People need language to communicate. Over time, management experts
have developed a unique business language; one interesting, it has now become
annoying. It helps communicate something
odd about them, rather than help them communicate evenly with their colleagues.
This business language comprises several phrases and epithets which have
achieved a cult status in managerial and leadership circles. Strangely, this
language is not affected either by gender nor generation. It is pretty universal.
Developed once upon a time (but not so long ago) for impact, much of the
business language has become cliché-like, annoying jargon. Not to be deterred,
self-appointed masters of business communication continue to revel in its use;
and some are sworn to it. Here is one such soliloquy!
As I wake up each
morning, peeping out of the window, I remind myself of my high-flying penchant for blue
sky thinking. Sure, I will be aided by my consultants landing today
with their own helicopter view of affairs here. While they may urge me to do
some out
of the box thinking, I will demonstrate to them how I can pick low
hanging fruits by myself ahead of their developing a strategic
staircase. As I take shower, I do get my idea showers too. I
realize my team does not have the required bandwidth but I consider it my responsibility
to cascade
all my ideas and create core competencies in my team. Surely,
I will run up the flagpole a couple of my ideas and see whether they
would help me square the circle!
Thinking of
teams, I would like to get all my ducks in a row but with the kind
of team I have, I am as dead as a duck in facing the
competition. I tell my Human Resources (HR) team members repeatedly to look
under the bonnet but they hardly are able to move the needle
on this. Going forward, I need to synergize with my HR head so that we
can get
to the table the best talent, but I am unable to get my message over
the wall even with him. I am unhappy that instead of running
with this concept my team keeps moving the goal posts. At this rate
zero revenue will not be a ballpark figure for my next budget.
I need to induct some really best of breed talent to achieve a paradigm
shift in our thinking and performance.
Indeed, I touched
base with my CEO about this troubling situation. Instead of facing the
issue squarely, he dropped the ball when he said that we should take this offline.
Much as I want to take to the next level my team’s performance, pushing
the envelope, here is my CEO who is not even reactive, let alone be
proactive. People think that he and I are joined at the hip, and
that I have a lot of face-time with him; but this episode shows our convergent
divergence! I am not going to be put off by this; I am going to hit
the ground running, putting the pedal to the metal. I want to give
my 110 % to my leadership role. I know that our company is debt laden;
all the more reason why I should leverage my intellectual capital.
That is a win-win paradigm for boundless synergy of intellectual
finance, signifying deep-bonding of equity capital with bank debt. I know all our stakeholders
will be thrilled with the ROI all this will entail!
I am one who
would like to drill down, in fact, deep drill down, on issues, benchmark
against competition and crystallise solutions. Some team
members may play hardball but I have enough support to bulldoze them. I want
that every one of my team members should sing from the same hymn sheet but I
know that there some who don’t still get that I am results driven. I have
decided to bite the bullet and take such people out of the loop. After
all, what can be a greater party than all of my team members toeing the party
line? The bottom line of my management is that when the push
comes to shove I will not be hesitant to look at the one
throat to choke. Actually, that is the million dollar question!
Each day, from
my 30
thousand feet perspective, I look for the ideas that have got legs,
with the hope that even if I can’t sprint to my goal posts, at least my ideas
will! I know I do not have enough boots on ground but it is all
about synergising and leveraging available guys so that
we can do more with less. I am not a micro-manager but I have a hands-on
style; I would like to put a record on, and see who dances.
I view my people in buckets; performers and non-performers; mind you, I do believe
in incentivizing
performers. In all this performance appraisal process, however, I don’t
wish to wait the whole year as it is not good to let the grass grow too long
under me.
I want to engage
with my people as they are my moving, and also removable, assets. Every day is
a new
beginning for me with them, and I treat every issue as a new
horizon. I believe in root and branch review that helps me
with hits
and misses. I am not married to my team irrespective of performance;
actually I believe in asynchronous engagement and conscious
uncoupling, as far as employee relations are concerned. I am issue-focused,
data-driven and results-oriented, with a stage-gated approach. You see, I am a visionary,
and whenever my team members struggle to keep pace with me, I encourage them to
do some white space thinking, and try to cross the chasm to reach
me.
It is not that
I don’t encounter failures; every time we fail (as is usual most of the
times!), we go back and sharpen our pencils – so much so that on most
occasions we have no pencils left! That said, I know how to manage the optics
of failure. I believe in disruptive technologies, and creative
destruction, with a fuzzy vision as a highway
of growth. I know it is radical philosophy and there are not
many who can step up to the plate with the leadership USP I have. I believe in kicking
up a perfect
storm, every now and then. That’s my formula for a balanced ecosystem, whatever
it means. I don’t like people who keep saying that it is not our core
competency or that we should stick to our knitting. You see,
heart of heart, I believe I am a one-off leader. I take a ready-aim-fire
approach to problems.
