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The Great Explainer

May 18, 2006 Graeme Codrington Leadership No Comments

I am not the greatest fan of TIME magazine. But there regular special editions are normally excellent. I especially enjoy their annual “100 Most Important People”. I enjoy it, not only because of the 100 profiles they give of current movers and shapers, but also because of who they get to do the writing (this year, Condoleeza Rice does Oprah, Laura Bush does Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Ralph Nader does John McCain, Rick Warren does Peter Akinola, etc). It never fails to bring a smile to my face, reading how the writers try and self-promote. You almost get 200 profiles for the price of 100 :-)

One of the profiles which caught my attention was about Nandan Nilekani, the Indian entrepeneur who heads up Infosys Technologies, one of Indian’s biggest IT companies. Yes, he’s a rich, powerful Indian, changing the world. But Thomas Friedman (yes, he of “World is Flat” fame) interestingly credits him with a fascinating attribute, that he claims is the heart of his success: “But the reason Nilekani, 50, is so sought out is that he has a unique ability not simply to program software but also to explain how that program fits into the emerging trends in computing, how those trends will transform the computing business and how that transformation will affect global politics and economics. It was his insight that the global playing field was being ‘leveled’ by technology that inspired me to write the book The World Is Flat.

In this era of mounting complexity—with more people, systems and products entwined in a bewildering web of global networks—explaining is an enormously valuable skill. And it explains why, if you sit outside his office for a day, you notice that half the people going in are employees looking for instructions or customers looking for deals; the other half are politicians, journalists and ministers from around the world looking for an explanation of what it all means.”

Its like we say: Savvy Leaders in the 21st century must become great storytellers.

Read the full profile of Nandan here. Read the full 100 profiles here.

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