Being member of  the Advisory Council of the India CHRO Forum  powered by Sodexo India and led by Paul Writer we have featured a short interview with Richa Dubey, Director, Human Resources, Schneider Electric.
 
Leaders play a key role in shaping the future of any organization especially wrt to their human capital, what is your view on the same?
 
Leaders and their exemplary behavior does play a crucial role in shaping the human capital of an organization. I also think that their thoughts and beliefs which in turn get reflected in their daily interactions play a very crucial role on impacting human talent.

What according to you are the key traits of a leader in an organization?
 
According to me some of the crucial traits of a leader are:

• Humanitarian approach
• Focused goal orientation
• Long term view and big picture thinking
• Being aware of the small things that matter
• Keeping ego at bay and keeping others interest before self.

What measures can organizations take to find and develop leaders within their set-up?
 
Some of the things which organizations can do better to grow leaders internally are:

• Define Org competencies for present and future
• Plan and develop organizational level development plans focused on these competencies
• Do regular gap analysis
• Focus on behavior rather than only skills

 
What is your take on leaders and leadership wrt to Indian corporate world (challenges, opportunity, measures to improve etc)
 
My take is as follows:

• Opportunities are immense in a growing economy. Plus we have grown organizations in various industries without focusing on leadership traits. In some cases there are young managers who have been grown due to the need of the hour but have missed out on the required competencies.
• Challenges are several both in the field of growing new leaders and in grooming the old ones. Also cross cultural sensitivity and ability to drive international and virtual teams need to be focused on.