Humor is Serious - 6 tips for Leaders

"If I were two faced, would I be wearing this one ? "

 This is a famous quote by Abraham Lincoln .  A simple one liner quote, but indeed a very powerful one . It shows his ability to laugh at himself . 

A recent study found that when employees are asked to describe the strengths and weaknesses of senior colleagues in their organizations, “sense of humor” and “work ethic” are mentioned twice as much as any other phrases. Research on Leadership show that people appreciate leaders who have fun and work hard to get the job done. Those who can combine a strong work ethic and sense of humor may have the leading edge in their organizations. 

If you lose a major project, or sometimes if you cannot meet a critical deadline however hard you might try due to some external reasons, guiding your team through the process without panicking is as challenging as it is important. It is better to motivate your team by laughing than by crying.  Such situations show the tenacity of the leader and the team gets the much needed relaxation to put their best foot forward and overcome the situation. A good sense of humor keeps the team motivated and charged.

True leaders should always be capable of laughing at themselves. This shows the confidence and the childlike nature of the leader and the team feels at ease and relaxed which boosts the productivity and it softens the blow of bad news.

But again, humor is a tricky thing . The following are some tips which will help the leader use humor appropriately :

• A Leader is NOT a comedian.  Humor should be used for leadership and motivating and making the team relaxed and more productive

• Humor should not be pointed at any one particular person, rather it should be collective.

• Humor should never be discriminating. Never use humor to cloak racist, sexist or regional sentiments and tag them as "just joking" .

• Laugh at yourself and the situation . Laugh WITH the team and not ON the team .

• It is better to avoid practical jokes since we do not know how the other person will take it. It might happen that instead of being motivated or relaxed s/he feels awkward and singled out.

• Last, but not at all the least... do NOT fake it ... ! It shows! And it will have a negative effect on the team's perception about you.

So go ahead and have a good laugh with your team  !

"I don't agree " !

Three words . 

But very very powerful ... "I don't agree" !

How you react to the above sentence tells a lot about your leadership style. 

Let me give you an example.  In one of my teams, whenever I was about to sign off on a meeting after making some decision, this person in my team raised his hand and said "I don't agree with you ... have you thought about this aspect ? " , and then he usually went on to give a very different perspective.  Let me confess, sometimes it was really very frustrating.  At the face of it,  it seemed that he was forever contradicting me , but when I got used to his style, I realized how valuable this person was , and how lucky I was to have him in my team.  

When you are in a position of authority, it is very easy for people in your team to agree with whatever you decide. There are very few people who think without any bias and speak out fearlessly. As leaders, we should cultivate this atmosphere of openness where everybody thinks independently and creatively. In my own experience, I have found that these contradictory thoughts have made my mind and thoughts proliferate and my perspective became broader.  Not only in technical decisions but this helps in any decision making. 

But sadly,  I have seen many situations where the dissenting voice gets stifled when it is not well received.  It is sad since many good ideas or mediocre decisions cannot really reach the level of excellence because of lack of open discussions and contradictory opinions. 

It really depends upon the leadership style how we can utilize a person saying "I don't  agree "  by listening to him.  And if his point of view  is valid, give a real and honest thought to it and if it makes sense, amend your decision without letting your ego coming in between !  Again , if  after giving him your ears, you think that his opinion is not valid for the situation,  thank him for voicing his thoughts but go ahead what your original decision was.

This shows the leader's humility and integrity . And it earns respect !

So , the next time when you hear "I don't agree", welcome the three words and thank your lucky stars that you have a voice in your team who will help you grow even further !

The Dilemma of the Skip Level Meeting

This is the third one of the Dilemma Series. To read the previous two click on the links : ( Unwilling Emailer ,  Who is fit to be a CEO)

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Andy was the CEO of  a multinational company named Brag-on Solutions which made software products for the Hospitality Domain.  Brag-on made an entry into the Indian market in 2007 and opened their first Software Development Centre in Calcutta.  In 2008, Anita was hired as the Director of the Indian operations and they grew in numbers from 20 to 250 people in the last four years.  Anita reported to Andy who was overall in-charge of the Calcutta facility.

