Boss and the 'bro code'

We are so used to the cult of the alpha male rising to the top of the corporate hierarchy that when we come across the self-effacing boss, we rub our eyes in wonder. Last Friday, at a company townhall, Flipkart chairman Sachin Bansal calmed employees' nerves over the recent high-profile exits from the company by speaking about an unlikely target of the layoffs: himself.

"Look at the top level around you. Everyone has changed. In fact, even I am gone," he said. "Some of our targets have been missed and everyone, including the top management, has paid the price."

In January, Bansal was replaced by co-founder Binny Bansal, who took over the day-to-day operations of the company. Sachin, meanwhile, was deputed to guide the company strategically. At a time when Amazon, with its deep pockets, has made giant inroads into the Indian e-commerce space, Flipkart can ill-afford a dissatisfied workforce. Sachin's confession was aimed at laying stress on how performance alone is a criterion for longevity at Flipkart.

Even so, the way his candour was appreciated in HR circles and the media made one wonder if humility is really at a premium in corporate circles. Or, is it simply that the media chooses to focus on the flashier corporate animal? Money and the prestige that comes with it are as much the focus of the business media as corporate goings-on. Newspapers, say, have dedicated supplements in which destination weddings and the chic interests of the well-off are covered in detail.

Yet, the truth is, for every Richard Branson and Vijay Mallya, there are hundreds of top bosses who go about building their companies with quiet reserve.

Perhaps it's the start-up culture of the information technology sector, which by its nature is interested in disrupting rather than eulogising, that throws up low-profile bosses. In a recent interaction, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy spoke of how "Indians have the highest ego per unit of achievement". He was referring to his experiences with the bureaucracy that is resistant to change and inputs.

But his words threw in sharp relief his own style of functioning during his heyday as Infy chief. From standing in line in the cafeteria during lunch hours to continuing to stay in his modest house in Bengaluru'ss Jayanagar, Murthy personified the mantra of "simple living, high thinking".

Murthy is hardly alone in the "modest boss" club. Within IT, he has company in Wipro's Azim Premji. Then there are other corporate chieftains like Ratan Tata and YC Deveshwar who are well-known for their retiring lifestyle and unassuming nature.

That said, the kind of modesty that we have come to expect from Murthy or Tata is of a different nature than that witnessed at Flipkart last Friday. For all their humility, Murthy and others of his generation operate from a plane of emotional distance that, while evoking respect, does not exactly endear them to their target audience.

The start-up ecosystem of today is markedly different from the 1980s when Infy and the IT division of Wipro took shape. Like Murthy, first-generation entrepreneurs like the Bansals and Ritesh Agarwal of Oyo Rooms have built companies from next to nothing, but unlike Murthy, they are not a flash in the pan. There is now a genuine start-up scene in India, peopled by a generation that is more certain of its talent, that knows its place in the world, and is willing to take risks to realise its goals.

Walk around Indiranagar or Koramangala, the start-up hubs of Bengaluru, and you come across scores of 20-somethings sipping coffee or gorging on burgers in hip new joints. Huddled together in groups, they work for startups that meet customer needs in sectors as diverse as furniture (Urban Ladder) and healthcare (Practo).

Their ease with one another and their eagerness to take on new challenges is part of a "bro code" that is identifiable by a number of factors: openness, ambition, and most important, community. These men and women can tap into contacts that extend from engineering and business schools to the globally diffused work environment of today. They are as comfortable in Bengaluru as they are in San Francisco, and indeed, many straddle great distances in search of the perfect job.

The Bansals are the epitome of this corporate cool, where prestige is earned not via hierarchy but by breaking it down. First among equals, they brought about as well as benefited from this changed scenario. Flipkart will be 10 years old next year, and while that duration seems excessive in start-up time, it is not much when we think of how the duo started by selling books and turned into billionaires by putting the idea of an Indian ecommerce retail platform in practice.

Bansal's remarks at the townhall should be seen in this light. By reaching out to a beleaguered employee base with frankness, he showed us what the new-age corporate boss looks like: inspirational, yes, but in an immediate, you-know-what-I-am-talking-about way. The corporate pedestal has been breached. vjohri19@gmail.com