Risk Mindset Drives Empowerment

A cocky intrapreneur once said, "better to apologize when things go wrong than ask for permission to get something done.” 

It's OK if the boss takes the credit. You got to do what you wanted to do. 

Effective empowerment works only when people empower themselves. Those who are not able to empower themselves are not going to move the needle much when seemingly empowered by their boss. 

Empowerment when done must be based on end goals, milestone achievements, and regular catch up for feedback and directions so boss cannot wash his hands off when the project fails. 

Empowerment is adjusted-risk (as finance mavens would put it).

An example of an empowering boss is Dr Satish Dhawan, former Chairman ISRO, who addressed a press conference taking the blame on himself when the rocket launch of 1972 headed by Dr Abdul Kalam failed. He nevertheless praised the team for the effort. 

When subsequently the launch succeeded, Dr Dhawan asked Dr Abdul Kalam to address the press (as related by former President Dr Abdul Kalam). 

Empowerment is risky. The boss must possess a risk-and-product-management mindset to empower ably. The converse of poor or no empowerment is the boss himself or herself burning the midnight oil on a project with the employees doing the clerical stuff.

Or more likely without any of the employees because of a fallacy in the boss's thinking that he has more control over the project if he is doing it all by himself. Such fear of failure deters from full empowerment of the team.   

Credit must always go to the empowered team; blame always to the boss. 

Why? 

If the project has failed it means only one thing: the empowerment process designed by the boss was flawed. 

Growth from manager to leader is a steep learning curve. The stepping stones are the ability to build a talented, independently functioning, disciplined and empowered team. The alternative is burnout for the boss.

A Riff on Hitting 60 – Waxing Between Leaning-in or Leaning-On

You have hit 60.

You don’t run your own business.

You are neither a top honcho of a business, nor do you sit on boards of business where 60+ is encouraged for their 30+ years of navigating choppy waters and stormy weather or for their simple ability to read a balance sheet.

You are not an investor or representing the principal investor to get a seat on the board of a profitable company. You don’t get sitting fees. Strange that’s what my boss accused me of when denying me the patently-deserved, eagerly awaited promotion and increment. Unfair! Must become a board-member. “If I have not got there yet, I am going to get there sometime.” (To quote Marshall Silversmith)

Digressed. Back to one’s life story.

Nor is an heir hunter knocking on your door to announce that your grand-aunt has left you a million-dollar inheritance.

You have what you thought was a great management education or experience which is of zero relevance now.

Your slow-paced world has been bowled over by the want-it-now-world. Your knowledge-focused pursuits have become a skill-focused nightmare. When someone said, ‘code’ you understood it as something to do with honour. Not C++. Is that English, even? Its bit, byte, byte. A form of Morse code that only computers understand. What language will computers speak to us when they take over the world. Aye! Come here. Aye, go there. Why? I am AI. Algos so yougos! Comprehendo? Marshall Bronzesmith.

Your experience does not count for much in the digital world.

Your boss has his own way to telling you that. He gifts you Marshall Goldsmith’s ‘What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There – How Successful People Become Even More Successful’.

You receive it as a gift. Not as a pink slip that it is meant to be. You read the blurb.

“America’s most sought-after executive coach shows how to climb the last few rungs of the ladder. The corporate world is filled with executives, men and women who have worked hard for years to reach the upper levels of management. They’re intelligent, skilled, and even charismatic. But only a handful of them will ever reach the pinnacle — and as executive coach Marshall Goldsmith shows in this book, subtle nuances make all the difference. These are small “transactional flaws” performed by one person against another (as simple as not saying thank you enough), which lead to negative perceptions that can hold any executive back. Using Goldsmith’s straightforward, jargon-free advice, it’s amazingly easy behaviour to change. Executives who hire Goldsmith for one-on-one coaching pay $250,000 for the privilege. With this book, his help is available for 1/10,000th of the price.”

I always wondered whether Goldsmith was a name he was born with or he marshalled all the resources at his command to become one of the ‘most sought-after executive coach’?

Or he began calling himself ‘Goldsmith’ after a down-in-the-dumps CEO cut him $250,000 cheque from the anticipated golden handshake – one last hurrah before saying goodbye - by putting Marshal’s Plan into action in his firm that has posted four quarterly losses?

I did not ask my boss. I asked myself. How does this book help? It is for successful people who want more success. What about me? I have overrun my time in the company. My boss is desperately hinting that I should make space for some young ‘un.  

I take the book and leave. Leave. You know what I mean? Yes, leave.

