognition for the work they do. So what
is it that you need to do as a leader?
Whether you are a first time Leader or a Leader who has been there since ages, Do a
little bit of soul searching! It doesn’t harm us to be mindful of our acts:
1. Are you a control freak? - It is true that one of the basic characteristics of top
leadership is their need to control things. It is also equally true that great leaders
remain leaders by being able to delegate responsibilities and inspiring trust among the
employees.
Look into yourself and Answer this question :- Are you able to inspire your Team?
Are you able to lead by example? Support them ,guide them and mentor them to get
the best out of them? Or control them and let them look bad in front of your
Leaders/superiors to earn a petty brownie point? If you answered a yes to all above,
trust me, sooner or later you will become unemployable and your team would leave
you, what could’ve been your strength is going to come back full circle in your inability
ot foster comfort, trust and growth in your Team! One good performer, chances are
the person is self-motivated, 2 good performers, chances are they are self-driven, 3-
Coincidence, All – you’ve done your job! Your Team is a reflection of what you do to
them! MAKE THEM LOOK GOOD! Stay at the backstage, you’d emerge as the main lead
actor yourself!!!!

2. First time Leader? : If you are a first time leader, Look around you, have you
grown too fast?Are you able to lead?be a people manager or do you just have the
hunger to lead teams? Can you do justice to their careers or put them at stake? Can
you guide, mentor, share and pass on knowledge? If not- do not lead! Wait for the time
when you are fully equipped to be respected as one!
3. Are you a bad listener? It’s a common perception that leaders are impatient and
rarely listen to others. They are projected as bullheaded people who just do what they
perceive as the right thing to do. Or are you the opposite? True leaders understand and
appreciate that great things cannot be achieved single-handed – it needs a team to
achieve success. One of the traits of a truly great leader is their commitment to build a
team of like-minded people. They have the innate ability to foster good relationships
among team members and have exceptional communication skills that inspire total
commitment from their co-workers. Leaders succeed by helping people they work with -
their employees, partners, investors and suppliers, become successful themselves.
Remember -you become the target and benchmark for every other competitor in your
Field and organization.
4. Do you practice what you preach? Look inside of you - do you expect others to
do things that you yourselves would not do. Good Leaders always lead by setting an
example to their community and followers – Remember but not by force, your followers
should tread your path by choice! They should respect you for who you are and not the
profile you hold in the organization!
5. Absolute trustworthiness: This probably one of the most essential traits of a
leader. People should be able to rely on you to keep promises made. The one thing that
will keep most people from accepting someone as a leader is if they can’t be sure that
he will actually take them where he says he will. Never backstab your own team, never
make them look bad! ITS YOUR JOB TO MAKE THEM ACHIEVE SUCCESS! By supporting
them with the knowledge base you have, and if you climbed that ladder of success not
by virtue of knowledge but by virtue of cheating! Be rest assured to see a downfall
sooner or later!
6. Develop talent – employees want opportunities to grow and develop. You must
ensure that you understand what each of your employees want and help them to
achieve their goals and aspirations. Engagement research results are clear on this
issue: 45 percent of employees cite limited opportunities for growth as the reason they
left their company.
7. Celebrate and reward – Leaders who create highly engaged and committed
employees celebrate and reward employees who consistently contribute to the
organization. Be one amongst those! Not the one’s who crib and Keep complaining
about things not happening totheir superiors! Remember your success is your Team’s
Effort.
Only 37% of employees actually trust senior management. Let’s change that and make
it 90% of employees trusting in their Leadership!!!!! Don’t do what you don’t like to be
done to yourself!

Leadership at All Levels
Monday, December 27, 2010
By S.Rajesh
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The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles
Successful organizations need leaders at all levels. Leaders are winning individuals -
people with ideas and values, and the energy and fortitude to do what needs to
be done. Organizations thrive because they have accomplished leaders, not just at the
top, but at all levels. When organizations value leader development, they have cultures
that expect and reward leadership, and they actively put time and resources into
maturing them. Successful organizations are doing well because they have leaders, and
they have leaders because they deliberately and systematically produce them. This is
what separates the winners from the losers. Profitable organizations deliberately and
systematically develop people to be real leaders, to be people with their own points of
view, who motivate others to action. They use every opportunity to promote and
encourage leadership at all levels within the organization, and their top leaders are
personally committed to developing other leaders.

