Leadership & Personality Style of Ekta Kapoor

1. LEADERSHIP & CAPACITY BUILDING
EKTA KAPOOR
1ST
ASSIGNMENT
BY
ANAND PRABHUDESAI
14020448076
MBA EE 14-17 BATCH
Styles of Leadership

2. Different types of Leadership styles are as follows:
1) Directive leadership
2) Achievement oriented leadership
3) Participative leadership
4) Supportive leadership
What Personality type makes the best leader?
Thousands of reports on the MBTI types of leaders and managers illustrate that all types
occupy leadership positions. Understanding leaders’ type preferences is useful for exploring
strengths and potential weaknesses, for developing self-awareness and emotional
intelligence and for understanding the impact of their behaviors on others.
The question usually arises, what type makes the best leader? All types can be effective as
well as ineffective. Studies of thousands of leaders and managers world-wide have shown
some profile types to be more predominant, however. This is not to imply that these types
make better managers, only that they are more predominant in leadership positions.
In one study of 26,477 persons in a Leadership Development Program at the Center for
Creative Leadership, the following percentage frequencies were reported:
1. ISTJ 18.2%
2. ESTJ 16.0%
3. ENTJ 13.1%
4. INTJ 10.5%
Clearly, there is a majority of Thinking and Judging preferences among leaders and
managers. The structure and values of most organizations favor logical and decisive
behaviors. It may be that Thinking and Judging behaviors have become the accepted
definition of what it means to lead and people with these preferences are seen as “leadership
material.”

4. THE CZARINA OF INDIAN TELEVISION – EKTA KAPOOR
She made middle class housewives in to super heroes and how! For more than a decade
Indian households have been under the influence of her magical spell that made family soaps
the order of the day. That’s Ekta Kapoor, the Queen of Soap Operas in India who
revolutionized television viewing in India, with her larger than life family dramas. The magic
she weaved with her television soap operas cemented her stand in the hearts of every home
& heart.
Ekta Kapoor is the recipient of
• Entrepreneur of the Year 2001 from Ernst & Young
• ITA Scroll Honor of the Year 2003
• Most Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur-Indo-American Society 2009
• Asia’s Social Empowerment Award in 2012
• Indian Merchant Chamber’s Woman of the Year Award 2012
• Iconic Film & TV Producer 2012 – Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Awards
• Asia’s Most Powerful Communicators – Asia Week
to name a few besides innumerous Indian Television Academy awards for her record
breaking serials and Filmfare & International Indian Film Academy ( IIFA )
Ekta Kapoor is an Indian TV and film producer.
She is currently the Joint Managing Director and Creative Director of Balaji Telefilms, her
production company.
At the age of 19, she ventured into TV-serial (series) production and soon changed the face
of Indian television industry.
Her company has produced more than 25 serials for channels such as Sony, Star Plus and
Zee.
She holds many records for TV serial production and popularity in India.
Her most famous television venture has been ‘Kyuki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi’ that began in
2000.
Ekta Kapoor has joined hands with Bhojpuri film production banner Siddhivinayak Media
Entertainment to produce two big budget Bhojpuri language films.
Her home production includes biggest and the most important films as ‘Love, Sex aur Dhoka’,
‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbai’, ‘The Dirty Picture’, ‘Ragini MMS’ and the sequel of her earlier
hit ‘Kya Kool Hai Hum’ named ‘Kya Super Kool Hai Hum’.
Early Life
Ekta Kapoor was born on 7th June 1975. She went to the Bombay Scottish School and has a
bachelor’s degree from Mithibai College, Mumbai.

