Some leaders choose to give their team a free hand while others believe in keeping a hawk’s eye, but whatever the approach is it is the vision to achieve a common goal and scale new heights that gives these people the edge over others.

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Devita Saraf,
CEO of Vu Technologies and executive director at Zenith Computers,

I’m very strict with my team — with a sharp observation and a super sharp memory. Keeping a close track of things helps me control them better. At the same time, it’s a fun work environment where people respect each other and look forward to building the brand and the company. I am not a micro-manager.

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Meenu Subbaih, Meenu Subbaih & Co (a top player in designer jewellery)

To me leadership means to lead the team from within. Adaptability, both externally and internally, is my leadership strength. Each member of my team is given equal importance and credit. The communication channels (up-down and down-up) are always open and given a lot of impetus.

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Ram Chandra Agarwal,
chairman and managing director Vishal Retail Limited (the Vishal Mega Mart chain )

It is all about getting your processes right. It should be smooth, and to implement these processes you need to get the right people. Not just that, you need to delegate authority and power too.

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Meher Pudumjee,
chairperson, Thermax Limited

My leadership style is one of delegation to professionals without abdication. I practice ‘attached detachment’ within the organisation — i.e., I’m passionate about the kind of business we are in, however, have learnt to leave a lot of decisions to people down the line without interference, even if it means we make some mistakes as we go along. I’m able to resolve conflicts without brushing them under the carpet. I like to give honest feedback in a manner that, hopefully, makes the person reflective.

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Suresh Senapaty,
ED and CFO of Wipro

It is the leaders that I have worked with over the last 30 years who have left a lasting impact on me. I’ve had the privilege of working with three distinguished leaders — P.S. Pai, Ashok Soota and Azim Premji — who have distinct styles.
While at the outset, Mr Pai was a strict disciplinarian with strong views, he had a great humane touch and trusted functional judgment of an individual. In many ways, he epitomised ‘depth’ — he had an amazing grasp on ‘grounds-up’ facts in each facet of his operation and he expected each of his reportees to have the same. Mr Soota, on the other hand, symbolised the ‘breadth’ — he expected you not only to know about your core area of finance, but also to front-end with customers, get-into negotiations and weave-in business perspective in every decision. Under him, I learnt the art of multi-tasking. Mr Premji is a role model in many ways, he champions both ‘depth and breadth’. Working with him, I’ve learnt the importance having a vision about future, creating meticulous plan for a step-by-step achievement of the same and then plunging into focused execution with a rock-solid determination. The common thread that binds all these leaders is the total operational freedom they gave me and the challenges they offered me.