The Other Pandemic Out There

It’s important to recall the story of siblings Kartikeya & Ganpati. They had decided to race each other & whoever went around the world thrice, would be declared a winner. As soon as the race began, the more agile Kartikeya, at once flew around the world on his peacock. He went around it thrice in a jiffy. But in the meantime, the wise Ganpati who was heavy & had a mouse for company, went around his parents three times & declared himself a winner.

His reasoning was “My brother went around ‘The’ world whereas, I went around ‘My’ world. In life, what matters more?”

CEOs of listed companies are under constant pressure to please ‘The’ world. They make impressive forecasts, and demand that future-based sales targets, be met by the troops. These targets are often done without deep explanations, as they are easy to set, and are ambitious in nature. Often they rely on extrapolation from the static dead past to predict the dynamic unborn future. Sharp questions by operating staff if any, are blunted. Instead are asked to simply focus on the task and somewhat won over by offering them sales linked bonus as incentive.

Is it any wonder then, that a worldwide pre-pandemic Gallup poll survey showed that 85% of employees are disengaged in the workplace?

It’s a worthy ponder on how this practice, notwithstanding the apparent shallowness, has still spread so widely across the world. At the very core, what has happened over the years is that many businesses saw an erosion in margins due to geopolitical uncertainties, globalization induced competition and other technological disruptions. 

As a result, the interest of shareholders has taken precedence over that of the stakeholders. The shareholders are financial investors in the business, distant from the operations and singularly focused on demanding a bang for their buck. High ROI is their constant want, sadly without any effort to understand the means to achieve them. Their appointed CEO during quarterly reviews is obliged to assure them of exemplary sales. What the CEO is then articulating is nothing less than a brilliant prediction. That way he saves the day, what tomorrow has in store is altogether another matter.

The cat & mouse game between the shareholders & their appointed CEO is good, until it goes bad.

The stakeholders on the other hand also comprise of staff & workmen that serve the organization, vendors that assist the company in its operations, customers that feed the entity and all others in the ecosystem that make the society. But they are not really consulted. All in the organization must simply work to meet the promised forecast given by the boss to the shareholders. Such a method may work for a while, but eventually, the overworked engine begins to sputter.

And that is the real pandemic out there in the commercial world !

The malaise has spread even to the owner controlled small and medium enterprises, where the shareholder and stakeholder is one & the same person. Desire to emulate the methods of big companies, shallow advice from appointed management consultants & pure greed gets the better of the owner. Let’s focus on this creed.

For true success, perhaps a more measured approach would be for the business owner to first get the assessment on his or her true identity and then move outward. It is formed in the early stages of one's life based on genetic, psychic and environmental makeup of the individual. Deeply entwined with it are character and personality traits, behavior patterns and most importantly the innate, inner value drivers. Identity is all about ‘My’ world.

Only when external outcomes resonate with one's true identity, inner congruency remains intact and that’s what gives intrinsic joy.

But when corporate targets are set with a low resolution picture, which in most cases presupposes a near linear or a predictable world going forward, even when reality suggests otherwise - we may have a problem.

For starters, an outcome driven narrative pawns one’s true identity away as inner need is replaced by outer wants. In extreme cases, one may unknowingly completely bury his or her true identity and end up licensing the world to define who the person should be. Such a narrative often leads to mistaking achievements for growth and pleasure for happiness. That brings about a behavior of high speed chase but in a direction away from the North Star. In such a scenario, even when the outcome have actually been met, nobody in the organization may experience sheer joy, as self-growth is not realized in tandem. And so in less than 24 hours, everyone is found hunting for the next dopamine shot in the approaching quarter.

Let us be clear that if it was so simple to figure out the future from the past or make predictions in the comforts of one’s own big cushioned chair, some of the biggest companies with access to all experts (read astrologers) and inordinate resources would have continued to dominate the world for time immemorial. Yet, evidence to the contrary highlights a huge churn every decade, where disadvantaged companies or even start-ups in the same industry have usurped giants. This exemplifies that quest for longevity is more layered than what meets the naked eye.

Another major pitfall of this crystal ball gazing approach is its stubborn tenacity. The person at the helm is all too aware of the repercussion of policy reversal. Since sales linked incentives are so well engrained, in case there is a fall in sales in the future, it could lead to staff attrition. On realizing its futility later, if any attempt is made to abandon the policy, is now met with severe resistance by its homogenized employees. And so for now everyone is well, you guessed right - keeping a keen eye at the scorecard, not the ball.

So to achieve the oxymoronic "sales at any cost" mantra, everyone gets overworked and in the bargain sacrifice either or all - from health, ethics, quality, service. Organizations of the kind will tactically look to prize away talent from competition or acquire companies that have less than desired common values. For the sake of extrinsic achievements, all such measures take precedence over the slow but solid organic evolution of the company. Impatience arising from monetary greed or fear from unmet expectations begin to take a firm grip on everyone’s mind-set resulting in knee jerk maneuvers or rash decisions. All this may show great results but at the cost of stress in equal measure. So to cheer-up the troops, motivation is often subcontracted to high decibel speakers from time to time. Such external inducements may become a norm no matter how little joy-from-job it produces.

Eventually when all the growth-buying tactics begin to falter, the boss may attempt to rescue himself or herself by attempting to enhance the bottom line even with reduced sales. When done so not by innovation in products or services but by eliminating essential services or unfair staff redundancies vital to business, it creates panic. Conditions become ripe for bitter politics amongst stakeholders. In due course, across the organization, short term-ism and pursuit of personal agenda takes precedence over what is desired collectively for the long term.

Instead, the correct way is to invest in a coach who will assist the leader to :

1) Discover the core values

2) Validate the same by tracing patterns

3) Recognize them as assets & accordingly developing them

4) Articulate a corporate narrative that brings them out distinctly

5) And finally, instill the above in company’s processes, procedures & policies

Once the need to have fingerprint of core values in every activity of the organization gets established & internalized, things become transparent.

That alone leads to the alignment of the top managers through the process of natural selection. Only those in line with the clearly defined & demonstrated value system, will automatically begin to get attracted to the leader’s long term thought process. Some who are not in sync may even leave but whoever are left behind are anyway the only ones that truly matter in safeguarding the value driven organizational culture. They become motivated to take ownership, responsibility and begin to partner in setting themselves up for the long haul. Gradually, top down, all work in unison with the leader’s value driven long term vision, as it is as much theirs too.

Staff potential is converted to kinetic energy when the owner’s personal reality is turned to shared reality.

Those guided by the common core values remain inspired in pursuit of their purpose, no matter how arduous the journey. Forced targets give way to will to take up agreed meaningful challenges. Due to cohesive working, conditions not only anyway become apt for achieving higher sales quickly but collective conviction develops to overcome undue temptations that may derail the company. There is no hesitation or guilt in refusing sales enhancing projects that are likely to stretch the company’s resources too thin or in avoiding clients without scruples, thus securing the organization’s wellbeing. That done, all stakeholders here experience growth and during the journey, if ever a collectively set target is missed, there is no room for despondency whatsoever.

The automatic consensus then becomes - there is no bad failure, only good feedback !

Motivation can always be outsourced. Inspired folks don't need such motivation. They simply keep marching on taking the high road, to the band of their own internal beat, no matter what the cacophony outside. That is their unique serving proposition. Inspiration being very personal, flows from within as is entwined to one’s core values and so never runs dry. It is only when inspired leaders begin to build a value driven organization, does it outlast others in the long run. Seeing them, others get motivated.