India has originated many a managerial practices. Good governance has been the hallmark of the kings who ruled various provinces in our country. It was an era when war with a neighboring nation or province was the time people chose to be at their best in performance. There was neither industrialization nor competition among industries. Even when the process of industrialization started the element of competition was absent. The technological development which is another facet of industrial growth shrunk the globe from a universe to a village bringing in the process competition which is now cutthroat forcing the industries to not only perform individually but survive in the face of competition and innovations.

Therefore business of late has become so complex and difficult that for firms it is more survival than mere running in an environment that is increasingly unpredictable and stiffly competitive that their continued existence depending on the day-to-day mobilization of every ounce of resources intelligently. This is the challenge that industry managers face today. The need of the hour is to be one up over the competitor. It is not mere leadership that leads in the known path, but the one that creates new horizon. While new theories and practices help sticking to the basic tenets like the 5 Cs help in standing apart with managerial excellence.

•To internalize 5 C’s –
Competence – Technical and managerial competence to develop and implement highly specialized inputs to customer specific requirements and timely deliverance of products and services.
• Confidence – Ability to accept challenges to deliver quality products beating competition and the self belief in the team.
• Creativity – To be a leader in being innovative to bring about new products and services continuously to be ‘one-up’ in competition.
• Commitment - Commitment is single minded devotion to achieve the end result. Excellence in the output automatically results if commitment is total.
• Compassion - As we grow, we have to take along lesser mortals. Viewing with compassion helps include one and all in the growth process.
While the basics help to gather momentum sustaining momentum in the long run needs more strategic effort since India is at crossroads in its development as the world’s largest democracy. In embracing globalization, self-sufficiency, equitable and inclusive growth are issues that renders consensus more difficult. Hence while the general managerial practices help for growth, in the Indian context with the global perspective the competence of leadership is put to test as in India development is accepted as a certain goal, but which area has often remained contentious. How we fulfill the aspirations of various groups as is done in a democratic set up, adds a new dimension to the leadership challenges in a growth oriented environment.

What is the need of the hour to live up to this challenge?
It is to have competitive people in the present competitive economy. Organizations are endeavoring to become high performance work place by implementing measures such as strategic transformation, re-orientation, and global forays to have better control. Flatter team base structures have been adopted in most of the organizations in the present context. The focus on knowledge management, intellectual capital and performance management system to achieve desired results in this rapid growth has been the basic criteria for evaluating strategic leader (Manager) of an organization.

Who are strategic leaders for today?
The person who has a global perspective and ability to be a change agent in a transparent organization, team builder with a strong ability of handling multi-cultural environment would be perceived as a strategic leader. In other words he would look; act and walk like a leader possessing critical skills that helps them lead not just a firm but an industry. The critical skills required for the global success are:
1)Change Management - Ability to talk with certainty and also appreciating concerns of people affected by the change.
2) Maturity - Stability of performance under any stressful circumstances.
3)Openness - Open to new ideas and different practices and ability to speak out his mind.
4)Flexibility and Adaptability - Being able to quickly adapt to changing circumstances.
5)Contextual Thinking - Ability to see the bigger picture and develop cognitive completely.

While a leader may be successful with the critical skills in any given situation in a global competitive environment, which is the obtaining situation for most of the industries today, he needs to appreciate the global perspective in various facets of leadership that would help him stand apart as he leads a multi cultural team.

What is Trans cultural competence?
• Interest in different cultures and business practices
General understanding of the cultural background of persons and values of their business system
• Non-judgmental initial interaction with difference
The first act of communication that strikingly makes a mark
Response speed that accelerates striking a relationship
Visible open mindedness
• Conceptual understanding of difference
The physical posture and body language in greeting may be offending in one and respectful in another
• Model of organizational behavior diversity related to culture
Acceptance of diversity in behavior culture and language and remodeling organizational culture to create a synergic multi-cultural work environment
• Model of product/service diversity related to culture
Global leaders learn from traveling and interacting with travelers. They have the ethnographic skills of cultural anthropologists

All these help to become an active global player. Leadership can be with Trans cultural capabilities. But the work in a multi cultural environment also calls for a unified and concerted constant effort to achieve results. It is technical competence of the foreign collaborator and the Indian acumen derived from the knowledge worker. It has to be a synergic effort for longstanding success which has to keep in mind To be good at 5 B’s:

Beat Defects – Zero tolerance in quality compromise
Let quality compromisers defect out of the company
Beat Waste- reduce waste, waste no man hour
Beat Cost – volume game is one way. Quality product is the other.
When quality rules cost gets subdued
Beat excuse – Ex-communicate excusers
Beat inefficiency – It happens automatically if you follow other 4 B’s
In the present day context of business the fastest and the fittest survive. But the issue is how do we not merely survive but also thrive. As mentioned in the introduction from the time of ‘Chanakya’, India has originated successful managerial practices. As we go through history we understand that as times evolved, we have changed. A worker, for whom labor law was the gospel when industrialization set in, is now striving keenly to be a knowledge worker. The change is brought about by a huge attitudinal transformation. It is some unsung leadership that initiated the ‘Change’ by challenging the present and the known. The process of change is eternal but for a brief period embracing the unknown is the culmination of change.

Globalization has brought in many unknown technical, cultural and managerial practices. With the inherent strength of Indian managerial experiences that has accepted changes at various phases we view the change that stares at us in the global scenario. Change management has been a dynamic activity and the leadership that propels the action faces the competition more successfully. It is not challenges or threat or competition that disturbs us today but non acceptance of the need for change. In the present context and phase of global business environment ‘Cultural Synergy’ is the change that we have to adopt and the leadership model is the one having Trans cultural competence. If that is accepted we can stand up to challenges threats and competition and deliver what is expected of us.