An evening with Mrs. K. Madhavi Latha
On May 26, we had an engaging session by Mrs K Madhavi Latha. Here are the highlights.
About Mrs K. Madhavi Latha
Mrs. K. Madhavi Latha is an accomplished leader, orator, artist, philanthropist, social changer, entrepreneur, mother, and wife. With a relentless passion for making a difference, she has left an indelible impact on various spheres of society.
Born and raised in Hyderabad, Mrs Madhavi Latha completed her education at Nizam College, where she distinguished herself as a student leader. She later pursued a Postgraduate degree in Political Science from Osmania University, showcasing her dedication to academic excellence.
As an artist, Mrs Madhavi Latha is a trained classical Bharatanatyam dancer. She has been invited to speak at prestigious social, educational, corporate, and religious organizations across the country.
A passionate philanthropist, Mrs Madhavi Latha actively serves as a Trustee of the Viswanatha Foundation and Lopamudra Charitable Trust. Her endeavors include providing free medicine kits to destitute pregnant women, organizing medical health camps, constructing toilets for impoverished families, and implementing road safety measures.
Mrs Madhavi Latha's entrepreneurial acumen is evident in her role as the CEO of Virinchi Hospitals, a renowned healthcare institution in Hyderabad. Under her leadership, Virinchi Hospitals has grown impressively and earned a reputation for excellence in patient care and medical services.
Mrs Madhavi Latha has played a pivotal role in her husband, Mr. Viswanath's entrepreneurial journey. She has been instrumental in the growth and success of their businesses, which include IT, Bio-Tech, Healthcare, and Infrastructure.
Her vision encompasses poverty eradication, promoting respect for human life, and ensuring universal access to healthcare, sanitation, education, and shelter.
On leadership
In her prepared remarks, Mrs Madhavi Latha summed up the essential qualities of a good leader.
Leadership starts at home, with the family. We should be able to relate to the leader. There is little value in searching for or emulating leaders, far away from us, within books. We may not know them at all.
Leaders make people open up and talk about their problems. They act like mentors.
Leaders do not criticize subordinates. This will make them hold back and try to stay within the good books of the leader. Leaders are like friends. They allow people to make mistakes.
Leaders help people to move through a tunnel into broad daylight. Leaders are visionaries. They think of tomorrow and not just today.
Leaders do not clamor for attention. They remain in the background.
Leadership does not require aggression or flamboyance. Leaders can be simple and down to earth. Leaders do not need to be blunt or aggressive. Even a smile can often convey what we expect from people. Instead of putting pressure on people with challenging timelines and deliverables, good leaders focus on reward and recognition. Leaders become great because of the achievements of their teams.
Leaders are not infallible. They can make mistakes. Leaders are willing to correct themselves. They are willing to be questioned. Leaders do not have a big ego. They can take feedback from even an office boy.
Leaders listen to their inner conscience.
Leaders keep learning and trying to improve every day. Leaders can carry on provide they keep learning. They cannot afford to rest on their past experience. The day they stop learning is when they must retire.
Leaders make sacrifices.
Instead of searching for some unknown God, leaders remove the known devil.
Leaders do not carry forward emotions. They act like a sponge and absorb the emotions of others.
Leaders are willing to experiment.
Leaders are like corporate sanyasis.
Leaders have a moral compass. They always listen to their inner voices.
Many of the good leadership qualities are feminine in nature: understanding, calm, learning, determination.
Who is the role model of a leader? During the Q&A, Mrs. Madhavi Latha gave the example of Goddess Parvati. She was a simple woman. But when men failed to kill Mahishasura, she took up the mantle herself. She equipped herself and killed the demon. Once that was over, she returned to Lord Shiva. She remained anchored and down to earth without feeling egoistic.
Q&A
In 1992, as a college student, at the age of 17, Mrs Madhavi Latha was recovering from typhoid. Her mother suggested she should attend the NCC camp in New Delhi instead of remaining at home and putting on weight. She became the head of the AP contingent. Her superiors had to choose between Madhavi Latha and a junior called Aishwarya for the prestigious dance competition. Aishwarya was a Kuchipudi dancer while Madhavi Latha was proficient in Bharat Natyam. Experience indicated that someone who demonstrated a tougher dance would invariably win the competition. Now Kuchupudi involves balancing a plate and so looks relatively tough.
Once during practice, the young Madhavi Latha fell and hurt herself and became unconscious. As she was taken for treatment in a car, she could listen to her superiors discussing whom to nominate for the competition. She kept quiet, pretended to be unconscious and listened to the conversation. She understood the predicament of her superiors.
Subsequently, Madhavi Latha met Aishwarya and talked to her like an elder sister. She explained that she would be the accompanying person who would sing, while Aishwarya demonstrated Kuchipudi. To avoid any embarrassment to her superiors she suggested that Aishwarya could tell her superiors that she had convinced her (Madhavi Latha) about this agreement.
