Management Bytes (2)

I distinctly remember the incidence. I was talking to my senior colleague (say John, to avoid any guesswork) who seemed to be quite agitated. When I asked him the reason, he told me, “Prashant, I’m quite fed up with this ever-ringing mobile phone.  Last Sunday evening, I was about to start my dinner with family & the damn phone rang. It was someone from our office..!”

Being a close friend, I took the liberty to tell him, “But John, look at the positive side.  Someone is having some serious issue at work/project, s/he sincerely believes that you can solve the problem and or guide properly & so is calling you even after office-hours. You're so much needed! Doesn’t this make you feel good instead of thinking it as a nuisance?” John didn’t respond but I could be see he was thinking in a new light.

Yes, most of us with 20+ years of real work (read, grind!) become go-to persons / trouble-shooters / problem-solvers in organizations.  And yes, we do get occasional phone calls after office-hours, on weekends/holidays and even when we’re on vacation.  Right?

But if you’re getting too many phone calls from your team, it also could be because you have not delegated enough, not mentored your team, or they’re not empowered for decision-making.

The other extreme end of this situation is when you’re not getting any calls.  In that case either you’ve built the team so well (with the right delegation/empowerment mix) that nobody senses your absence OR nobody thinks you could solve any problem so they stop calling you!

In either case, start hunting for a new job, mate!

It is tricky, ain’t it?

😊

Management Bytes

Aren’t we all living in the age of super-achievers?

Few weeks ago, Justin Trudeau visited India. Keep aside the success of that trip(that would be another topic), but how many of you know his age? He is only 46!  Now, Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, is visiting India. He is only 40 yr old! (By the way, youngest president (head of state) in the world is Vanessa D’Ambrosio. She is 30 & leads San Marino in Europe. Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz (31) is second youngest!)

Looks like heads-of-states are competing with the start-up-founders! Isn’t it?

When it comes to Forbes list, Jeff Bezos is the richest billionaire (& first one to amass $100 Billion Net worth!) & he is only 54! Mark Zuckerberg (yes, the one who came up with Facebook & the world changed forever) is #5 richest individual & he is only 33!

Closer home, we have the founders of PayTM, Flipkart (& many more) vying the Billionaire tag & they’re in early 30’s!

So now let me ask you a question.

How do you feel if your manager is younger than you?? (And to complicate this further, … what if it is she & younger than you???)

I have seen some of my friends (mostly from engineering industry) getting extremely uncomfortable when the immediate manager is younger than them. Some have taken the extreme step.. of resigning!

WHY?

Look at the examples I shared at the start of this article.  What would be the older colleagues (in cabinet / in organizations) could be feeling? And I don’t think there would be any jealousy or rancor! Yes, because the said person had fantastic capabilities, s/he is there in that place & you need to accept it, appreciate it / reconcile with it & work without enmity!  Closer home, many felt that Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha were betrayed but look at how Modi almost single-handedly got the landslide win for BJP in 2014! Look at the Team-Modi’s performance in last four years! Haven’t they delivered? Or, look at Dhoni, the super-successful captain-cool! How sportingly he has accepted Virat as the captain?

Ergo, it’s high time we shed the ego!

Pronto!!

😊