Manikkam
IT Head,
Henkel CAC

In this special series titled ‘The One Thing’, CIOL attempts to discover and unravel the many facets of Manikkam’s challenging and inspiring portfolio as a CIO, a Decision Maker and an IT Leader.

Q: What is the one thing that you draw your strength to achieve your goals?
A: Make all your dreams real by first identifying and then focusing on specific, tangible targets for what you want. Maintain at least one clearly defined goal for every major interest and role in your life Set your goals so they are directly aligned with your life’s mission, purpose and passion.Create goals high enough to ignite your spirit and inspire you to take action. Write down all your goals in specific, measurable detail.

Absolutely, unconditionally commit to hitting each of your targets. Share your goals with others for mutual accomplishment. Set a whole series of related daily, weekly and long-term goals, complete with starting times and completion dates.

Take 10 minutes every day to imagine how terrific it will feel when your goals are actually realized.Take an action step toward the attainment of at least one goal every day

Q: What is the one facet of leadership that has truly inspired you?
A: In my view effective leaders stay focused on the outcomes they wish to create, and don't get too married to the methods used to achieve them. They provide this 'outcomes focus' for their organization by emphasizing the mission, vision, values and strategic goals of their organization and at the same time building the capacity of their organizations to achieve them.

Leaders who are authentic attract followers, even leaders who are viewed as being highly driven and often difficult to work for. Simply put, they are viewed as always being themselves.and therefore followers know what to expect from them and can rely on them, come thick or thin.

The challenges facing leaders today are immense, and require great courage to overcome. Leaders are constantly being challenged by others, be it their own team, customers, the public or stakeholders. Standing firm in the face of criticism, yet having the courage to admit when they are wrong, are hallmarks of courageous leaders.

Q: What is the one thing that you would advise to upcoming and aspiring CIOs?
A: The CIO must be a self-achiever and should be motivated to become a proactive leader and role model. Changes in technology often produce a "chaos situation" where change management in the use of instructional technology in teaching and learning becomes increasingly important . The CIO must be ready to embrace that change.

The field of CIO will be of extreme importance in the new millennium as technology (equipment, software, hardware, and infrastructure) continues to advance rapidly and change becomes imperative.

Complex events, and chaotic developments and trends in our modern world are confronting business leaders with a compelling mandate for change of unprecedented proportions. And not just any old change will do...In this world of turbulence and flux, no change short of profound transformation will suffice. It seems certain that the "new realities" of chaos, complexity, and discontinuous change are here to stay.

Globalization, fierce competition, the remarkably diverse workforce, the continuing explosion of information and technology, economic and social upheaval are only a few of a plethora of signals from the marketplace we must begin to heed. The message is clear: If survival is the aim, change is the game--change not only in how our work gets done, but in how we think about our work, our enterprises, ourselves and our lives.

Q: Who is the one leader that you have admired?
A: Mr Dhirubhai Ambani is one leader whom I always admire He has created a knowledge-driven corporate culture and developed knowledge leaders and knowledge workers.He has always been an innovator ,maximizing corporate intellectual capital. He belived in collaboration and knowledge sharing and organizational learning ,managing customer knowledge and transforming corporate knowledge into shareholder value

Q: What is the one major challenge you face as a CIO?
A: 1. Consolidation: Centralizing; consolidating services, operations, resources and infrastructure.
2. Shared Services: Business models, sharing resources, services and infrastructure.
3. Budget and Cost Control: Managing budget reduction, strategies for savings, reducing or avoiding costs; activity based costing.
4. Security: Security safeguards, enterprise policies, data protection and insider threat.
5. Electronic Records/Digital Preservation/E-Discovery: Strategies, policies, legal issues, opportunities for shared services and emergency preparedness.
6. ERP Strategy: Acquisition, implementation, expansion and upgrade.
7. Green IT: Policies, energy efficiency, power management, green procurement and e-waste.
8. Transparency: Open government, performance measures and data, and accountability.
9. Health Information Technology: Assessment, partnering and implementation.
10. Governance: Improving IT and data governance.

Q: What is the one successful practice you deploy to motivate your teams?
A: Given here are several ways of how to motivate a team by resolving internal conflicts: Agree to learn from all conflicts: every conflict is an opportunity to learn more about the group, as the team can learn about each other better and then put each other’s key potentiality to better use.

