Comments on: Destroying the office of the CEO

By: Uday Gosain

Uday Gosain — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 08:05:52 +0000

Vineet, Take this concept on the Indian streets. Destroy the "bada hi baap hai" social structure.

By: kamal kapoor

kamal kapoor — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:41:36 +0000

Dear Vineet

My take on the subject.

I term the same thing as "power to the edges". It works wonderfully even in an intense life and death profession like mine. The possibilities in the area of "collaborative leadership" are immense. Flattened, empowered human chains sharing a common vision with humility and perseverance at the core of all their activities produce value way out of proportion and beat all other management jargon hollow.

The key to this empowerment is "here and now"…a sense of "fun and balance" and a deep sense of "attitude of gratitude". This kills careerism and generates self driven entities "swarming" to achieve the impossible. Yes it is all possible as "bare maharaj ji" used to say..it is all coming back now with so much of strength which only a true guru could have delivered..

"Sphere of influence" empowerment, the way bees and ants work on genetically endowed platforms needs to be learnt all over again by the B schools..

By: Ruchir

Ruchir — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:30:07 +0000

I feel you do need that someone who would come up to you and actually start implementing, or at least not just nodding, but picking up the spade and doing it! I wish you luck to find such a person… Someone who is able to give up his imperialistic attitude!

Maybe times have come… maybe it has not… But, at least guys at your level are acknowledging this fact is a milestone in development of "man in the cubicle".

By: Sethuraman

Sethuraman — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 09:10:48 +0000

Mr.Vineet Nayar, The fact that your blog on destroying the office of CEO is attracting comments even 10 months after it has been posted is proof enough that it is an extremely out of the box thinking and a very thought provoking article. Being an entrepreneur myself, from the earlier generation, I have personally experienced, how as a small scale industrialist you have no choice but to run the organisation like an inverted pyramid model and your thinking of applying this method for running large organisations is definitely laudable but how far practically possible is some thing to be pondered about.As regards your saying the 3R`s have to be redifined , I am not sure about that . My personal feeling is, if an individual, at whatever level he may be in the organisation, is sincere in his attempt to understand his responsibility, the response expected of him , he does not need anyone to police him except for laying down guidelines. You are definitely trying something that may appear to be radical in the way organisations should be managed and all my best wishes for your attempts to be successful. Regards Sethuraman

By: Preeti Kaushik

Preeti Kaushik — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:25:55 +0000

Vineet, I agree that breaking the office of the CEO is a real courageous thought, considering the fact that it comes from a CEO himself. I truly appreciate the policies like "employee first" and "360 degree feedback" that are adopted to implement this idea but I still believe that more than anything else what is required is a change in attitude. Change not only in managers who would allow their offices to be destroyed but also a change in the mindset of the so called "followers" and a belief that yes they can and will make a difference. I have seen people even today say that "how does it matter?" but they need to believe that every one counts and every little action can make a difference. In many of the comments I have seen people discarding this philosophy by saying that it’s not practical and hence cannot be implemented. But I would like to say to all of them that at least we should try. If nothing happens we will be at the same place as we are today but if even a single person gets motivated and tries to "lead by example" then I think our purpose will be served. I don’t know how far this policy has been a success till date and how far it will be followed in the future, but I admire the fact that the foundation of change has been laid in HCL.Regards,Preeti Kaushik

By: Rangarajan

Rangarajan — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:40:25 +0000

Hi Vineet Sir,
You have wasted a lot of my time today. I chanced upon this post and read a lot of your other thought provoking posts as well. I also wasted more time thinking about your posts
It is absolutely great to waste my time like this. Looking forward to reading and thinking more on your posts, most of which are absolutely great and inspiring!
Great work, sir!

By: Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:34:13 +0000

Hello Vineet ,
Organisations need both managers and leaders. I believe CEO falls in the latter. Generals are required in the army , thinktanks are always needed in which team it may be however small the size is . Everyone acts like CEO(say destroying the office) can generate chaos and lead to disaster. Aspiring to be CEO is human and should not be looked down as crime. It is spotting the right person for CEO (and the office) which is important.
Good luck to CEO… the real ones can make difference !
Regards,
Arun

By: Jagadish V Badi

Jagadish V Badi — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:19:27 +0000

Hi Vineet
CEO and the manager role will evolve as one who inspire, make choices, act as enabler and mentor than a controlling. Real growth of an organisation that service industry is seeing for more than a decade is possible with employee involvement and participation. To that extent organisation will continue to become flatish if not reverse traiagle.
Jagadish Badi

By: Ravikumar Mariserla

Ravikumar Mariserla — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:21:25 +0000

Dear Vineet Sir,
I could not have agreed more on your contemplations especially on your correct understanding of the New generation of employees. You sound pretty radical for those who vehemently opposing your view may have to come to terms in a while once the heirarchies vanish and collective decisions are facilitated by top management and I wish you have all the courage to bring in the Most Modern thought of Management that transforms HCL and you become a Path maker for others to emulate.
Ravikumar
Ex-HCL employee

By: sudipc

sudipc — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:26:05 +0000

Hi Vineet,

There is so much discussion, research and books being published on the role of "Managers", but do we have "Managers" in Indian organizations, who truly inspire their team and convert the team into a group of highly motivated, energetic, integrated bunch of people who are on the roll – achieving goal after goal with effortless ease?

Most of the "Managers" in the industry are trying to save their own skin by
- padding timelines instead of setting goals that push the limits of performance
- blaming team members (when something goes wrong) instead of being accountable and taking full ownership
- passing the buck to the higher management or the HR or someone else – they just don’t accept the fact that ‘the buck stops with them’

New techniques of productivity management measure performance by Lines-of-code or time spent in the office etc. But these are all very easy to fake.

A truly integrated, energetic team led by a competent manager will be visible to everyone – the vibes will inspire the entire organization. The team members will be proud to be a part of the team and in turn, proud to be a part of the organization.

I don’t know how many such inspired managers are there leading great teams – but I am sure this is rare.

The amount of material on this subject is huge, some resources could be:
- First, Break all Rules – by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
- ReImagine – by Tom Peters
- The whole ‘One Minute’ series by Ken Blanchard

But how many Managers are reading such material? How many are trying to be ‘inspiring leaders’?