Leadership at all levels is the most important and possibly the least understood asset of
any organization. Innovative ideas are the engines of organization's success and
effective leaders are the driving force behind those ideas. Successful organizations
understand that effective leaders, not just at the top, but all through the organization,
from the CEO to the team members in each department, hold the key to the engines of
creativity.
What is Leadership?
Leadership is the process where a person exerts influence over others and inspires,
motivates and directs their activities to achieve goals. Leadership is an interactive
conversation that pulls people towards becoming comfortable with the language of
personal responsibility and commitments.
Leadership is not for People at the Top
Everyone can learn to lead by discovering the power that lies within each one of us to
make a difference, and being prepared when the call to lead comes. Leadership at all
levels means that we don't want to have a company culture where some lead and
others follow. It should be like encouraging everybody to think and act like an
entrepreneur.
Engage Leadership at All Levels
Leadership is the most critical factor for successful change - Change Management is
good leadership. In fact, typical change management effort requires 70-90% leadership
skills as opposed to only 10-30% managerial skills. It touches every other success
factor. If you have effective leadership, you'll have effective communication. You'll have
vision clarity. You will have clear expectations, both near and long term, and motivation
and performance recognition. You'll have focus on getting stake-holders involved and
committed, because that's what effective leaders do, by definition.
Leaders may need to be educated and sometimes replaced - Weak leaders CAN be
developed. But a weak leader left in place without improvement poses a risk, so the
organization must take positive action to resolve it. Weak leaders create defining
moments, where decisions made will either further the change, or degrade it. So
leaders either get the education, training, or information to lead, or someone else takes
on the role.
Change leadership accountability remains at the executive level - Executives can't
abrogate their accountability. Sponsors at the executive level are the drivers of this
transition, and their actions, behavior, visibility, and priorities need to reflect that
accountability.
Cascading change leadership must be established and maintained - Leader commitment
at all levels must happen if high level leaders don't want to find themselves pushing the
proverbial piece of string. Leader commitment needs to permeate throughout the levels
of the organization. Then, you have smaller pushing efforts all along the length of that
string, and it will move.

Front-line advocacy is essential to most successful changes - To take the string
metaphor one step further, it's the leaders on the front-line, the other end of the string
that need to pull it. They're the greatest influencers of the end-users, not the head-
office person. If they don't care about it, neither will their team members. If they're
confused about direction or end states, their frustration will soak into the layers below.
Therefore, senior leaders must invest thought and effort to engaging their middle and
front-line leaders, assigning well-defined roles with clear expectations as change
leaders
This leadership cascade model illustrates not only the cascade effect, but the two-way
communication links that need to be strong in the leader arena.
The model depicts leadership in terms of management levels, and organizations can
usually do better in involving middle management. Studies by Barry Oshry have shown
that during change, middle managers suffer the most disruption, the most mis-
communication and confusion. Therefore, look for systemic obstacles that may prevent
middle and front line managers from being more effective in leading change; such as
mis-aligned performance measurement systems, poor communication channels, not
only vertical, but horizontal, across teams and departments.
Sometimes, one of these boxes in the cascade chart above becomes a "black hole" in
the communication chain. Messages get "lost in translation" or lose their priority. The
challenge is to optimize the links here so that information, news, rewards, recognition,
training, and knowledge, flow easily throughout. The people will do the rest.
Building Leadership at All Levels
Leaders at all levels within the organization act to show that influence is two-way. They
draw on the collective knowledge, experience and personal interest of the wide range of
staff and on employees views.
Leaders reinforce a culture where staff and employees feel able and confident to take
lead roles within the organization. Current and future leaders learn with and from
others, formally and informally, prompting reflection and change. Such modeling and
training promotes the conditions through which the organization sustains excellence.

