'Times of change are times of opportunity'

Here’s some Rx from Dr. Zareen Karani Araoz, an accomplished expert on culture and leadership and the president of Managing Across Cultures, a cross-cultural management and international collaborations consulting firm she founded in 1985.

The firm facilitates training for corporations like DuPont, Dell, 3M, Tata Consultancy Services, Siemens, Cummins, Hewlett Packard, Polaroid, GE Capital, Lucent, AT&T etc. Excerpts from an interview:

As the cross-culture pollen who has been taking cultural nuances both to and fro India to other foreign cultures since 1982, could you give a gist of India’s image on the culture report card abroad?

There are many good things you get to assimilate about Indians. Flexibility, hard work, ability to work late hours, value for work, technical brilliance, a unique knack of finding solutions are some of the top good notions.

And what are the not-so-good notions?

The one big problem that Indian professionals need to address is their inability of being frank with a foreign boss or client. If some task cannot be done till a certain deadline, an Indian often finds it awkward to tell it clearly. They say ‘yes’ to even the craziest deadlines, thinking that they will later on find a way somehow. Instead, telling it upfront is something what a foreign customer would prefer to being left in a state of vague assurance.

So how should companies reorient their employees in this context?

Managing and communicating on client expectations is very important. The perception of customers should be assessed well and people should be trained accordingly to respond. Some companies wake up to these issues when the trouble with a client bubbles up. Being proactive rather than being reactive can make all the difference. Do they carry bad news soon enough instead of saying ‘don’t worry, everything is on track’?

Between 26/11 and Satyam fiasco, which one has a lasting impact on Indian business story?

Both have their effects. But people know that ‘terrorism can happen anywhere’. If you are asking what can stop them from looking at India like before, it won’t be the Mumbai incident but the Satyam one.

You have been meeting and, in fact, coaching leaders for the past so many years. What impact do leadership elements take in today’s scenario?

Leadership at this time is all the more critical. The mindset of ‘I am successful’ is something that it’s high time to get rid of. What we need now is a flexible mindset that says ‘I need to change’.

What about all the global CEO churn that has flown along with the slowdown?

Well, if leaders are not aware of the imperative to change and survive what more can be said! You need to change. There’s no other alternative to that.

Are the re-emerging concerns over H1B and outsourcing to India, a move in the right direction?

In my personal opinion, if H1B visas are cut down and outsourcing gets scanned negatively, then the US would be only shooting itself on the foot. Yes, US is going through a difficult time. We can and should help our customers to come out of this tough period by making adjustments and adding more value.

Training is an area that comes under the direct axe in a downbeat market. How do you grapple with that?

Cutting training focus is a disaster in today’s times. Smart companies know that this is the best time to prepare for the upturn. Companies cutting training budgets are less likely to survive than the ones that are investing.

HR will certainly be forced to do some cuts. But it should work more closely with the CEO than ever. Hats off to HR guys if they can stand up and prepare for re-skilling and skill enrichment for tomorrow.

As to coaching, more people would be coaching, more so at the executive level. It’s the responsibility of leaders to be ready for the complex world, cut the hype and keep the momentum. Times of change are times of opportunity. It’s the best time to train your people and enhance their skills and help them see the bigger picture ahead.