Playing with Passion

- By Neelima Rao

Dhoni took an unbelievably short time to prove his mettle as the captain and if the Twenty20 World Cup performance is anything to go by, India has found its 'Captain Cool' in the star batsman-stumper with flowing tresses. Could it be sheer luck and the rejoiced crowd is giving him a whole lot more credit or did Dhoni really rise to the occasion?

His maturity, composure and ability to handle high pressure stood out in all the matches. His decisions to have Uthappa, Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh to take the bowl out against Pakistan in the Group match, or his pick to have Joginder Sharma bowl the last over in the matches against Aussies and Pakistan, seemed to have well thought out and prepared. Dhoni seemed to have cracked one of the magic formulae, something that many take years to learn. It appeared that Dhoni had run every “what if” scenario in his head well in advance. He never appeared to be unprepared for any situation, including the most unexpected ones.

If one were to draw analogies between the roles that Dhoni played in leading a team in a dynamic game, to a corporate business leader, it seems like Dhoni probably had a much difficult job. There are several learning one could gain from the cricket field - universalize the learning to translate them to a leadership position.

On the Feet person: A leader’s ability to think on his / her feet and to take decisions without instructions is what sets a true leader apart. Those who are caught unaware and can thrive in making the right decision in those unprepared moments have usually proved to have the right acumen to handle difficult situations – a must for every leader. In today’s business world, changes are not unusual; they are the norm and define a superior leader from others.

Team is not a group of individuals: A top level captain has to turn a group of talented individuals into a smoothly running team, and produce results that please the fans of his / her team, the shareholders of the athletic program. What's most important is working as a team toward a common goal--not necessarily to win the game, but to play the best possible game.

Play well in all conditions: It is often said that, “A boss tells others what to do…a leader shows that it can be done.” In sports like Cricket, it is said that a great player is one who is able to play well in all conditions. A powerful hitter of the ball, Dhoni has shown the maturity to restrain his aggressive nature and play a responsible innings when the situation required. Whether batting at No. 3 or No. 6, one must know that they have to go on to the field and perform. At No. 3, the requirement is a big innings. At No. 6, the team would want you to finish things well. It is no different game on a corporate pitch either, where the ball could be could be coming at a different speed than what one may be prepared for.

Keep the scoreboard moving: What is important in both cricket and business world is to keep the score moving or the difference of the goal could widen and playing catch-up becomes astonishingly difficult. It is important to hit every ball and keep the scoreboard moving. The outcome of the matches didn’t seem to deter Dhoni one bit and analysts say that’s been his strength. Not worrying much about the outcome, but playing on.

Productivity is a matter of the heart and is possible to achieve only if the leader is passionate about his / her work. A leader may have to face several adverse situations in many spheres and on many occasions. Thus, it is imperative that one likes his/her work because then, adversity will not prove too cumbersome. A strong passion for what one does sets a true leader apart from others. If pursuing what one really likes, the person is usually driven by a sense of broader purpose. As Edison, the scientist-entrepreneur-innovator described “I never worked in my life. It was all fun.”

Just as ideas beget ideas and money attracts money, excitement has the same charm. A leader who is not excited himself can hardly excite others in different situations. If Dhoni continues to demonstrate these skills in his following games, corporate world has a lot of watch and learn a lesson or two from the cricket field.

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Ms Neelima Rao is an alumnus of TISS and currently heads Human Resources at Market Rx, USA . She has significantly contributed to the development of the Center for Social and Organizational Leadership ( C SOL) at TISS and is the chairperson designate of the project "The Blue Lotus"

Center for Social and Organizational Leadership (C SOL), TISS Life and Times Series Lecture

Rajat Ghosh, one of the pioneers in the field of infrared photography, delivered a lecture on the ' Innovative mind' at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences on 4th August, 2007. This lecture was a part of the Life and Times Lecture Series , which is a unique initiative of the Centre for Social and Organisational Leadership (C SOL) , TISS, conceptualized as a journey into the cognitive activities of meaning generation and action-orientation. Ghosh is a San Francisco and Mumbai-based photographer, specializing in conceptual imagery and people/celebrity photography. His clientele includes Coca Cola, Wrangler, Eureka Forbes and McDowell's . He regularly works for media and advertising agencies like Lowe Lintas, JWT, Philips Group and does short editorial assignments for international magazines like Cosmopolitan, Forbes, PC Games, etc. He has also been actively involved in the publicity of Bollywood successes like Devdas and Company.

Ghosh kept the audience riveted as he talked about the journey of his life, starting with the leap of faith he took when he enrolled for his Master's in Fine Arts in the US, paying a pricey $100,000 for the course. Having had upped the ante so high, he knew he had to give it his all - technique alone wasn't going to suffice - he realized it's something about the photographer's vision and passion that reflects in a picture and makes it special. He immediately set out on his own after getting his degree, again breaking out of the norm of first assisting a senior photographer for some time. Realizing early on, the importance of doing 'different' work, in order to get more visibility with the agencies, he started picking up burning issues from the newspapers as themes for his images. Suddenly, the industry began appreciating the refreshing spontaneity in his work and there has been no looking back since.

The importance Ghosh attaches to innovation was evident throughout his address, particularly so in the concept of infrared photography that he pioneered. Instead of canning landscape shots only in the early mornings and late afternoons, he found a way of putting the rest of the day to use - he captured the infra red rays emanating from foliage when the trees have absorbed heat from the atmosphere, under the noon sun. The result was soothingly ethereal images that soon became the rage in boardrooms across the world.

