JC in India

The longer I am here the more I witness the differences between Indian ways of living and working, and that of my home country, England. As I have said before, that does not mean that one is right, and one is wrong – they are just different. It is the embracing of such differences that is the means to retaining positivity when working in such diverse cultures – and that goes both ways.

Today is Independence Day here in India, the annual celebration of gaining Independence from the British now 76 years ago.

It is slightly surreal being the solo British person in the office under such celebrations, watching the local teams all recognising this significant event in the subcontinent’s history. I feel almost under the spotlight as ‘representing’ my country in our business. Of course, there is no negativity (that I am aware of), and it is all positive and good natured, and from my perspective fascinating to observe.

The Prime Minister gave his 10th Independence Day speech this morning, which is unlikely to be his last if elections go as expected next year for his renewal into a new term in office. It was delivered at 7.30am from the Red Fort in Delhi, accompanied by military processions and the like. I did not get up to watch – I don’t know why it is held so early!

My personal benefit has been an extra day off, as today is a national holiday and given the entire country is recognising this, it is almost like Christmas Day back in the UK – with very little work interactions cropping up, so makes for a nice restful day.

Since Independence was attained our cultures have diverged in many ways. The undercurrent I am exposed to most in my working life is a desire of some local teams to be independent of the need to rely on me, instead wanting to prove an ability to do the job better themselves. This manifests itself more evidently with some than others. While this blog is written for, and intended primarily for, an audience of friends and family mostly in the U.K. / Ireland and North America, it is in the public domain so I shall not specify details and individuals for obvious reasons. However, some of the team have such bias which does lead to my need to push the proverbial water uphill to get things done. I am relaxed about it though – there is only so much I can do, and I instead ensure I focus on areas where I can have more of a positive influence. But where this attitude exists it stems from an independent cultural mindset; a desire by some to demonstrate that western help is not needed. And to be clear in many areas it is not needed. India is more than capable in many ways, without any need to rely on expatriate support. However, I am employed here to help, and my intention and professional purpose is to do just that.

My role is matrix in nature, in that I serve more as an internal advisor and representative of the business to senior leaders at international airlines as a key function of my role. By design the teams at the airports have a dotted line (matrix) report to me, which is not the norm here in India. It therefore creates inherent challenges and relies on the individuals concerned in the teams to be receptive to such dotted line management. Given it is someone else who is deciding their reward and promotion, there is a natural bias to please them before me. The competitive spirit of Indian nature quite evidently transposing into this working environment.

That said, mostly the teams are great and well capable of doing what they do, and I just steer subtly where I need to, and fly the flag from a wider group perspective – finding synergies and opportunities where I can and leveraging some of the ‘bigger stuff’. To survive in this structure requires a calm and relaxed approach, and to not sweat the small stuff (to coin that phrase).

Aside from the reporting culture, the way of working also takes some adaptation. The first thing that comes to mind when considering these differences is the seeming lack of advance planning, and last-minute approach to any tasks required. Yesterday at 2.45pm I received a 110-page detailed document which needed critiquing by that evening. It was sent to a few senior leaders – half of which were on leave given the Independence Day holiday today (Tuesday) meant by taking the Monday off gave a long 4-day weekend. But it was a key piece of work with large ramifications, so needed to be done. And that is not an isolated incident, similar routinely occurs. Meetings are often arranged with minutes to spare, and if one of the higher up ‘bosses’ is involved everything else is expected to be dropped.

This week we ideally need to have a key meeting with an external partner as a priority about something, but it has been delayed due to the fact there is a review scheduled with one of the ‘bosses’ and there is no expectation or consideration that this can be changed. Personally, I am sure that if said boss was aware of the clash of priorities, they would be very receptive to being flexible, but it is just not in the DNA here to even try to propose such. Once a boss says something, it is fixed and unchanged. As much as I stand by my comment there is no right or wrong, better or worse, versus other western styles there are times when this particular dynamic negatively impacts the business.

I want to implement a new technical system for something here, but one of the senior leaders made a flippant comment recently about preferring a more legacy system, and simply as a result of that one comment, the entire team under his jurisdiction are resolute now that we cannot change. This is not for the better of the business, but there is no shifting their viewpoint. The boss has passed judgement (ill-informed in this case), and as a result so be it. Ok, I am going to soon try to change the perspective directly with that leader, but I am more at liberty to challenge the norms than the teams feel able to.

Things also take a long time on occasion. Responses to emails are few and far between, and I have yet to find a way to get any of the teams to accept Outlook meeting diary requests. Which makes it impossible to track who will actually show up to a meeting. This is not just a frustration for me, but also the wider business as I have seen communications asking people to accept meetings in the Outlook system for the very reasons I also wish them to. But nope, whatever is said it seems there is no way to enaction that. It falls then instead for me to regularly need to chase people up to join calls / meetings, and it is a regular sight to have people in meetings at the start calling around to find out if other invitees are coming.

It is also the absolute norm for mobile phones to be on desks in meetings and being used throughout, with a lot of stepping in and out of the room. I think it is partly the prevalence of WhatsApp here as the primary means of communications – personally and professionally. The instant nature of a message in this platform lends itself to people feeling the need to respond straight away. This does make it more challenging to get things done and to have deep and meaningful discussions. When very few people reply to emails or accept meeting invitations, leave pretty much everything to the last moment, and are heavily focused on pleasing their direct line management as an absolute priority, it creates a certain independent dynamic to be adjusted to in my management style. 

