Deep Roots Potent Legacy-All

A WELL-FED EMPLOYEE IS A PRIORITY The famous poet Bertolt Brecht rightly said, \"First comes a full stomach, and then comes ethics.\" If one expects moral behaviour from the team, then one must ensure that they - and their family members are well- fed; find serving your organization a rewarding experience; feel assured that they need not worry about their family's security. Every organization has to be people centric. Pursuing profits has to be a collective effort where the success too is collective and rewards are then distributed befitting the contribution made. A true entrepreneur goes beyond the parochial view that his family merely comprises of his immediate kith-and-kin. On the contrary he genuinely believes that the whole enterprise, where he is the patriarch, is his family and accordingly looks after their needs. “If you're the boss, just because they don't ask doesn't mean your employees don't have needs. - James Levine

48

THE KNOWLEDGE TRAP One of the finest brains of the twentieth century, Sir Isaac Newton, had this to say about his knowledge, \"I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea- shore, diverting myself now and then, finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.\" This was not mere humility. Sir Isaac Newton knew, through his wisdom, that one can never possess all the knowledge out there in spite of one's life time efforts. This is precisely why entrepreneurs must never assume at any point of time that they know everything about their business that they need to know and there is now nothing more to be learnt. Rather, every day brings with it new avenues of knowledge, fresh learning and novel fulfilling experiences that would not only be rewarding to entrepreneurs personally but also to their business. So always keep your eyes, ears and mind open to learn new things. “Be open to other people's opinions, ideas and try new things. One of the best ways to learn is to feed off other people's experiences. - Robert Cheeke

49

YOU NEED A WORD OF DISSENT NOW AND THEN Giving enough freedom to employees to provide opposing views to management decisions is vital for the success of any business. As aptly quoted by George Orwell, \"To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle.\" And it is employees who help leaders to see all those invisible but \"vital for business\" things that are just right there in front of one's nose but which one is unable to see. But for this, employees need an assurance that their dissenting views would not only be heard and they would not only be pardoned for voicing such views, but they would be actually rewarded if their views proved to be of substance. This has to be inbuilt in the culture of the organization. The egos of the top management must be kept aside and only humility should reign. “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a moulder of consensus. - Martin Luther King, Jr

50

IS ARGUMENT UNPALATABLE? When one finds the argument put forth by a colleague unpalatable one needs to introspect. There can be two reasons for the same - either it is a genuine, logical argument challenging one's beliefs or; it is an unsubstantiated argument which one can easily deal with, applying one's own set of reasoning. The crux lies in distinguishing between the two. If faced with an argument which despite being unpalatable (as it turns one's logic topsy-turvy) is meritorious then one needs to sportingly and courageously accept the same and make necessary course correction for the sake of the benefit of the organization. “Say what you mean, but don't say it mean. - Andrew Wachter

51

BACK TO SCHOOL Every now and then leaders need to ensure that both they and their team go back to the classroom and re- invent themselves. With the leaps and bounds being taken by technology and techniques and inventions and innovations taking place at a rapid pace, yesterday's products are being rendered obsolete today. Organizations have a plethora of emerging strategies to choose from and that too at every vertical, be it – business, finance, marketing, research and development, consumer preferences and behaviour, human resources development, inventory management… the list is endless! Entrepreneurs need to ensure sufficient investment of time and money towards supporting the return of the team to the classroom with the objective of re-inventing themselves. Today, innumerable doctors are out of business since they no longer have necessary skills to carry out surgeries as deftly with the new set of instruments as their younger counter-parts do. “ You have to be constantly reinventing yourself and investing in the future. - Reid Hoffman

52

CREATE A CONDUCIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT Ensuring excellent work environment for the team will increase their efficiency multi-fold. Enviable levels of cleanliness, fragrant and hygienic surroundings, sufficient natural light permeating in the building, grass and greenery, tastefully decorated walls…all-in-all the premises of the organization should aptly reflect it's personality besides inspiring the team to give it their very best. An impeccable environ would motivate the staff to rush to the office or factory every morning and a reluctance to leave at the end of the day. Our workplace is a temple and the team should feel inspired to provide it with the devotion and reverence, which it rightfully deserves. “A disorganized work space means disorganized work habits. A sloppy work environment equals sloppy results. - Larry Winget

