Mahesh Vinayagam Of qBotica: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Surround yourself with the best: It is important to surround yourself with people that are smarter than you and ahead of you in their careers. Ask them to work alongside you. During the tougher times, seek their insights and brainstorm ideas with them. That level of expertise and advice is vital to the health of your company.
As part of our series about the “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Mahesh Vinayagam.
Mahesh Vinayagam works as the CEO and founder of qBotica, a pure-play Robotics Process Automation (RPA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) firm specializing in providing Intelligent automation products and solutions to Fortune 500 clients and small and medium-sized companies. Mahesh has extensive global experience starting with his early career in Chennai, India, then moving to Brighton, UK in 2000, where he managed large global teams for a financial services giant before moving to the U.S. in 2007. His career in technology has spanned more than 20 years, during which time he has led successful initiatives across digital transformation, cloud migration, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Currently the vice chair of the Global Association of Enterprise Architects (AEA), Mahesh also serves on the Forbes Technology Council, on the board of AI-driven home service startup, Kozee Labs; on nonprofit boards; and in mentor roles with impact accelerator SeedSpot and the Founders Lab at Arizona State University (ASU).
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
I worked as an executive for a large organization and had what most would consider to be a successful, high-flying position. But, several things began to happen, which led me to start qBotica in 2017.
A few months before I started qBotica, I attended the Harvard Business School Strategy and Sales Alignment course where I was able to benchmark my ideas and thoughts against corporate leaders from around the world.
In addition to this curriculum, I read a book called The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster by Darren Hardy. I began to find my own ideas reflected in this book and loved the author’s perspective. In this book, he says to “spend your days pursuing the things you want in your eulogy.” This truly impacted me. I decided I wanted to make a change and begin building a legacy that will inspire my daughter and the rest of my family. I traveled so much when my daughter was growing up — I didn’t have the chance to spend as much time with her as I wanted to.
I decided to be brave and leave the comforts of my position in pursuit of something greater, something that unleashed my potential to the fullest. I was inspired to just quit my role and begin working toward my dream. Now, people are calling moves like this “The Great Resignation.”
I wasn’t building a side business — I didn’t even have a clear plan of what I was going to do, but I knew I needed to start my own company and live on my own terms, so I could spend more time with my family, and inspire other people to pursue their passions.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?
I wouldn’t say this was a funny mistake, but I did make a legendary error of punching way above my weight. In our first month of getting started, I pitched to the Head of Automation of a Top 3 Bank in the USA. He bought into my pitch and asked me to show the working prototype in under 3 weeks. We didn’t even have a product, just an idea and a simple video made on Upwork for $50. It would take us several months of work and a lot of money to make it happen. I came out of that meeting both elated and stunned that we even had that chance, and overwhelmed at how to make it happen. But we ended up figuring it out.
What I took from this was that selling concepts is only good for pitch contests, not for investors or customers. I might have wasted an opportunity by pitching too early. Building a company with comprehensive offerings is a long process. What gets you glory in a corporate career doesn’t necessarily bring immediate results in a startup environment. When beginning a business, each step requires careful planning and nurturing.
After that incident, I became a bit more realistic, but I continue to be bold in our approach
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Of course several people helped me along the way — building a company is never done alone. I was truly impressed by how many people helped us so selflessly.
Interestingly enough, the women of the family (my wife, my mom and my mother-in-law) were very supportive of me quitting my high-paying job to start out on my own, despite me being the only earner in the family. My wife, who was on a break from work, took up a new job to support us. Without her help, I wouldn’t have been able to do this.
If I were to call out an individual who helped in a financially impactful way, it must be my friend Amar. On the day I started my firm, he presented a check close to six figures and said, “I believe in you. Here is something for you to get started”. That was a huge responsibility and confidence booster. I realized the enormity of what I was doing when I received that check, and I wondered if I would ever trust someone who has never been an entrepreneur with such a large sum of money! I am grateful for him and his belief in me.
Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your company started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?
