When we talk about ‘Leadership’, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?

An Executive, busy developing a Company’s strategy to compete in the market; or a Political leader pursuing his passion; or maybe an Explorer, cutting a path through a dense jungle for the rest of his group to follow. One thing remains common in all cases – Leaders set directions, build an inspiring vision and create something new for others to follow.

In this article, we are focusing on the process of leadership – particularly the “Transformational Leadership Model in the workplace”. This model was first proposed by James MacGregor Burns and then developed by Bernard Bass. This model highlights visionary thinking and bringing about change, instead of management processes that are designed to maintain and steadily improve current performance.

According to the idea of Transformational Leadership, an effective leader is a person who does the following:

1. Creates an inspiring vision of the future.

Vision for a business is basically where you want to be in the future. It provides directions, sets priorities, timelines and finally, a model to analyse if you have achieved your milestone. Leaders should focus on an organisation’s current skills, analyse situations and then proceed with innovation by shaping the business and strategy in such a way that it creates something meaningful to the people being led in the organisation. A very important aspect of this theory is that a leader should be “Proactive” and should not be satisfied with things as they are.

2. Motivates and inspires people to engage with that vision.

The ability to motivate your employees inspires them and helps to deliver the vision. Effective leaders link motivation under two segments:

1. The expectation that hard work will lead to good results.
2. The expectation that good results will lead to attractive incentives and rewards – intrinsic or extrinsic.

People believe in and admire leaders who have an expertise in that area. A leader must have a proven record to support that he can lead people, which means he should have earned such power and not by mere position in the organisation.

3. Managing delivery of Vision.

A leader must make sure that his vision is followed and managed effectively – either by himself or by dedicated managers under him to whom responsibilities and roles are clarified. They should set KPI (Key Performance Indicators) for each employee to make sure they are on the right track and working collectively towards achieving their goal. This stage may also include certain changes and a leader should ensure that changes go smoothly and with the support of all employees in the organisation.

4. Coaching and building a team to achieve Vision.

A leader must understand the team dynamics in order to strategise his vision. He needs to make sure that the required abilities and skills are set to move forward. This is an ongoing process under which the team is mentored, various training and coaching is provided along with appropriate feedback and analysis by way of KPIs.

Leadership includes searching for and grooming leadership skills in others. Once the skills are developed in the team, success continues for the long term- and that’s the true measure of Great Leadership.

Leaders become great, not because of their power but because of the ability to empower others – John C Maxwell

Written by

Nihar Kothari

Nihar@affiniax.com

Case Study

• Continuous decline in revenue. Due to them having a lesser number of projects in hand, the sustainability of the Company was being questioned.
• Bank account balance was used by Management. Looking at the declining trend of business, bankers reduced their facility limits and charged a higher rate of interest to safeguard their interest.
• Low-quality services were provided by suppliers
• Employee turnover started rising in the Company

• The Company hired the best category of suppliers in the first place. Their services were at par with their big brand competitors. However, they were not paid in a timely manner. This exposed the Company to various legal cases. Even though the Company was cash-rich, the process of approval and payment took a long time. As a result, these suppliers stopped engaging themselves with the Company for any future projects. 

• The news was widespread in the market for non-payment of dues which ultimately affected sales and impacted negatively on the goodwill of the Company.
• The Company was making reasonable profits from all their projects individually. However, the Company was not prepared to incur the additional expenses of the young entrepreneurs. The money they spent on their lifestyle was supposed to be paid to their suppliers in the first place. It is a common practice and a big mistake for entrepreneurs to consider bank balance as their profits. 
• Employees started leaving the Company as they felt stuck in the same position in the Company for years. Regular appraisal/performance-based bonus was never made a part of the Company’s policy. As a result, they lost their best talent to their competitors.
• The Company maintained a very high level of inventory. This not only exposed the Company to obsolete items but also increased the cost of storage.
• We helped the Company to re-negotiate terms and conditions with their bankers.
• We gave them an insight into market conditions and recommended they amend their contracts to ensure compliance with local authorities.
• Potential business opportunities were discussed with the management.

Concept

How it works

Services Provided under Outsourced CFO

• Management of the finance infrastructure (accounting, treasury, finance)
• Financial, business, and strategic planning and implementation
• Hands-on guidance during transitions
• Cash flow management and projections
• Budgeting and forecasting
• Assisting with private equity and debt financing
• Bank financing and investor meeting preparation
• Key metrics benchmarking and trend analysis
• Accounting software selection and implementation
• Financial and operational improvement plans
• Mergers and acquisition support
• Risk management
• Contract review

How Affiniax Partners can help?

• Components of the common area of the building and land of the JOP along with components of the unit are clearly defined in the Law, which regulates the ownership of developer-owned areas.
• The Developer should allocate parking space for owners of the unit, which cannot be sold separately.
• The Management Entity cannot charge fees for managing, operating, maintaining common facilities or for any other purpose unless it receives an approval from RERA.
• The Management Entity shall provide RERA with a periodic report every six months on the management of the jointly owned properties, common areas and the maintenance works carried out therein. At any time, RERA can request for information on the revenues and expenses related to service charges.
• The Developer shall establish the building management system for major projects and hotel projects managed by them which must be approved by RERA. RERA shall establish the building management system on the other common properties.
• Service charges and utilization charges collection, disposal and use are clearly set out under the new Law. The Management Entity shall deposit the service charges and the Utilization charges into the licensed bank account within seven (7) working days from the date of payment of service and utilization charges. The competent execution judge may, when necessary, sell the unit through public auction in the event of continued payment default by the owner.
• RERA can appoint a specialized Management Entity to manage and operate common property in case the developer or hotel project management company are proven inefficient. Similarly, in the case of an inefficient management entity, RERA may appoint an alternative Management Entity to manage the common property.
• As per Article 41, the Management Entity must maintain comprehensive insurance coverage for the JOP.
• The Management Entity, which includes the developer, the management company or the hotel project management company, as the case may be shall be, shall replace the owner’s association in rights and obligations stated before the application of provision of new Law (Article 49).
• The Rental Disputes Settlement Centre in Dubai will now have jurisdiction to hear and settle all disputes that fall under the purview of this Law. Violators are subject to financial penalties up to AED 1,000,000 and can be penalized up to AED 2,000,000 in case of repeat violations within one year of the previous violation.

Affiniax Partners is very pleased to announce it has joined Allinial Global (formerly PKF North America), a member-based association that has dedicated itself to the success of independent accounting and consulting firms since its founding in 1969. Allinial Global is based in North America but offers international support by connecting its firms to providers and global networks of accounting firms worldwide, fostering the independence, profitability, and continuous improvement of its members. Affiniax Partners has 4 partners and a total of 60+ employees.

“We joined Allinial Global because of our strong commitment to our clients,” said Sumeet Nayyar, CEO & Partner. “Through this global association, we will have access to cutting edge skill-building and niche information designed to bring greater profitability to the business owners we serve. We will enjoy all the advantages of national firm resources while still maintaining our independent status.”

Allinial Global firms continually seek new ways to better meet the needs of their clients. In this cooperative environment, firms share ideas, training programs, and technical expertise. “We look forward to being active participants in the Allinial Global association, working closely with other successful firms nationwide,” commented Sumeet Nayyar.