Amazing Bosses 6 - Mrs. Lila Poonawalla

People in general used to be in awe of her – Mrs. Lila Poonawalla or LFP as we fondly called her or Ma’am officially. As one overseas colleague said – She can walk into a hall full of people and you will find a momentary silence as everyone turns to look at her. She has presence. The first lady engineering graduate from Pune Engineering College, joined a global engineering giant in India as an engineer trainee on the shop floor, grew to become the Chairperson and MD of the company and was awarded the Padma Shri by the Govt of India. One can write a book on her.

Apparently, the global management felt the Indian company had twice as many people as it needed to do the business it was doing and as with most western organisations, the suggestion was to reduce manpower. LFP said we will double the top line in 3 years and thus was born the slogan Billion Rupee Challenge. This was how I learnt of her on the day I joined the company. 3 years later she said Double Billion Rupee Challenge (DBRC) in 3 years. The team doubled the top line twice in 6 years. No wonder our resident stand-up comic Mr. Chandrasekhar called it Din Bhar Ragadthey Chalo (meaning get rubbed the whole day) minutes after the program was announced.

My first brief meeting with her happened in a new office I had joined where we had no furniture. I mentioned that only to be told – “Why do you need a table and chair? You are supposed to be with customers. Ask them to provide you one and be with them”.

My first official interaction with her was when I was literally air dropped into taking over as Branch Manager of a major office one evening and she was to visit the office the next day early in the morning. Decently dressed I went to receive her, very nervous along with my predecessor who had abruptly quit. She was furious with his sudden resignation and as we drove from the airport, she gave him hell and I sweated.

I was like a puppy the whole day answering only when she asked a question while she met various customers. As I saw her off at the airport she said – “Am coming back next week and I need to see you smartly dressed. You should be wearing a good jacket and tie and wherever you go, people should look at you”. I actually thought I was well dressed!!!!

She was back a week later. Work over we returned to the office and she said – “We have a nice terrace upstairs. I have been asking your predecessors to have a couple of sofa sets, a coffee table and a roof so that people can relax in the open and enjoy the weather. Never happened. You are young and hopefully will do the job”    

Next day I took up the issue only to be told – “There is no budget provision. You don’t have the powers to sanction such jobs”.  When your accounts and project colleagues senior to you tell you this, you listen. A couple of weeks later she was back. Her first comment as she alighted from the car was “Looks like even you didn’t get the job done”. Before I could offer explanations, she said, “Don’t tell me anything, let’s go inside.” In my cabin, nervous and fidgety she said “Venu (our finance head) told you that you don’t have powers, there is no budget and you can’t get this work done”. I nodded. (Is this office bugged? I thought).

She then gave me a management lesson that has never left me till today. “If you wait for budgets and power nobody will give it to you and you will never get anything done at least in this company. Just go ahead and get it done. What is the worst that can happen? Bhatia (Director of Finance) will pick up the phone and shout at you. That is all. He is not going to sack you. So, let him shout. At least your work gets done”. She then added “Please don’t tell Bhatia I said this. As it is, he thinks I spoil the youngsters in the company”.

I got the job done, signed off papers exceeding my powers, no budgets and a few months passed. She was again back. First thing she looks up and says “Good, you finally got it done. Did anybody object? Did Bhatia call?”  I said No. She says “See nobody in this company will even know what you did but you got the work done. I know how our company works”. I laughed my head off at this.

The year ended and Mrs. Poonawalla had disagreed with sending New Year cards to customers, others. Many in the sales team were upset. As we met for a conference, I got volunteered to take up the issue with her. You are new, she won’t get upset with you. I went to her and gently raised the issue and she said

“NO, I will not agree to this greeting card idea.” I just stood there when she asked

“Why do you want to send greeting cards anyway?” I mumbled something and she asked

“You want your customers to remember you isn’t it?” I nodded.

“How many greeting cards do you think each customer gets?” I said maybe 40 or 50.

“And you think they will see all the cards, will notice your card, remember you and feel happy? This is not about money. This is about meeting the purpose. How many birthday or anniversary cards do you think they get? Go make a list of your customer birthdays and wedding anniversaries, send them cards, send their wife flowers, maybe even give gifts and I will approve all that, and even their wife’s will remember you”

I got the most profound marketing lesson in my life in those few minutes.

As new year dawned my wife called me excitedly to ask – Guess who called me just now? Turns out that Mrs. Poonawalla had called my wife (as also spouses of many other employees) to talk to her, thank her for her support saying she knew the challenges of having a travelling spouse, of the sacrifices made by her for which the company was grateful and to wish her well and say a few nice things. Never before never again have I seen this with anybody.

On new year day she would send a one page personal letter to each manager where apart from talking of the company, year gone by, overall economy, future, she would talk specifics about the person addressed, their personal contribution, achievement, etc. With such HR habits the loyalty she commanded was huge.

One story I heard about her was a negotiation meeting with a powerful politician where the politician insisted on judging the complex process equipment by its weight to decide price. Seeking a break, everyone left while she sat with him chatting. She started admiring the expensive imported branded wristwatch he was wearing and got him talking about it proudly including price. Finally, she asked him what the weight of the watch was. She walked away with the deal.

The last is rather sensitive so will share briefly. 

Was in a rather unpleasant situation officially and decided to quit my job. On the day I was to convey the decision and submit my quit letter the situation got resolved and I stayed.  A couple of months later she was in town on some work and I was asked to join her for breakfast at her hotel – a rather unexpected invite. I turned up and got a tongue lashing from her like never in my life. She had been aware of my situation and was very upset that I did not have the courage, ethics and responsibility to go to her and also because I had (incorrectly) assumed she was unlikely to back me up.

Do read more about her work at https://www.lilapoonawallafoundation.com/founders/

Truly an amazing woman, an amazing leader and obviously an amazing boss.