Reimagining leadership for BANI times

A lot did change post-Covid. Many of us wanted to live a better life. We prioritised differently. We started experiencing a hybrid work life, at times abused by a few, that gave us a better balance. For many firms I speak to, their productivity improved. Some felt it created risks and challenges to both work and corporate culture. And then there were some marquee names who also became overzealous, announcing that employees could work from anywhere, for all times in the days to come.

And now, some years down, when the pandemic seems a distant memory, all promises and experiments seem lost and forgotten. It is back to the same stories of mindless hours at many companies, made worse now as some employees complain. Leadership stays as insensitive at these places. Psychological safety is at a discount. And the reported tragedies are brushed aside as unfortunate accidents, with the blame possibly left hanging on the name of the victim, who perhaps did not quite fit in.

As an HR commentator, I worry even more today than in Covid times. Leadership behaviour at some companies has become more humanoid than human. While the contemporary worries of geopolitics and tariff uncertainties are here to stay, leadership remains unimaginative in addressing problems that one sees across much of the turf.

The biggest victim to me is the ability of firms to think differently and become different. Innovation cannot be instructed. It must be nursed. There is a need to create a more plural ecosystem, beyond the fig leaf of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Leadership needs to make their talent gene pools richer, not just more gender-neutral. Bosses need to accept they often do not have all the answers—maybe not even all the questions. They need to hire for culture-plus, not just a sterile culture-fit. They need to celebrate failures beyond the obsession with quarter-on-quarter performances. Above all, they need to let go. The hierarchy that plagues much of corporate India could shame the government. Empower dramatically, and you will find unimaginable possibilities. But status quo is a mantra convenient to everyone. Challengers are cast away as cynics. Loyalty is measured in years and proximity, not impact.

The Boards in many Indian firms possibly do not pass muster to guide and influence in the new BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, Incomprehensible) world. A lot of the membership stays mediocre, often with the same band across a mix of companies. Their own functional or industry experiences limit them from challenging management thinking. Often, it is about convenience rather than true fiduciary ownership. Boards must be shaken up. Any specific functional or industry overload must be re-looked. People who have been challengers in their executive lives, rather than people who were easy careerists, must be preferred. Boards must be incentivised better. And virtual meetings, necessitated by the pandemic, must cease. What happens in Board or Committee meetings over the virtual medium cannot replace conversations and debates that happen in person. Check boxes do not make future-ready corporations. Boards must be more forward-looking than analysts of the quarter gone past.

The big black box for firms today is still culture. It hardly finds a place on a Board agenda. For that matter, even management meetings barely do justice to it. Innovation and relevance in the new world need a re-validated and possibly repositioned culture. Often disregarded as a soft and fuzzy HR subject by the typical left-brained leaders at the top, it could be the difference between survival and oblivion, forget success. Most Boards and leadership teams do not understand what culture truly means. Often, they live with their Icarus syndrome, reinforcing behaviours and practices that got them thus far. But we live in a different world. Our customers and their demands are getting nuanced. Our talent needs and the concomitant catchment may be very different. Agility and innovation have become non-negotiable. But our culture is geriatric, in many cases. In my advisory life, I see this as an area of focus not just in old established firms but also in some new-age corporations which are already creaking.

Leadership will finally be judged not by their financial rewards of today. They will be remembered for adequately preparing their companies for a future beyond them. Legacy is then not a PR exercise. It is earned and role-modelled. We are at a moment in our history where we can script the future—or write a directional epitaph. It will need leaders to demonstrate that leadership, pivoted on an apparent contradiction of vulnerability and courage. And we will live in hope.

(HR strategist and coach Jha, a former civil servant who has been the CHRO of Cipla, Dr. Reddy’s, Tata Motors, and Reliance, is the Founder & CEO of Prabir Jha People Advisory. Views are personal.)