Ranbir Singh Butola: Hybrid CEO

Ranbir Sing Butola has been described by a close associate as a “hybrid CEO”. He is currently the chairman of Indian Oil. This is no ordinary company being the largest public firm in India in terms of revenue. In fact it is ranked as one of the largest 100 companies in the whole wide world by Fortune 500.  The company has a 34,233 workforce and sales turnover of $85.6 billion in 2012 with profits of $825 million.

Butola started his career in the financial sector working for a nationalized bank. He then entered the energy industry in 2001 joining ONGC (OVL). Under his leadership he has built an impressive exploration and production portfolio in more than 15 countries.

What is most challenging for Butola and why he’s described as a hybrid CEO is because the owner of Indian Oil and OVL is the Indian government.  He has been running business in a private environment yet also has to contend with the owner that has its own agenda which to say the least is political in nature. Butola has to deal with such issues as selling fuel below market price.

Nevertheless he has shown his ability to balance private market place realities with government priorities. No doubt he is one hybrid CEO.

The First Outsider

Most companies put insiders at the top post. It serves as an inspiration for the lower ranks who also aspire for the top position. An insider also knows the company already so there is no lag time required to get to know the company better.  In the case of German company giant Siemens AG it hired an outsider to lead the company for the first time in its 160 year history.

The reason why Austrian born Peter Löscher was chosen to become the Chief Executive Officer of Siemens in May 2007 was because the company was reeling from a global bribery investigation. In this case it would be best put a new face that was not connected with the company’s past.  The company eventually had to pay $1.6 billion in fines.

Yet the move to hire Peter was not merely symbolic he went to work to improve the company image and more importantly to improve how the company functioned. As he wrote in an article within months of his taking over the company replaced 80 percent of the top level executives, 70 percent of the next level down and 40 percent of the level below that.  He also implemented some streamlining to improve efficiency.

Prior to his job as the CEO of Siemens AG, Peter held high level positions including as CEO of other large companies.  This time the outsider proved the best choice.

Leading The World’s Largest Defense Contractor

Marillyn A. Hewson is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Lockheed Martin Corporation and also the Executive Vice President of the Electronics Systems division. This is a very high position in the world’s largest defense contractor company. Yet there is even more in store for her.  On November 9, 2012 she was elected by Lockheed Martin’s Board of Directors as director and the next Chief Executive Officer and President effective January 1, 2013.

Her current position as Executive Vice President of Electronic Systems is already a huge responsibility in itself. This enterprise had sales of about $14.6 billion in 2011 with 45,500 employees. Its operation is global with facilities in the U.S, U.K., Australia, and Canada.

While some say she will have a steep learning curve to follow, Hewson is no doubt a company veteran having spent almost 30 years with the Lockheed. During that time she steadily climbed the corporate ladder and has managed systems integration, internal audits, global supply chain management, and aeronautics.

Her leadership skill will surely be put to the test given the fact that the top position was supposed to go to someone else. This person had to go though because of a relationship scandal. Lockheed will also have to look at new areas of growth as defense spending cuts will eat into its profit.

Hewson has willingly taken the challenge and will surely make the most of this golden opportunity.

Willing To Take The Risk: Ellen J. Kullman

Ellen Kullman is the Chairman and CEO of DuPont. This is not an ordinary company by any standards. On longevity alone it’s been around for 210 years. The company had earnings of $38.7 billion in 2011.

Ellen is the first Chairman and CEO in the company’s long history.  She started her career at General Electric then joined DuPont in 1988 as a marketing manager. She was on her way up the leadership ladder.  After a series of management positions, in 1995 she became the vice president and general manager of White Pigments & Mineral Products.

She was already comfortable with her job leading around 6,000 employees and managing a $2 billion business.  Then in the latter part of 1998 she was asked to create a consultancy business based on the company’s safety practices.  DuPont’s CEO then told her it was alright if she would not accept the new job assignment.

Taking this challenge had its perils. It would seem like she was being pushed out of a stable job position for someone else to take over.  Kullman would start with virtually nothing but an idea.

Both her mentor at DuPont and her husband were not in favor of it. It would be something totally new for her since she would have to be more entrepreneurial in this undertaking. It would also be new for DuPont since it was a company that sold products and not services.

It must have been the challenge that made her decide to take the job. It would really put her to the test. It was totally new and she had a clean slate to start with. Kullman was able to convince some people to work with her.  She assured them that she would help them find another job at DuPont if it didn’t work out.

Turning the idea into reality was not an easy task there were failures along the way. It was all worth it since she was able to turn safety consultancy into a $ 5 billion dollar business.  This achievement certainly helped her rise to the top.