K. Jayshankar, MD, Empowered Learning Systems, Author
Mr. K. Jayshankar is the Managing Director of Empowered learning Systems, Pvt Ltd, a business consulting organisation. He is an executive coach for some top global business leaders and United Nations officials.
Podcast
Overview
Family Businesses form the backbone of India’s economy. We have a range of small-run family businesses to some globally run businesses operating from India. With the origin of these businesses arising from years ago, it becomes interesting to note how they are coping with the everyday changing business environment.
Today, we have Mr. K. Jayshankar, a certified Management consultant specialising in family business consultancy. Let’s tune in to understand the complexities and functioning of years-old family businesses.
About K. Jayshankar
Mr. K. Jayshankar is the Managing Director of Empowered learning Systems, Pvt Ltd, a business consulting organisation. He is an executive coach for some top global business leaders and United Nations officials.
He has also written a book on family business, “Succeeding in Business: Nurturing Values in Family Business”.
DISCUSSION
Mr. Jayshankar calls him a student of family business owing to the love he has for studying it. He discusses the family business in India, stating how some businesses have been running on for more than 300 years now. He explains how a first-generation lays the foundation for the business, the second generation consolidates it and then, it lies on the third generation to decide what to do with it.
Changing Face of Family Business in India
Mr. Jayshankar states that owing to the fast-changing business environment, new generations are ambitious. He says, “Some families understand and accommodate by allowing newer generations to venture out themselves for an initial period & if that grows, they can accommodate into family streams, and if things don’t go well, we see stories of the family splinters.”
With technology taking a major role in the functioning of business today, many old families are puzzled over what to do next. He very aptly says, “Some have gone, while some have carried on in the new world with entrepreneurial genes. There are two approaches to go about it: people who wait & watch if this is real, betting that this will go away. Some families allowed new generations to try some of today’s tactics. They are being careful to protect what they already have, but experimental enough to try out something different.”
He also talks about the succession battles in the family business, which a lot of times lead to family disputes.
Rising Trend in Coaching
He laughs at how families today are open to paying for coaching of the new generation, unlike olden days when it used to be believed they can be taught at home. He explains the importance of coaching, stating how initial dining table conversations have disappeared. He says, “There are people who ask for trouble by throwing in water, and they will learn to swim. Rebellion in the family is bound to happen.”
He explains how coaching is not about imparting knowledge that is widely available today. But it is about imparting wisdom and providing a channel to listen to seekers. He explains the difference in coaching senior leaders vs emerging leaders. He states, “For seniors, it is about asking what is going through and offering different perspectives. For emerging ones, it is more empathy loaded.”
More About Him
He speaks at great length about choosing the right coach. Value of collaboration over competition in life & importance of building relationships. Sharing his great insight from his rich experience in the corporate world, he advises the young generation to be open to taking risks.
Profile
Jay is the author of the popular work, ‘Succeeding in Business: Nurturing Value in Family Business’.
A Certified Management Consultant with over 30 years’ experience, Jay specializes in advising family businesses, strategic planning, decision making, leadership development, change management, and empowering learning throughout organizations. Further, he is an Executive Coach for senior business leaders & United Nations officials, as well as mentor to women entrepreneurs.
After corporate roles with Tatas, he founded Empowered Learning System. His assignments have been both national and international: in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar), Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Zambia and South East Asia (Singapore, Malaysia & Thailand), the Government (Maharashtra Police and Mumbai Municipal Corporation) and the international NGO, Greenpeace South East Asia.
Jay has been a speaker at a number of national & international conferences (Japan, USA, Panama, Netherlands, Egypt & South Africa) and Faculty at Business schools (including Indian School of Business, Hyderabad), apart from Maharashtra Government’s Administrative Staff College. His professional affliations includes the Strategic Management Society, the American Society of Training and Development, Society for Human Resources Management, International Coach Federation and the Institute of Management Consultants of India.
In 1999, he was one of the few selected for the prestigious Chevening Gurukul scholarship to the London School of Economics. A Global Professional in Human Resources, he is trained in Psychometric Assessments and is an exponent of the Kepner&Fourie Thinking Technology.
Jay’s articles have featured widely, including a book from Pfeiffer, and he has a column in BusinessDay, Nigeria’s reputed Economic Daily.
He has also organized & facilitated India’s first Corporate Leadership Expedition Journey (‘Reach for the Sky’) when a team scaled Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa’s highest peak at over 19,340 feet) on August 15th, 2007, timing with India’s 60th Independence celebration.
