Leadership @ Infosys

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‘Powered by intellect, driven by values’-Infosys has been at the forefront of a new India Inc. since 1981. Leadership @ Infosys is the first book to codify Infosys’s unique history, values and leadership practices that account for the firm’s stellar rise from $200 seed capital to a multi-billion-dollar global enterprise.

As an extension of Infosys’s tradition of growing leaders through a programme called Leaders Teach, the book captures the origins of Infosys’s leadership approach and leverages advanced psychometrics to identify current leaders who are exceptionally effective in Infosys’s leadership model. These leaders share approaches that they believe account for their successes, and are candid about where they stumbled in the past to help junior leaders avoid their mistakes.

Chapters based on Infosys’s Leadership Journey Series include discussions of strategic leadership, change leadership, operational leadership. Talent leadership, content leadership and entrepreneurial leadership by thought leaders in each area, and feature a state-of-the-science review of leadership research along with practical examples that leaders can use to improve their performance and aptitude to take on increasing levels of responsibility. Leadership @ Infosys is designed to help both Infosys leaders and Infosys customers and admirers take their leadership to the next level.

Matt Barney, PhD is the vice-president and director of the Infosys Leadership Institute. Dr. Barney is the seniormost Infosys leaders responsible for the selection, development research and succession of senior and high potential leaders worldwide. Previously, he has held similar roles at Intel, AT&T, Lucent Technologies, Motorola and Merck. He has published and presented papers and books in areas including Lean Six Sigma, leadership development, psychometrics, human capital, risk management and simulations. He is a Motorola Master Black Belt and a certified risk manager by the Institute for Professional Education. In 2007, he was awarded the distinction of ‘Future Leader’s by Human Capital magazine.

Foreword

As two of the seven founders who have led Infosys since 1981, we can say that leading Infosys has been our life’s work. In the beginning, we had dreams, shared values, complementary skills and the willingness to subordinate individual preferences for the greater good of the company. We have taken some measured risks along the way, and together we have achieved greater things than any one of us could have by ourselves.

We’ve continually transformed our company through the decades as a leadership team—and the pace of change has accelerated as well. Just eleven years ago, in 1999, Infosys had only 3,000 employees, whereas today we have over 122,000. Earlier we provided only technology, but today we are a full service business solutions company.

We haven’t been perfect but we have successfully bounced back when we were in error, and have learned from our mistakes. The marketplace will continue to demand this sort of nimble adaptation to future challenges of us if we are to realize our vision of sustaining Infosys for the next 200 years. Effective leaders are essential if we are to continue to successfully adapt Infosys to the future competitive landscape.

We believe our values are one element that will sustain Infosys into the future. We’ve always led with our values. We decided right at the outset that we would not be a family-owned company. We have refused to do anything that would be less than honourable to our various stakeholders. And because of our unwavering commitment to Infosys as a single leadership team, Infosys has prospered. For us, leadership has always meant that the company’s needs come first. We have always played the role the company needed us to play, and subordinated our personal preferences for the greater good.

From the beginning we strove for respect. In fact, the key phrase in our vision statement was to become a ‘globally respected corporation’. This meant that we would earn the respect of all stakeholders— customers, employees, investors, governments and the society—every day, in every transaction. Respecting, and being respected, is more important to us than any amount of wealth—and more important to sustaining Infosys in the long run.

A second key value we subscribe to at Infosys is ‘leadership by example’. This means that leaders must follow the same rules and policies as other employees, and that leaders must be completely committed to Infosys and work harder than others. This is what creates the moral authority to lead.

Third, a critical part of our approach is to inspire our people to go beyond what they might think to be possible. We have spared no expense in investing in our employees’ development, including building the world’s largest corporate university in Mysore. To make sure our learning investments pay off, we have role-modelled a culture of learning, development and renewal at all levels, including the mentoring we do with our seniormost leaders. Leadership development is a critical ingredient required to sustain our long-term growth and renewal objectives.

These are just a few examples of how we see leadership at Infosys. This book will throw light on many more. We respectfully hope that this book will be one resource that will fuel your development. By going into our history, the latest science and ideas from our effective leaders we hope to help employees, students, customers and other stakeholders take their leadership to the next level.