Inspiring Great Leaders Podcast #231 Anita Madan Leaders Cannot Know Everything

Inspiring Great Leaders Podcast #231 Anita Madan Leaders Cannot Know Everything

Inspiring Great Leaders Podcast #231 Anita Madan Leaders Cannot Know Everything

Leaders Cannot Know Everything

On this episode of the Inspiring Great Leaders Podcast, Craig Johns speaks with Anita Madan about how leaders cannot know everything, and allowing and creating space within organisations for innovation and creativity.

We also dive deeper into identifying if an individual contributor is suited for management, gender diversity in leadership, and recognising the importance of human touchpoints.

Anita Madan – Leaders Cannot Know Everything

Anita Madan serves as the Global Head of IT Strategy and is a distinguished TEDx Speaker. She is the Chief Operating Officer at Dream Big Australia and passionately mentors STEM students through IMINS.

With a solid educational background, Anita holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and has pursued studies at the prestigious Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. Throughout her career, Anita has made significant contributions to various multinational corporations, including global Security Tech company GnD, American Express, Agilent Technologies, and Trident Group.

Anita Madan talks about:

  • Growing up in India in a traditional modern family shaped her way of thinking
  • Dreaming of becoming a lecturer and somebody who does a lot of research
  • Leaders Cannot Know Everything
  • Leaders need to create space for their teams to think differently and innovatively
  • Finding what expertise each team member has and harnessing it
  • Giving your best at work instead of trying to prove yourself as the best
  • Leveraging the power of your teams, finding solutions, and using organisational goals as a North Star
  • Leaders need to provide direction by asking good questions
  • Find the right balance between utilizing data and technology while also ensuring they do not threaten humans at work
  • Making progress towards gender diversity in leadership 
  • We need more female role models to inspire the next generation
  • Leaders need to manage their energy well and utilise the expertise of those around them rather than trying to do everything themselves
  • Being curious and asking the right questions can spark innovation within teams instead of telling people what to do
  • Identifying if an individual contributor is suited for management
  • Providing training and simulations before placing people in a leadership role
  • Maintaining curiosity, stepping outside comfort zones, and avoiding making quick judgments to grow and adapt to change
  • Remuneration should be based on the value individuals bring, whether as individual contributors or leaders

Tweets

“The modern leader is not someone who knows everything, but is the one who knows how to navigate through the unknown.” Anita Madan talks about the modern leader on the Inspiring Great Leaders Podcast.

“If you’re engaging your team to do things like 9 to 5 all the time, they do not have the space to think anything different. They are just following the routines. So create that space even for yourself. When you are working on something more creative, more innovative, very different, if you are not creating that space for yourself and your team, you’re really lacking on the best talent.” Creating allowing space for creativity with Anita Madan on the Inspiring Great Leaders Podcast.

“Don’t ask the fish to climb the tree. Do not ask the bird to swim. It’s like that. So you should know who is the fish and who is the bird. Once you realize that, then talk to that person. I always do that with my team. I tell them, this is my observation. I think you will grow better in this part.” Anita Madan talks about knowing your people well to help them grow on the Inspiring Great Leaders Podcast.

Resources Mentioned in this show:

Anita Madan Linkedin
Craig Johns www.craigjohns.com.au
Craig Johns craig@nrg2perform.com
Craig Johns LinkedIn
Craig Johns Facebook
Inspiring Great Leaders Podcast
NRG2Perform www.nrg2perform.com

actve CEO Podcast Indiran Padayachee Rentcorp Winning Only Matters

active CEO Podcast #6 Indiran Padayachee Winning Only Matters

PCB Vol 6- Indiran Padayachee
Indiran Padayachee – Founder & CEO Rentcorp Forklifts

On this episode of the active CEO Podcast, Craig Johns and Ben Gathercole speak with Indiran Padayachee delving into his performance and precision mind, discussing immigrating from South Africa to Australia, working in Toyota, leading Rentcorp, allowing people to mistakes, investing in your competitors, innovation through diversification of staff, being an active CEO and why racing Porsche GT Cup cars is his ‘Golf” outlet.

Indiran Padayachee

Indiran Padayachee is the Founder, Director and CEO of Rentcorp Forklifts. Indiran immigrated to Australia in 1987 and has been building RentCorp, a Forklift rental company, in Sydney. Indiran is also a dedicated and very successful Porsche Cup competitor, which is one of the most competitive one make series in the world. He is a very humble, well respected, and leads through empowerment.

Indiran talks about:

  • The challenges of immigrating from South Africa to Australia in the 1980’s
  • Dealing with leaving behind a well-established lifestyle and family network
  • How working with Toyota gave him the stepping stones to starting his own business
  • Why it was important to work locally, get to know the culture, what was and wasn’t acceptable, business environment, and meeting customers and people
  • What the materials and handling industry involves and how it is evolving
  • The importance of a rapidly changing IT world
  • Investing time in knowing what your competitors are doing, finding alternatives, in-house training, empowering people and providing exceptional service.
  • Using a collaborative and empowerment centered leadership style
  • Allowing people to make mistakes
  • If someone needs a solution, then the present 3 options
  • How Rentcorp fosters innovation
  • Why the staff write down five points each day
  • Opportunities to discuss new ideas
  • Finding something simple
  • What he does to stay active and healthy
  • The alignment of motorsport and business
  • Why the sign in the Rentcorp Boardroom says “Business is Like a war, only winning matters.”
  • Innovation through diversification of staff
  • Motorsport being his ‘golf’ outlet
  • Mental preparation before opening the door handle
  • Precision in the process of racing a Porsche GT Cup car
  • Why his licence plate reads “My Way”.
  • His wife having the greatest impact on his career

Tweets

“Business is Like a war, only winning matters.” with Indiran Padayachee. You can listen here

Why is the innovation through diversification of staff, and the alignment between driving a Porsche and business, so important to success? Listen to Indiran Padayachee and gain an insight into leading by example on the active CEO Podcast.

Resources Mentioned in this show:

www.rentcorp.com.au

www.carreracup.com.au/dream-round-for-record-father-son-pairing/

www.nrg2perform.com

craig@nrg2perform.com

www.linkedin.com/in/ceo-corporate-wellness-perform

Recommended Reading:

Better Than Winning – Ben’s best selling book https://nrg2perform.com/portfolio/book

Previous active CEO Podcast Episodes:

#5 – Suzie Hoitink (Clear Complexions) – Enemy of a Great Life is a Good One link
#4 – Rene Zondag (PBI) – People Are Our Greatest Asset link
#3 – Anne Gripper (NSW Office of Sport) – 6 C’s of Leadership link 
#2 – active CEO Intro (NRG2Perform) Part 2 link
#1 – active CEO Intro (NRG2Perform) Part 1 link