Anita was a very efficient, goal oriented and focused Manager who had single handedly  developed and nurtured the India facility. Due the India office, Brag-on was able to sustain its profitability and keeping the overall operating expense down even in the period of economic slowdown. The US office was very pleased with the performance of its Indian arm and while they had restricted any new hiring in the other facilities in the rest of the offices around the world, Anita was given complete freedom in increasing the headcount. 

Everything was fine, but Andy was worried over the turnover rate of the employees  in  India. The attrition rate had increased from 18% to 29% the last one year. In his last visit, Andy has sensed some sort of restlessness in the employees and the employee survey indicated that the people were not happy with the leadership style of the management - aka - Anita. 

So, this year, Andy had asked the HR manager to fix up a skip level meeting with the senior employees of  the Calcutta office. he had asked Siddhu, the HR Manager   to put together a diverse group of people some senior , a few new entrants, employees who have been with the organization for 5+ years and some new joiners , people from different functions.  But , Andy knew that people in India just did not open up.  It was difficult to get feedback from them.....

The skip level meeting started . 

Andy : Folks , it is good to see all of you. I want to assure you that whatever feedback or comments you give will be confidential. And as you know that we promote an open culture. Any feedback you give will help the company improve. So , please go ahead. 

Silence ... 

Shammi ( a junior developer ) : We are happy with our work. We are getting enough opportunities to grow. I love this place. There is a bit of stretch, but it is OK.

Silence again ....

Andy : Guys , I need more conversation...

Lavanya : ( a senior person who has been with the organization from the last 5 years ) : Andy,  We are happy with the work, I agree  we get enough opportunities. We are learning and growing , but... 

Andy  : Go on ... 

Lavanya : Well , I think there is a problem of empowerment. All the decisions are finally taken by Anita.  Also , I feel that she is too technical and instead of leaving the tactical and operational decisions with the managers, she is involved in everything - which makes us feel puny. Another problem that we face is that we do not feel appreciated. Whenever there is a small lapse , it is written in the appraisal form but the good work we do is not mentioned...

Andy : Go on please...

Lavanya : And you talked about open culture. I don't know how true is that here... I am sure I will be punished for speaking out here ... but I feel it is my duty here. 

Andy had given feedback to Anita about her style and had asked her to "nurture" her employees. 

As suspected by Lavanya, the feedback from the skip level leaked and she was given a low rating in the appraisal and did not get any increment. 

Lavanya knew this was coming, so she had started looking out for a job and resigned. But she wrote an email to Andy after she put in her papers telling him "See... this is what I had known would happen". 

Andy knew that  Anita was good at her job and was getting the results... the only drawback was the attrition and the employee morale.

What should Andy do to improve the situation in the India office ?

The Little Girl in the Mall

About a month back,  I visited the nearby mall and wandered into a big retail chain named Pantaloons. 

After the usual browsing , I bought a simple top and stood in the queue for making the payment.  Just in front of me in the queue stood a lady with her daughter. The little girl was about 12 years old , had nicely trimmed hair ,wore a simple pink dress , and was very cute.  But what happened subsequently took me beyond her looks and I was simply at awe of her .....

She stood there with her mother, observing the people, tapping her foot impatiently. Suddenly she asked   

"Ma, I saw a poster displayed near the entrance about saving trees and asking people not to use plastic,  but I see that everybody is carrying their articles in big green plastic bags ! " 

"Well, you see, to discourage people using plastic, the shop is charging Rs 7 for each plastic bag" Her mother explained. 

I saw a look of puzzlement in the little girl's eyes .

"But Ma, charging money is not fair.... people do not come to malls with bags to carry their things   ! And again,  if they are charging money, they should give Paper Bags ... " 

Her mother did not have an answer. I was curious to know what the girl will ask next ...

Well, she did not answer. As her mother went ahead in the queue, the little girl asked for a paper and a pen from her mother and started writing an application. She wrote that she did not approve of the plastic bags being given as this raises environmental pollution and that Pantaloons should stop this immediately and replace them with paper bags. Then she went around the shop with her application and talked to several people and got their signatures in the application. I too signed on it.  Both her mother and I  made our payments and I saw the mother sitting on a chair patiently as she saw her daughter mobilize the crowd.It seemed that  her  mother must have been used to these incidents ! 

Out of curiosity , I too joined the little girl in her small little campaign. After getting quite a lot of signatures , she looked at me and said, "Will you come with me to the manager's cabin ?"  I nodded my head, full of admiration for the little girl. Once we went inside the manager's cabin, she waited patiently till she got is attention after he finished chatting with  someone on his cell. 

"Yes ! Tell me" He said disinterestedly. The little girl gave the application to him and explained ! I listened. 

"Is this a joke ? " He said looking at me. " Don't you know all the shops are doing the same thing !"

It was my turn now. I told him pointing at the little girl

" If a small girl can understand this , you know that this is not a joke ! We do not care who is doing what ! We feel that you are increasing environmental pollution by encouraging plastic and at the same time making  money at the cost of  the environment and govt. policies.  Please take care of this and accept this application.  I have friends in the press and I will write an open letter to Biyani - the owner of the Pantaloons chain - about this.  It is our duty as a citizen to protest if we see something is wrong and we have every right to protest. "

The manager looked at me and the little girl.  He accepted the letter . 

We came out of his room triumphantly. The little girl ran to her mother and excitedly relayed the happening inside the manager's room.  I smiled and walked towards them and congratulated the mother about having such a daughter. She was a proud mom. 

The little girl was a leader ! She will be an asset wherever she goes... 

Today, I went to Pantaloons again.

 I saw paper bags being given instead of plastic ones !

Kick the Clock and adopt Flexi-timing !

This one is really close to my heart. Several discussions , debates in forums, organizational groups spend hours on this topic , but there are very few organizations where the Leadership actually follows it in its spirit.  The paradox of Flexi-timing. 

Most of the organizations have a set number of hours which the employees have to clock. For example, 45 hours in a week or 170 hours in a month and so on.  To explain it further, suppose I come to office at 9 am in the morning and leave at 5 pm from Monday to Thursday, I will have to stay for 12 hours on Friday, even if I do not have any work  !  According to me it is most counterproductive. Why should we tie the goals of an employee within a set time ? If we think deeply, organizations lose out with this.  But the argument is that, your employees might cheat you and take advantage .These are my rebuttal points  : 

• Set Goals : The employees should be given goals which are achievable but stretches them. Leave it to them whether they finish it in 40 hours or 50 hours or 60 hours. Give them the end date when they should deliver. In my experience, I have seen them work harder and longer that the regular hours which they have to clock .

• Ownership, ownership, ownership : Once you give a task to your team member, give him complete ownership. Do not try to micro-manage. Make it seem that the project depends upon the work she is doing. You will be surprised how she works to make the project successful.

• Motivation works :  Sometimes when I see a team member slogging away till wee hours for several days, I usually sit with him to understand his problem. It might happen that he is stuck and needs help. Sometimes, the deadline might be killing. In these circumstances, a pat on the back or a kind word of appreciation during team meetings boosts his morale. There have been lots of instances when I have asked the person to take a day off to relax, but s/he will give me numerous reasons to continue working ... !

• Kick the Clock : Once the organization shows flexibility , the culture of the organization becomes open and trustworthy. Counting hours make people waste time more and productivity decreases.  To have proper checks and balances, the middle tier  - the project managers and leads should be empowered to take informed decision and they should be trained in empathy and goal setting to see that the teams are working cohesively. Kick the clock and reap the benefits . 

Are you flexible and brave enough to implement flexi-timing in your organization ? 

Believe me , it works !

Who is Greater ?

Long time ago,  in the faraway  land of  the Golden Silicon Valley,  there were two large Kingdoms ruled by two mighty kings named Vikram and Amartya.  Both of them ruled with righteousness and equity.  They  gave judgments without partiality, hatred, ignorance, or fear. The people of both the kingdoms led a happy, safe and content life. 

One day King Vikram went to the big jungle to hunt tigers. Coincidentally, King Amartya also asked his charioteer to take him to the same forest to look for a particular kind of flower which his queen wanted for decorating her hair. Suddenly, the two kings came face to face in a low cart-track with precipitous sides where there as no space for a chariot to get out of the way ! 

The charioteer of Vikram ,the king said to the charioteer of  King Amartya  

 "Take thy chariot out of the way!"

But he said, "Take thy chariot out of the way, O charioteer! In this chariot sitteth  the great king Amartya " !

Both the charioteers were in a fix. Then they decided to check who was greater of the two in terms of age, wealth, creed, kingdom etc. 

It was found that  both were lords of a kingdom three hundred leagues in extent; and that in respect of army and wealth and the countries in which they lived,  their caste and their tribe and their family, they were absolutely equal and at par !

Then the charioteer thought, "I will make way for the most righteous".  And he asked, "Tell me about your King's virtues "

Then the charioteer of the King Vikram,said :

"The strong he overthrows by strength,
The mild by mildness, does Vikram;
The good he conquers by goodness,
And the wicked by wickedness too.
Such is the nature of this king!
Move out of the way, O charioteer "

Then the charioteer of the King Vikram said :“Now tell me , what are the virtues your king has?"

The charioteer of the King Amartya said

"Anger he conquers by calmness,
And by goodness the wicked;
The stingy he conquers by gifts,
And by truth the speaker of lies.
Such is the nature of this king!
'Move out of the way, O charioteer!"

And when he had thus spoken, both Vikram the king and his charioteer alighted from their chariot. And they took out the horses, and removed their chariot, and made way for the King Amartya.

Managers, How do you conquer your team ? Like Vikram or like Amartya ?

Is Distraction robbing you of your very own 86400 ?

I have a target of writing one blog post every Wednesday. But for the last two weeks I am lagging behind. Too many tasks, too many different activities and too many distractions ..... 

Consider this - I have to work on my consultancy work, my coaching assignments,  there are some social welfare activities that I am involved  in , which needs attention and on top of this certain household chores and usual problems.  I try to fit in everything in my own 86400 seconds of my day. How do I fit in the things which rejuvenate me  - like reading, music, blogging and writing ? Sometimes I get the feeling that I am being robbed of my 86400!

As I had written in one of my previous posts on PRODUCTIVITY , I am a great believer in To-do lists and Time management. And one of the the main deterrent to time management is distraction or interruption. 

How to tackle distractions ? I have thought about it and would like to share my tips : 

• One of the biggest distraction is email and social networking. We always want to be available (Read the post FOMO). From today I will set aside about 30-45 min per day  for emails and networking. I will try to spread it across my day during the most unproductive periods of day.

• Phone calls  - If I am in between some important task, and my phone rings, I will ignore it or cut it short by saying I will call back .

• Time thieves : Some people are time thieves who have nothing to do except distract you from your work. Try to recognize them and tackle with them appropriately. They come in various avatars -Negative people, gloomy people, adoring people and lost people.  Cut them short , be selfish about spending your time on them - save your precious 86400 !

• Me !!! - I have seen that sometimes when I am working , my thoughts get carried away towards some news ideas or projects rather than which is on my desk right now ! I will keep a notebook handy and jot down the ideas and get back on track on my current task .

• Learning to say "NO" - Sounds easy, but it is very difficult. When people request you or demand that you do a certain task, they think that you am catering to only their job. But that is not the case.  You have to put yourself first. We can say say no politely and give a reason. People do understand. It is we who need to practice saying "No" . 

We have to keep our goals in mind and if possible in front of our eyes. Stick the Weekly to-do list on your work table. And relentlessly strive to protect the gift of 86400 seconds you get every day from God. 

Hope to get back on track on my weekly blogging . 

So if you see another post from me after a week, be sure that the above tips are working !

How well are you managing your 80 ?

  

This  week was really bad for me.  

There were lots of meetings  -  most of them urgent  ,  adhoc tasks ,  too many transactions to be completed both at work and at home and so on and so forth. I usually plan and make goals for the week.  So , on Friday evening when  I sat down to check how much I had achieved of these goals,  I was really dismayed !   I was reminded of the 80-20 rule and I would like to elaborate on this.

This may come as a surprise, but despite all the talk about life balance, we  can benefit  by introducing a little imbalance into our day. I'm referring to the 80/20 rule, which is rooted in what is known as the Pareto Principle.

Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian scientist.  In 1906, Pareto observed that 80% of income in Italy was received by 20% of the Italian population. Pareto's theory of predictable imbalance has since been applied to almost every aspect of modern life.

When applied to work, it means that approximately 20 percent of our efforts produce 80 percent of the results. Learning to recognize them and then focus on that 20 percent is the key to making the most effective use of our time and effort.

Finding the 80/20 ratio is crucial for maximizing performance in any business. We have to identify the products or services that generate the most income (the 20 percent) and drop the rest (the 80 percent) that only provide marginal benefits. Spend the time working on the parts of the business that we can improve significantly with our core skills and leave the tasks that are outside our best 20 percent to other people. Work hardest on elements that work hardest for us. Reward the best employees well, cull the worst. Drop the bad clients and focus on upselling and improving service to the best clients.  

Sounds easy? But in reality, the identification of the 80 and the 20 is the most difficult.

Sample situations :

·  80% of process defects arise from 20% of the process issues.

·  20% of  sales force produces 80% of  the  company revenues.

·  80% of delays in schedule arise from 20% of the possible causes of the delays

There is also a management theory floating around at the moment – which may be a bit controversial , that proposes to interpret Pareto's Principle in such a way as to produce what is called Superstar Management. The theory's supporters claim that since 20 percent of your people produce 80 percent of your results, you should focus your limited time on managing only that 20 percent, the “superstars”.

The  80 - 20 Rule, should serve as a daily reminder to focus 80 percent of  our time and energy on the 20 percent of  our  work that is really important. We should not just  "work smart",  we should work smart on the right things.  

Another term for this rule is "The Vital Few and Trivial Many."  As a side-note , another of Pareto's controversial theory  is that human beings are not, for the most part, motivated by logic and reason but rather by sentiment – but this is another topic altogether and I will talk about this some other time !

Apply the 20 to work for your Vital 80 and enjoy your  weekend !

The Magic of Positive Visualization.

Have you ever tried Positive Visualization ? Have you experienced the magic ? 

In my positive thinking workshops I usually recount my own experiment with Positive Visualization.

About 12 years back, I had joined a US based Software MNC and I was located in the Delhi, India office.  The organization had a very well defined induction process. The group of new joiners went through a week long induction session and apart from learning about the organization, its vision, mission, policies etc., they were supposed to pick up a problem which they saw in the  organization and present the solution on Friday, the last day of their induction week, to the top leaders of the organization.

I had joined as a Project Manager and was the senior-most in the group. I had never worked in an MNC and somehow I was tongue tied and at awe. Because of this , I hardly communicated and contributed. A few people in the team noticed this and I knew that they were sneering at my back. So, on Thursday evening, when we had to decide as a team , who would deliver the final presentation, these people said “Well, Ananya is the project manager. Who else , but she should present !”

I was very very nervous. I knew that if I failed to speak or make an impression, my job was at stake. And more importantly, my self respect in my own eyes was at stake !

I returned home at 8 pm. After dinner,  I sat with my notepad and started writing. I wrote each and every thing which I would say in the presentation the next morning.  I wrote details of when I would pick up the marker and go to the white board, when I would move my hands, when I will pause and of course I wrote each and point of the content. After I wrote it, I closed my eyes and visualized myself... talking... smiling... presenting confidently.  I visualized myself several times. I also visualized how the audience will applaud when I finish my presentation. It was in the wee hours of the morning that I caught up on 2-3 hours of sleep.

The next morning, I went to  the conference room about 30 min prior to the presentation and practiced. You bet , I was still so nervous.  But ....like magic, when the presentation started, and I picked up the marker and went to the white board and then started my presentation , it happened exactly like I had visualized. The presentation ended with a big round of applause!

I relished the look of the people who thought I would fail. I was amused to see their jaws drop in surprise.  And the most important part .... I regained my self confidence. I could respect myself again !

That is the magic of Positive Visualization.

Try it. 

You will be amazed . 

The Amazing Story of the Mumbai Dabbawallahs

This must be the nth time when someone is writing about the Dabbawallahs (It is a Hindi word which means packed lunch delivery boys). But the story is so amazing that I still cannot cease to wonder about it !

Four thousand five hundred semi-literate dabbawallahs in Mumbai (Bombay, in Western India) collect and deliver 175,000 packages within hours.

 Who are the dabbawallahs ? How do they do it ?  What is the driver for their success ?

Descendants of soldiers of the legendary Maharashtrian warrior-king Shivaji, dabbawalas belong to the Malva caste, and arrive in Mumbai from places like Rajgurunagar, Akola, Ambegaon, Junnar and Maashi. Mumbai's 5,000 dabbawallahs - ferry nearly 200,000 home-cooked meals from the outer suburbs into the city each day.

Forbes magazine  awarded the dabbawallahs  a six-sigma performance rating, which ranks them alongside the likes of GE and Motorola in terms of efficiency and quality of service.

Some numbers…. :

• 175000 boxes are transported every day, it has to go to the right person, it has to start from a point of origination, go through transshipment in the infrastructure which is the public infrastructure in the trains of Mumbai in all seasons including the monsoon and it has to arrive on time in the right place in the right box."
• 4,500 semi-literate members providing a quality door-to-door service to a large and loyal customer base.
• Tiffins are collected from homes between 7.00 am and 9.00 am
• After Lunch hour  the whole process moves into reverse and the tiffins return to suburban homes by 6.00 pm.
• The railway provides sorting areas on platforms as well as special compartments on trains traveling south between 10.00 am and 11.30 am
• If 150 tiffins are to be delivered in the Grant Road Station area, then four people are assigned to that station, keeping in mind one person can carry no more than 35-40 tiffins.
• It takes about ten to fifteen minutes to search, assemble and arrange 40 tiffins onto a crate, and by 12.30 pm they are delivered to offices.
• The dabbawallah have to make a minimum investment of two bicycles (approximately Rs 4,000), a wooden crate for the tiffins (Rs 500), at least one white cotton kurta-pyjama (Rs 600), and Rs 20 for the trademark Gandhi topi.
• Service charges vary from Rs 150 to Rs 300 per tiffin per month, depending on location and collection time. Money is collected in the first week of every month.
• Typically, a twenty member group has 675 customers and earns Rs 100,000 per month which is divided equally even if one dabbawala has 40 customers while another has 30. Groups compete with each other, but members within a group do not.
• Meetings are held in the office on the 15th of every month at the Dadar

After the customer leaves for work, her lunch is packed into a tiffin provided by the dabbawala. A color-coded notation on the handle identifies its owner and destination. Once the dabbawala has picked up the tiffin, he moves fast using a combination of bicycles, trains and his two feet.

A BBC crew filming dabbawalas in action was amazed at their speed. "Following our dabbawala wasn't easy, our film crew quickly lost him in the congestion of the train station. At Victoria Terminus we found other fast moving dabbawalas, but not our subject... and at Mr Bhapat's ayurvedic pharmacy, the lunch had arrived long before the film crew," the documentary noted wryly.

The key ingredient to this smooth, effective and efficient system is teamwork and process. Logistics is the  mantra for building competitive advantage, the world over. Mumbai's dabbawalas developed their home-grown version long before the term was coined.

Their attitude of competitive collaboration is equally unusual, particularly in India. The operation process is competitive at the customers' end but united at the delivery end, ensuring their survival since a century and more.

This amazing system has been made the case study of top management institutes like Harvard and Stanford universities. The dabbawallah  representative were  invited to the Royal wedding of the Prince Charles !

Their motto seems to be "As long as people need tiffins we will be there to supply them."

Kudos to the  dabbawallahs and long live teamwork and  processes !