As I said in a previous question, I was inspired to live a life and build a legacy that my daughter could be proud of. This is the driving force behind my business and everything I do. My purpose was ultimately providing and being there for my family. When I quit the corporate hustle and decided to venture out into entrepreneurship, they really all depended on me. Their support meant the world to me during this time. This instilled a sense of purpose that was deeper than anything motivated by the world’s definition of success. qBotica was created with this passion and purpose in mind, and it continues to be the driving force to this day.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
We don’t have to look too far back for this; we were in one of the most uncertain times that humanity ever faced. The pandemic brought in a completely different set of challenges than we could ever envisage.
At the start of the pandemic, we were all panicking about what could happen. Interestingly enough, I somehow felt a dejavu moment. This reminded me of the 2008–09 financial crisis when businesses dependent on financial institutions were literally crushed due to the meltdown. During that time, I was handling financial institutions. And, in spite of the challenges, we successfully negated the crisis through relentless pursuits and grit.
During the financial crisis, we worked harder and harder to conduct as many sales calls as possible. We met several people, offered amortized price plans, and hired as many people as possible — many of whom had lost their jobs. This helped us in a big way. We were able to acquire talent that, otherwise, probably would not have joined us or moved to Phoenix. And we were also able to acquire customers who were cash strapped, and, therefore, willing to go beyond their comfort zone and diverge from the bigger brands.
As soon as the pandemic hit and business volumes fell, I immediately reassured the team that we would do everything possible to protect their jobs despite the uncertainty. I reminded them about how we took on the 2009 financial crisis, how uncertain it was for us, and how we were able to survive by focusing on what we can control instead of what we cannot. We also maintained transparency in terms of what efforts we were undertaking to build our finances, and the discussions we were having with clients and industry analysts.
Likewise, this time too, we focused on what we can control i.e. product engineering and brand building, and the rest played out well. Between early 2020 and now, we have grown our team three times.
I believe that my team’s comfort and sense of direction is of the utmost importance. Enabling them to feel secure in their role and to know what we are driving for is a key part of our ethos, and I think it creates a sense of loyalty. We are loyal to our team, and they are loyal to us. And transparency is the other thing that is incredibly important. I tie transparency to honesty and open communication. I want my team to know what is going on, and I want them to feel comfortable sharing their ideas, asking questions, and giving feedback.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
Oh yeah, a few times I thought about quitting. I derive strength and motivation to not quit when I look at all of those who believed in me, whether it’s my team, the investors, our customers or the community. What sustains my drive is that adversity motivates me to get tough and do better.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
Leaders are the helm and the face of their company. They don’t just have to appease investors, customers, and stakeholders during difficult times — they also have to make sure all of their employees and every person they work with is assured of the company’s eventual success during challenging times.
The role of a leader is to have the vision to see the company through the most difficult of circumstances. They must be so intimately aware of the business that they can steer it toward success no matter what. There is a level of risk and reward here that most other roles in a company do not have to deal with.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
Your team wants to know that you are thinking ahead and that you have mapped out every possible scenario for your business. They want to know that you are prepared, aware of the challenges ahead, and have the wisdom to navigate those challenges. As a leader, you can boost their morale by demonstrating your confidence and preparedness for whatever lies ahead.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
I am not sure that there is a “best way” to communicate difficult news outside of being as honest as possible. Before you communicate bad news to your team, make sure you’ve looked at all of the options and possibilities. Then, you can develop an effective strategy moving forward. Then, when it comes time to break the news to your team, they know you’ve done everything you possibly can. A sense of honesty goes a long way to developing trust in these scenarios.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
Forecasting risk is huge here. Leaders need to be aware of all of the possibilities and develop strategies in order to navigate those potential risks. We learned in 2020 that unpredictability is a part of life. Leaders can’t avoid this. It’s inevitable. So all the more reason to prepare for a variety of situations and outcomes.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
Well, it is tough to identify one idea or principle, but I think that if we approach every situation as an opportunity, it helps us reframe each situation whether good or bad. Challenges, lows, and adversity all present an opportunity to reflect and improve. And, obviously, successes are opportunities to reap the rewards of our hard work. Successes help us grow our business, seek opportunities for further growth and advancement, and share the wins with our teams to help keep them motivated.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
One mistake people make during difficult times is making decisions in haste. Often, leaders panic about finances and decide to fire employees en masse to make up for a loss in revenue. Often, this isn’t the right choice. Layoffs made in this way can cause you to lose valuable players who would have been an asset to your company in the long term. Instead of making a decision in haste, take a moment to step back and evaluate all of your options. Decide what you absolutely need to do.
