Opinion CEOs as painters
After 1991 economic reforms,weve heard many different stories on new Indias corporate battlefield.
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After 1991 economic reforms,weve heard many different stories on new Indias corporate battlefield. Everydays news up to 1997 was of tie-up after corporate tie-up. Then tie-breaks with mismatch of cultures and business intent. Most dramatic was the IT industry growth. Next,family business was breaking up for professionalism to take over. Corporate houses were making visible their big size by inventing organised retail without much experience. Most lost money like crazy,many have folded,others are awaiting multi-brand FDI opening in India to sell and earn huge valuations. Among these activities,the corporate world saw no adventure in the artistic domain. Tirelessly in business was emerging the word differentiation. But differentiation is an art,so amidst it all,I was propelled into my quest for discovering art amongst business leaders.
Through my fine arts background,Ive entered industrial business these last 34 years to deliver strategy to execution to companies across the globe. Art helped me to see end-customers in a very creative way,to disrupt my strategic delivery in branding,retail design,industrial design and up to creation of the corporate business identity that transforms a companys outlook. One day in 2009,I was introspecting about how Ive been selling my disquieting ideas to different CEOs worldwide. I understood then that CEOs are extremely creative. Otherwise theyd not have so liberally accepted my radical outside-in,from-the-public-park-bench ideas that invariably turned their companies around towards high growth. My analysis was that CEOs had to have creativity and calibre to orchestrate different kinds of people,employees,investors,consumers and suppliers. Handling human beings with their different aspirations,requirements,while bringing high financial results,is an art by itself. The chance Ive had of working with global CEOs gave me the insight that unfurling the creativity hiding behind them would be extremely fascinating. I have to admit my experience with Western society CEOs is that theyre always inspired by my artistic background. In many cases,theyd want to have meetings in my painting studio instead of the office. Or just drop by to look at my paintings as their personal involvement with art is quite deep. One such visit was from Romain Nouffert,the chief of Lu Biscuit company. After we finished work connected with the strategic platform for a new category of biscuits,he came to unwind in my studio in Paris. As he looked around,one of my paintings caught his attention and he asked,Why arent you testing this one with the new concept? So finally the product came out with my painting.
Victor Scherrer,CEO of Grand Metropolitan,once invited me to a restaurant when we were working on a pan European project. Hed brought along some textured sketch paper,brush and black ink. While eating,he suddenly displayed everything on the table and said,Dont hesitate to sketch whenever you want. Sitting at Le Doyen,one of Paris most renowned restaurants in Champs Elysees,he knew exactly how to tempt me to create. Later,visiting his beautiful chateau,I found he was a great collector of art,but here he wanted to experience an instant art session on the dining table. Id gone to the restaurant in a corporate mindset,but he turned it around to become totally creative. Our discussion on the project thereafter took on quite a new and lateral angle,all because we both went into a tangent,spellbound with art over dinner. My Christmas gift to my client CEOs one year was a sketch book and a set of sketch pens. My message was,Design yourself. You cant believe the response I got. Many of them expressed how positive and different they felt drawing sketches,and most of them sent me their striking creations. These instances of interfacing Western world CEOs with art culminated in my strong belief that CEOs would surely have some painting talent. That started my Painter CEO journey (www.painterceo.com). In the last three years,weve been honoured with 36 CEOs participating in an adventure to discover their creative expressions. They were initially quite anxious,but their wonderful artistic output validates my belief about their creative abilities. Let me share their painting sessions so you can imagine them beyond the corporate world. Arriving in Mahindra Towers,Mumbai,pulling my big trolley suitcase,got me bemused looks. Upon reaching Keshub Mahindras office,I had to convince all who wanted to help take the suitcase away for safekeeping while I met the Chairman,that I absolutely wanted it in his room. They indulged me.
Mr Mahindra,totally surprised to see the big suitcase,joked about bringing in the holiday spirit. When I spoke of a painting session,he thought Id come to show him how I paint. I proceeded to his table,cleared it up to accommodate the canvas,colours and brushes. You want me to paint? he asked incredulously. When I smiled in the affirmative,he continued looking at me,at a loss for words. Then slowly,very deliberately,he took up the brush,started with colours,and was soon lost in his painting session. He created a human attitude with multiple layers of soft colours. He left a lot of white space at the edges,concentrating on the subject that looked quite dreamlike. I captured his absorption with my movie camera. He was so engrossed,he wasnt looking anywhere else. He did exactly what we artists do in the atelier,he even wiped his face with the small towel Id given him to wipe the brushes. At the end,he said,Ive never done this before in my life. The whole painting reflects his generosity,his focus and the incredible humane behaviour of Keshub Mahindra. Take a look at him in this link http:// http://www.painterceo.com/participants/2010/Keshub-Mahindra.php. I promise you more instances of Painter CEOs in the coming weeks.
Shombit Sengupta is an international creative business strategy consultant to top management. Reach him at http://www.shiningconsulting.com
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