CXO talk on leadership in turbulent times

Participants got an opportunity to discuss with a multifaceted and experienced professional about leading in difficult times. The speaker, Mr. Parameswaran Balakrishnan started with the example of a boat race festival in Kerala, depicting industrial concepts of competition and team building. He explained the employer and employee perspectives towards work and expectations. He recounted his experience of company values and how culture plays a major role in any industry. Some of the concepts that he felt were relevant for leading decisively were Taiichi Ohno, no problem is a big problem Sakichi Toyota, challenge is the status quo and Genchi Genbutsu, go, see by yourself to solve problems. He concluded by highlighting that performance feedback is important and supervisors have to take ownership and responsibility for the growth of their subordinates. The participants appreciated the need to change the systems in alignment with HR, because HR is the main managing component in the organization. They could grasp the value of being customer centric, putting oneself in place of a user, and putting customers first as the business exists because of them. Mr. Parameswaran Balakrishnan is Deputy Managing Director, Toyota Industries Engine India, with over two decades of experience of working across functional domains of manufacturing, quality, human resources and CSR. The session on leadership in turbulent times by Mr. Parameswaran Balakrishnan as part of CXO talk was organized by faculty of management studies at the RR campus on March 9, 2023.