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What does it take to be a truly transformational leader?

Transformation is a much over-used word. Not every set of changes equals to transformation. Transformation means holistic change, that has significant impact – altering the form and destiny of a business or organisation. And given the pace and magnitude of changes and disruptions in our environment, such holistic transformation has become critical to survive and thrive.

And this transformation is what we embarked upon at Bajaj Electricals Limited (BEL) three years ago. Back in early-2019 our company was in its weakest spot with a broken balance-sheet, severe cashflow issues and trapped as a legacy organisation and business model that was not equipped to compete in a ruthless marketplace. Had we not embarked on our transformation journey, the ensuingpandemic would have made survival near-impossible. And so, it has not just been a trial-by-fire, but also history-in-the-making. While we have crossed many milestones and successes so far, I am confident that in the years to come, we will look back on this period as a pivot in our journey of having regained our glory. I’d like to share with you some lessons that I have learnt so far, on driving successful transformation.

Have a clear and shared purpose

The leader must have a clear vision for the organisation and that vision must translate to a clear purpose for the transformation exercise – and, most importantly, that purpose must become a shared purpose for the entire organisation. So that the team knows what the transformation is trying to achieve. We set our shared purpose as building BEL 2.0 and making this the Decade of Bajaj Electricals – i.e. we are entering the decade weak, but we will emerge on the other side as the winners.

That shared purpose allowed you to work backwards from it to address what it would take to be the winner, what BEL 2.0 needed to look like and hence what are the changes that we needed to drive. Sports is the best teacher. Embarking on the transformation journey is no different than a cricket team setting up a purpose of winning the next World Cup four years out. And to do so we will have to be willing to stretch, sweat and drive ourselves every day. And commit ourselves tovarious changes [people, skills, training regimen (processes), resources (systems), etc.] that are required to win the World Cup. But above it all, it is about building the culture of a winning team i.e. changing the DNA of an 80+ year organisation like BEL into a purpose-driven organisation. Shared purpose acts as a unifying anchor for a large organisation with diverse teams and motivates people to approach their work with passion just like a sportsperson does.

No short-cuts; adopt excellence, not mediocrity

It is in the human psyche to try and find short-cuts, to look for an easy way out when confronted with a difficult decision or path. To get lulled into mediocrity when the stretch towards excellence gets tiring. But mediocrity never wins you anything. If you want to drive meaningful and lasting transformation, it has to be comprehensive. Band-aid fixes will not work.

Our transformation at BEL continues to involve every aspect and function of our organisation – our people practices, our technology, our products, our brand, our go-to-market, our back-end, our business models, etc. And these changes extract a price and you go through pain. We have been confronted with many difficult decisions. Choices are never between black and white. There are many greys. But who said transformation is meant to be easy? If you choose the easy way out or defer the difficult decisions, you are only kicking the can down the road. And making the problem bigger.

Have conviction; and learn to tweak your plans

And even having made the tough choices and done your best, not everything will go as per plan.There have been moments in our journey that have really tested our conviction – of the path we are on – and whether we were doing the right thing and headed the right way. Learn to shut your eyes and think of the first principles. And your purpose. And let your clarity and conviction emerge from that. Keep your conviction strong. You cannot be reactive to everything and waver at every twist in the tale.

And yet, your plans and actions can and must be tweaked when required. Your purpose is sacrosanct, not the steps required to get there. You have to keep course-correcting along the way.

Change management is your make-or-break

In my various chats with Rajiv Bajaj, one of his favourite lines that he throws at me is “knowing what to do is easy, selling your solution is tough”. Having a clear vision, shared purpose and good plan isn’t enough. A good leader has to learn to navigate and manage change. And overcome the nay-sayers – many of whom are well-intentioned (but can’t see the writing-on-the-wall) and a few who have a vestedinterest in status-quo.

Driving transformative change in a company as large as BEL, and being a public company, means that as a leader one has several stakeholders to manage – the promoters, board, employees, business associates, investors, etc. The most critical amongst these is your team/employees. They are ones who actually execute the changes and plans. And so, the best way to drive change management is:

As I always say, we are just starting. And as we continue on this journey, I am sure we will keep learning more lessons.At some point transformation stops being a one-time exercise, but a way of life for a leader and an organisation. We hope to keep looking ahead and building our future. So that each time when we look back, we are proud of the legacy that we leave behind.

Anuj Poddar
Executive Director
Bajaj Electricals Limited