The Hindu Business Line : Respond rather than react

However, there were some passengers who decided to take charge, enquired about the next available flight, made sure they had seats on it and arranged for a place to stay; they responded to the situation.

Responding or reacting to a situation is up to the individual. If an individual comes from a responding mode, he takes responsibility for his behaviour and is in control of the situation.

The person has thought out the consequences of his behaviour on the existing situation.

In the airport situation, the individuals who responded took the next step to solve the problem without wasting time on finding out who was wrong. “Here is the situation; what do I do to move ahead?” was their train of thought.

In the corporate world, responding rather than reacting reduces or eliminates intercultural conflict.

This is especially handy in a multicultural situation where Indian companies have to work with other nationalities or an international corporate culture that is predominantly non-Indian and multi-ethnic.

It promotes cross-cultural understanding even in an all-Indian team as we are soo diverse as a nation.

Recently, we were hired to coach the leadership team of a newly merged company. The CEO had mentioned that interpersonal relationships in the company were proving a challenge.

Rakesh, the CEO of the company started by his father, decided to sell the company to a business group from a Western country. The merger process was smooth and it was a win-win situation for both.

A couple of months after the merger, Rakesh started facing challenges among the members of his leadership team. The two main factors that were contributing to the discomfort were two different cultures and two different generations — the older leaders and the younger leaders.

This diverse team brought with it a lot of strengths — experience and knowledge, structure and discipline, enthusiasm and energy.

These very qualities frequently led to situations that created challenges for the new CEO. Several interventions used during the coaching sessions helped the leadership team internalise the ability to respond rather than react to a challenging situation. They understood that this was more beneficial to the company in the long run.

By responding, they saved time that was earlier spent on finding out who was responsible for the situation and why. Looking back was used only as the starting point to a solution.

Adopting a responding mode helped create more respect for each others’ opinions. Everyone felt that they were being listened to and were worth something to the company. This resulted in a situation in which each member of the team gave his or her best.

With a conscious effort to respond, several potentially explosive situations were diffused amicably. The solutions were jointly thought out and worked out as a team.

Finally, the stress levels did come down and once the leadership was cohesive and in control, it was mirrored by the rest of the organisation. Responding is intuition plus rationality and intuition is experience and intelligence.

Some of the things that help individuals to get into a responding mode are:

Being non-judgmental. Just think for a moment and listen. Responding is a conscious act and the person chooses to be fully aware of what is happening.

Listening to what is being said or shared and understanding the other point of view. This creates an appreciation of the other person’s concerns, making the person with the problem feel respected and understood.

Being in the present and not going back to past incidents. When there are differences, work out the solutions focusing on the present.

Having a sense of humour. A good laugh has scientifically been proven to create a positive environment.

Responding and reacting are the two ends of a continuum. It is not that one is better than the other. It is a choice that people and organisations make to be effective in resolving a difficult situation.

(The writer is Head Cross-Cultural Training of Global Adjustments, a relocation and cross-cultural training company. She can be contacted at globalindian@globaladjustments.com)