It is all the same everywhere
India Tourism Development
Corporation, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation, Air India
and now Railways – what a journey it was that despite my constrained
capabilities placed me as the head honcho of these great organizations.On the
31st last, I departed the hallowed portals of the Rail Bhawan, a
satisfied soul ready to relax in the sun and bask in the reflected glory that
head honcho’s generally get regardless of their contribution. And the only
thought at the moment of departure was gratitude for the mercy of the almighty
who gave me different ways of serving this great nation of ours.
I feel forty, have the physical
fitness of twenty and am actually sixty. Maybe I still have many years of
slogging left in me, yet the intense desire to contribute to this wonderful
nation of ours, and god willing and health permitting, this desire would keep me
working regardless.
It has been a great learning,
almost thirty nine years of it, with the diversity of the federal government,
state government, a hotel company, a tourism company, an aviation company and
the largest organization of the world, all providing a different and an
exciting playfield. All of them were different as well the same. The outputs
were different, yet the inputs were almost the same and why not. It is almost
always about handling the three M’s within a defined time frame all synchronized
to achieve the desired objective.
Air India was indeed the toughest
nut to crack, not because it is of the toughness of the nut casing but because
of the huge debt it piled up during its attempted nosedive into oblivion, a
dive that could be successfully yet temporarily halted by bringing out the best
of its men and also its machines. And at the root of the dive was always a
management that was as distant from the ground as the moon is to the sun. The stark
absence of a ground connect and a decision making process that would put to
shame even the word “complexity”, together conspired to pull down an
organization that in the past ruled the skies with impunity. I left the glory
of the skies convinced that the airline still has in itself a lot that could
propel it to emerge as the leader that it had always been till a decade back.
And the stint in the heart of
Incredible India was not work but an affair, an emotional one at that. One
tends to fall in love with the central indian state of Madhya Pradesh that was indeed
crafted by the gods with tourism in mind. Yet the infrastructure and image foisted
on me at the time of my arrival was at wide variance with what perhaps was the
intent of the gods, who as some publicity campaigns loudly proclaimed had ensconced
themselves in the southern state of Kerala as their own country. Realizing the
difficulties in changing the place of lodging, we resolved to create a tourism
eco-system that would enable the gods to take a holiday whenever they wished to.
And so “the heart of incredible India was born” with the state grabbing the
bulk of national tourism awards since then. And again it was all and only about
getting the best out of the men who manned tourism.
Running ITDC, the largest hospitality
and tourism company of its time, provided a thrill of another kind. Competing
against highly successful chains like the Taj and ITC that too in the aftermath
of the 9/11 and in the process attempting to pull the company out of the abyss
it found itself in, was an immense challenge. The glamour of the hotels
shadowed their real poverty borne out of years of losses and the long faces of
the men manning the desks in the company reflected the tremendous amount of
focus that the human resource had been craving for. Yet the company, especially
the iconic Ashok Hotel slowly turned around despite being put on block and the
downturn that the tourism sector had been witnessing those days. To the chagrin
of many, the men pulled the company out of the pits and started walking erect
once again.
And till recently the railways.
It was a ballgame of another kind. The largest organization in the world that
has a great attached to its name has been a victim of its own creation, its own
highly capable but control centric bureaucracy almost choked the organization
leading to unfortunate incidents, infrastructure deficit and a low public image.
Its highly capable men were constricted by a machinery that made delivery,
other than the routine of course, impossible. And the panacea was
transformation, transforming the culture, processes and structure, a no mean
task by any standards. Yet a beginning could be made by bringing focus and
concern for the human resource, delegating authority and beginning to
de-complicate the over complex machinery. Reinforcing the supremacy of
deliverance over processes and that of the human resource over the other M’s,
while at the same time stressing the need for honesty in all our dealings
started making the difference, and hopefully this shall continue in the overall
national interest.
I savored the journey as much as
the fruits of it. Despite treacherously long work hours, the tremendous love
and affection showered by employees of almost all strata kept me going right
through.
My biggest learning during the
journey has been that life is much bigger than everything else – a human soul
is not to be wasted, discarded or pulled down. Getting the best out of your men
is the only strategy that the top management should follow, rest the men would
find out and implement. The established supremacy of the human resource over
all other resources needs to be accepted.
That impeccable integrity is the
most powerful ingredient that any organization aspiring for success should
ingrain itself with was a thought that got reinforced repeatedly, with the
realization that integrity cannot be a strategy, but has to become a way of
life for the organization as a whole and also its constituents.
I learnt that it is not merely
bad decisions that kill organizations, indecision is the most powerful sure and
silent killer.
I realized that morale of the men
and the pride they have in the organization is everything.
And the inability of the top
management to stand up for what is right and correct what is wrong, is
invariably the biggest malaise that organizations generally have.
It has been a tremendous journey
and now as it comes to a close, my head bows down to all
my men who indeed madeliving itselfworth the while.
Sir, Indeed it is a privilege that you with your wisdom and heart centered approach have come back to Air India...
ReplyDeleteDefinitely it is a Karmic connection...and your faith in the goodness and striving of the human spirit.
Change is in the air and Air India vibrates strongly to it.
With the exception of a few who think that Air India is theirs not to love and cherish but to use for personal gain ,fame and power
Yes, you also need to identify the individual frustration of those who seek to control for personnel ego gratification...rather than development of the collective consciousness.
Unless you identify and heal these disgruntled elements we would be stepping two feet forward and back track three ...
Human resource ceases to be a resource when the roots are bogged down in internal conflicts and domination of the ones on those who are not empowered.
The win win can only be created with honest and helpful feed back from the grass roots.
Stay blessed Sir....my prayers are always with you
Sir, Indeed it is a privilege that you with your wisdom and heart centered approach have come back to Air India...
ReplyDeleteDefinitely it is a Karmic connection...and your faith in the goodness and striving of the human spirit.
Change is in the air and Air India vibrates strongly to it.
With the exception of a few who think that Air India is theirs not to love and cherish but to use for personal gain ,fame and power
Yes, you also need to identify the individual frustration of those who seek to control for personnel ego gratification...rather than development of the collective consciousness.
Unless you identify and heal these disgruntled elements we would be stepping two feet forward and back track three ...
Human resource ceases to be a resource when the roots are bogged down in internal conflicts and domination of the ones on those who are not empowered.
The win win can only be created with honest and helpful feed back from the grass roots.
Stay blessed Sir....my prayers are always with you