Idris Jala’s 5 Principles of Change

By: Miki Saxon

When Idris Jala hired as CEO of a failing state-owned airline he had exactly three and-a-half months operating cash in which to turn it around—no bail out, no other options.

He succeeded well beyond expectations with a combination of laser focus on the P&L statement and his own view of leadership.

Pragmatic CEO in action

“At a board meeting on my first day, I announced our business-turnaround blueprint. I’d never worked a single day at an airline before, but looking at the P&L it didn’t take more than an hour to figure out the solution. If you have to control costs, you just go and cut the costs. If your network’s inefficient, get rid of the routes that are bleeding cash. And if you have a problem with low yield, fix the yield. What else are you going to say?”

What else, indeed? But in an era of exotic plans and visions, focus on something as basic as P&L is as refreshing as it is unusual.

IJ also had an interesting view of leadership.

“If the leader doesn’t believe in the journey, then it cannot begin.”

I find that profound because so often I hear corporate leaders add a multitude of caveats to what they plan; explaining ahead of time all the reasons why success may not happen and if they don’t truly believe why should anyone else?

“The single biggest thing a leader brings to a turnaround is hope.”

Not fear and trepidation, but a real belief that the company can be saved through hard work. One of the ways that IJ accomplished this was through his total transparency.

“Publishing helped us build a winning coalition not only with the government but also with other stakeholders, like the unions, the staff, and the public. Being upfront about the P&L and making it all transparent were very important to bringing the coalition together.”

I know this sounds cynical, but not in my wildest dreams can I picture your typical corporate chieftain doing this. Maybe I’m naive, but this kind of transparency requires the guy-in-charge to open himself to all kinds of input and criticism. The mind boggles at the thought of Robert Nardelli (Chrysler) or Rick Waggoner (GM) doing anything similar.

“But once results begin to appear and new leaders begin to learn, you must be ready to let go and empower them…The corporate graveyard is full of people who thought they were indispensable.”

Jala has a good handle on this powerful leadership attitude that too often does not see the light of day.

IJ's 5 + 1 Embedded Principles of Change

1. The game of the impossible;
2. anchoring everything on the P&L;
3. building a winning coalition;
4. discipline of action; and
5. situational leadership.

And the additional one…

“The final principle is a subject people don’t talk about in the corporate world: divine intervention. More than 50 percent of what happens to you in life, and in my case probably more than 60 percent, is outside your control. It is important for everyone in an organization, particularly the top leaders, to understand that. I can’t, for example, control oil prices, SARS, or other things like that.”