The point to note is that even at that young age, Madhavi Latha had a positive attitude. She had the maturity to appreciate that her superiors’ focus was on the AP contingent winning the competition and not preferring Aishwarya to her.
Mrs. Madhavi Latha believes in some core leadership principles. We should not try to impress anyone. We should follow the protocol and not break the process. We should never do anything illegal or immoral. We should always listen to our inner voice. We should do what is aligned with our identity.
Mrs Madhavi Latha believes that good physical fitness is the foundation for great leadership. If we are not physically fit, how will we have the energy to do our work? Mrs. Madhavi Latha herself takes the staircase whenever she can. Influenced by her, other colleagues also take the stairs when moving around with her.
It is also important to eat on time. When meetings extend beyond the stipulated time, Mrs. Madhavi Latha orders lunch for the team. Otherwise, she arranges snacks during meetings at regular intervals.
It is important to look at subordinates in their eyes and make out if anything is wrong. Mrs Madhavi Latha is known for talking to colleagues and trying to find out what is bothering them. This ensures that they are in a good frame of mind and give their best.
Mrs Madhavi Latha has her own ways of following up on action items. It is human to forget certain things. But timely follow-up in a friendly way can ensure that things get done.
Mrs Madhavi Latha sends gifts to spouses in recognition of their support.
Leadership is a 24x7 activity. So, Mrs. Madhavi Latha pays surprise night visits to check that things are going smoothly. This keeps employees on their toes.
Mrs. Madhavi Latha encourages get togethers of staff in which family members are also invited.
The answer is quite simple. We should not do to others what is not acceptable to us. Insulting people, taking harsh penal action without giving time to people to correct themselves and taking bribes, are good examples. Whatever hurts us, we should not do to others.
In schools, teachers often favor the front benchers who in turn oblige the teacher in various ways. This kind of cronyism is common even in corporates. It is important to divide people into clusters so that each cluster has a mix of top performers and average ones. Competition among the clusters should be encouraged. The weakest person in each cluster should be asked to make the presentation. This will ensure that the high performers have an incentive to help and bring the average performers to their level. That is how their leadership qualities will also be developed. Every season, we should change the cluster. Otherwise, there will be groupism and union formation. Prof Sudhakar added that at ICFAI Business School, the class composition is finalized considering various factors. This ensures that the top performers do not get bunched together in one section.
No one can be 100% successful. Failures are bound to happen. We should have our own definition of success. We should not compare ourselves with others on a daily basis. We all have limitations. Trying to be perfect will only lead to stress. Venting out our frustration from time to time in private is also important. When Guest Relations Executives at Virinchi Hospital complain about unreasonable patients, Mrs Madhavi Latha suggests that they should take a break, take a long walk around the hospital, mutter their grievances under their breath and have a cup of coffee. When they return, they are back to normal. Incidentally, the Indian tradition of married women visiting their parents from time to time serves this purpose, ie giving vent to their frustration with their in laws!
We have made life pathetic for employees. We go by checklists and give marks only for performance. People are tired of coping with this stress day after day. We must hold philosophical consultations to calm them down. We can also help them to calm down by encouraging them to do outreach work. Getting people involved in CSR activities such as serving food to orphanages or teaching orphaned children is a good idea and can recharge people. When people realize how privileged they are when compared to many others, they will start taking broader perspectives.
Some leaders are afraid of people below them growing and getting ahead of them. But we cannot stop people growing. This is the natural outcome of evolution. When we see our team members growing, we should feel proud and happy. Swami Vivekananda became more famous than his master, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa but he always maintained that he came from his master. Swamiji made his master even before famous by creating the Ramkrishna Mutt. In short, we live longer and our legacy lasts longer when our team members grow and overtake us.
All leadership qualities can be developed. Mrs. Madhavi Latha once learnt from her daughter, Lopamudra, that everyone has leadership potential. Given enough opportunities and mentoring, anyone can become a charismatic leader. Of course, we must dress well and look appealing. That is what creates a good impression. When we are neat and clean and conduct ourselves well, we are on our way to developing charisma.
In school, the maths classes are scheduled in the first hour and the relatively light courses in the second half. Similarly, we must also schedule prime activities in the first hour. We must monitor the energy levels and the outputs of employees closely. Accordingly, we can prioritize. When we see productivity levels dropping, we must help people. The availability of a social psychologist for consultation and opportunities for playing indoor games are ways to recharge employees.
There are certain things we must accept about the new generation and change accordingly. But we should not take the easy route and change in ways that suit our convenience. For example, giving mobile phones to young children to while away their time, so that we can go about doing our work undisturbed, is not a good idea.
We should learn to use technology in a nature way. Technology is like nuclear energy. It can be used for good and bad objectives. We should be clear about how much freedom to give to our children.
Young people use technology aggressively to give vent to their frustrations and calm down, because no one is listening to them. We must encourage them to open up and talk to us. We should allow them to express their aspirations and share their experiences. Young people get bored quickly. So we must learn how to engage with them. We should involve them in brainstorming and intellectual activities.