With no pressures of work. A book in English not C++. No one screaming, ‘Aye’ this and ‘AI’ that. I read the book. Brilliant stuff!

Over last 110 days I have written 110,000 words. Faith-based articles. Business articles. Stories and even a screenplay. All at www.matchatter.blogspot.com Screenplay on request. My blog has 2,23,946+ views. I am anticipating a gold rush to the blog to bump numbers further.

My articles like this one posted at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathewanthony/detail/recent-activity/posts/ have willy-nilly given me 2007 connections. I have 24 posts with an average view of 17 and one personal story of my daughter cutting my hair has 77 views. It did occur to me if I mention my daughter as having something to do with the other articles perhaps the views may jump.

I stopped looking at views. I realized I am under ‘view siege’. I want to be applauded and appreciated. That is what social media is all about. When you are not then you need to argue that it is an addiction that requires detox. It may even be illegal this desire for likes, comments and claps (the hand coming together one). Morals held high I cease such pursuit. Settled for forced anonymity. Fox and sour grapes. Yes, one of those.  

At 60 I am pivoting. Doing stuff, I can do with ambulation, not of my feet, but of my fingers, on a keyboard (until voice-based typing is error-free). Then back to the put-your-leg-on-the-desktop secretary-dictation days, where a good secretary made you feel you graduated from Oxford. As long as one kept one’s mouth shut no one who read your secretary-crafted memo knew better.

That’s how I got here! Hmmm! Now to get there! Damn, Marshall Gold-Smitten. Thank God I learnt speed typing during summer break in school. Now the only thing faster than my typing is my mind. May it be so to my 90s.

P.S. Mr Goldsmith - all said in jest. Don't sue me and make me famous. I like my anonymity.

What makes for good listening?

Here are my thoughts (hope you're listening): 

1.      Switch off your mobile and put it on mute or insulate yourself and the speaker from all forms of distraction as best as you can

2.      Make eye contact with the person; don't stare at the person

3.      Let your posture suggest you have all the time in the world

4.      When someone interrupts please ask them to wait unless the office is burning down

5.      Let the expression on your face reflect the emotions being expressed by the person (I mean don't grin when the person is talking about her pain

6.      When you have not understood something ask the person to repeat or clarify so that you have understood the person fully and correctly

7.      Know when the person has finished speaking

8.      State your reaction to what the person has said: Interesting; wonderful, shocking; fascinating; enlightening...

9.      Follow it up in line with whatever expression you used; if shocking: so, what happened finally...

10.  Resist the temptation to tell your own story of worse things or better things that have happened to you; instead ask the person to elaborate further to conclude the subject including any suggestions or advice; the end goal is to convey to the person that he or she has been heard and understood, and importantly, it was not a waste of time for the speaker or the listener ("thank you for trusting me to share your pain...); as simple as that

The Yin and Yang of Learning: The OAAO Theory.

An infant abhors status quo.

Fed up of lying on his back or on his stomach, the child makes feeble attempts first and then one day yanks himself on to his side and then his stomach. From flaying his hands and legs to express joy, the child uses it as a lever to change the status quo, quite disruptively.

He discovers that movement is exhilarating. There is a buzz to it. At some point the training wheels go off the tricycle; the bicycle actually stays upright when pedalled.

Four dynamics or levers connote learning: Observation, Analysis, Application and Outcome (OAAO). It's a loop. It is iterative. It builds intuition. It accelerates the OAAO process as long as momentum is maintained.

Once OAAO is set in motion it is meant to go on until and unless an opposite force exerts pressure – friction, wear out, obsolescence. The reason: lack of maintenance and timely replacement of parts. A metaphor for our own learning intensity or deceleration.

We know we are in regression when OAAO operates in reverse. We are not concerned about Outcome, we don’t care to Apply learning, we stop Analysing, and at some point, don’t bother to even Observe. We stop learning when the motivation wears out.

-         No compulsion to learn

-         No clarity on what to learn

-         No ability or impaired ability to learn

-         No interest to learn

Behavioural signs of end of learning: we stop observing what is happening around us or what has happened. Even if we have observed we choose to not analyse it too deeply (rather lean on opinion rather than facts). We stop applying (participate in the act of description, prescription, and value creation), and of course, we are dulled into not seeking any particular outcome.

The Yin and Yang of Learning.

Are you noticing any such signs in yourself? Forewarned is Forearmed. 

A Woman Caught Short of Adultery

A woman was fond of a handsome colleague in the office. He in turn responded to her affection. They found time to spend with each other over lunch, at meetings, office picnics. They were both married. Not to each other, though. That would have been ideal. But that was not the case.