Ghosh took the audience through a series of innovatively shot images, which the audience felt were very 'daring and different'. Each one of his pictures mirrored the moment in all its untouched impulsiveness. It was wonderful to see how well his work was stamped with emotional undercurrents.

The audience that comprised of students from varied fields, such as, human resources management, social work, development studies and health administration and professionals from several disciplines of management not only appreciated the innovative pictures on display but also showed equal enthusiasm in making the session interactive.

Center for Social and Organizational Leadership (C SOL), TISS Leadership Series Lecture

Dr Karen Dyer, Group Director for Education and Non Profit Sector Office, Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL), US conducted a session in TISS on September 1, 2007 on "Relational Leadership - The power of Perception." The lecture was a part of the ongoing Leadership Lecture Series organized by the Centre for Social and Organizational Leadership (C SOL) and the HRM & LR Forum.

Karen began with acknowledging that though leadership management and technical skills are necessary in any walk of life, it is the Relational Leadership (RL) deficit which is plaguing organizations and groups alike. RL is all about how an individual is attuned to and abreast with the intra and inter personal relationships, what perception people have of each other and what is the impact of such an association. Peppering her lecture with numerous quotes, experiences and imagery, she said, at one point: We are measured not by "what we are but by the perception of what we seem to be…Not by what we say but what we are heard….Not by what we do but how we appear to do it."

Karen said that perception is about assumptions and generalizations that people develop over the years. Whenever two people meet there are actually six people involved in the whole process : the individuals as they feel about themselves , the individuals as perceived by other and finally the individuals who they really are. She emphasized the importance of a good feedback which is pertinent for self awareness and hence development.

Karen then went on to speak about the six keystones of Relational Leadership. Number one is dominating with humility and delegating work which is important to make people feel challenged. Second is hiring good people thus eliminating the chances of deadwood. Third is building and maintaining relationships. Fourth is good, solid and transparent communication. Fifth is conflict management and the last and perhaps the most important of them all –managing change in others. She spoke about how different people perceive change differently and therefore one needs to either show a Purpose, a Picture, a Plan or a Part (Stake) to make the change "happening".

The audience included people from different backgrounds, ranging from campuses to corporations. As Karen charmed the gathering with her humor and simplicity , the energy level remained high throughout the session.

Self Renewing Systems

- By Mr. P. Vijayan

I have been very fortunate to experience the challenge of walking on the road of institution building very early in my life and career. I would like to share some thoughts, rushing across my mind, at this time and space. What is an institution or what is institutional quality?

An institution, according to my understanding, is a collective endeavour of a group of people, which is capable of outlasting time, generates a sense of timelessness , a sense of permanence and yet evolving and changing to the contexts, from time to time. The essential discriminating factor of institutional quality is that it requires minimum hierarchical and structural intervention. The organisation is a living, breathing one and is driven by the energy and passion of its people, be it customers or employees. Institution building is all about evoking the collective and individual spirit of the human being(s) and providing space for their flowering and realising potential.

Another important institutional quality is a sense of seamlessness between the purpose of the human beings involved and the purpose of the collective. It plays out, quite contrary to normal construct of conflict proneness, with a script where individualism and the collective are celebrated in simultaneity. Institution building is not necessarily a bed of roses - there are conflicts, moments of disappointments, anxiety, fear, frustration. Some members tending to take more psychological space may not be welcomed by others. However, the underlying belief/principle - of these potential conflicts - is not one of win lose or to be pushed under the carpet. It is a dynamic play between different voices/forces and the outcome adds a new dimension to the institution and its capability to respond to its contexts- good or bad is not the frame of evaluating movement. Institution building stresses on intrinsic motivation and the spirit of voluntarism and hence membership of institutions tend to be invitational and there could be situations where a new member may just not fit the norms and values and hence find it extremely difficult to belong, as normal hierarchical and structural intervention may not exist/may choose not to intervene. Hence membership into institutions has to be given considerable care.

Why am I talking about institutional quality? History has shown that the greatest acts of valour, breakthrough results, resolution of serious conflicts have, always, happened when a leader/set of leaders and the energy/passion has acted as critical mass to move the processes from transactional focused to one with a higher order purpose. Institution building is all about generating this sense of higher order purposes for organisations and its people, customers, vendors, etc. The few global companies that have successfully outlasted a century are those who have had significant attention paid to building intrinsic drivers to generate superior performance and the leadership- even if it has structurally changed- have taken the collective from one orbit of organization success to a higher and different orbit of higher order purpose. The processes of building Mission, Vision, Values, strategic intent are all interventions of generating higher order purposes for people to feel connected.

Countries can connect their citizens in a genuine sense only through institution building and strengthening the ones already in place. Countries evolve/develop/mature over time only when the citizens, in large numbers decide that they do not want to be largely in a recipient mode and generates traction for people power. Institutional quality is captured beautifully in the famous quote of Abraham Lincoln - 'Democracy is for the people, of the people, by the people." Let me sing off with another famous quotation of Pierre Teilhard de Charden (French philosopher) - "We are not physical beings having a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a physical experience.' Cheers to this CSOL - Change Choices blog . I am sure it will be a vibrant, living meeting place of many co travellers-sharing, collaborating and learning almost in real time.

P. Vijayan, Mahindra & Mahindra
P Vijayan is an alumnus of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and closely associated with the Activities of the Center for Social and Organisational Leadership( C SOL) ,TISS.