Behaviour,
Treatment, Trust, Compassion, Stability and Hope
Introduction
To
get the willing loyal cooperation in any age, the leader must be trusted, must
lead with compassion, must provide stability to the led and must give them hope
for their future and aspirations. These four elements are totally dependent on
how the leader behaves and how does the leader treat the team members.
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The
only thing we know about the future is that it will be different.
----Peter
F Drucker, Management Guru
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“Future
has always been different”. Future is a factor of time and the time is always
changing. The leaders and the led are required to adapt to the changing time---
human behaviours and technological advancements are two essential elements of
change.
Technological advancements have taken place in
this world of ours since the existence of human beings. The technology has
changed from the stone age to the current age of IOT, robotics, AI, social
media etc but the core definition of leadership has remained the same ie
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“The art of influencing and directing
men/women in such a way as to obtain their willing obedience, confidence,
respect and loyal cooperation in order to accomplish the mission”
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AI, IOT and Robotics will never rule the earth- these will facilitate humans to rule humans. Therefore, even in the age of automation, robotics, AI and IOT, humans will rule the earth. The roles will change. Adaptability of humans for the survival will become predominant. As long as humans exist, there will be need of a leader and followers. The behaviours of leaders and treatment given out to followers will continue to dominate this world of humans.
How you behave and how you
treat?
These two words are two sides of a
coin. Although, the flower girl of My Fair Lady says, “The difference between a
lady and flower girl is not how she behaves but how she is treated” (Pygmalion
by GB Shaw). These words are true and applicable on day to day life; personal
or professional. The Gallup Survey shows that 71% of the people who changed
their jobs are due to the treatment meted to them by their supervisors.
The flip side of the coin is the
behaviour of the leaders/supervisors. How should the leader behave? In one
organization, the manager attended weekend workshop on leadership and for a few
weeks following, he behaved like the character quoted during the weekend
workshop on leadership. The manager behaved artificially and it changed as and
when he attended another workshop on leadership. This brought misery to the
entire team with reduced productivity and morale. Therefore, a leader/manager
must know his/her strengths and behave naturally and in a consistent manner.
Gallup gives a platform for a behaviour. Sathish Nair, a retired Military
Officer has Consistency as one of his signature themes. A person with Consistency theme is more
interested in group needs than individual wants. He will reduce variance and
increase uniformity. He will bring rules and policies that promote cultural
predictability. He will require standard operating procedures. He loves
repeating things in exact same way. He hates unnecessary customization. He
follows the principle that “what is right for one is right for all and what is
wrong for one is wrong for all”. Even today after his retirement, he is the
same. His behaviours are as per his strengths and known to all with whom he
deals.
But how does he treat others? He
believes that treating people with consistency promotes fairness. He applies
rules equally, absolutely, and with no favoritism. Swapnil, A XII Standard girl
who has Consistency as one of her signature themes, was taken by her father,
Rajesh for the Aadhar Registration. There was a long queue. Rajesh knew the
officials, so he jumped the queue and was given preferential treatment. He called
Swapnil to come ahead, but Swapnil being a Consistent person, refused to come
forward by jumping the queue. She stood her ground and got the chance after two
hours for the Aadhar registration. This is the behaviour of a person with
Consistency and she should be treated as such. Rajesh learnt a lesson and came
to know another strength of her daughter.
The normal attitude in India is to
jump the queue. If someone else jumps the queue when you are standing for
hours, is generally not tolerated. Swapnil’s consistency saved her father from
a great embarrassment. What your followers are looking for is the behaviour
like Swapnil and Sathish and treatment consistent with their strengths and
values.
Trust, Compassion, Stability
and Hope
A Gallup Survey on why do people
follow revealed that people do not care for the usual stuff like vision,
purpose, wisdom, humor, humility etc. What made them follow the leader are
Trust, Compassion, Stability and Hope.
