Management
Leadership lessons from Barrack Obama
As
the economic cycles of boom and bust are shrinking, so is the cycle of
developing new knowledge on management. After all, new paradigms on management
develop with the new experiences in the market place. The economic down
turn of 2008 has thrown up new knowledge and experience for the management
researchers and professionals to develop.
One of the major but mandarin topics for the discipline of management
has been "leadership". In tough times, leadership makes all the difference.
But what all qualities should a leader possess? For developing further
knowledge on leadership, one need not confine just to the business world.
It can be a good idea to look beyond the business per se and learn from
the leadership experiences of other poeple. U.S. President Barrack Obama
has so far impressed most of the world community and remains a good example
for lessons on leadership. The following would highlight his leadership
style.
Table:
Leadership lessons from Barrack Obama
•
Leadership is influence
• Leadership is all about empowering others and realizing them
to make impact
• Technology is an ally
• Use it to reach your supporter (‘change we can believe
in’)
• The ability to stay calm under pressure is a greater quality.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment.
• It is all about connecting (with your audience)
• Stable strategy + flexible tactics + victory |
•
Be comfortable in your own skill.
• Develop your communication skill
• Spend quality time crafting your speeches
• Practice, practice, practice
• Deliver with push
• Connect with your audience
• Stick to the message (‘change we need’) www.barackobama.com
• You will get far with the right team
• You learn more by lessons
• Be your own story teller (“the audacity of hope- thoughts
of the modern dream)
• A leadership is a dealer in hope –Napoleon |
How
good is laying off people during slow down
A large number of Indian companies are facing the heat of slow down in global businesses in U.S. and Europe. The top Indian IT companies are no exception to this rule. It is learnt that the top six IT companies (SWITCH) have instructed their senior officials at the top to take a year off, since there has not been any addition of fresh clients to their businesses.
Global economic slow down is hurting the top and the bottom line of Indian businesses, largely dependent on global orders. Sure enough the current slow down is the most severe and deepest since the Second World War. Yet just as good times of last six to seven years did not last for ever, bad times will also pass over.
The question is that whether indiscriminate layoffs and yellow cards being shown to employees is the right strategy for companies which have a war chest of several billion dollars.
Companies are desperate to save money in bad times. But whether there would be any savings at all by firing employees in the long term interest of the company? The past experience of such slow down has been that the real cost to the companies indulging in indiscriminate firing of staff in order to save cost rather turned down to be very costly.
First of all, companies indulging in laying off face a huge problem of reputation and image. In good times, they will never attract the best of people who would otherwise avoid picking up any opportunity in a company having such a policy. Since India is becoming a knowledge hub, getting the best of talent is essential for the world class companies. Therefore, companies laying off people will definitely face a long term problem of getting good talent in good times.
One alternative step followed by world class companies trying to maintain reputation is that they allow their workers to move out temporarily or encourage them to join charity or other similar work on paid basis. If companies take care of their employees in bad times, the reward will come by way of greater loyalty in good times.
One of the greatest dangers of layoff is that a company can be losing a great future leader in someone who is moving out. One does not know how an employee will grow after 20 - 25 years and therefore it could lose some great leaders in the process of laying off people.
Thirdly in good times, the companies will face automatic problem getting experience of knowledgeable workers. If it did not build capacity from the bottom, the crunch can be more severe in medium to long run.
The fourth problem is psychological. Workers, who are laid off, face adjustment problems, when they join some other company. Their medical bills go up and they may not be as committed.
Fifthly, cutting down on costs by way of lay off may not really help the goal of maintaining share prices in the stock market. While the financial experts may try to boost their profits by cutting their costs in such a manner, the stock market may not factor such profits keeping in mind that company may be rated badly on other measures.
When the bad times roll over and the economy turns around, the cost and delays of hiring and training employees may turn out to be heavy. Companies which hold down their workers will simultaneously do better than those who implemented the indiscriminate firing policy. The example of North West Airlines which faced tough times in hiring pilots, who were fired during lean period is quite a notable example. They could not meet the requirement of flying to different destinations later.
In nutshell, before firing people in bad times (particularly by Indian
IT companies which run on brain ware), better options must be explored
for the alternative means of finding appropriate and suitable jobs for
their employees within the company.
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