Leadership@Infosys - Business Digest

D O S S I E R
Leadership@
Infosys
Based on Leadership@Infosys by Matthew BARNEY, Portfolio Penguin,
December 2010.
Can 750 managers change the destiny of a 122,000-person
organization? At Infosys, India’s second largest IT services company,
the answer to this question is “yes”. In the past ten years, the company
has devoted considerable energy to building a strong, stable,
and continuously monitored leadership development system.
The Infosys adventure began in 1981, with seven inexperienced
co-founders, 1000 rupees’ capital (about $200), and one
customer. Now, thirty years later, the IT services corporation
ranks 2nd behind market leader Tata Consulting, is listed on the
Nasdaq 100, reports $4.8 billion in annual revenue, and
employs 122,000 people in 50 countries. How did the company
get to this point? Infosys has revised its business several times
(from software to hardware, then content, and now global IT
services) and survived several major crises (i.e., the burst of the
Internet bubble, loss of major customers). It has also achieved
extraordinary growth and quadrupled revenue in the past seven
years. At the root of this Indian story of rags to riches lies a
visionary approach to leadership. According to N.R. Narayana
Murthy, president of the Infosys board of directors, company
leaders “transform reality from what it is to what they want it to
be” and “raise the aspirations of followers. It is about making
people believe in themselves; it is about making them confident;
and it is about making people achieve miracles. Leadership is
M E M O
Infosys leadership principles
1
2
3
LEADERSHIP
6 • • N ° 2 1 4 • M A R S 2 0 1 1
FROM VISION TO ACTION
about dreaming the impossible and helping
followers achieve it.” Make no mistake—
Murthy’s words are anything but lofty
notions. At Infosys, dreams are firmly
grounded in reality. Leadership is
scientifically analyzed, mapped out, and
planned according to a seven-pillar model.
“Vision without action is never more than a dream. Action
without vision is a nightmare…” This Japanese proverb effectively
summarizes the Infosys perspective, where strategy,
operational excellence, and change support constitute the
core of its leadership model.
■ Pillar 1: Strategic Leadership
This refers to people’s ability to commit to the long term and
to keeping the company ahead of the competition over time.
This does not imply coming up with an extraordinary idea but
rather being able and willing to devote attention and
resources (human, material, and technical) to competitively
significant areas. Strategic decisions have to be translated
into operational terms (quality, costs, quantity, delivery times,
etc.), and you have to keep an eye out for potential risk, like
customer or supplier dependency. Considering business
Vision and action. Leaders simultaneously design strategy, ensure operational excellence, and drive change.
Expertise and innovation. Leaders constantly strive to create something new, taking an inspirational and entrepreneurial
approach to leadership.
A talent pipeline. The leadership pipeline is formal system for fostering and managing talent, developing networks,
and breaking through organizational silos.