Dr Anish Shah’s role includes oversight of all businesses, which employ 260,000+ associates across 20 industries and 100+ countries. His focus is on nurturing a purpose-driven organisation, establishing tech leadership in each industry and driving value creation across businesses. Under Anish’s leadership, the group is reigniting value creation with exponential growth across multiple businesses and prudent capital allocation. Anish believes that ‘purpose drives profits.’ He is the custodian of the Mahindra Rise philosophy: driving positive change in the lives of communities to enable them to Rise.
Eleven years ago, a month into my tenure at the Mahindra Group, I said no to a proposal that Anand Mahindra, group chairman, was planning to take to the board. The board rejected it. Around the same time, Mahindra sought my opinion about a decision that was to be taken up by the board the next day. I said I would not do it. In his usual style, Mahindra invited me to the meeting to give my reasons. Mahindra asked the board to hear my point of view. I shared the same points, and the board decided not to do it. This gives you a sense of openness that Mahindra has always had in bringing in diverse views. As he always says, we need to get to the right answer for the company. And we would need to look at all the diversities before we get to the answer.
To me, a no from an employee who is three levels below is not a no but a gift. It is not easy for someone like that to come up and say that you need to do something different. What you’re doing isn’t right. That’s sometimes where the best ideas will come from. Leaders must have the courage to hear such things from subordinates, as much as they need the courage to speak up and share their views. I think the thing that most people will get wrong is that you can get everything done through (CEO) power. A good leader will get things done because others want to do them.
Empowering leaders helps create a good balance because if decisions are made by a small set of people, then you don’t get the right answers. Empowerment is not just to the next level, but to the level after that as well, people who are closer to the customer. It’s easier for them to innovate because they understand what customers’ needs are. We want to give them the freedom of expression in a product, in what they do, and that’s what allows us to be able to create that balance.
It’s not easy for a promoter (Mahindra) to step away. But he’s always empowered the leaders, and he is always available for guidance. He has always looked for the best in people, and to me, those are the key factors that have enabled our success, our purpose. Extract from an interview with PTI Videos