A second mistake is an inability to adapt to market demands. Don’t keep doing what you’ve always done. Difficult times provide ample opportunity to pivot and change. COVID-19 changed the digital landscape and forced most things to move toward online interaction. Companies that adapted stayed afloat, while others sank under the pressure.
Third, make sure you are empathetic to your team and your customers. Everyone is going through a difficult time. Don’t become too short-sighted and narrow in your focus. Let them know you are there for them and will help support them as much as you can.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
Our strategy is simple — good times or bad times, we want our brand to be known to as many people as possible through our marketing.
Businesses of every size need to acknowledge and invest in marketing. It helps to get customers, employees, investors, partners, and it compels financial institutions to provide better rates and support. The whole ecosystem operates on working with successful businesses or “known” entities.
Being a startup and operating in turbulent times, it is tough to get ahold of conventional sources. For example, during the height of COVID-19, all major banking and lending institutions stopped funding. Imagine that, when you needed them the most, they cut you off. So we cannot depend on the common sources; we have to look for “unseen” avenues, and the only way to get to them is through marketing your business effectively.
The same is true for talent. When we need to open new avenues for finding talent, spreading the message in a creative and wide-reaching manner is more effective than just relying on direct sales and word-of-mouth references.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
- Provide clarity and promise security: Uncertainty is an absolute certainty in business, even in “normal” times. So the first thing business leaders need to do is provide comfort and confidence. This is what I did with our team. I told them very early during the COVID-19 crisis that their jobs are protected and that I need their full focus and attention. I didn’t want them to spend time worrying about their jobs, which would negatively impact their performance.
- Be present and lead by example: It is critical for business leaders not to go into hiding during a crisis. While we focused on our efforts, we were also very aware of the struggles the team was facing during this time. We arranged talks with psychologists and industry leaders, and we participated in several philanthropic activities. We made sure that we were acknowledging the current conditions. We need to lead by example and be present in discussions. We decided to be transparent early on to help the team learn from how we were doing and handling things.
- Surround yourself with the best: It is important to surround yourself with people that are smarter than you and ahead of you in their careers. Ask them to work alongside you. During the tougher times, seek their insights and brainstorm ideas with them. That level of expertise and advice is vital to the health of your company.
- Show vulnerability and trust in the power of people: People have this innate capacity and ability to endure uncertainty; we just need to trust in them. Expressing our own vulnerabilities can be difficult for leaders, but if we can show our vulnerabilities and trust in our team to accept and address them, they will come up with amazing ideas.
- Don’t be afraid to take risks: Don’t just do things a certain way because that’s how it’s always been done. A societal change is the perfect time to reconsider how you’re doing things and seek improvement.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I think I wrote this quote in my middle school workbook, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”. I’m not sure why I wrote this, but it keeps ringing in my ears whenever I face a tough situation. This quote reminds me to find strength when facing hurdles and difficulties. It helps me get back up and keep going whenever I get knocked down, and it inspires me to try hard things and hopefully inspire others to persevere through tough situations.
Over time, I’ve changed my mentality and begun to view challenges as motivators instead of roadblocks.
How can our readers further follow your work?
Readers can keep up with us via social media or contact us through our website. We’d love to hear from you.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Thank you for your time.
Mahesh Vinayagam Of qBotica: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