Leaders create conditions where staff-members have confidence in exercising their
initiative and in grasping opportunities to share knowledge and assume responsibility.
They recognize completing forms of leadership and the capacity of people and teams to
achieve a positive impact on the life of organization.
Qualities to Increase the Effectiveness of Leadership at All Levels
Leading & Developing Others
Achieving outcomes through the efforts of other staff-members and developing the
skills, knowledge and attitudes of these members to enhance performance.
Developing Capability & Capacity
Increasing the knowledge, skills and attitudes of an organization so that it is better
prepared to cope with uncertainty, ambiguity and unexpected change.
Influencing
Influencing means changing the opinions, attitudes, actions, and behavior of others
within and outside the organization.
Making Sense of Complexity & Ambiguity
Interpreting the many complex and ambiguous signals an organization receives and
giving confidence to everyone in the organization.
Integrity
The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
Ethics
Beliefs about what is right or wrong.
Ceremony
Rituals surrounding the celebration of achievement of the team or team members and
projecting the success to stake-holders and other external groups.
Leading Change
A process of adapting the way an organization works to meet changing external and
internal pressures.
Handling Cultural Diversity Using cultural differences to strengthen organizations and
their relationships.
Conclusion
Leadership makes a compelling case for a strategic and concerted approach to
individual and collective leadership development to build our country's leadership. If we
want the right supply of leaders, we need to develop leadership in all sectors and at all
levels. It is a long-term commitment and a collaborative endeavor. Initiating leadership
development from the first day employees join ensures that a company can build layers
of leaders.
References

Oxford Centre for Leadership, United Kingdom
Business Transformation, U.S. Army
www.challengesnorthwest.com
www.insight.eun.org
Blue Ambassador: Employee Referral Programme @
IBM
Monday, January 02, 2012
By Arva Shikari
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Candidates referred through employees are more likely to accept IBM's offer
and join IBM
The Blue Ambassador Employee Referral Programme (ERP) is IBM's internal referral
program that encourages filling up of open positions through employee referrals except
for fresh graduates. It is an incentive linked program that works on the fundamental
belief that existing IBM employees know who is most suitable for filling an open
position. Since IBM employees understand the work culture, internal dynamics, and the

emphasis on IBM values it helps them identify the right candidate for an opening over
and above what the job description may outline.
"The primary purpose for this program is to identify those highly skilled individuals who
may not ordinarily apply to open positions through traditional channels. It provides a
system by which employees can be involved in the identification of candidates for
positions and thereby recognized for their efforts. It extends IBM's capability for
experienced hiring to meet the growing critical skill gaps," says, V. A. Rangarajan,
recruitment leader at IBM India/SA. The recruitment team at IBM along with the
business unit teams work together to communicate all the positions requirements to all
employees. All positions identified by the recruitment team are indicated on IBM's
internal career portal called Global Opportunity Marketplace.
Also, IBMers are regularly informed through mailers on open positions. Employees can
refer a candidate either through the Global Opportunity Marketplace or BU specific
functional email boxes or specific ids that have been created for individual business
units. In addition, employees can send in details of candidates against open positions
through a weblink that is mailed to them every week. The employee just needs to click
on the weblink to access the open position and fill in the details. It is convenient and
systematic to help the employee follow the process. The mailers are sent at regular
intervals so that employees can respond to new positions on an ongoing basis. All open
positions are permanent or regular in nature i.e. full time hires and fixed term hires
(FTH tenure is usually a minimum period of one year).
They are given codes and positions that are generic in nature or are required in demand
throughout the year are kept consistent so that employees can refer to any of the
mailers sent in the year to refer candidates with such in-demand positions. "As a
company policy, IBMers are expected to refer candidates whom they know personally or
professionally, and not by using any web/portal or any other sourcing channel," informs
Rangarajan. Employees are notified of the success of their referrals and are kept aware
of the progress made on their referrals. Vouching on the effective working of the entire
process of the Blue Ambassador ERP is Sarang Chalikwar, the senior system engineer of
IBM at Pune. He says, "I have referred more than 100+ candidates for global business
services. Almost everyone has got a call for an interview. I get regular updates from
global business services team on referral drives across all IBM locations. For some
specific technologies, a few of my friends got a call from IBM in less than three days.
I also get periodic updates on the status of our referrals." Further, IBM ensures that the
predictability and awareness of how and when the employee will get paid is by including
the same in the mailers sent out for open positions. The eligibility criteria for payments
comprises of - (a) all employees are eligible to receive referral payments except for
directors and executives; (b) if the referrer is the interviewer or hiring manager of the
referred candidate, at the time of offer, they will not be eligible for the ERP or; (c) if the
referred candidate is the direct reportee of the referrer, at the time of offer, they will
not be eligible for the ERP. Payments for successful referrals are made in the respective
employee's monthly salary. "The referral payment is made to the employee only after
90 days post the candidate joins IBM. Both the candidate and the referral need to be
active in IBM at the completion of 90 days from the candidate's date of joining. The

