A switch in time

When Jyotiraditya M Scindia ended his 18yearlong association with the Congress last week to join the ruling rival Bharatiya Janata Party taking the grand old party and the nation by surprise he said in his resignation letter It is now time for me to move onThis path has been drawing out over the last year Although his father Madhavrao was a Congress veteran the cracks in Scindias relation with the party had begun to appear long agoThe Congress snubbing him as the chief ministerial candidate for the Madhya Pradesh polls in 2019 despite being one of the prominent nextgen faces the lack of leadership in the grand old party unfulfilled manifesto promises and finally no assurance over a Rajya Sabha RS seat were some of the key reasons cited behind the former Member of Parliaments exit Though he had been vocally critical of the BJP in the past given that he was able to bag an RS nomination from the party within a day of joining it seems that the switch was inevitableScindia with Union home minister and BJP leader Amit ShahSuch deflections are common in the corporate world too We may think that reaching the top of an organisation may be the ultimate goal but chief executive officers managing directors and other members of the top brass many of whom may have toiled for years to get to leadership positions quit to join competitors oftenWhat prompts such switches what happens once you join a rival firm and what can companies do to retain leadership talentWe spoke to three executive coaches to decode these questions Here are five key takeaways1 Personal growth pay politicsOnes personal career growth cant plateau after reaching the top Mediocrity is one of the main reasons behind corporate leaders joining rival camps says executive presence coach Vikram who works with senior Fortune 100 leaders As in the case of Scindia despite good performance if the leader is notrecognised or given due credit it leads to dissatisfaction Many highpotential leaders expect faster career growth When this is denied they may switch Other reasons include higher pay package lack of vision or strategy in the current company and internal politics he addsCoach Vikram2 Question your new pickWhen any employee at the senior level switches to a competitor they bring with them core values of their former company insight into its strategy along with data says Vandana Shah founder of Chrrysallis a corporate mentoring firm and an executive coach Keeping this in mind Vikram adds that before making a switch one should question the intention of the new firm mdash is it looking for your expertise or just your clients andinside information3 Graceful exitThere are some restrictive clauses that some companies make their senior management members sign to avoid poaching later on One must be careful about what theyre signing up for You should have a foolproof plan to skirt around the legal tangles when you decide to join a rival firm says Ashwin Srivastava founder Great Manager Institute which provides people management training As the leader one should also exit gracefully to make sure the door is never closed for the future Be diplomatic but also explain to them why youre leaving Make an attempt to be in a winwin situationadvises ShahVandana Shah4 Game planA lot of corporate leaders end up in companies whose policies they may have criticised earlier much like Scindia Take all the positive lessons you learnt to the new company and forget and move on from negative feelings that may have existed before says Shah The employees in your new company are likely to look at you with doubt as you join from a rival firm Understand how they work build confidence among them and create your own leadership brand Be mindful of how you reveal sensitive information about your past clients projects or colleagues Your new coworkers may think you cant be trusted with sensitive information Vikram addsAshwin Srivastava5 Companies its time to reflect5With the war for talent intensifying it will get tougher for organisations to retain good people The priorities of leaders are also shifting from being loyal to seeking quicker growth There is a common perception that the CEO is the company But they have their own set of ambitions Boards focus on development of junior and middle management but not on the senior leaders Thinking of the career growth of the top leaders is critical Boards need to take care of their needs outside of the growth of the company suggests Srivastava Vikram agrees that organisations need to place the right leader in the right place Sometimes it is good to let them go and hope that they will return in the futureLearn evaluate move onSandeep Gulati moved from being the chief operating officer COO Asia Pacific South Africa at StarTek Inc an outsourcing firm to ManpowerGroup a workforce solutions firm as the managing director in September 2019My decision to switch to ManpowerGroup was based on some key questions that I asked myself Am I relevant to the changing landscape Am I contributing to the company as well as to myself Am I learning If you keep evaluating yourself you will know when its the right time to take the plunge he sharesAs someone who has rotated around in different roles before reaching the top he feels its important to unlearn when one is making such transitions Both companies had one factor in common mdash they were peoplecentric So you have to be a sponge and absorb your new ecosystem Listen to employees in your new company respect the organisation and then take the baton from there Dont just sit on the top and judge others Go with the mindset that youre being evaluated he advisesCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates