The leader's long shadow

Am back after a longish hiatus!

Continuing our explorations of creating the right culture in organisations......

Over the last few months, I have been reading and exploring the impact of the leader, and it is fairly obvious that the leader casts a really long shadow on the culture of an organisation. There are two questions that come to my mind as we delve deeper into this phenomena:

First, lets look at the 'great bad men' syndrome. Many of the great leaders usually have a couple of traits that works for them, but taken to an extreme, the same strengths can have extreme debilitating effects on culture. How do we balance 'greatness' and 'meanness'? Most organisations with a very unique culture have a 'this is the way we do it here' kind of a leader. What drives them, and how can we get the best out of them, and yet keep their certain whims from coming in the way of the culture of the organisation.

I read about Rupert Murdoch in the Economist recently (from where I borrowed the 'great bad men' epithet). A great man, undoubtedly, for having changed the television and media industry, but could the organisation have done something to keep check on the 'scoop-at-all-cost' culture. Similarly, I wonder about Steve Jobs- sheer brilliance in building a customer and product centric culture, but is there is a faint streak of authoritarianism that runs through in Apple? This is where my dilemma is- if we meddle in the culture of such organisations, you tend to dilute the unique edge that these leaders have brought to it. On balance, I think it may be better to live with these rough edges ..... what do you think? Or is there a way to temper those edges appropriately?

Which then leads me to my second, and a much larger question. What drives leaders to focus on building a strong sustainable culture? While the intellectual part of the 'case for culture' is easier, as it is linked to the culture elements needed to drive strategy, there is a subconscious, emotional part of this need that is far more powerful and critical. In my experience, it is the personal desire that certain leaders have, part stemming from ego, and part from a strong belief in a particular way of working, that is much more potent in driving culture. I guess it is for organisations to understand this and build on it- not always easy, as we need to ensure that this personal drive is aligned to what the organisation needs at that point in time. Any experiences you would like to share that will help us understand this better? 

Your responses to the poll will help us understand the motivation of leaders in driving culture.... Cheers 

Little things that make a difference....feedback

Genuine, honest performance discussions can have a profound impact on people and their careers. A significant moment comes to my mind and I thought I would share that with you- again, one of those little things that can make a big diffference.

This happened when I was about 3 - 4 years into my career, after having passed out from XLRI. I was the personnel manager of a factory, which employed almost 500 contract labour on a regular basis. We all knew this was not sustainable and that a change in the business model was needed - but for a couple of years this was falling between the cracks. The factory thought that the Head Office should do something and the Head Office thought that this was a factory issue. In this context, I had a review discussion with my skip manager - who was running the business. He began by asking what I did in the last few months. I wanted to give an impression of how busy I was and told him that I did everything from recruiting, training to running volleyball and cricket tournaments for the workers there. He smiled cynically and said "You are talking like my daughter! When I ask her what she did during the day, she says that she did some history, some english, some science, some play, etc". I realized this discussion was not going where I thought it should go. My heart sank and suddenly I found myself stuttering like those misfiring old fat-fatiyas or tuk-tuks! He then slowly built up my thinking on key priorities and asked me to take ownership of that big contract labour problem, and make a proposal. That discussion changed the next 4 years of my career - we made a breakthrough proposal, implemented it over a year and at the end I moved from HR to run a part of manufacturing and supply-chain in the business.
On reflection, what did that discussion do:

·         It was honest and genuine, and gave me feedback that my priorities were wrong

·         He coached me on thinking about the biggest strategic risk/priorities and how I could do something

·         He supported me and the factory in going beyond what we thought was our role

·         Finally, this linked into my own development and movement to a cross functional role over time.

I guess a feedback discussion can be really powerful - it has the potential to change lives. It is not another chit-chat - it is core to the individual's life and career, and if we do it  with genuine and honest intent, in a safe and supportive manner, it can work wonders! It is clearly one of those small things that can make a big differrence. I guess we all have such moments to share.....

Little things that make a big difference

Very often, as executives and managers, we are looking for that big strategic decision or initiative- one that will change or 'transform' our business. That's probably a perpetual quest. We get some right, and quite a few wrong- but that 'killer app' of strategy, product launch or brand relaunch eludes most of us. And books get written about the few who have got those big breakthrough decisions, and the rest of us continue in great hope that our big strategic acts are going to be part of management folklore. That sliver of hope drives us in our quest for greatness, and at times brings interesting serendipitous results- and keeps everybody going.

However, in this larger journey to greatness, do we overlook the little things that can make a big difference. When we talk to people, there is usually that one small incident that changed the direction of their lives- be it through an interaction with someone else, a failure, a small piece of advice..... the list could go on. Meeting with many people has made me firmly believe that these small things can make a very big difference, one that most of us underestimate. Each of us has been through small experiences that would have had a big impact, and I would like to document some of those.

To start with, I want to talk about the 'penny drop moment'- through the use of simple, vivid descriptions or analogies- words that change our thinking. In our everyday lives, do we consciously think about how a few words or an analogy can make a  huge difference, and plan and use them. Let me give you a personal example. A few years back, I had some terrible back problems, and every few months would be down with a stiff back. I consulted a physio, an Australian lady who had worked on sports injuries. One day, as I was lying on the pysio's table, she said a few words which stayed with me forever. "Treat your back like a string of pearls", she said. I guess that was when the penny dropped, though I didnt realise it at that moment. I focussed on strenghtening my back, and in those stretches and exercises, I took deep care as I would do to a string of pearls. Just those words made a big difference to my life.

Giving feedback to people is one area where such thoughtful selection of words would make a difference. I am sure you would have come across examples in your life when a simple communication, made a big difference. Do share some examples.

What are the other small things that make a big difference?