Long back I worked
in a food corporation where I was told silos are very important (to store foodgrains,
of course!). Now, in this organization, breaking silos is my thematic
template and cultural anchor. I don’t mind sounding like a broken record
here (about breaking silos, that is!). I keep telling my people – business is
all about building value not building silos! Having failed in
that I coined a new organizational mantra – bridging the silos! We do face some headwinds
there but I am an eternal optimist; it is all a question of seeing the glass half full or
half empty! Transparency is always the big elephant in our meeting rooms.
At
the end of the day, we as leaders need to walk the talk; if there
is no talk how can we walk? I wear two hats, therefore, one that
of an optimist, seeing a door where there is a wall, as I said earlier, and the
other that of a pessimist – seeing a wall when there is a door!
I would like our
meetings to be fun at work! I want to keep an open door system and I don’t
want hard
stops but I can’t help being time-titrated as I am busy
like a bee. As we take up each problem, I want to peel back all the layers of the
onion. I wish to go granular in analysing problems and
be scalable
in providing solutions. I want my team to be chained to the concept of value
chain, on a holistic basis. I
want my people to be intrapreneurs. I admit that my
tenure has seen more problems than solutions but that’s how irony of life is!
My job is managing the paradoxes. I rely on my 80-20 rule to action on
the right issue. Of course, I have my 2 cents of opinion on every issue
but I need to manage expectations that I can provide solutions to problems,
with white
board and zero base approaches. I want to keep everyone in loop and
circle
back even when I miss my meetings. At times, I feel that I have too
many chefs in the meeting room. I honestly want to do a level-set
of my team every now and then.
I am the boss
but I am a team player. I don’t want my people thrown under the bus.
Yet, I carry too much on my shoulders, but mind you, my team members seem to
have
a chip on the shoulders that they are the victims. I feel I am
actually the victim here! Probably, I am used to drinking from the fire hose!
I keep telling my people to put our game faces on but there are
not many who are ready for the game. They don’t realize that business is all
about basic blocking and tackling. I try to inspire people by talking
about the next big thing. I like calibrating me against myself!
Comparing me with anyone else is certainly not an apple to apple comparison
(of course, I am the apple)! Someone said that it is impossible for my team to
study me; he asked, after all, is it possible to boil an ocean?
I am a firm
believer that we should be more focussed on go-to-market and first-to-market
strategies each day, rather than be preoccupied with go-to-home and
quick-to-home habits. I want to be customer-focused and technology
driven. For that I look for bleeding
edge technologies; leading edge ones are passe’ to me. I believe firmly
that Sunset
industries require Sunrise technologies. Technology gets
us a greater mind-share from our customers. And with some tailwinds
in business, we can do great. I want my team to get its arms around the
technology animal. I know that technology is just one aspect, and that there
are lots
of moving parts in business management, but technology is the burning
platform for most companies, including mine. Sure, technology strategy
requires crystal ball gazing but I punt heavily on my capabilities in
this. By way of housekeeping, I keep a laundry list of all the
potential growth triggers, though. I may sound immodest but I would like
to be called technology evangelist.
I have decided
to solution-architect
my organization to meet the challenge. I have the ‘D’ and ‘R’
for this as the leader. First of all, I will deploy horses for courses,
keeping technology and business separate. I will create a SWAT team to identify the
technology direction, and a Tiger Team to actually source the
technologies. I will establish a swim line of communication. I will
go for high-impact technologies and reach out to every director
to support. I want my firm to have its own silicon valley even as it grasps
every external window of opportunity. But at the same time, I do not wish to reinvent
the wheel. If after all this,
there is no buy-in from anyone, so be it; it is what it is! I want
my organization move from good to great. If needed, I will right-size
it but I will also get next-gen people and practices. I
know it is not plug and play but I think I can have an energising effect, and electrifying
impact for empowering people. This is my big challenge and this is where the rubber meets the road!
I keep telling
my people that if they are able to wrap their heads around my challenge
and colour
outsides the lines, they should do not be keeping their ideas in the
parking lot. I am eager to monetize their inputs with my delivery.
I will never make my employees out-of-pocket with me, I assure them.
Still, I am unclear why they do not appreciate that I am putting a stake in the ground
here. If only they are aligned with me, my performance can
indeed go viral! I just need a few quick wins. It is no
brainer, really. I am not clear why my people do not appreciate my game-plan.
I thought my communication is always so crystal-clear!!!
Posted by Dr CB
Rao on May 13, 2016
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