In December 2014, Harvard Business Review published an article on a C-suite study with telling results. The research compared thousands of leaders in the top six positions across companies on 14 aspects of leadership. It was hardly a surprise that the chief operating officer had a lot in common with the chief executive officer, given their overlapping roles. But the chief human resources officer (CHRO) trumped their finance and marketing counterparts in the traits they shared with the CEO. The findings of the study, according to the article, led its authors to propose this: "More companies should consider CHROs when looking to fill the CEO position." Nearly seven years later, Peyush Bansal did the opposite. Co-founder and CEO of Lenskart, the $4.5 billion-worth eyewear retailer, he has now added a new title to his name: chief people officer. The company was struggling to retain talent; the attrition rate for middle management was as high as 50% in 2021. Something had to be done, and Bansal decided he was the person to get it done. But what if he was part of the very problem he was trying to fix?
“Lenskart is his [Peyush’s] empire. And at every step, he makes you know as much,” Under his leadership, Lenskart's senior leadership has suffered from a lack of autonomy, arbitrary modification of targets, and non-payment of incentives.
Consequently, several key positions, including chief marketing officer and head of revenue, have been vacant for two years now. That's far from normal for a company of Lenskart's size. So how is Bansal responding to the crisis?