53

RELATIONSHIPS THAT LAST Profits and relationships are two absolutely apart elements. While profits are the lifeblood of an organization, relationships are the oxygen that is required in order to survive. Building lasting relationships is very important for an organization not only to fetch more and more business, but also to ensure its survival when the going gets tough. Building great relationships calls for the \"Win-Win\" approach. It requires an attitude of overlooking small differences and is built on a pro-active approach where we firmly stand with our associates in their times of need or crisis. Relationships help create social ecology, which are conducive to business, family and to the entire community. “A boss has the title. A leader has the people. - Simon Sinek

54

YOUR ERRORS ARE MORE CLOSELY WATCHED In the Shakespearean Drama 'Julius Caesar', Mark Anthony, while addressing the crowd gathered to attend the funeral of Caesar said, \"The evil that men do, lives after them, the good is often interred/buried with their bones.\" This aptly captures how the community is inclined to look at one's work. Their microscopic eyes minutely capture every failing that the organization suffers be it product acceptance, consumer satisfaction or profits. To mitigate this one needs to closely observe and thoroughly dissect all such failings in order to put a cap on repetition of errors. While failings generate a sense of schadenfreude (i.e. joy derived from other people's failings) among others, they also give the leader an opportunity to look afresh at the company operations. Remember… Every failure needs to be treated as an opportunity. “All leaders make mistakes. They are a part of life. Successful leaders recognize their errors, learn from them and work to correct their faults. - John C Maxwell

55

FRINGE TO MASS TAKES TIME As an entrepreneur one cannot expect a fringe idea or product introduced in the market to attain mass appeal overnight. Patience is required for the market to build up. One needs to focus on and win over people who are inclined towards experimenting with new products or services. Subsequently, it is these people, who help expand the circle of acceptance. Throughout this entire process one needs to continue to give their best to the captioned product or service ensuring consistency of quality. Albeit, the journey for a product to travel from being a fringe product to a mass-market product takes time, yet it is worth the investment! “Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is 'timing' it waits for the right time to act, for the right principles and in the right way. - Fulton J Sheen

“The elements of good trading are – cutting losses, cutting losses and cutting losses. -Ed Seykota 56

NIP IN THE BUD Immediately and ruthlessly nip in the bud a bad idea, a wrong production or a faulty service. The thrust is on cutting the losses and waiving ego concerns. One may have proposed marketing of a particular line of products; however if at any given point of time one observes incurring heavy losses and realizes that it's a miscalculated business decision then one should have the courage and honesty to change one's tracks and mitigate further organizational losses. Often, egos are given more importance than organizations leading to irreversible and enormous damage.

57

HARNESS THE TALENT Hiring the most talented assets and then ensuring the best use of their talent should be the norm. For this one primarily needs to identify the various talents required for the organization; thereafter people with such talents need to found and hired; post being hired, their abilities should be challenged, directed, exploited and appreciated. Every individual is capable and each one has a USP – the onus to identify and harness this USP for the organizational benefit lies with the management. Recognition of the efforts of these talented assets translates to enhanced levels of confidence and increased affinity to their work, leading to a happy and satisfied task force. “ Talent management deserves as much focus as financial capital management in corporations. - Jack Welch

58

THE COHESIVE FORCE Cohesive Task Force creates a synergy of combined talents and abilities. Different departments and their constituents must work hand-in-glove to create such a united and powerful task force. It is aptly quoted in management terminology that when there is cohesive task force, the equation is not \"1 + 1 = 2\" but it is \"1 + 1 = 11\". Rather than competing and being at loggerheads with each other, teams must be co-opting each other. This will prevent conflicts among departments and channelize their cohesive energy to achieve immeasurable market success. Teams should seamlessly work and complement each other in their collective pursuit of profit, success, excellence and market dominance. In order to create a Cohesive Task Force, one needs to effectively inculcate the concept of Shared Vision in the hearts of all members of the working family. Not only should the leader share his vision with the team but also ensure that each team member has imbibed this vision. “Building a cohesive leadership team is the first critical step that an organization must take if it is to have the best chance at success. - Patrick Lencioni

