I worked for two different American bosses as a senior manager in the Indian IT department of an American multi-national corporation. During this time, I observed how American leaders differ from other leaders I’ve worked for.
Firstly, I noticed how American bosses focus on strategy rather than tactical execution. For example, they ask the team what we think about the program, how we think it’s going, compared to Asian and British bosses who get straight into the ‘how’ part, the practicalities of delivery. American bosses want to know what we think about the overall strategy and how this connects to what’s on the horizon. This mindset can be positive, and sometimes it can lead to trouble too.
As an example of Americans being strategic, let's say your American boss wanted you to work on a program, he would ask you open-ended questions about the program, how you want to approach it, compared to an Indian boss who will tell you the specifics of the program and prescribe what to do.
In terms of communication style when issues arise, the American bosses I worked for would discuss openly, say things like, “I respectfully disagree”, and kind of keep it at that abstract level, it never felt personal. My experience with Indian bosses in this situation was more combative and blaming, pointing out errors, like, “you didn't do this, at this time”, and so on. So, that was the main difference in communication style I observed when there was a conflict with my American or Indian bosses.
The impact of hierarchy is always there in India, and it’s a question of how you choose to deal with it. All the while you don't notice it, everything is fine, you may not even pay attention to bosses complaining or hierarchical issues. However, the moment you start to experience the impact yourself, in a negative way, two or three things happen. One is you lose interest in your work, though in a very subtle way. You may not even accept or be conscious of it.
Initially, you may say, “hey, it doesn't matter. I do my work no matter what,” but your work will suffer. Secondly, anything you do, you will start to have two filters. When there’s a problem, you decide your actions and reactions in the context of the hierarchy. What should I be doing, or maybe shouldn't be doing? You may find yourself pulling back on a lot of things that you would have done if the hierarchical considerations weren’t present.
Personally, I prefer American bosses because of the freedom and ‘big picture’ approach they give you, but it suits my mindset and way of working. I know other Indian managers who struggle because they prefer a more hand-holding approach, which they may not get from American bosses. For me it worked, I loved American bosses!
The best thing about American bosses is the freedom. They let you operate on your own and give you the space to go at your own speed. I love that because I am a go-getter, a maverick and prefer to operate alone.
For Indian IT workers joining IT firms, 80% of them will have Indian bosses in the first couple of years. That’s the reality. Most employers have a rule whereby in the first 18 months, employees need to have a local boss, so they’ll end up with Indian bosses.
As Indians, especially when they’re junior employees, a lot of times they hesitate to share things with their Indian bosses. American bosses invite and encourage them to share a lot more. For junior employees, I encourage them to share what they think and be honest with their Indian bosses. This will help them in the long run.
My recommendation is that if people are early in their careers, it’s better to operate with an Indian boss because they can support employees to focus on tasks. Only when people have a wider range of experience can they understand strategy. Business schools can only teach strategy in an abstract way. They need to understand and operate in a business to understand strategy. Being able to address strategy always requires knowledge of the context, to know what they are doing.
So, my advice for IT engineers in India is to work for an Indian boss at the beginning of their career, maybe the first couple of years. And when they have got their hands dirty, they know what they’re doing they’ll discover it's not just about code or building algorithms, it’s about knowing the business. Once they know the business, then they’ll be able to have ideas about adjustments they can make, improvements they can make in the business, then they're ready for an American boss.
That's why I believe most companies have policies and processes that place Indian techies, for the first 18 months, with local Indian bosses. And then they kind of ‘graduate’ to an American boss.
Then, in the future if they get an American boss, they’ll be open to think big and work on strategy. At the beginning of their career, they may not be ready for that.
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