Let's not hasten the pace

I remember when I was in the final years of my schooling, there were two students in my class who were a couple of years younger than the rest of the class.

They were looked upon by the rest of us with awe when we were in a rare good mood and mostly with derision as nerds (or whatever the then prevailing term used by the academically jealous was). The teachers paid them special attention, which only heightened our sense of unhappiness.

These students had achieved that rare feat called the double promotion — skipping a level between each standard because of their academic brilliance. I don't know if they went on to achieve double promotions in their careers and lives.

Today's corporate landscape is characterised by convergence of industries, fast pace of innovation and adoption, the need for rapid jettisoning of ideas that do not work, organisations that span the globe, innovative marketing practices, mass customised products and services.

To win in this scenario, a globally oriented and rapidly adaptable workforce is a must. Unfortunately, there is a mismatch in the demand and supply of managers to cope with this scenario. While the demand for managerial talent goes up as a geometric progression, the supply side advances in arithmetic progression.

When companies grow rapidly, there is great need for appointing managers at various levels of seniority in quick time and it is but natural that those who show some level of excellence and aptitude in their jobs become the preferred choices for progress up the ladder. Many get multiple double promotions.

In some ways the structural framework that forms the backbone of the organisation is asked to grow at an unnatural pace. There is an evolutionary pace that is sustainable and when that pace is accelerated suddenly, there is a very real danger that the organisational bones can become fragile.

The other aspect that needs attention is the fact that steroidal growth of any kind in some organisational aspects always brings along with it weaknesses in some other aspects.

At the individual level, many of those who get promoted rapidly may find themselves in No Man's land, drifting away from the strengths that anchored them, to addressing demands that they are as yet not ready to tackle successfully. The net result is that a performer at one level is transformed into a non-performer at a higher level. Everyone ends up on the losing side — the individual, those he is supposed to manage and, ultimately, the company.

It becomes important to carefully determine who can be promoted up the managerial hierarchy and who should not be. Perhaps, the key lies in a variation of a famous saying that should probably read: Some are born leaders, some become leaders and some have leadership thrust upon them.

Born leaders are few in number. Some have leadership thrust upon them and evolve into leaders with the passage of time. Many more probably do not wish to be leaders and once leadership is thrust upon them are terrible at their jobs.

It is important to make sure that those who are not comfortable in leadership roles are encouraged to grow in their specialisations and not unnecessarily burdened. Those who are made leaders will obviously do their best to deliver on their mandate. The moot point is whether it is fair to them to be left to fend for themselves?

While some organisations actively believe in the “dump them in the deep end and they will swim” philosophy, most practise what may be called a policy of “watch them grow through benign neglect”. I believe the answer has to lie somewhere in between when growth of leadership qualities is facilitated wherever people show the potential and the aptitude for it.

This calls for active mentoring by managers at all levels so that they can grow people into leaders. A balanced approach that empowers people even while keeping a watchful eye to help whenever needed may be the best way to do this. Caution has to be exercised that helping does not morph into inducing a sense of dependence or become interference. Mentoring should be like salt in cooking: noticeable when absent, invisible when just right and unappetising when there is too much of it.

Cooking using pressure cookers speeds up the process but we lose out on the finer flavours and nutrition; the Dum Pukht style cooking, which seeks to bring out the flavours by very slow cooking in sealed containers, takes just too long. The best way may be the traditional open-vessel cooking over a slow fire that maintains a balance between the time required to cook and bring out the finer elements of texture, colour and aroma in the food. As with food, so with people.

The writer is corporate advisor to 3i Infotech and Manipal Education and Medical Group. He can be reached at mcshekaran@gmail.com

COMMENT NOW