59

HAND HOLDING TO TRANSFORM When an organization needs to change it is the responsibility of the top management to - Lead the Change. For this to happen, the change needs to be apparently visible in their behaviour. They primarily need to modify their own way of doing things; post which comes the more critical part of persuasion and handholding. It is rightly said that old habits die-hard; so the management needs to put in a lot of effort in persuading people down the line to change not only their behaviour but also their work processes as these would be conducive for the success of the business. It doesn't stop here –the management then needs to hold their hands on the path of this desired change. In order to ensure that the change introduced, becomes a way of life, sustained observation on the part of the top management for a lengthy period of time is called for… then only can the desired transformation be achieved. “Change is always tough. The process of starting a new thing can cause times of disorientation, uncertainty and insecurity. - Joyce Meyer

60

DO NOT MICROMANAGE Having selected the best and trusted people in the management echelons, freedom in terms of decision-making and execution is mandated on the part of the entrepreneur. This is the only path, which leads towards exponentially increasing the potential of the organization. Entrepreneurs, who insist on taking each and every decision in the organization and approving every action, end up demoralizing the team besides significantly hampering the growth of the organization. The key word here is - Trust. Once a broad framework is set up, the select segment of management leaders should be imparted the freedom to take on-the-spot decisions and implement them so long as they are in the best interests of the company. The core team of the organization needs to be treated on par by the entrepreneur in affirmation of their conviction for the growth of the organization and its well-being. “It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do. - Steve Jobs

61

CUSTOMER'S ACTIONS COUNT MORE THAN THEIR WORDS With customers and other entities wanting to continue conducting their business, more often than not, they would refrain from giving negative feedback, upfront. Instead many a times, they may present a polite/sugar-coated opinion, camouflaging what they actually want to convey. However actions definitely speak louder than words. So true feedback is received through the actions of customers - repeat orders, providing opinion on product streamlining, offering the first chance to be at par with competitors, recommending products to their peers and business associates, opting to be partners in progress or quietly replacing your organization as their trusted supplier. It is all these actions that count much more than what is verbally conveyed. So, one needs to continuously be on the lookout for what customers and associates actually do and develop the habit of understanding their body language. “Words may show a man's wit, but actions his meaning. - Benjamin Franklin

62

ALL THINGS ARE CREATED TWICE One of the habits of highly effective people is to begin with the end in mind, as quoted by the renowned Management Guru Stephen Covey. This habit has its roots in imagination – the ability to envision in one's mind the final outcome that one cannot currently see. It is based on the principle that all things are created twice. The physical creation follows the mental creation. Great monuments of the world were first created in the minds of their designers and architects and only then were they successfully translated on terra firma. Therefore, entrepreneurs need to always ask themselves whether enough time has been given at the planning stage to envision the product or service before actually embarking upon executing the same. Begin each day, task or project with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination and then proactively make it happen. “All things are created twice. There's a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things . - Stephen Covey

63

MANAGEMENT AS FACILITATOR A facilitator is someone who engages in smoothening out the hitches, be it a person, a group or an organization. The management or the seniors help their subordinates understand their common objectives and assist them to plan how to achieve these objectives or targets. In doing so, the facilitator remains neutral and does not try to impose his ideas and actions on his subordinates and micromanage them. This is because such Gofer Delegation (i.e. micromanaging the staff instead of facilitating) would kill the creativity and innovative approach of the staff. A facilitator must inspire others to assume responsibility and take the lead in accomplishing the mission. “If you want to really grow as an entrepreneur you've got to learn to delegate. - Richard Branson

64

DELIGHT YOUR CUSTOMERS Customer Delight basically means surprising the customer by exceeding his or her expectations and thus achieving his positive emotional reaction. It creates a totally satisfied customer who is more likely to deepen his engagement with the organization. This requires tremendous intellectual efforts on the part of the management to find out what more they can offer to their customers going beyond their expectations. Post which, physical efforts are required on the part of the entire team to actually deliver things that are beyond the wildest expectations of the customer. This approach of aiming at delighting the customer leads to repeated winnings at the business market. It is relatively easy to meet requirements; but going beyond mere requirements calls for special efforts and genuine desire on the part of the team. “The key is to set realistic customer expectations, and then not just to meet them but to exceed them – preferably in unexpected and helpful ways. - Richard Branson

