Transparency, fairness and trust are for building a successful team

Soumitra Sana or Sammy, country president and managing director, Motorola

India has been part of the ICT industry for over twenty-five years and has held

several strategic leadership positions of managing global engineering operations

and development of wireless and broadband infrastructure in multiple

geographies. Soumitra Sana has been the leader of the founding team of

Motorola's software design center in India. His key focus areas include

providing strategic leadership to ensure growth of the Motorola brand in India

and championing Motorola's vast business interest in the country including sales

manufacturing, research and development across centers. Soumitra Sana has spent

fifteen years in Canada as manager of global development teams and hardware and

software developers of wire-line networking products. He returned to India in

1997 to lead Motorola's software R&D operations and has been at its helm since

then. An avid reader, Sana's interest ranges from science and technology to

history and biography. In a close encounter with Voice&Data he shares his

passion, lifestyle and different aspects of his life. Excerpts

How difficult is to be the MD of Motorola?



In my current role I am responsible for both country management and software

R&D operations. This makes the job quite challenging. Ensuring proper governance

of Motorola's vast, diverse interests across the country requires a lot of

attention. Providing leadership, and at the same time running a high quality,

highly productive software operations in a dynamic IT market like India can be

quite demanding.

Soumitra Sana

How do you define yourself as an individual, entrepreneur and a family

man?



Dignity, empowerment and trust have always been the guiding principles that

have defined me in all contexts of life. As an individual I can be quite

private, spending a fair bit of my spare time on my interests and hobbies. I am

also quite independent and prefer to do most things myself rather than depend on

a multitude of people. However, as an entrepreneur, I focus on creating high

performance teams. Managing based on data, removing complexity from structures

and processes and empowerment are really important to me. In any individual's

success, family plays an important part. There's nothing like going back home to

the warmth of my family after a hard days work. Therefore giving them my time

and integrating them into my larger work life is very crucial to me.

What's your favorite holiday destination?



Although I travel to a lot of different places, the sea seems to attract me

most. Goa and Mauritius are my favorites.

What were the major factors that contributed to your success?



There are various factors responsible for anyone's success in life. Though

all would be difficult to recollect, I would say that my willingness to take

some risk at important junctures in my career has been a critical factor. Also,

taking on diverse and multiple roles has helped me. And last but not the least,

the education and encouragement that my parents provided me laid the foundation

for my success; and also the unconditional support that I get from my wife.

What do you consider as your strong and weak points?



The ability to simplify things, ability to connect to people on an even

keel, reliability and high ethical standards are some of my strong points. On

the other hand, I think a tendency to build consensus, not being aggressive

enough and perhaps being too forgiving are traits that are perceived as

weaknesses of mine.

Which Indian personality inspires you the most?



The great humanists and leaders of the Bengali renaissance, particularly

Tagore, was a great inspiration when I was growing up in Bengal. A few exemplary

leaders including Mr Ratan Tata stand out from the group of current Indian

personalities that inspire me.

Do you believe in God?



Spirituality and religion are a deeply personal matter. All I can say is

that rationalism and humanism play a big role in my beliefs and value system.

Are you missing some things in your life?



There is always something missing. One should never stop dreaming. And

sometimes you don't even know you are missing something till you get it-like

when my twins arrived and changed my life in many different ways.

How do you define life?



This is a difficult question, perhaps best left for philosophers. In my

simplistic view, being alive and participating in the great life process with

its millions of characters, its underlying drama and gamut of emotional

experiences and the opportunity to make a difference, however tiny it may be,

makes up life for me and the reason to be.

Where do you see Motorola five years down the line?



These are times of great change and survival depends on one's ability to

quickly adapt and adopt. Personally I believe Motorola will emerge much stronger

and nimble, perhaps vastly changed, but well placed to win and live up to its

rich heritage. We see a great future for our company.

How essential do you think it is to have a strong bond between a leader

and his team?



It is absolutely essential. Transparency, fairness and trust are essential

ingredients in building a successful team and the leader plays a key role in

creating this environment; much of it through relationship building. Backing up

each other at times of stress, supporting unpopular decisions, advocating

contrary views and challenging each other becomes much simpler when such a team

environment is encouraged.

What is more important, hype or hard work?



Both have their own flavors. I guess a lot of hard work and a little bit of

hype is the right combination. It is imperative to make one visible and to make

people aware of what you have been doing, of course, without glossing over it

too much.

Any embarrassing moment that you can recount?



Nothing serious enough for 'reality TV' but there have been occasions, once

when I forgot the name of the person whose hand I was vigorously shaking. Then I

locked myself out of my car and apartment on one occasion, and once I lost the

text of my speech just before heading for the podium.

What is your style statement?



It's a matter of choice. For me, its elegant and subtle!

Arpita Prem



arpitap@cybermedia.co.in