Team work makes the dream work

Instead of yes men, Kumar Mangalam Birla says future leaders should focus on building a good team.

Industry stalwarts sharing words of wisdom with the graduating class is a coming-of-age tradition. At the recent convocation ceremony for the graduating class of 2018 at the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Nagpur, that job fell to Kumar Mangalam Birla. The industrialist, in turn, invoked the wisdom shared by sports stars and business leaders, spiritual leaders and authors.

The Aditya Birla Group chairman had a piece of advice for the students, who would soon transition into being managers and perhaps, industry leaders. Birla spoke of the need to foster an environment at their new workplace where constructive dissent is acceptable. "I believe the culture of yes men and women is toxic to the growth of any company. The management philosophy of a leader has to evolve from 'command and control' to 'discuss and decide'," he said.

Birla added that in the "firm of the future", the command and control style of leadership may prove ineffective. The new-age firm will "thrive on a collaborative approach to decision making... Such firms will typically have some amount of 'creative tension' that ensures that the best decisions are taken through a process of open discussion, debate and alignment…" And the rules are the same for the chairman of a $45-billion conglomerate as well as a management trainee in a new-age consumer internet company: "If you cannot collaborate, you cannot succeed." To Birla, "the joy of accomplishing something as a team is far greater than any individual achievement".

Birla quoted basketball player Michael Jordan to make his point: Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships. "Individual brilliance can only take you so far. From business to any other field of activity, teamwork is the key to success," he said.