The Hindu Business Line : Have guts to go nuts and banish the buts

YEARS ago, a book titled Nuts! made waves by talking about the wacky and original leadership style that was the crazy recipe of Southwest Airlines for business success. Now, the same authors, Kevin and Jackie Freiberg write Guts! to discuss "companies that blow the doors off business-as-usual." The book, published by Currency Books (www.currencybooks.com), "can turn your business into an extraordinary magnet for world-class talent," writes Ken Blanchard.

"Management uses the same age-old tactics day in and day out, long after they've stopped working. Often these companies lose their edge," notes the blurb. Gutsy companies "see business as a heroic cause, and understand that good leadership isn't a matter of position but of influence." What do gutsy leaders do? "They reject hierarchical rules, rituals, and expectations and have replaced in-the-box management with a culture based on passion and innovation."

A blurb in the book cites an anonymous quote: "If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space." And gutsy leaders live on the edge; they teach us that "it is absolutely possible to work hard, have fun, love what you do, live your values, and still make lots of money."

MBWA is not management by walking around, but `away', and "it takes guts to entrust the business you created to someone else." The more you delegate power, the better your employees perform, say the authors who believe that their book has come at a time when people's faith in the honesty and integrity of large organisations and their executives is running low.

Go with your gut is the message, but it is never easy. "It takes guts to give the status quo a swift kick in the butt and to venture out to the seemingly lunatic fringe where breakthroughs are born. It takes guts to come down from the ivory tower to listen and talk to people in a human voice. It takes guts to lead with love and trust rather than power and fear. For too many people, it is easy to be hard, and hard to be soft."

Was it not Narayana Murthy who once said that at the end of each day his intellectual capital walks out the door? Was it an echo of this? "Remember: Your most valuable resources drive away at the end of every business day, and it is your job to make sure they are eager to return the next morning."

Chapter 3 begins with a question: "What gives people at some companies the discipline to transcend petty politics and competition to concentrate on building better organisation?" The answer is: "They feel more like owners than just employees of the business. Owner-employees are inspired to take responsibility because their own success and that of the business are intricately linked." And, managers have an important question to answer: "What gets judged at your company, visibility or performance?"

People come in all shapes and sizes. There are those who find opportunity in any adversity and those who can find the difficulty in every opportunity. Which is why gutsy guys don't hire people who suck. "Bad attitudes suck! They suck the passion, energy, teamwork, unity, and life right out of your organisation."

If `motivation' is too clichéd to consider, take time to help your people "see how their work is connected to something bigger." The book cites an anecdote that relates how one of the world's foremost heart specialists, Dr Michael DeBakey, would chat with a janitor to appreciate the importance of the latter's work — that the hospital couldn't function without the janitor because germs would spread, increasing the chances of infection in the hospital. "Later in the day, our colleague tracked down the janitor and asked him, `What exactly do you do? Tell me about your job?' With pride, the janitor replied: `Dr DeBakey and I? We save lives together.'"

ManageMentor@hotmail.com

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