‘Leaders should delegate and not micro-manage’

Dr Jerome Booth is a wellknown economist and commentator on emerging markets and global economic events. Through his private office, New Sparta, he manages a number of his investments. A DPhil and an MPhil in economics from Oxford University, Booth is the principal shareholder and chairman of the UK phone company New Call Telecom.

As a leader of your organisation, how do you cultivate leaders?

I cultivate leaders by example, and also by making it clear what is expected of them. As a leader, one needs to be empathetic and be able to judge people accurately. Some organisations are stuck with the culture of micro-management. Those who start their own businesses have to be very focussed about every detail. But as the company grows and becomes more complex, one must be able to transform into a leader. If one continues to be stuck in the ‘management mode’, then the organisation suffers from bottlenecks.

Can leadership be learnt? In other words, how can a manager become a leader?

Yes, leadership can be learnt. However, requirements such as the ability to judge people’s character may not be easy to learn. As a leader one should have the psychological ability to trust and delegate. That is the most difficult quality to learn. One can also learn a lot by being around entrepreneurs.

What is the role of a professional leader in a government or family-run company?

A government and a familyrun company are poles apart. In a family enterprise, problems may arise among kin within the company. But a good leader can overcome these frictions.

A leader in a government should have a clear vision, and the focus to implement that vision. Often, policies seem great on paper, and may not have been tested properly before being announced. It is only while working out the details of implementation does it become apparent that it probably wasn’t such a great idea after all. But, by then the policy can’t reversed and a lot of money will have been poured into a failure project.

What has been the biggest leadership challenge you’ve faced?

As a leader, one faces challenges everyday, and learns to treat them all equally. If one panics or overreacts to a problem in particular, then there is the danger of falling into the micro-management trap again.

Do you think the role of business leaders has come under cloud – globally and domestically – of late? Generally speaking, no... But it is true of leaders of banks. It is a bad idea to parachute highly-paid CEOs into companies. Both management and leadership are about people, and are not just sciences. While an MBA degree teaches key skills, it certainly doesn’t teach everything about what makes a great business leader. All this focus on management theory has led to handsomely-paid CEOs being seen as superstars. Instead, I prefer the idea of progressing through the ranks of a company.

What is your one-line leadership mantra?

Leadership is about inspiration and trust.

Who are the leaders that have inspired you?

It would be hard to pick out one leader from the many who have inspired me throughout my career. Mahatma Gandhi was an especially powerful and passionate leader.

What is the biggest leadership lesson that you have learnt? The biggest leadership lesson for me, as well as everyone, is to stop micromanaging. It includes letting people make their own mistakes to learn from them.

What is the best leadership decision you have taken?

My best decision would have to be hiring good people.

And what is your worst leadership decision?

Worst decision is erring while judging people. For a leader, this is an occupational hazard. This happens to all of us.