With Great Power...

Way back in 2010, I had the good fortune to work with an exceptional leader, who believed at the core of everything was the employees of an organization. As soon as he assumed his new role, he probably was shocked. With a two digit attrition level, considered one of the highest in the industry – he soon realized the crux of the problem was how employees were getting treated in the organization. Here is the story of an amazing transformation, and how I realized that with great power lies the need for immense courage.

What was happening?

People quit every single day, and every single person had issues with the way their dignity was being questioned, and complained frantically about the culture of the organization. HR was helpless and their measures were shot down by the leadership citing that for the organization, what mattered the most was its customers – after all, wasn’t that our core value? No amount of engagement activities could salvage the situation, and we could see the situation worsening day by day. Leadership went about the daily affairs as if these were regular issues, but the talent acquisition team had huge numbers to fill the seats as they got vacant. Some of us spoke in pockets about why there needed to be change, a massive one, to save the situation.

Change is inevitable – change is good

As soon as he joined the Bangalore office from HQ, this great leader analysed the situation thoroughly. He had numerous meetings with all the senior management members, and told us to conduct engagement sessions for employees to meet him one-on-one. In a couple of months, he started questioning the decisions, challenged the existing status quo and grew impatient. Gradually, the senior leadership members of the organization, who till that point spoke only of customer focus, were pulled up and asked to focus on the employees in their teams. He formulated a unique code of conduct for managers to follow – and as the Communication team, we were asked to focus each of our communication deliverables around this. Every meeting included a message from the code of conduct, every manager was asked to practice it, and every employee to raise a hand and challenge situations. Many quit as this transformation went about like a tsunami in the organization. He shook the system, and urged people to think beyond their regular scope of work.

Our work in communication increased – we had to drive this change, make it like an experience, engage with our people, hear them out…but never once did we feel that work was tiresome – his passion rubbed off on people who worked with him, and he gave a free hand to do the right things always – “just do it”, he would say.

And we loved every minute of it. We were change itself, and we believed in it.

What if…?

Having personally worked with him, I was always a star struck child when I heard him speak of the vision he had for the organization.

I feared that our initiatives would not work – but he assured us that failure was part of transformation, and to change, we needed to embrace opportunity, challenges and failures alike.

I have often wondered, what if he never had that courage – what if he thought that he would be just like the others who came and went for a couple of years?

In the years to come, the organization went from being a back-end R&D center to the hub of service and technology delivery. To this day, I hold close the values I learnt during those most challenging times, the passion with which we committed to the cause, and my most favorite lessons of all – “Just Do It”.

What My Awesome Bosses Taught Me Over the Years

Say Thank You & Recognize

When someone helps you at work, say thank you. Not as a meaningless word, but as sincerely as you could. Think, if they did not help you, could you have completed that tiny piece of work you kept procrastinating? That very thought will bring sincerity into your tone and your message.

Best Practice: At times, if it really made a difference to my deliverable, I copy the person’s manager into the loop.

Say Sorry

Nothing works like apologizing, when used wisely. Owe up your mistakes, learn from them, and use that as an experience. No one will judge you if you make a mistake at work, it is about how gracefully you manage to take the leap forward.

Best Practice: I do feel terrible when I get criticized, but the minute it is coming from someone who I know is talking about my work, and not as a personal remark, I "try" really hard to take it in the right spirit.

Smile

Often used, but again, lacking sincerity. Show people you genuinely like working with them, and nothing conveys it like a smile. Having a forever-marked frown on your face does not give you a serious persona. You want people to come to you, you want people to see you as a happy, engaged and awesome colleague.

Best Practice: Connect with people while in elevators, cafeteria, office gym...just a "how are you?" could go a long way!

Listen

The other person may be wrong, the other person may be sounding terrible - - but listen. Again, to be used wisely. You don’t have to listen to everyone and everything. But it is the most helpful tool in building your reputation and your networks.

Best Practice: I look right into the eyes of the person, nod, empathise if need be, and ensure that I am "genuinely" in the moment. Else, I say, "if you don't mind, can we talk a little later?" That's fine.

Not the Boss, But the Team Member

Ok, so you are the boss. So? I have had managers who have rolled up their sleeves and slogged with the team till our result was achieved. I have also had managers who sat in glass cabins and dictated deadlines. I loved working with the first set - - I have always wanted to do more for the first set.

Best Practice: Managers need a pat on their backs too. But don't do it because he/she is the boss. Be open, and say, "I really appreciate working with you." I have done that, with most of my bosses, and they have always looked forward to hearing criticism as well from me. Works both ways! :)

Why I love technology!

My father is 70+. 

Last evening, he had a sudden urge to eat guavas.

Back home, trees grow in neighborhoods, and children climbing walls to pluck fruits off their neighbors garden is a common sight. But again, my father is 70+, and plucking a fruit from across a neighborhood garden is not an ideal thing to do. But guess what, he did. But in his child-like enthusiasm, which has increased over the past few years, he fell. He didn't hurt himself, but my worried mother told me over phone - he is still craving guavas. My parents are old - groceries are bought over the weekend, and weekdays are spent at home, engaged in their little hobbies, truly a quiet retired life.

I have been away from home for more than a decade. As much as I would love to spend more time with them, with work and family, I tend to go home and meet them very rarely. They come and visit us in the claustrophobic concrete city - but get restless after couple of days here.

Enter technology. After the call with my mother last evening, I did a google search for online grocery stores. The popular ones were not operational in my city - so I thought, let's risk it, how bad could it be anyways. I ordered guavas, bananas, sweet potato - all of what my father loves, paid the money online, and clicked on order confirmation. It didn't cost me much, but I said a little prayer - I wish they were fresh, I wish they delivered it safely home, I hope my parents like it...I wish...

Today, I received a call confirming my order, and requesting directions to home. By noon, I got a frantic call from my mother. "Someone delivered fruits at home - did you do it, how did it reach from Bangalore so soon, online shopping...but fruits, oh, what all technology can do, no?" In between all that buzz, my father grabbed the phone from her, and said, "I so badly wanted to eat guavas...and now..."

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I love technology - little joys in life fulfilled and sealed to build stronger relationships.