The Hindu Business Line : The uncommon common touch

At some point or the other in our careers we have all been subjected to the destructive force of our bosses venting their ire on us in public; equally surely, we have been witnesses to their doing this to others as well. We have also all heard the cliched phrase, the doors to my office are open at all times; walk in any time. When we do, how many times have we found the doors open but the minds closed.

As the world has turned topsy-turvy these last few months, leaders are struggling to find ways and means of coming to terms with the inadequacies of the businesses that they are running to be future ready and in a more tricky and insidious way, their own inadequacies as leaders.

Many of the macho, maximum leaders are being confronted with the diminution of their own persona and as can be expected, are fighting hard not to look into the mirror. The vishwaroopa, a highly enhanced form that Hindu Gods can assume to strike awe and fear, much emulated by many business leaders, is starting to implode and people are being cut down to their normal size.

The public consequences and the private fears of such ‘downsizing’ have enormous consequences on their conduct as leaders.

When times are tough, the more visible big issues get the attention that they deserve from the leaders. It is equally critical for them to focus on how best to do the common things uncommonly well. Behaviour patterns that would have been tolerated in the vastly different world that existed even a year ago will no longer be appropriate or effective today.

Leadership is about making sure that the wrenching changes that have happened and that will continue to happen in the years to come, can be dealt with both at the business/ systemic level and at the individual level consistently. Normally, one can expect that emphasis will be placed on tackling issues confronted at the business/ systemic level. The moot point is if at least the same level of emphasis is placed in tackling the manner in which people-related issues are addressed. It is distinctly possible that it may not be so.

It is said that Nataraja (literally, The Lord of Dance, a depiction of the Hindu God Siva as the cosmic dancer ) performs his divine dance to destroy a weary universe and make preparations for God Brahma to start the process of creation over again. The two most common forms of the divine dance are the Lasya (the gentle form of dance), associated with the creation of the world, and the Tandava (the violent and dangerous dance), associated with the destruction of the world. In essence, the Lasya and the Tandava are just two aspects of Siva’s nature; for he destroys in order to create, tearing down to build again.

As pressures mount, it is but natural that leaders at every level do their destructive dance more often in the hope that the authority vested in them will ensure that the desired outcomes are achieved. It is likely that such displays, while they may yield short-term results, damage the system irrevocably in the medium- and long-terms.

Much as the human body develops an immunity if antibiotics are used indiscriminately and over a period of time, the body corporate will also develop this dangerous immunity. The law of diminishing returns will kick in and people will lose respect for their leaders and this can lead to disastrous consequences when the need of the hour is respect and trust in the leadership.

It is not my case that the dance of destruction is not to be used at all; it is indeed an integral part of displaying leadership. It is just that it ought to be used judiciously and with a sensitive touch. More often than not, the same aims can be attained by the usage of the lesser known attribute of Siva — Lasya, the gentle form of creative dance.

As any creation has an inbuilt seed of its own destruction, the Tandava dance is a necessary step in the destruction of unwanted things with a view to creating a new creative reality. It will also be good to recognise that while Lord Siva danced to totally destroy everything and then to rebuild the universe once the destruction was over, as managers we cannot perform these two sequential dances. We need to be able to mix the two dance forms simultaneously so that ever greater realities are created even as some unwanted ones are destroyed.

This indeed calls for an uncommon touch to deal with the common things that animate and impact our people who form the foundation of our organisations.

(The writer is a director of Manipal Education and Medical Group and 3i Infotech and advisor to IDFC PE.)