Tapan Singhel, MD & CEO of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, deep dives and explains the leadership perspectives on specialization, standardization, innovation, empathy, etc:
Ravi Lalwani: What differences in leadership capabilities do you see between generalists and specialists? Have the differences narrowed or widened over the last few years? Will Generative AI change this trend?
Tapan Singhel: In my opinion, both generalists and specialists have distinct and valuable roles. They are unique in their skill set, capability, and the tasks they can perform. Specialists possess deep knowledge in a specific area, making them indispensable for tasks requiring detailed expertise. For example, an automobile engineer handling motor claims would be more competent than a person who does not understand the intricacies of vehicles. Hence, a specialist in such cases is more skilled in their respective fields or specialized roles than a generalist. That does not mean that a generalist does not understand; it’s just that a specialist is someone with a specific skill set, which gets sharpened by doing a particular role repeatedly, thus gaining experience, unique perspectives, and mastery in some form of it.
Generalists, on the other hand, can take up multiple tasks, multiple teams, and multiple responsibilities. I look at generalists as great multi-taskers, but more than that, ideally, I see them as good managers of people. For example, I can have a generalist who understands sales, a generalist who can go and take care of product development (with a basic technical background), the same generalist who can go and handle human resources, or maybe even oversee projects.
Personally, as a generalist, I have handled multiple responsibilities in my career span, and I believe that in every role that I took up, I was a specialist at that role for that limited time until I moved on to the next role. This, I feel, has shaped the unique perspective I have today. We have always trained individuals to become generalists until they find their niche in a specific area and transition into specialists, or choose to continue moving across roles and geographies to become well-rounded generalists. We especially do this with trainees who join our company as freshers. We provide them exposure to all departments so that they gain a comprehensive understanding of the company’s operations. This holistic view enables them to take on roles across various verticals, which will allow them to eventually lead these verticals in the future.
Coming to Generative AI (GenAI), I think it is something that will support both specialists and generalists. Specialists can use AI to complete tasks faster and make better data-driven decisions, where AI can compile and analyze vast amounts of data, aiding specialists in their decision-making processes. As I said before, it’s the experience and expertise of a specific subject matter that helps them fine-tune their instinct and decision-making, which can help build AI models, but it cannot replace their gut feeling and human empathy. For generalists, GenAI offers efficiency, speed, and learning opportunities, helping them navigate various tasks more efficiently. I see Gen AI as a great tool to fine-tune language, help sharpen research, and even develop sharper, more engaging content for both.
After reaching a stable position and recognition and being married with children, people who have risen to middle management in incumbent companies are suddenly facing a disruptive future thanks to disruptive technologies and disruptive start-ups. What is their future and how can they shape it?
I believe it’s crucial for individuals and organizations to constantly improve their skills and innovate in response to market conditions. Organizations that adapt and are willing to reinvent themselves often avoid being surpassed by external disruptors because they choose to evolve, go beyond business as usual, and innovate ahead of the curve.
Individuals are no different in this regard. Whether you’re in middle management or any other level, your career path is often up to you. A good organization will provide training and upskilling opportunities. If you show potential, you will be given the chance to take the next step. Often, those who step out of their comfort zone and take the next step are the ones who succeed. It is crucial to continuously improve yourself, stay informed about your surroundings, keep an eye on your competition and the market, and stay updated with the latest technologies. Many people overlook the development of their leadership skills, fail to seek feedback or strive for self-improvement. As individuals progress to mid-level management, it becomes even more important to have mentors and consider seeking external career coaches. These coaches can help enhance leadership qualities, personality, and management abilities.
Do you aim for more standardization or less standardization within the organization? Can you explain a situation where your approach helped achieve a substantial transformation?
Standardization is crucial when it comes to compliance, financial transactions, customer experience, and operational processes. Typically, there should be minimal deviation from standard procedures for any of these, with absolutely zero room for integrity issues. Fair treatment of employees and having measurable metrics for performance is another case for customized standardization in a way, and it also eliminates biases. With technology and digitization, of course, we are getting at near-zero human intervention for onboarding, servicing, and even claims, but two elements should not be missed out on. First is empathy! Especially in insurance, this is of utmost importance. We are in the business of paying claims and delivering on our promises in the direst times for customers, and empathy makes a huge difference. The second is fraud! In a business like ours, we are responsible for the citizen’s money who have placed their trust in us. We need to ensure that fraudsters are weeded out. We need to have the necessary triggers and systems in place to differentiate between fraudulent and genuine claims based on data and analytics.
Here, having a standardized base of triggers has helped garner significant success when it comes to savings by identifying and eliminating fraud. But sometimes, it’s a mix of standardization and human instinct that comes with experience; combining these two is where I feel the secret sauce of success lies.
While innovation is the buzzword, some people are simply not good at it. Do you have any suggestions that will help them think outside the box to not lag behind?
I adhere to a simple principle: I pay close attention to all the criticism or feedback my organization gets from customers, partners, employees, etc., as well as the criticism directed at my competitors. This, I believe, is the first step where innovation lies. When customers put the effort to point out where you or your competitors fall short, they are providing invaluable insights. Instead of merely striving for good ratings on what you’re already doing well, focus on the gaps. Hence, for those looking to innovate, start by examining customer feedback. Often, we tend to focus on our strengths and the positive developments around us. It’s important to note that the problems faced by the world at large may not align with the specific issues of your market or your customers. By listening to what your customers are saying about you, you can uncover your next big opportunity for innovation.
Many people tend to force-fit the latest technology in their organizations without looking at use cases. I believe innovation comes about when you look to solve customer worries and build use cases around them. This could be internal or external customers, including partners. Once you identify the problem you want to solve, you can proceed to explore what to build, how to do it, and which tools/technologies to use. I also believe for leaders or people in general, the more we expose ourselves to experiences, the sharper our approach gets. I look at the human mind as a data lake and our thought process as the AI or the technology that accesses this vast data lake and can arrive at solutions and innovations. Keep feeding this data lake, talk to more people, travel more, and put yourself in a variety of situations and experiences.
The pace of transformation will leave some people feeling left behind. Is empathy the most important approach to engaging with such people? What other approaches are meaningful and impactful?
A leader must always be empathetic regardless of the circumstances. If a team member feels left behind, it often indicates that the leader has not been an effective mentor or coach. A truly great leader ensures that their team members grow and evolve, preventing such situations from arising. But in case there is such a scenario where the leader must be empathetic, one must realize that no matter how empathetic you are, you need to give directions, guidelines, and a way forward to improve that person’s current standing because it’s a ruthless VUCA world that does not wait for anybody and hence it is essential to be upfront and honest.
Leaders should not dilute the situation but instead address it head-on, offering practical solutions and support to guide their team members toward success. By balancing empathy with actionable advice and support, leaders can help their teams navigate the challenges of rapid transformation effectively. One of the most important things is to have an allowance for failure but have no allowance for not learning from it. Many times, effective leaders know when to step back and when to lead from the front, but you have got to let the team make their decisions and sometimes fail and realize the situation so that it doesn’t happen again. Allow teams to fail, fail fast, learn, and move ahead decisively. Never let anything come in the way of empathy; after all, we are all human beings who need to be heard and understood.
Thank you very much for sharing your perspectives and explaining them.
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