| Sunil
Lulla, CEO, Times Now, believes leadership will
always be an ongoing process. Leaders will get acclaim
depending upon how they deal with situations, he
tells Nidhi Jain.
Lessons you have learnt
Leadership is an ongoing process, I have learnt
from my own experiences and from others' actions.
Words are weaker than actions. I have read a lot
about how leaders are made on the basis of their
actions.
Leaders have to be responsible; they should take
charge of situations. They should communicate
well; have to constantly keep motivating people
about different situations. Thus, it is a consequence
of effective communication.
Methods of pacifying madness
I won't say that chaos is very essential but
common. It does bring out creativity and sometimes
it makes sense and is essential. A challenge is
to find out a funnel that leads to quality, task
orientation, and goal orientation. Always define
a way of handling chaos or so called madness.
Energy put on task orientation, on quality whenever
required can bring out success.I have a simple
philosophy - God is in the details. We cannot
work for a particular assignment if we cannot
work on details first. Chaos makes the execution
perfect. We should be able to wake up and have
a vision for the task. We should explain that
to our subordinates and funnel the chaos in a
very positive form of energy.
People who influenced you
There are many. Some directly and some indirectly.
Some influenced me by their actions. Some with
whom I worked. My early influence was by reading
a lot on Swami Vivekananda; he showed spiritualism
with the stands he took. In his speech in Chicago,
he got a standing ovation. Next is Mahatma Gandhi
who held the nation together. I also admire Jack
Welch for his leadership skills. These two words
define Welsh for what he stood for. His leadership
skills definitely had something inspirational
about him. I admire Mr Azim Premji and Narayan
Murthy. People I have worked with give me great
substance too. My current employers, the Jain
Family, Mr Samir Jain and Mr Vineet Jain inspire
me on hardcore entrepreneurship.
Changing rules of Work
The environment changes but the rules remain
the same. There are goals to be achieved for execution.
A large pool of young talent provides enthusiasm
in a working environment. There has to be a lot
of responsibility and enthusiasm, and a little
impatience to succeed. Though the rate of bearing
failure is higher nowadays.
How do you ensure that your team delivers
We share a common platform. Thus we are very
clear about our goals. We work with people who
take responsibility. My 30 years of work experience
has been successful and fortunate because of this.
Fun Part of your business
The fun part of our profession is the unexpected.
There are a lot of young people and a lot of creativity.
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