But let’s be clear this is not all about negatives. We should not forget the entrepreneurial approach, the hunger to succeed, the long hours working ethic (too much relied upon as a measure of success though in my opinion), and the commitment to the company that pays their wages – in a country where so many are not so privileged to have such gainful employment. Such qualities and practices lead to some successful businesses and results. India is not growing so fast and developing in such a positive manner by accident.

As much as it is diverse, and hard to handle at times and in certain ways, it is exciting to be a part of. It is not correct to simply get frustrated, but instead it is right to adapt and adjust, accepting that in some ways I cannot change this style – it would not be right to seek do so. Instead, it is learning to work within this style, and to blend my inherent way of working with theirs and encourage best practice from both. It is a good job I am laid back in nature though for sure…!

Work has been calmer these last few weeks. Part of my role includes interacting with overseas counterparts a lot, and most of Europe is on its annual August month off, plus this is a bit of a lull between travel windows, so affording me the chance to be more relaxed and less ‘busy busy busy’ for a while.

However, I did go on a flying trip to Riyadh last week – my first time in Saudi Arabia – only being on the ground there for 17 hours, with a sleep, two meetings and a lunch, and a flight back in that time.

The short nature of that trip meant I did not really see much of the country but given the growth and development of Saudi, I know there are opportunities there, and people I know who are making the most of this. What I did see though on my quick trip was pleasantly surprising, seeing how easy it actually was to manage and how it did not feel as foreign as I expected. Yes, you cannot drink Alcohol, and yes the different culture is evident in the dress and manner of the local Saudi’s, but it felt safe, clean and modern. The risks of the past now having been superseded by the modern era and the new ambition and attitude of the country’s leadership. It was a tad warm mind (45 degrees) but coming from Delhi the delta is not as large as if I was coming from the UK directly, so less of a shock.

I also received some good news professionally yesterday. Every year there are annual awards for airline marketing (“air service / network development” as I usually actually refer to what I do for a living), as part of the Routes World conference. This is the largest get together each year of aviation network professionals, and this year the event will be held in Istanbul in the middle of October. There are regional events (Europe, Asia, Americas) each year too, but the World event is the anchor conference and the largest of its kind. At this event there is an award ceremony recognising airlines and airports in different categories for the success they have presented in their respective areas. I have been working hard for our Goa airport to be nominated for the shortlist to win this award, given the success and positive work that has happened there this last year. This involved lobbying airline partners for their votes, and convincing people of the merits for the airport to be nominated. And success! Yesterday I got confirmation that our airport is shortlisted in its category, so is up against 4 other airports from all over the world to compete for the win. I personally shall be working on creating a strong submission for this over the coming weeks, and then we shall see if we come out on top in October. Fingers crossed – the team deserve to win, and I hope they do.

However, in a complete surprise I also found out that I have received nominations to win the Individual Leadership award and have been shortlisted for such! I was not expecting that and had not asked anyone for a vote (or indeed did not self-nominate myself), so this came as a complete curve ball last night when I got the notification. I am honoured to be honest, given I am up against only 4 other people across the entire global network development business for this. I do not know who I am up against, but to be even nominated is recognition in itself, and I am quite proud of that. Totally unexpected, and will have to see if that materialises into being a runner up or the winner at the event in October..!

Aside from work, it has been good having had a long (ish) weekend – I was in the office yesterday, but 3 days off in 4 is a nice change, and good to spend time in the apartment. I am perfectly happy not being busy. I get enough of that in my normal work life, so enjoy the peace of downtime to be honest. I have also now completed the entire 9 series of Seinfeld and am embarking on doing likewise with the US Office. Making the most of my Indian adventure right there!

I have recently moved the apartment around a bit and brought the unused TV from the bedroom into the living area. It did not work well in there as the Wi-Fi signal did not reach it properly in the bedroom. I have ordered myself an Amazon Firestick (thanks to my colleague Patrick for that idea), and so when that arrives tomorrow, instead of watching everything on my iPad my entertainment quality should increase.

In addition, I have made the most of cheaper Indian pricing for YouTube Premium and Spotify (both are around 1200 INR for a year’s subscription – around £12, which is cheaper than one month YouTube Premium cost alone in the UK). I have always been an Amazon Music guy to date given my Prime membership, but the playlist mixes on Spotify are actually pretty good, so I have taken the plunge and shifted my listening bias!

Friday night sees me returning home to the UK for two weeks summer break – very much looking forward to that. Although the running club session next Tuesday evening is going to be painful, I know that much! The strength workouts I am now routinely doing on the Peloton app are for sure helping, but my cardio fitness will still be very much lacking.

When I return to the office on the 4^th of September it will feel like the home straight before Christmas comes around. There will be some travel and fixed appointments in the calendar which will keep me busy, and I can imagine those months leading to December will go by fast. And that also means my two-years of being in India anniversary will also come around quickly, when I reach year end.

Next year will therefore have a different feel to it, as each landmark date (such as this Independence Day) will be my last while here, and my eyes will be on the horizon of where to next. While the dynamics next year will be the same, they will also be different in many ways.