Free Conquering the Chaos: Win in India, Win Everywhere by Ravi Venkatesan

larger than oneself. In hiring leaders, we invariably look for traits like
     passion, hunger, and drive for results. The absence of passion and drive is a dampener,
     but the drive for results by itself is not enough. It often turns out to be little
     more than a vehicle for personal ambition, which can have disastrous impacts on people
     and the culture and, in extreme cases, may result in fraud and wrongdoing.
    Passion must emanate from a desire to create something bigger than oneself, one’s
     career, and short-term business results—what academics call higher ambition. 2 The ambition can simply be to create a wonderful workplace that unleashes human spirit
     and the potential of employees, to become the best factory in India, or to solve tough
     societal problems through innovation. Such ambition connects the day-to-day activities
     of employees with a higher purpose that inspires people, especially the younger generation.
    The millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000) supposedly lack loyalty, focusing
     on entitlements and rewards, but I find many young Indians hungry for meaning and
     purpose. For instance, Microsoft India’s computer literacy program, one of the initiatives
     constructed as part of the company’s mission to transform society through computers,
     was a source of inspiration to most employees. Higher ambition therefore matters when
     it comes to hiring talent and unleashing commitment. It is also critical for building
     trust with government, nongovernmental organizations, media, and other stakeholders
     that are suspicious of business in general and the motivations of multinational companies
     in particular. A country leader who sees business as a vehicle for changing people
     and transforming society will be able to establish trust more quickly.
    Finally, higher ambition is a vital source of energy and affirmation for the leader.
     Building an important presence in India is a mission that can take a country manager
     five to ten years to accomplish. Longevity and tenure are therefore critical. Tedjarati
     of Honeywell says, “You want executives who are thrilled to have this job and see
     the job in India as the endgame. You want a leader who sees this as the Big Job, not
     someone who is impatient to tick the box and sees India merely as a ticket to the
     Big Job.”
    However, being a country manager in India isn’t easy. It is enormously draining to
     be sandwiched between the bureaucracy of the country and the company. Many country
     managers therefore see the role as a three-year assignment: In year one, goes the
     joke, they unpack. In year two, they deliver an unsustainable spike in performance.
     In year three, they pack and head off to their next job, leaving a mess that their
     successor has to clean up. Spending five or ten years in the same role involves short-term
     career sacrifices, as peers, who stay close to headquarters or change roles frequently,
     will move faster up the ladder. The motivation that comes from serving a higher purpose
     then becomes important and enables country managers to stay and build institutions
     and leave a legacy.
    The final trait that is important in a successful country head is entrepreneurship . Having discussed that earlier in this chapter, I won’t repeat myself. Suffice it
     to say that multinational companies must appoint leaders who have a keen sense for
     market opportunities and entrepreneurially build profitable businesses by leveraging
     the company’s global assets.
    The Core Competencies
    Consider the situations that a country leader in India routinely has to deal with:
A Maoist insurgency in central India has delayed road transport. It will take weeks,
     instead of days, for deliveries of components and finished products.
An abrupt change in the government’s policy on taxes causes confusion. No transactions
     can take place for weeks until the policy is clarified.
An assessing officer changes the interpretation of the tax code