The Hindu Business Line : Effective executive

WERE you casting about in utter ignorance for some clues about what makes for an effective executive? Lucky you! The Harvard Business Review (HBR) has not one, but nine, to offer — all so facile that it is child's play to become an effective executive.

First, in the best of ringside manners we have come expect from HBR, we are told that he can forget about being a typical leader. After all, is it not sufficient that the guru of gurus, Mr Peter Drucker, the author of more than two dozen HBR articles, has said so? The effective executives that the great personage had worked with in his 65 years of consultancy had come in all shapes and forms: some extrovert, some reclusive, others easygoing, yet others controlling, fastidious, tedious, generous, parsimonious — you can take your pick.

What was the alchemy that transformed so very widely divergent temperaments into dynamic go-getters? What made them all effective, says the infallible HBR, is that they followed the same nine practices. Here they are in a medicinal capsule that can be easily swallowed even without water:

They asked, "What needs to be done?"

Next, they asked, "What is right for the enterprise?"

They developed action plans.

They took responsibility for decisions.

They were good at communicating.

They were focused on opportunities rather than problems.

They ran productive meetings.

They thought and said "we" rather than "I".

They listened first and spoke last.

We have it on the authority of the HBR that "The first two practices provided them with the knowledge they needed. The next four helped them convert this knowledge into effective action, for knowledge is useless to executives until it has been translated into deeds". "The (following) two ensured that the whole organisation felt responsible and accountable." The ninth is so important, declares the HBR, that it should be regarded as an inviolable rule.

Here is the last dose of impregnable wisdom: "Effective executives know that they have authority only because they have the trust of the organisation. This means they must think of the needs and opportunities of the organisation before they think of their own. Effectiveness is a discipline. And, like every discipline, it can be learned and must be earned."

Got the unheard of revolutionary stuff into your little impenetrable head, dear reader? Now go, become an effective executive. You have no excuse left any more not to be one.