rewards awarded for a successful referral is comparable to payments made to any other
channels," explains Rangarajan. Basically, the rewards are predefined based on the
candidate's experience level; however, IBM does give away additional incentives for
referring diversity candidates.
The referral bonus is usually paid as a percentage of the overall recruitment costs with
added bonuses to push the organization's priorities from time to time. The amount of
bonus is fixed according to the position and differs from position to position. In addition
to the regular activities of the Blue Ambassador ERP, special programs are designed
from time to time to award double rewards and attractive prizes for maximum referrals
to make the program more attractive. If the business assigns priority to filling up
positions that are linked to a project expansion or new client then these priority
positions may be filled through an expedited hiring process, which requires expedited
sourcing strategy. Thus, special referral programs are initiated for these positions and a
referral bonus is also offered to further encourage employees to refer candidates. The
double rewards program is held in three scenarios and to help the business units
achieve their immediate and short term requirements. Rangarajan states that the three
scenarios could be skills required in high demand (volume) and less supply in the
market; skills recruited in times of hiring peaks; and demand to be met under critical
timelines. Once the necessary approvals are taken by the recruitment, business and
finance teams, an internal communications campaign is put in place to increase
visibility and impact through personalized emails from the business unit leadership,
posters, danglers and standees in key areas to increase visibility and finally, a program
office is put in place to ensure employees get feedback and status updates on time.
Furthermore, Srinidhi Vavle, managing consultant, strategy and transformation global
delivery of IBM India Pvt. Ltd. at Bangalore expresses appreciation for the splendid
work done by the ERP team. She says, "During our hiring week at strategy and
transformation, even though the schedule was tight and challenging, the ERP team
worked seamlessly to execute the entire operation with high efficiency and with good
results."
The Blue Ambassador initiative was conceived when
IBM began its growth story in India in the 90's. It
was part of the recruitment strategy in India right
from the beginning. "To promote the concept of
employee referrals initially we ran a series of
educational and branding activities to spread the
message internally. Townhalls and workshops were
conducted where employees were asked to
participate and give feedback on how they would
like this program to look as well as all the
associated branding to ensure it makes an
appropriate impact and maximum numbers of
employees participate in it," describes Rangarajan.
As a global organization, IBM believes in the
strength of its workforce to bring new talents to its
pool. Candidates joining IBM through referral

program readily connect with IBM culture as they already know and acknowledge IBM
through their referrer. This also helps to retain such an employee in IBM for longer time
as employees find it more comfortable to work with known friends or family. "In fact,
approximately half of the positions in India are filled through employee referrals.
Statistically, one out of every 10 candidates referred through employees join IBM.
Candidates referred through employees are more likely to accept IBM's offer and join
IBM. And candidates referred through employees are more likely to be selected for the
position. This stands testimony to the popularity of the program," says a proud
Rangarajan. Despite the effectiveness of the program, IBM's main challenge is to keep
pace with the ever growing open positions as quickly as possible. "As we grow as an
organization and our requirements of skills and positions to be filled increases, it is
important to ensure timely communication of requirements internally to allow internal
referrals to come through before extending the search externally through other
channels. It is imperative that we optimize the use of internal referrals as a sourcing
channel to yield best cost per hire results," asserts Rangarajan. Another challenge that
IBM faces is sourcing and documenting the quality of feedback that they need to revert
to employees who have referred people.
To tackle it, Rangarajan says, "We are looking at ways to increase the reach of this
program and make the design simpler and leaner. Improving the feedback mechanism,
whereby we are able to share with the referrals the reason for not accepting the
candidate is also being explored as this is likely to add to the program experience."
Also, IBM is considering adding channels like professional networking sites to ensure it
is able to tap a larger base of people for referrals and understand the professional
linkages of candidates. As companies face a talent shortage, internal referral programs
are a good way to leverage to the existing employee base to fill open positions. IBM’s
Blue Ambassador has been extremely successful globally and IBM India has also used it
effectively as one of the ways to grow its workforce to become amongst the largest
employers in the IT sector in India