Lex Witness gets into a conversation with Gina Marescia, MD & Founder of Catalyst Consulting HK, who is recognized as a resilience and leadership thoughtleader. For over 25 years, she has worked across four continents challenging the leadership definition and its impact. Gina’s purpose is to be a catalyst, enabling professionals to discover and develop a more diverse, inclusive leadership voice in the business world. Learn more about her and Catalyst Consulting.
I only work with individuals and client organisations who are up for “playing a bigger game” in their careers, businesses, and lives. Since 2000, I have had the privilege of coaching and delivering customised leadership development and personal effectiveness workshops for India’s biggest MNCs. Over this time, and in a country that is large and diverse on so many levels, this sense of being “up for a bigger game” in life has been consistent.
This plays out also in the leadership executive coaching and thought leadership space, where there is increasing consolidation and professionalisation. Over 16 years, Catalyst has partnered with several India-based coaches and consultants. This consolidation also reflects the growth and professionalisation of the Indian business community. I am observing less reliance and greater independence and contribution to the global markets. Many of the global MNCs I work with have shifted their key operations and back-office functions to India because of language, technology, IQ and EQ capabilities, and, of course, operating costs.
The disadvantage of delivering in India remains the ever-changing, often contradictory and complicated visa, taxation, and payment processes and policies. COVID-19 lockdowns have highlighted other challenges. Much of my program delivery is now virtual, and I have a window into the additional challenges that many India-based employees face WFH. These include access to stable internet connection, electricity outages impacting, for example, air-conditioning, and access to technology devices.
There is still a shortage of strategic and transformational leaders. I still see primarily transactional, execution-based management and very little succession planning to build a talent pipeline for the future. This will hold India back.
The same protocols apply to any dynamic, developing market: (1) clear, agreed on definitions of job-related competencies (skills, behaviours, attitudes), (2) scientifically valid assessment processes that have high predictive validity (e.g., structured interviews, simulations like role pays that mimic what is required on the job, assessment tools that are designed for selection or promotion and predict performance), and (3) trained interviewers and assessors and that include lawyers and partners who have a skills (and /objectivity “bias”) refresher ideally every 2-3 years.
“I saw this when I worked with Cisco in Bengaluru 20 years ago delivering objective interviewing skills; Goldman Sachs, Bayer/Covestro, and Morgan Stanley on leadership and right up to today, working with the IWIRC community. Indian-based professionals consistently demonstrate a desire to learn, grow, debate, and – yes – “play a bigger game”. This mindset creates new learning environments that are both dynamic and “push the envelope” to be even more effective and innovative. Some of our most innovative programs have been because of this. I am also seeing more evidence of India-based professionals not just catching up with global standards but also positively impacting global standards.”
It is both. Thousands of very diverse people have used the CABI™ model as a pathway to help them find their authentic voice and, thus, discover a bridge to their own leadership potential. My vision is that the CABI™ model becomes both a global corporate mantra AND a global access point to a more inclusive, diverse voice in the workplace. Globally the GROW model “cracked the code” to effective coaching. CABI™ has the potential to “crack the confidence & authentic impact code” and provide anyone with a pathway to access leadership. CABI™ is already a corporate mantra for some organisations committed to truly embracing the power of a more inclusive voice.
“If you want to develop yourself as a leader, there is no better guide to the precise steps you must take to get there”
I left university with post graduate degrees in education and organisational psychology. My professional career began in South Africa in the early 1990s when the waves of massive social, political, and economic change began to break up an apartheid South Africa where segregation, discrimination, and exclusion were institutionalised. I specifically chose to play in the corporate environment because that is where I could see inclusive environments could be created first and thus impact social change.
Today I still see the benefits of positively impacting professionals at an individual, team, and cultural level, which then affects families, communities, and societies as a whole. Leadership based on values and purpose shape smarter business decisions. So-called “soft skills” like communication, dialogue skills, collaboration, partnership, negotiation, empathy, and resilience help frame relationships beyond the board-room into families, schools, and communities.
My CABI™ and resilience models have been used at universities, schools, and numerous NGOs addressing exclusion, minority and gender issues at a grassroots level. In my book, I even share stories of how some of the concepts like confidence and self-belief are used by two children. The final chapter in my book is called “Using CABI™ to make a difference” and prompts the reader to now take what they have learned and “pay it forward” – to use their newfound authentic leadership voice to make a difference to others.
Inspiring and humbling. Members and fans of IWIRC are some of the most confident, successful professionals I know. Working in the restructuring, debt, and insolvency space attracts the brightest and most resilient people I know. Three things struck me;
“If you want to develop yourself as a leader, there is no better guide to the precise steps you must take to get there.”
For me, Executive Coaching is simply a path, a powerful methodology that creates a space for a professional to realise deep insights, gain clarity and focus, and take action. Because my purpose is to be a catalyst and facilitate other’s potential, Executive coaching is often a preferred path a client can choose to fast-track their development and results. My motivation today is to make the power of coaching more widely accessible and simply a part of the Firm’s culture. I often coach entire Management Teams and train lawyers and Partners to be internal coaches. I asked my good friend, India-based partner and seasoned coach Dr. Suman Nair the same question when I was in Mumbai for the 2019 APAC Coaching Conference. She replied, “coaching is an opportunity to cocreate a transformational path”. She said that she experiences the power of coaching to seeing a flower bloom.
Firstly, there is no such thing as worklife balance. There is only life. Work is a part of life. This time is providing for many the opportunity to focus on what is most important. To deeply reflect on what one has internally to respond to these times – one’s inner resilience. It’s a time to consolidate yourself, your teams, and your family. Leverage the extra time no longer spent travelling. If possible, harness the interests and hobbies that inspire you. Choose something to master and learn more holistically. For the legal professional, there is an opportunity to explore collaborating and partnering more with its extended community. An example could be providing easier access information on legal rights and options as a citizen, labourer, and employee as a result of COVID-19 issues1 emerging or being exacerbated like domestic violence and employee benefits.
Firstly, I can only respond based on feedback received and observed measures. Secondly, it is never about me (or my Catalyst consultants, trainers, coaches) – we are simply “catalysts” who are given the trust and opportunity to create space for learning, insights, and, sometimes, transformation. The benefits individuals, teams, and organisations realise are essentially self-generated. Of course, our signature programs provoke thinking and “flip the script” on the way leadership, resilience, and confidence is typically taught by asking “what is possible?” whilst hand-holding and providing support and practical strategies.
After two decades of defining, assessing, training, and coaching leadership, I conclude that there is only Impactful Leadership. Many organisations are still trying to teach leadership styles. It simply does not work. It creates even more paradoxes, dysfunctional leadership, and confusion. Every other type of leadership is merely a path or style towards achieving leadership that has positive impact-leads, provides direction, inspires, and influences action. It is the only type of sustainable leadership that will help us today and in the future. I have seen leadership trends come and go: servant leadership, authentic leadership, courageous leadership, conscious leadership, collaborative leadership, directive leadership, autocratic leadership, quantum leadership and the list goes on.
Anchor around being an impactful leader. And then let your context inform you as to which different style of leadership the situation calls for. Using the CABI™ model ensures that you are permanently anchored around truth, values, purpose, and a positive intention, and your action are then expressions of that.
For more details, call the support desk at Catalyst if you have any questions/ comments Tel: +852-25451101 or write to [email protected]. Free preview of book @ www.cabimodel.com
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