Trust comes with honesty. Trust begets from
genuineness. Trust sprouts from behaviour and it grows the way leader treats
the led. Truthfulness and geniuses cannot be faked. “One must never make a show of
false emotions to one’s men. The ordinary soldier has a surprisingly good nose
for what is true and what false” said Field Marshall Erwin Rommel,
German General Staff. What Rommel said in 1944, while fighting in the deserts
of Africa is applicable even today in all fields of life; professional or
otherwise. Genuine show of emotions will result in trust. Honesty, integrity
and respect are main contributors in building trust. Trust also increases speed
and efficiency in the work place. Trust established between two people make
things happen faster. As Kofi Annan, (ex- Secretary General of the UN)
explained, “if you don’t have relationship, you start from zero each time.”
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Compared with people at low-trust
companies, people at high-trust companies report: 74% less stress, 106% more energy at work, 50% higher productivity, 13% fewer sick days, 76% more engagement, 29% more satisfaction with their lives, 40% less burnout.
By Paul J Zak, HBR Jan-Feb 17
Issue
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Compassion
means caring, friendship, happiness and love for the people. Rajeev, a senior
employee of a technical MNC was blessed with a son. His office was two hours of
travel time from his place where he lived. The company had another office just
a few minutes away from his home. When his wife delivered a baby boy, it was
difficult for her to take care of the child alone. Rajeev requested his
supervisor to allow him to work from home or to work from the nearby office. He
copied the mail to one step higher than his supervisor. His request was turned
down by his immediate supervisor but was accepted by the hierarchy whom he had
copied the mail. Such attitude of the supervisor will neither promote
compassion in the organization nor improve the relationship. The leader should
not care for the business and performance only but show compassion to the
personal needs of the employees also. This will be facilitated only if the
leader understands the needs of the individuals. These individuals make the
team interdependent and efficient.
Stability
means solid foundation. It means security, strengths, support and peace. If an
employee’s job is threatened every day, it will defy stability and greater
productivity. The employee must continue getting his/her bread butter, home,
life of his family and children------ Roti, Kapda and Makan. Transparency helps
in creating stability. Performance of the company and future of the company
generates stability.
Hope
implies besides ensuring excellence today, the leader must meet future
aspirations of the employees. It means direction, faith and guidance. Such expectations
of the employees can only be met by a leader who is a coach and not a bossy
manager. Harshna is an enterprise opened by Khurram Mir in Srinagar and he is
running this in-spite of prevailing violence. Khurram Mir is an Agricultural
Entrepreneur. His business is to buy and store apples and provide space to
apple growers to store apples. While recruiting his staff he tells them that
they would never be required to work at Harshana for more than two years. “my
standard instruction is – after two years, if you do not leave me and start
your own business, then I have failed” -extract from chapter—Business
Models in the World’s Most Dangerous Place in his book “Recasting India” by
Hindol Sengupta. Khurram Mir, like a true leader he, not only ensures excellence
for his employees but within two years, prepares them to become independent. He
gives hope.
Aspects
of behaviour, treatment, trust, stability and hope are going to be further
illustrated with the three examples in three diversified fields. As to how Ramesh
Swamy is leading his team to achieve success of his dream of empowering youths.
Why did Maj GSD charge into the cave occupied by the terrorists and others
followed him almost to death? How did OG created an effective and efficient
team of logistics and transport in Baghdad which became magnet of talents?
Ramesh: of UNNATI
Ramesh
Swamy, the Lead Trustee of UNNATI Bengaluru (www.unnatiblr.org)
founded SGBS Trust (Sree Guruvarurappan Bhajan Samaj Trust). Ramesh has always had a deep-rooted involvement
with Indian Culture and is passionate about helping to bring change in the
lives of the underprivileged, as he firmly believes that only then will there
be progress and overall societal development. Ramesh has been involved in
organizing events to promote art and culture for over two decades. He has been
a source of inspiration and support to many young artistes. He constantly
scouts for young talent and provides them a platform that will help launch
their careers. With an inspiring attitude and unbounded energy, Ramesh today is
one of those few, who have touched many lives in India.
