The kings shall rule........

………..always over the hearts and the subjects would happily do all that the kings desire.

One rules only with the heart and keeps the mind safely tucked away as that is how a successful reign would always be. And this advice is not only for the real kings, but for all those who command men and through them need to give results.

This holds good for all sectors, governmental and private.

Yes, as Gandhi said, it would always remain a mystery as to how someone could belittle his subordinates and feel good about it; practice this belittling daily and thereby achieving perfection in the art of disseminating unhappiness all around. You see such practitioners every day, cutting across sectors and state boundaries, practicing this art to the chagrin of many, and fortunately or unfortunately being easily identified by unhappy faces all around. They are mere bosses, not kings, and do not realize that bosses, people detest and kings they love.   

Even a raised eyebrow of a boss hurts, whereas a raised sword of someone we regard as king is calmly accepted, for the king rules from the heart and the boss, bosses from the mind. The heart is always superior to the mind, yet very few of us realize this fundamental and pass our lives in a state of perpetual unhappiness.

Life is to be led to its fullest and to its fullest it can be led only with happiness all around. Only a king lives this way and one need not be born to a royal family to be a king. He only needs to have a heart that he invariably turns to for advice and rules with, with the mind generally remaining oblivious to whatever is happening in the environment all around.

The quest of heart over mind shall continue and one who places the mind over the heart shall generally remain an unhappy soul, creating more unhappy souls whenever and wherever he interacts with others.

The finest and the most successful top guns have been those who have genuine love and affection for the men working under them. Such officials treat their men as their own men, with respect and compassion. The vagaries of rank are not allowed to come up in their relationship that they really cherish and would not allow to be wasted on petty issues. Ego is farthest from their persona, yet they can take a stand on the right issue, a stand that they would never compromise even at the cost of all that they cherish and hold dear. And they take full responsibility for all that is happening in their domain, without making any attempt to pass even an iota of responsibility to those who work for them. Such officials are kings in the real sense, their domain remains their kingdom. 

Bosses invariably fret over mundane issues, while the kings never miss the larger picture, even while appearing to be engrossed in the routine. And the perpetual attempt of the bosses to please their masters shall never be the style of a king for while a king may have a superior but never a master, nor does he regard someone as one.

How we miss kings in the environment we work, for it is there that we need them the most. The rank inability to get the best out of our men is a situation created by a lineage of bosses, who never had the gumption to be kings. Bosses, who aspired for a position for that is all that identified them, and who only regarded a position as a means of bringing about a positive change in their lives as well as that of their families, not the organization they work for and for whom a position was not a means to an end, but was an end in itself.

How we miss kings who can take a stand for what is right and not acquiesce to unholy demands just to avoid a fleeting inconvenience. How we miss kings who would not sell their soul for petty personal gains and realize that such deals are not really worth it. And how we miss kings who always flaunt their pen and never their tongue, a phenomenon witnessed far more often than desirable.

Where have we gone wrong, perhaps in the grooming of the youngsters in general and our own men in particular. We need to course correct and put value systems and the need to place the heart over mind at the forefront of the norms of the society and organizations.

It is time that the thoughts and deeds of great men like Vivekananda and Gandhi are widely disseminated so that they can be imbibed by a large section of the society.

Bringing such changes takes the toil and patience of decades. Are we ready, yes we have to be, for we need our officials to be kings, not a mere instrument for bossing over subordinates.

Fatal mediocrity!

Mediocrity is dangerous; it is almost fatal if it rules the roost at apex levels in organizations. The boss then resorts to belittling his subordinates almost always thereby ensuring that his mediocre abilities remain shrouded in curtains. Another star strategy is to engulf the entire organization in run of the mill affairs thereby ensuring that rank incompetence in handling major issues never comes to the fore.

It is indeed painful to witness a scenario wherein those manning top positions use abusive language with the officers and staff reporting to them and derive vicarious pleasure in the discomfiture of their subordinates. 