5. She is the daughter of former Bollywood superstar Jeetendra and sister of current actor
Tushar Kapoor.
According to Ekta, she had a childhood which was "materially easy but emotionally difficult.'
During her childhood she was extremely obese and suffered from low self esteem. She was a
very pampered child and was never oriented towards any kind of achievement.
Ekta was a poor student and content with getting the minimum passing grades.
Her family wanted her to enroll in an MBA program but she was not interested in a theoretical
education and had no clue about what she wanted to do in her life. "I was fat, lazy and
absolutely aimless in life”
On completing her higher secondary education, she joined FAR Productions, an advertising
agency, and worked as an assistant model coordinator for a short time in an attempt to do
something worthwhile.
The turning point in Ekta's life came in the early 1990s (she was about 19 years old then),
when Ketan Sommaya (a non resident Indian) requested her father to produce some
television software, for a channel he was starting.
Making a mark –
Ekta introduced Indian television audiences to daily serials at a time when weekly episodes
were the order of the day. When Ekta first made a foray into television software development,
most of the serials were telecast on a weekly basis.
Entrepreneurial Style
Ekta was a completely hands-on manager.
She was closely involved with every aspect of her serials, be it the script, cast, sets, the dress
and make-up of the characters, or the marketing of serials.
As the creative head at BTL, she provided all the story ideas.
She did not actually write the scripts of the serials but supervised a team of associate creative
directors and executive producers, who wrote them.
She personally auditioned the actors who played the various parts in the serials, as she
believed she had a knack for choosing the right faces for the right parts…
The Negative Image
Ekta has had to face a lot of flak for her serials as well as her attitude.
Ekta was totally unpredictable and short tempered.
Was notorious for replacing actors midway in serials based on her whims and fancies and
personal equations with actors.
She was branded high-handed, rude, brash and immature.
She acquired the image of an ogre and most of her subordinates were reluctant to approach
her cabin

6. In the serials, she was criticized for portraying women in a regressive manner.
She openly showed extra marital relationships in every serial and every serial of hers had the
bad vampire of a woman as the creator of all problems.
She also was criticized for promoting supernatural and occult serials and was also held as
superstitious for her ‘K’ letter fixation in names of her soaps.
(Though later on she clarified that this was a part of her brand building and a successful
strategic gimmick)
Hence she was tagged as the ‘controversy queen’ too later on in Indian television and one
with no morals and lack of social responsibility.
Behavioral Analysis
If we analyze this extreme volatile behavior – her early childhood and teenage problems
seems to be the root cause. Her early life disappointments and failures made her vulnerable
and prone to extreme behaviors, mood swings, tantrums which carried on into her
professional life.
Many a times, immediate success and stardom makes you egoistic and outright rude which is
what happened with her.
The Downfall
Star Plus rejected all her upcoming serials and pulled off her most famous ‘ kunki…’ serial off
the air due to 2 main reasons – her arrogance and the economic slowdown in 2007 to 09.
As more of her shows went off air and her exclusive and lucrative contract with Star Plus
came to an end, Balaji was in the doldrums and its stocks plummeted rapidly. Initially, Ekta
wasn’t able to see the writing on the wall: Audience tastes were changing and her
melodramatic soap operas had outlived their utility.
The Recovery
Until the meltdown happened, Balaji Telefilms functioned haphazardly and unprofessionally,
driven largely by the whims and fancies of one person.
There is a proper management team to handle the production house and the group has
reigned in former Star India head Sameer Nair as its Group CEO since last 2 years.
The success behind Ekta Kapoor
In spite of all the above, she took this as a challenge and converted the criticism into her
favor.
Most of her serials enjoyed high TRP ratings throughout and viewership reached astonishing
numbers.

7. How did this happen?
She was present at the right place and at the right time and was able to relate to viewers
choice and desires.
She had far sighted business vision and went on towards achieving it single handedly through
her aggressive ways in office and management.
She diversified her businesses at the right time into Balaji Telefilms Ltd and Balaji Motion
Pictures Ltd.
Conclusion
Ekta Kapoor is already in full flight. Observers believe that the next phase of her career would
be the most exciting of all as she diversifies into new territories and makes new conquests.
The lady is a full-fledged brand and its value is undeniably on the upswing.
Ekta is a example of a woman for young creative heads and entrepreneurs. She single
handedly has earned her stature in the industry, be it television or cinema. And keeping all
criticisms about her work aside, she has given television a stature that no one else before her
could.
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Clearly her Leadership style can be easily classified as being
Authoritative
Autocratic
Directive
Coercive
Achievement oriented

8. Ekta is a example of a woman for young creative heads and entrepreneurs. She single
handedly has earned her stature in the industry, be it television or cinema. And keeping all
criticisms about her work aside, she has given television a stature that no one else before her
could.