UNNATI is an institution under the aegis of SGBS, with its
core philosophy: Learn-Earn and Stand-Tall, aims at youth empowerment. It is a
vocational training and transformational programme which helps the
underprivileged youth to secure stable employment. UNNATI offers a 50-days
vocational training programme at a subsidized cost to the underprivileged less
educated, unemployed and economically backward youths with an assured job.
UNNATI enables inclusive growth by empowering families below poverty line.
Ramesh is the Lead Trustee of UNNATI, who runs the day to day affairs of
UNNATI. He has succeeded in establishing 50 UNNATI Centers all over India and
so far, more than 16,000 youths have benefitted from the programme and are
proudly standing tall in the world. (data from www.unnatiblr.org and confirmed by
Ramesh). He further
plans to train at least 10,000 youths in the year 2017-18.
Ramesh is the leader of the flock. He has a
core group of Trustees, Volunteers and UNNATI Employed Staff who are part of
his team. He is a leader. How does he lead his diverse team of employees and
volunteers? He leads them by his openness. As any other leader, he also lives
in a glass house and recently he has turned on the lights for everyone to see,
thereby increasing his OPEN AREA on the Johari Window. He has let everyone know
his Strengths and Values. His strengths are “Connectedness, Activator,
Communication, Relator and Analytical”. His values are “Loyalty, Passion,
Achievement, Emotional Well-Being and Community. Now his entire team knows his
strengths and values. Not only this, Ramesh also knows Strengths and Values of
his core group ie those who work directly under his supervision. Most of them
knew each other for the several years, but did not know why they behave as they
do and why they treat as they treat.
Ranga Gopal Krishna is an elderly volunteer and
the Master Trainer of UNNATI. Ramesh activates and Ranga trains. Ranga’s
strengths are “Harmony, Developer, Responsibility, Discipline and Maximizer.
His values are “Family, Dignity, Justice, Knowledge and Recognition”
A detailed analysis of Ramesh’s Strengths and
values reveals that
His Behaviour
ü He likes to remain connected to the rural/urban
youths whom he may help. He also likes to remain connected to his team and
stake holders. His emotional attachment to needy youth of the community, state
and the nation always glares on the balcony.
ü His analytical and activator strengths make him
a great analyst pertaining to the needs of the youth of the country and opening
of 50 centres all over India and still striving to do more.
ü He is a great communicator not only to his
stake holders but also to all. Making difference in the lives of 16,000 youths
communicates itself – communication by deeds.
His
Treatment of Others
ü Knowing the values and strengths of his core
group, has prompted him to treat them as per their strengths and values.
ü Take the example of his treatment of his Master
Trainer, who has the strengths to maintain harmony in the group; his
responsibility, maximiser and discipline ensure that the jobs are done with
perfection and on time. Ramesh knows and understands Ranga’s strengths and his
treatment is dictated by these. Ramesh also considers Ranga’s values while
dealing with him. One of the most important strengths as Master Trainer, Ranga
has is Developer. One of the UNNATI students spoke during a valediction ceremony
“when we came to UNNATI we were like raw materials and now after 50 days of
training, we are finished product ready to stand tall and independently”. These
words describe Ranga the best. That’s what he does.
ü With the knowledge of each other’s strengths
and values, their behaviours and treatment are well defined and as clear as
crystal.
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What great leaders have in common is that
each truly knows his or her strengths – and can call on the right strength
at the right time. This explains why there is no definitive list of
characteristics that describes all leaders.
----- Donald Clifton, Social Scientist
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Conclusion
To
sum up, leadership whether those were the days of ancient time, medieval period
or of modern era or in future days of IOT, automation, robotics and many other
inventions ---- the leader will be leader only when he or she leads people.
There are people to follow. They will follow provided the leader behaves
appropriately, the leader treats the led with compassion. Provided leader
creates an environment of trust. Provided the leader coaches them for the
current excellence and future aspirations. Provided the leader ensures
stability. So, the leadership boils around six words – behaviour, treatment,
trust, compassion, stability and hope.
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