Learn these key leadership lessons from the Indians to be more productive
India, a meatless country of over one billion people, home to the famous Taj Mahal and yoga.
An incredible country that has strangely, amazingly, and shockingly fascinated many people around the world, including royalties, dignitaries, actors, musicians, writers, and myself;
From The famous Beatles to Mark Twain, Tom Cruise, Madonna, and Steve Jobs. They have all been here.
India is a country rich in traditions, social hierarchies, and mysticism. Also home to some of the most colorful, diverse, unorthodox, and aromatic cuisines that I have ever tried in my entire life.
India is also the mecca of technology outsourcing services, low-cost technology labor, and the birthplace of some of my closest friends, associates and to as well as to the most recognized technology CEOs in the world.
In fact, a recent labor study shows that as of March 2023 Infosys, Wipro, HCL Tech, TCS and Tech Mahindra had over 96 percent of the technology market around the globe, providing outsourcing and consulting technology services to some of the largest companies in the world, such as Cisco, T-Mobile, Pepsi, Disney, Johnson and Johnson, Facebook, Google, Becton and Dickinson, Estee Lauder, Boeing, Bank of America, and many many others.
And now, into the leadership lessons I learned while working with Indians.
Leadership Lesson Number One:
As I worked with Indians on multiple technology projects, organizations, and in different parts of the world, I was able to observe that they profoundly listen to their superiors, as if their bosses were everything in their lives, which is something that is put into practice in different countries around the world and known as “Management by Fear”.
Now, while I may not fully agree with this management style, this style makes people from certain cultures and languages especially from Asia come together as one team, and this my friend… is powerful.
A deep Note to share: As a manager, it’s your job to identify and profile your team members and find the best way to make them come together as “One Team” with whatever management style works best.
Remember nothing is right and nothing is wrong.
Leadership Lesson Number Two:
A well-known technology leader that I know and that I won’t mention his name here told me once, Cesar don’t underestimate the power of these Indians, they don’t give up that easily.
Oh boy he was absolutely right, I actually saw this happening multiple times while working on different technology projects with the Indians, where we lost for one or another reason our key resources and at the last moment we were able to get the resources needed to get the project done.
All towards one goal, one objective, and regardless of adversities is what I learned.
Leadership Lesson Number Three:
Working on many technology projects with the Indians has taught me to always be economical, to negotiate, and to re-negotiate the best price on services, hardware, licenses, you name it!
In the beginning and honestly, this thought process was difficult for me to understand and follow;
Number One, because in the United States, you are taught to get it done as quickly as possible, regardless of the cost, and
Number Two, you could spend a lot of hours going back and forth with the supplier negotiating the best price, which could affect quality and the project timeline.
Although after meeting or exceeding the planned project financial goals several times, I simply and without any doubts I became a believer.
Just for the record, India recently made history by landing a spacecraft on the Moon for only $74 million dollars, this is way cheaper than many blockbuster Hollywood movies, and for sure cheaper than the Miami South Florida Brightline High-Speed Rail which cost 6 billion dollars and years to complete.
Cheers and Thanks for reading!
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