INDIA’S TRUSTED CEO’S 2018: Satish M Bhat, Managing Director, Ador Welding Ltd
As the World has become Dynamic so is the Leadership style. In my view Leadership is not limited to achieving the final objective or the work at hand; it entails with it a number of other factors like how you deal with people involved, the processes, challenges and many unplanned obstacles coming in your way.
Having said this I come from the School of thought of “Situational Leadership” and practice it frequently. Every situation demands a different approach or style of Leadership; also the same depends on which Function/Task/People/processes I’m dealing with. However the same should not be looked at as an inconsistent approach. Most of the time I prefer a Participative approach, however in certain cases when tough decisions are required at my level, I follow authoritative approach but with proper context and communication. I share a great personal rapport with all my DR’s and hence enjoy a more relaxed and democratic approach with most of them. I always encourage them to see things from larger and long term perspective. This makes my life easy.
The Journey
My Journey so far has been extremely fulfilling in many ways as it has been one of new challenges and new learnings each time. I have had the privilege to work on new and more and more challenging and difficult assignments which chiseled me to face uncertain World! Every experience made me more and more flexible and gave me confidence of taking newer challenges head on. Though I completed my education until higher secondary from the rural parts of Maharashtra I got very good exposure during my engineering course in Mumbai and further during Management Studies in New Delhi. A major role has been played by the Best of Leaders and Mentors I have had the privilege to work with in the early years of my career and for many years after that. I observed them from very close distance and tried to pick many good habits of their’s. The various job rotation opportunities that I had been offered regularly have enabled me to get exposed to various functions and understand fine nuances of each job/role and its contribution to the P&L & Eco system of the company. Also my stint with executive director and MD’s office at the right time proved to be a significant milestone in my career growth. I must confess that working with the senior management at an early age is like a “double edged sword” as it involves a lot of learning in terms of Behavioral as well as Functional areas, but at the same time failure in deliverables impacts the future career growth to a great extent. To my good luck, all my early experiences have contributed to make me flexible and keen to learn and it really helped.
Approach To Change
My varied experiences through the consistent change in job profiles in the early stages of my career and with the guidance of my Mentors I have been able to develop within me flexibility and ability to adapt to any given change very smoothly. I always believe that to accept a change is a mindset issue. I look at every change as an opportunity. It has helped me to understand different cultures within the company and how to handle the same. Every experience strengthened my belief in Team culture and how one has to adapt to the team as a whole. Different perspectives brings with it inevitable need for change and this in turn brings out the best in a person. For the same reason I have always tried to embrace change with utmost grace and patience and await to bear the fruits of the same. I believe in the mantra “Today’s Excellence is Tomorrow’s average”. I still believe that I ‘am a learner and there’s a lot more I need to learn and evolve myself. For me keeping the pace with the change has really worked.
What are you really into outside of work?
I believe in work- life balance and am a complete Family man as spending time with my family especially grandchildren is of great importance to me. I always reach office on time and leave the same in time. When I’m not working on the company’s number crunch I indulge in a variety of sports and their scores! I love almost all kinds of sports. My strong belief lies in spirituality which keeps me humble. I follow many rituals which really makes me very happy. I also aim to give back to society in my capacity as much as I can what it has given to me through various people and hence involve myself in a lot of social causes. I love helping people particularly those who are in need. I have many close knit friends who make my life more worth of it. I attend various social functions regularly with my family. You will also find me very active on Social Media (FB, Linked-In), WhatsApp.
5 key roles of a successful leader
- Visionary: Leader has to have a purpose for the Team/Organization. Accordingly needs to create short term/long term Vision & mission for Team and communicate them regularly as well as effectively.
- Mentor/ Coach: Leader has to make people believe in the larger purpose of the Team. For that necessary help, guidance and even handholding needs to be done so that alignment of people happens.
- Enabler/ Empowerer: Leader has to empower team members to achieve the agreed purpose.
- Motivator: Leader need to keep his motivation levels high for team and never let team’s spirits down particularly when going gets tough. It has to be noted that merely positive Communication alone won’t help here but Leader’s conviction for the eventual success to be smelled by the team.
- Nurturer: Leader has to be a People person, Patient listener and take care of softer issues as well. An effective leader spends half of his time on developing people.
How do you see the company changing in two years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?
As I said I ‘am still a learner and that’s what I try to imbibe in my people as well, encouraging and working them towards a “Learning Organization”. Continuous learning makes you flexible and helps you in facing challenges. We are continuously innovating to create the “Right product at the Right price of the Right quality for the Right need.” Getting these basics right is my main focus so as to make everything else fall in place automatically. Working towards Excellence will bring with it Success without much ado. Thus we aim at excellence in all aspects of our Organization from People practices to Business Practices.
What are your goals
My aim is to create sustainable Growth road map for all my stakeholders. I continuously strive at keeping my Employees Satisfied and Engaged so at to keep them Happy. Hence our Mantra for AWL is also “Happy Adorians = Happy Customers”. For the same reason I also always empower my people and instill within them the value of Accountability and Meritocracy. A lot of steps have already been taken towards this and we have come a significant distance. We will continue our attempts towards exploring more and more innovative ways for sustainable growth.
What Are Your 3 Biggest Accomplishments
In our Fraternity we are arguably the most sought after employers. It is difficult to pinpoint particular achievements however I have tried to evolve and create a different ADOR and in attempt of the same I can note down these three significant achievements. To start with the business Performance has been on a continuous upward growth and the turnover has doubled. I have been able to foster a culture of Performance , Innovation & Leadership Development and thus laying the base of a strong future Team that will continue the legacy at AWL. Above all I derive great pleasure and satisfaction from my efforts to create the “BRAND ADOR” which it is today!
One word that describes you the best
I would describe myself as a “Patient Listener” with no baggage/Preconceived notion. God has given me this skill and I further built on it by observing my mentors. I always try to offer an empathetic ear to all my employees & customers and respect their Valuable views/ opinions/ ideas for the betterment. I also try to implement the same after doing feasibility check. However I do not discourage them even if their ideas are not feasible and rather communicate them the reason behind not implementing it. This makes them feel good and eventually turns them into an integral part of the Business.
What’s your biggest Dream in life?
I love developing people, may be because I was lucky to receive this gesture from my mentors during my early days. On Business front, my ultimate goal is to take Ador to a turnover of 1000 crs and create a sustainable growth path, before I hang my boots.
Would you rather be respected or feared and why?
Times have changed. No CEO can expect or afford to be Respected like God or be Feared like a Demon. Both of these are very extreme situations. Today is the time of Co-existence where all are inter-dependent. Thus it depends on the various situations. Most of the times I ‘am very approachable and indulge in light & healthy humor whenever possible. At work I’m a tough Task Master but at the same time I socialize with my colleagues whenever we get a chance to do so. At the end of the day all I want is to bring out the Best in people and encourage them to perform at par excellence in their role and do justice to the same. I would like to be remembered as a person who has made significant positive impact in all stakeholders’ life.