The future of the organization appears rather bleak on witnessing the top guy shrieking at his subordinates in fits of rage. The abusive language and the fits of rage however subside at sixty when the guy suddenly becomes an epitome of dignified behaviour and cherishes the company of very those whom he abhorred till very recently.

Inbreeding and that too in massive dosages is the reason for such behaviour. Injection of outside blood, at apex levels to begin with may give a fresh perspective and also perhaps the realization that shrieks and abuses are not the best way to run organizations.

God help such organizations. Amen!

Of Turnarounds

Air India badly needs a turnaround, but it cannot get one unless it decides to turnaround. Yet the signals that regularly emanate from this "deep in the shit" organization tell a different story. A solid internal reluctance to turnaround despite regular proclamations of the intent by all those successive gentlemen who aspired for and sat on the hot yet cushy seat.

Cushy it is, for it provides an ample opportunity for wining dining and loot by all those who manage this and other "deep in the shit" organizations. The cushy lifestyle that they offer to the top guys ensures that the concern for the organization, especially the welfare of its men takes a back seat. What Air-India needs right now is a "people's guy" as its CEO, not someone from the services who generally has only his own comfort and status in focus, almost always. Yes, it is true that the various services of the nation, including the elite ones produce officers who live for self and die for self with no concern whatsoever for the welfare of the organization, nation or the people despite falling in the category of "public servants", not rulers of the nation that they start imagining they are, sadly from the day one.

My stint as the main honcho of the Delhi division, the largest division of the mighty railway system of the country has reinforced my belief in the goodness and the immense utility of men at large. It has also reinforced my belief that the primary problem of the nation is neither the politicos, nor the unions; it is the bureaucracy that with passage of time has emerged as a self sustaining machinery. The "Officer" class has to take the main blame for the pitiable condition the nation and organizations like the railways and Air India find themselves in.

What was earlier thought of as an impossibility in the division is now regarded as child's play by many. The staff is solidly behind all our initiatives and the unions with their positive support ensure a smooth run for all the developmental measures that have changed the face of the division in a period of just two years. And contrary to popular belief, the politicos never intervened. Yet, the staff continues to be the favorite whipping boy for many belonging to the officer clan, who in my opinion would fail to make it to the cut-off list in any developed nation.

Unless we appreciate and then take steps to realize the tremendous latent potential that men have within them, organizations like the railways and Air India shall continue biting the dust and the unions and the politicos shall continue taking the flak.

Amen!

Dreaming of Utopia

For govt officers, especially those who can be classified as bureaucrats, I often wonder, is it necessary to be rough, unconcerned with humanity, selfish and to treat those under him with total disdain and to suck up to those whom he reports to?

Yes most of us behave in the fashion we should not be behaving in. And the tragedy is that all those who behave in this fashion think that they are right and that this is the only way organizations should be run or handled, except that when it comes to them, they expect their superiors to behave in a different fashion.

Do we really believe from the core of our hearts that human beings perform only when they are mistrusted and shouted at? Is deliverance therefore a function of our vocal chords and not of managerial skills and leadership qualities?

I find it rather strange that a "human being" centric organization like the railways has mistrust of everyone as its USP. Yes there are exceptions, but exceptions do not make the rule. Personally my belief is that the best of humans can only be achieved by total trust and absolute respect. After all, all religions teach us about the oneness of human beings and God, and therefore why there should not be total trust and absolute respect for each other and as a corollary why people shall not put in their best effort in whatever they do.

Call a man a dog, and he behaves like one. Call a man a thief and he behaves like one.

These sub human qualities are what differentiate a developing economy like ours with a developed economy like that of the western world. And these are qualities, traits to be more exact that would forever keep us in the developing league.

I wish things could be changed. I long for an ideal world, a world where everyone is given, by the system the basic dignity and respect that every one of us deserves and has a right to.

Sound like Utopia, is'nt it. And this utopia is to be made a reality by all of us, no lord is going to descend from the heavens to do it for us.