<div>A curious turn of events is in full flow at Artemis. The bungling of Atul Vaidya’s case is as clear as the daylight. There seems to be total confusion as to why Madhur Bhaskar, as the head of the institution, is finding himself so helpless. </div><div> </div><div>A two-year-old case, a revamp without his knowledge, Atul being asked to go and then the world thinking that Atul was involved in a financial fraud! And the final straw comes from an old classmate, colleague and Head of HR Rassal Baig, who literally holds the gun to his head. Madhur can’t find himself more cornered than this. And he has to take full responsibility for the turn of events. </div><div> </div><div>Fundamentally, there are three things that seem to have gone totally out of control at Artemis: failure of collective leadership, rational decision-making process and checks and balances on authority and responsibility metrics. </div><div> </div><div>Rassal did have a choice: to sidestep the real issue and do crisis management or confront. He was wise to have chosen the difficult path. Sometimes outside coaches or mentors can play an unbiased role and help clear the mind. Madhur should consider himself lucky to have Rassal as his custodian of human capital. Else, overtime the current tide would have subsided and the erosion of Artemis’s culture would have been certain. Madhur’s inactions and certainly some actions like leaving important decisions without any rationale to his trusted lieutenant Harish Vittal, the CEO, have set the downward spiral into top spin. But by some stroke of fortune, Madhur is being given the last leash through Rassal’s sense of rightdoing. And for his own good and for the good of Artemis, he should immediately seize the opportunity and unleash a series of actions that can stem the tide. </div><div> </div><div>It’s going to be a good long struggle for Madhur, but it is worth the effort as he would not only get to address the symptoms but also the causes. By all means, Harish will fight his way through to the last to protect his ground and position. In the process, many demons will tumble out of the closet. But Madhur has to prepare himself to navigate Artemis out of this. The good news is he has Rassal who stood like a rock.</div><div> </div><div>In their long research and interesting book, Hard Facts, Dangerous Half Truths and Total Nonsense, authors Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton point out that unlike popular belief and much publicised superman leaders where leadership solely rests on the shoulders of a single individual, it is often collective. That differentiates great organisations from average ones. Madhur has enough reasons to worry on that account as to why his No. 2 man, Harish, seems to be off handle so much and in such a tangent. Like Rassal, Harish needs to introspect on his intent, approach and style. He should realise that if he wants to continue on the success path of his career, he needs a total re-evaluation. Else, his effectiveness and his reputation will suffer immensely.</div><div> </div><div>There are many such real events that occur in the world of business. Sometimes good leadership is proactive to ensure good governance and controls. But there are equal number of times when events such as the ones at Artemis unfold. It is in such moments of distress that good leadership emerges. Madhur and Harish have such an opportunity. Seven years into the journey, they have that responsibility. At the heart of such change is invoking the good old practice of rational decision making and clarity around roles and responsibilities. </div><div> </div><div>I am sure Madhur would know that the issue is not Atul and his future. Individuals come and go. The real issue is: What is this fraud all about? Who are the actors and non-actors in this drama? Why did it take so long to uncover this? Why was it not highlighted to Madhur as the head of the institution? Why was Harish evasive of answers to the tough questions? </div><div> </div><div>From experience, we all know that when you go down digging that path, you will get to uncover many more issues that weren’t obvious in the beginning. I am reminded of Machiavelli: “It’s easy to convince people of something but hard to keep them convinced.” Madhur is closely watched by all his people. The war is out in the open. What he chooses to do or not do will surely impact the future of Artemis in a big way and it will be harder to keep his people convinced. </div><div> </div><div><em>The writer was till recently Executive VP & Global Head of HR at EXL Service</em></div><div> </div><div>(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 03-11-2014) </div>