Be creative:
encouraging creativity resolves conflicts, and brings fun to the task.

Be flexible :
The structure of certain groups tend to give rise to conflicts. Being flexible means a group sees more than one way of operating which opens up more possibilities and chances to grow.

Be responsive :
The team members can address conflict proactively by agreeing to respond to any and all conflicts, as and when they occur.

Encourage the team members to confidently share ideas: Foster the feeling that the team is a safe ground for the member to share ideas. This can be done by saying encouraging things like: “All ideas are welcome;” “Every person has a voice;” “We will listen without judging;” etc. This will encourage brainstorming, building on each other’s ideas and arriving at decisions as a team.

Trace win-win situations :
Often when conflicts are resolved the outcome is that one side loses and the other wins; or then both sides feel they have lost. The team leader’s goal is to look for a win-win situation where both sides feel they have gained something.

Listen :
Some conflicts arise due to miscommunication; so it is important to listen carefully to what each member has to say. The team leader should be a silent spectator when others’ speak and ask only those questions to ascertain the facts.

Use thoughtful body language :
As a team leader one has to ensure that the team feels that they are being heard. This is an important motivational requirement.

And this can be seen by the leader’s body language, which includes the following:

• Maintaining eye contact
• Leaning towards the team
• Nodding the head
• Ignoring distractions

Q: What is the one thing you do to manage stress?
A: Below are some tips to help manage the stress. According to me.:.

1. Keep your self organized

stress is so usual these days that it’s already expected. So it’s better that you prepare yourself for the big ones and let go of the smaller, insignificant pests. You can only do this if you keep your life organized. You may not know it but simply looking for your misplaced pen in the office can already put you in a lot of stress, not to mention, cause you to lose your concentration. Don’t let that happen to you. Keeping your things organized will make you more prepared to deal with the bigger ones.

2. Start early

It is not true that creative juices only come out in cramming times. It only comes out during those times because we are forced to think. And with enough willpower, we can certainly think of creative concepts without stressing ourselves for lack of time. Starting early will also mean that you don’t have to hurry when you are working on the project. You can take your time and really think about what you are going to do to it. This will not only prevent you from getting stressed out but also allow you to make a great creative work.

3. Live healthy

Stress levels will rarely affect you when you are prepared for it, health-wise. You see, when your body is healthy and is full of energy, you are more or less protected from the effects of stress such as lowering of energy levels, nervous breakdown and sometimes, even heart disease. This can only be done by living healthy through eating the right kinds of food and having the requisite sleep each day.

4. Take the time off.

If you feel that you are already nearing your breaking point, don’t be a martyr. Take a break. This will do you a lot of good as it will help you recharge and de-stress yourself. If you are too busy, don’t postpone it. Doing so will only make the stress fester inside until you become too stressed out to even be productive.

This is the reason why employers give vacation leave so that people can take a full day of rest or a couple of days of rest to regain their former energy levels and creative selves.

Q: What is the one thing that decision makers and leaders must avoid as a rule?
A: Not to overlook

But to ensure how IT and businesspeople can work together to improve data delivery through process automation opportunities, discover what information employees really need and to identify what feeds enterprise success.

Q: Name one HR best practice that can aid in people retention?
A: Show your team that you have an interest in their success Allow your team employees the room to develop their skills Give the team a clear idea of the long-term goals of the company

Q: What is the one great opportunity you see in these tough times of global recession?
A: 1) Improve and build internal skills.
2) Use a slowdown to improve the team -- look to bring in great people who have been laid off elsewhere.
3) Don't let your best people evaporate in a recession.
4) Cut training and development last. That resource is critical to success in the post-recession period.
5) Use a recession to make tough decisions -- to get rid of redundant and non-performing vendors, and to cut low-performing employees.
6) Accelerate virtualization and other IT/BT efficiency measures.
7) Re-double efforts to add value. Sharpen ROI metrics, publicize IT/BT victories, honor and award great performers, intensify collaboration between technology and business. Use this time to be more visible with the CEO, not less.
8) Look for vendor discounts and re-negotiate contracts when possible