This extra attention and going-abouts between two married individuals to different spouses became a source of concern for someone who knew the spouses of the infatuated couple. The spouses were wonderful individuals themselves who would not give cause to their married partners for such dalliances. It was unfortunate and unnecessary.

The man wondered what to do and bit the bullet. He confided to the woman’s husband of what he was witnessing to make him aware and to do what is considered best in the husband’s view. The husband was clearly taken aback. He thanked his friend knowing the friend’s intention was good. He also recognized that it could not have been easy for his friend to do what he did.

The husband loved his wife. He was wondering where he had fallen short that his wife should seek the affection of another. He wondered if he should take it up with her when they were home. He decided not to. Instead, he spent time in prayer.

The prayer was simple. “Lord, if I am at fault correct me. If not, help my wife not to do what is offensive to you and attract your displeasure and punishment. I only wish your best for her. I do love her as much today as I did when we took the sacred oath of marriage with you in our presence blessing our marriage. Amen.”

The husband’s affection for his wife did not change. Nor his behavior toward her. In fact, he became more sensitive toward her. He was more mindful of her needs and showed his continued affection in different ways. It did not change anything in the office though with the two married colleagues continuing to spend more time with each other, and more often, out of sight of their office colleagues.

The friend checked back with the husband if the wife and husband had addressed the issue. The husband said he did not want to confront his wife and embarrass her. For it could take a turn which he was not prepared for. He said he offered her in prayer to the good Lord. He believed the Lord’s wisdom was infinite and he did not think he should interfere with it.

The friend thought differently. He spoke to the wife now. He told her that he could not help sharing with her husband what he was witnessing in the office. He did not think it was right for her to do what she was doing even if it seemed like an innocent, friendly relationship with a colleague. It was not expected behavior from two married colleagues. It was also causing concern to other colleagues in the office. It was only a matter of time that one of them will be asked to leave the organization when the matter reaches top management’s attention.

The wife asked what was her husband’s reaction when he was told. The friend related what the husband had told him. That he offered her to the good Lord for the Lord’s wisdom is infinitely more than his. He did not want to confront her on this issue or say something that would make their relationship at home a strain for her.

That evening over dinner the wife looked at her husband and said, “I am sorry”. The husband replied, “Don’t think about it for another second”. We are fine.

Our gracious and merciful God, who is slow to anger and rich in forgiveness expects nothing more from us when we sin. Be aware. Sincerely repent. Say sorry. Don’t succumb or permit that sin to persist in our life. Full stop.  

God does not get angry with his creation. He sorrows that we do not wish to live in closeness with Him. That we love another more than we love Him. That when the realization of sin hits us we feel ashamed and run away from God instead of towards Him. When we run away from Him, we run the danger of running even closer to someone who caused us to sin in the first place. Satan, devil, evil spirit. God cannot stop the evil one from prevailing on us. He has given us the free will to choose.

Judas betrayed Jesus for love of money. He believed his sin was so grave that God was incapable of forgiving him. Judas was wrong. He took his own life.  Peter denied Jesus. He had not got over the arrest and Jesus’ submission to the soldiers. Peter had pulled out his sword and cut off the high priest servant Malchus’ ears. He was set to defend Jesus. Such was his love for Jesus.

But Jesus’ acceptance of his own arrest completely unsettled Peter’s expectation of the Messiah, the Son of God. He lost focus. He was not sure for whom had he given up everything. Peter was always known to be impulsive. Was the decision to sacrifice his whole life for this man Jesus who said He was God and yet when the time came to prove the might of God, did nothing of the sort? Was the decision to follow Jesus just another impulsive decision?

Post the resurrection seeing Jesus on the beach by a charcoal fire Peter leaped off the boat and rushed to Jesus. He wanted to fall at Jesus’ feet and say, “I am sorry”. He did not know how to go about it. Jesus did. He helped out Peter through the torment of saying the words.

Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me more than all these (other apostles)? Jesus asked Peter thrice. Peter had denied Jesus thrice. So, one for each time. Peter said, “Lord, you know I do”. Thrice. Peter was ready to take on the mantle of being the first bishop of the church which continues unhindered despite several challenges to this day.

A simple “sorry” is all it takes to be right with your spouse. And, with the spouse of the church. With the Father of creation. With the Holy Spirit. Through Mother Mary, the archangels and all the saints who died in Christ. We through our sincere sorry hope to join the pantheon of saints when we are done with our time on earth.

No sin in our God’s eyes is so grave that his mercy should fall short. Don’t limit God when He blesses. Don’t limit Him to forgive in full, either.