65

TAKE FAILURE AS A PROCESS Management needs to look at failure as a process. It brings in its wake a lot of learning opportunities and further fine-tunes one's instincts and abilities. Whatever loss suffered is actually an investment since it saves one from bigger dangers in the future. To borrow a popular quote from Oprah Winfrey, \"I don't believe in failure. It is not failure, if you enjoyed the process.\" If, while doing the exercise one has - enjoyed the process; learnt many new things; developed many new relations and contacts; and gained several new insights - then the entire exercise has been worth it. After all, the light bulb was not invented in just one attempt, was it? “If you learn from defeat, you haven't really lost. - Zig Zaglar

66

THE OUTSIDER VIEW Occasionally an entrepreneur needs to have an outsider view of his organization. It means looking at the organization dispassionately as a third person would. One needs to step away and have a pedestrian's view of the organization. This will truly help in - gaining many new insights; identifying flaws that, as an insider, may not be apparently visible and; learning what kind of image the organization enjoys amongst the stakeholders. During ancient times, kings would disguise themselves and stroll through the city lanes during the night in order to eavesdrop on what people had to say about - the conditions in the city, the behaviour of the royal officers, governance and the King himself. This played a pivotal role in gaining a dispassionate view and acting on the basis of what was learnt. “To see some truths you must stand outside and look in. - Janna Levin

67

EARNING TRUST Believing in something or someone leads to trust. To gain trust, one needs to become worthy of the trust through deeds so that others will repose confidence in one's ability to keep one's word, do one's part, and follow through on set expectations. Earning the trust of stakeholders in business is not an overnight process but is built gradually. One's traits or habits are evaluated. The sacred rule is to keep one's word and never break it. On the basis of one's word, suppliers and customers keep their processes in line with their plans. Secondly, one must never feed on the weaknesses of one's stakeholders else they may never share their problems and one may permanently lose the opportunity - to delight them with one's service and products, gain trust and strengthen the sustainability of the business. Remember every cog in the wheel counts - no job is small and must never be taken lightly to ensure the collective functioning of the organization. “Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships. - Stephen Covey

68

RELENTLESSLY SEARCH FOR NEW MARKETS It is wisely said -Look for tomorrow's bread, today. A minimum of 30 per cent of one's business must come from new markets. The existing business is not likely to grow by more than 10 per cent when the country's GDP is pegged for growth at 7.5 per cent. Hence the only way forward is in terms of product innovation and exploring new avenues. An organization can achieve exponential growth if it ceaselessly strives to identify new markets for its products and make effective inroads into such markets. However this calls for a lot of hard work. Each Board Meeting should focus on this as an exclusive agenda. There may be many potential markets where one can sell one's products post minor modifications; in that case such modifications/ innovations should be carried out and such markets should be captured. This may also culminate into organic or inorganic growth for the company. Growth is the only option for the company to survive. “Keep looking. Don't settle down. - Steve Jobs

69

OWN UP Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown! It is the responsibility of the head honcho to own up any debacle, failure or set back as ultimately the success or failure of the organization is solely their responsibility. This attitude sends an important message down the line as it encourages the team to take proactive and bold steps for the benefit of the company, since they know that in case of any set back, the top management would not hold them responsible for the same. This also scales up the respect and admiration that the team has for its leader. This is how leaders of outstanding organizations behave... they lead from the front. “ Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them. - Bruce Lee

“Philanthropy is not about money. It's about using whatever resources you have at your fingertips and applying them to improving the world. - Melinda Gates 70

FOCUSSED PHILANTHROPY An organization needs to identify a specific area towards which their philanthropic efforts must be directed. Only such focused work will bring tangible and recognizable results through the CSR activities. As a positive downside such focused activities will give the leader the satisfaction of having done something concrete for the betterment of the community. It is humanly impossible for any corporate house to single-handedly address all humanitarian needs. Therefore, the practical approach is to identify a specific area of humanitarian services and then execute significant work in that direction befitting the CSR funds available with the organization.

71

ALL ARE EQUAL FOR THE HEAD As head of the organization, one needs to ensure equal treatment of all employees. Definitely performers must be rewarded, but one must not be seen as prejudiced in favour of some employees and against some others. In other words the coterie culture has to be avoided to ensure success of the organization. Such a culture which gives rise to discontent could sometimes erupt and damage the organization. Performance, performance and performance must be the only criteria for the organization to reward its employees. “Every organization should tolerate rebels who tell the Emperor he has no clothes. - Colin Powell

72