On a
wall of a hospital I saw a very telling quote, “if you think you are rich count
all the things that you have which money can’t buy.”
If we
were to use the same question in another setting- a manager doing a
introspection of all the behaviors which team mates exhibit and categorize them as those which are on account
of the position (which manager holds) and which ones are a reflection of how he leads.
It may be a good starting point for some soul searching. By the way this
question can be used in many different settings- with children,
spouse or any relationship that is important to you.
Going
back to the work setting part of the behavior of a team mate is a manifestation
of his or her personality and the other part is reflection of the environment.
The environment at work place is complex and made up of many elements; the one
which has maximum bearing on the behavior of the team mates is the influence of
the immediate manager.
Recently
I concluded an assignment for a company and while I was documenting the
business impact I came across this quote from one of the
participant.
“A junior colleague was trying to
explain a concept which was already familiar to me. Earlier, I might have cut him
short, this time I allowed the explanation to continue to try and see their point
of view of understanding… By listening more, I have seen the team members
approaching me more freely with ideas, and I have seen that it has also
increased the motivation levels of the team thereby resulting in better quality
results.”Lessons from this case are simple as the manager improved his listening skills (part of sensitivity towards others) something dramatic happened to the motivation and quality of work of the employees in his team.
Many behaviors which the organizations need from the employees to stay competitive cannot be demanded they are all an outcome how managers lead. Examples of some of these behaviors are commitment, confidence, optimism, compassion, composure, critical thinking. None of these can become part of a job description yet each one is critical for building high performance teams. Further no matter how tough the business environment is a manager who believes and practices the soft skills will be able to produce superior results while using least amount of resources. It is a win- win situation for the manager, employee and the organization.
The question is why managers don’t pay much attention to such important skills? The answer is- not many managers have created the list of behaviors which cannot be demanded but have to be earned. Once they see how short their personal list they will realize that they have to do something about it. “When the student is ready the teacher will arrive” as the Buddhist saying goes.
What do you think I care for your comments.
