Since early 2015, when he began working with Sodexo’s executive committee as the global services firm’s chief transformation officer, Sunil Nayak has undergone his own leadership transformation. The new role required the former CEO of Sodexo India On-Site Services to work with a team of 15 executives from different nationalities and cultures, demanding a shift to a more inclusive leadership style. “In today’s world, success for any leader is about being a good influencer,” says Nayak, who has since been promoted to CEO of Sodexo’s Corporate Services Asia-Pacific. “If you impose your method, if you’re not sensitive or aware of the other person’s method, either you won’t come to a decision or you won’t get buy-in.”
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Sylvia Ann Hewlett is an economist, the CEO of Hewlett Consulting Partners, and an award-winning author whose books include Executive Presence 2.0: Leadership in an Age of Inclusion and The Sponsor Effect: How to Be a Better Leader by Investing in Others. Hewlett is also the founder and chair emeritus of the think tank Coqual, and she has taught at Columbia and Princeton universities.
