Amit Bansal, CEO and co-founder of PurpleLeap, joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on how to plan a career in management.
Q. They say Management is 90 percent leadership and 10 percent technical skills. can leadership be acquired? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. It is true that most of the management is beyond the use of tools (technical skills). However, there is quite a misconception on the concept of leadership. When most of the people talk about leadership, they think about a great orator making a 'friends romans and countrymen' kind of speech. However, leadership involves implementing the organizational vision/mission with the help of given resources of people, money and other assets. It invloves solving problems, translating the task to people in simple terms, having an understanding of the domain and environment etc. Leadership goes beyond just giving motivational speeches.
Q. Management is a Broad area. Sales,marketing,finance,HR,production, in these technical skills are important. Which of these area can get a growth to the top? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. This is an interesting question. Especially so, because I also used to think about this a lot before I started my management education in XLRI. One can rise to the top in any area. Infact, one does not need to be an MBA to rise to the top. It all depends on the domain of the company and your ability to lead the company. For instance, if there is a company that is into software product development, the chances are quite high that the leader will be one coming from software development background. Similarly, a company into HR consulting will have a leader from HR background. A company into manufacturing may have the head from production or technical background. Essentially, the person at the top must have a good understanding of the business of the company and have the 'leadership' qualities to manage the resources.
Q. With many number of institutions offering management courses - is it essential to be certificate holder on management to build a career in management? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. Not really. Lot of leaders in the industry do not have an MBA degree. However, a good MBA education certainly provides a headstart.
Q. What qualities you think are essential for moving from a consultant career to a management career? Asked by: Aslam
A. I assume that you are a management consultant right now and want to switch to a line function. If that is the case, the additional skills required in a line function are that of team/people management. I am not suggesting that consultant roles don't involve people skills, it is just that the kind of team/people issues that you face in a line function are little different. Apart from that, it is typically some tactics/tools that are specific to a role that you will have to work harder to acquire in the first few months of the new role.
Q. A lot of management graduates are now looking at starting their own ventures post degree. What are the requisite points to be kept in mind if one were to start up a company? Asked by: Anandita
A. Enterpreneurship - something close to my heart :-) Well, to start with, one has to keep in mind that own venture can fail as well. It means that you need to be mentally and financially prepared to handle the situation of a venture that does not work. Second is to really find out the reason behind starting a venture. One needs to be passionate about the vision behind the venture. Third aspect is the due diligence before taking the plunge. While starting a venture requires a bit of risk taking 'bravery', it should not be foolhardiness at the same time. I know of lot of people who want to do something of their own because they have got fed up of the corporate life. That alone, cannot be a reason to start.
Q. Management is aimed at delivering results. How far ethics in process to delivery is subjected to scrutiny? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. Management is about delivering 'sustainable' results. If you compromise on ethics, you might be able to show a spike in performance for a short period, but you definitely cannot sustain it. Great businesses are built on strong foundations.
Q. Any course on political management? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. Sorry I am not too aware on political management.
Q. Is management a science or an art? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. Let me not give you a textbookish response that it is both a science and art! Management is all about perspectives. One has to take decisions and it is impossible to get all the data behind the problem to get an algorithmic solution. Also, no two problems are identical. Hence, management education at best provides a framework to think. A good management education actually changes the way one goes about making decisions. In other words, it changes ones perspective. So, it is more or an art that you can learn either through your own experiences or leapstart by leaning on the experiences of others.
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