�€œAdmit to mistakes�€?

Most problems that companies face can be traced back to the failure of the management and the top leadership of those firms. So believes Dr Ashok Ganguly, one of India’s foremost management experts and a recent Padma Vibhushan recipient.

“Passing the buck down the line is just an excuse to shirk responsibility,” says the 72-year veteran, who has decades of experience at the top. A former Chairman at Hindustan Unilever, he is currently Chairman of the Anandabazar Patrika (ABP) Group and Firstsource Solutions.

Asking the right questions
Citing an example of leadership failure in solving problems, he says: “If you look at militant trade unionism in the1980s, you will see that managements were scared of Datta Samant, the fiery trade unionist. Finally, some of them got their heads together and asked themselves why they were afraid to take him on and the importance of the issues he was raising. Once they figured these out, most companies were able to deal with union problems. It wasn’t that they solved every issue. But at least the problems weren’t obscure and amorphous to the management.”

Over the years, Ganguly has been a guiding figure to several future leaders. Akhil Gupta, Head, Blackstone India, for one still remembers how Ganguly’s advice of always looking within and identifying management failures in times of crises, has stood him in good stead.

Passing the buck
So, how does Ganguly explain the current economic downturn? He revisits the subprime crisis in the US and says: “Did anyone understand the subprime risk? What was done was to cut debt and mortgages in various ways. Some bright financial engineers created new financial products and algorithms to define these products. They got triple-A rating and huge bonuses and everybody thought things were just fine. Nobody seems to have asked what could go wrong.”

Learning to own up
The lesson from the downturn is clear, he says. “One must have the guts to stand up and say ‘I don’t know’ sometimes,” he explains, adding that this was his biggest learning as a management trainee. “A lot of problems can be solved if managers admit to mistakes and seek help,” he says.

— Anusha Subramanian