One often hears about the 'vision' thing in corporate corridors. Many times organizations witness shake-up and chaos because a new 'vision' has dawned upon the leader. Nothing wrong is having a 'vision' and doing what it is necessary to realize the vision in reality. Leaders are ultimately worth their 'vision' and its meticulous execution.

The worrying aspect about 'vision' is that it is useless if all the 'visioning' is confined to a select group of leaders at the top. 'Vision' must percolate down to the bottom of the organization if it has to become a reality! And this is one aspect where the leadership often fails and induces unnecessary confusion and chaos in the organization just because everyone is not aligned to the vision.

If the leader develops a new 'vision', his most important responsibility is to educate everyone in the organization from shop-floor worker to salesman at the lowest rung to the administrative clerk to the senior managers about his 'vision', how he is going to turn the vision into reality, and how everyone in the organization has a part to play in realization of the vision. Unless everyone in the organization, irrespective of the hierarchy, is aligned to the 'vision', it will remain a chimera in the head of the leader!

The 'vision' has to be vociferously and enthusiastically communicated to the extent that it is embedded at the back of the mind of every spoke of the wheel that keeps the organization running. In the end, the power of a 'vision' is as good as the power of persuasion of the communication that helps the 'vision' being owned by one and all in an organization!

Change management is resistance management. Most change management programs fail not because people don't see merit in them but because people fear about the impact of change on their lives and put up resistance.

The first and the foremost job of a leader leading a change program is to communicate and generate confidence. There is a catch here. If the communication is focused at the group, chances of eliminating resistance is low. Communication has to be at an individual level to assuage fear, explain the change, its positive impact on the individual, and sell the concept to bring the individual on the board!

Human nature is such that majority of people think about their own welfare before they think about their group or organization. Only when welfare of self is achieved do they think of welfare of others. A leader of a change management program has to keep this in mind. If he wants the change program to succeed, he has to take change management to individual level to win confidence and participation.

Once an individual is convinced about the merits of a change program, not only will he overwhelmingly participate in it but will also sell its virtues to others in his peer group. A positive word of mouth can go a long way in helping a change program succeed. While a negative word of mouth can simply halt it.

The mantra to successfully lead change management is to engage the people at an individual level so that the change actually flows from the bottom up which is owned by the people themselves. Any thing forced is likely to be stalled with even greater force!

A couple of weeks ago, I tweeted a satire on the restrictive and regressive Internet policies of many companies. People who have seen the blockbuster movie Sholay would get it.

Company: Mere pass policy hai, access control hai, site blocking capability hai, tere pass kya hai?

Employee: Mere pass GPRS hai!!

I can't help but laugh when I come across Internet policies of companies which aim at blocking access to mail, social networking sites, and other websites. It doesn't work and in future also will never work. I, like many others of my generation, don't need office Internet to browse web, check mails, or indulge in social networking. My PDA phone is good enough to keep me connected to the world through mail, twitter, facebook, orkut, et al.

Today we are shifting towards an era when mobile phone would be the real convergence device for uniting telephony, Internet, and entertainment. Anybody who thinks of blocking access to Internet in this day and age is living in a fool's paradise.

The bigger issue to focus on is building trust at workplace. Days of restrictive policies to induce desired behavior among employees is over. Today we are faced with a generation which is interested in participative culture based on trust and empowerment. This generation doesn't need to be told when to play and when to work. Generally they are responsible enough if trusted with their capability. But the moment you try to control them through restrictive policies, they may just revolt and try to find a way or two to defy the grand policies in place. With the technology and knowledge available, they in all likelihood would succeed. And if they don't, they will quit and move to another company. Either way the loss is of the company.

Instead of investing time and effort in designing regressive policies, it would be much better if companies used same time and energy in making the workplace more trustful, more participative, and full of positive energy.

A week back, a reality stuck me while I was watching dahi-handi festival in Mumbai. Heroes stand tall on the robust shoulders of non-heroes. I was astonished to notice time and again that after succeeding in breaking the dahi-handi, although the whole team was cheered, it was the Govinda at the top of the human pyramid who was the darling of his team as well as the crowd! Despite the whole thing being 110% a team effort, where every member's contribution was equally vital, it was the Govinda who broke the dahi-handi who was the hero.


Heroes are everywhere and they are cheered and glorified and many a time are credited with the entire success of an effort even when contribution of many others was equally important. But heroes have a responsibility on their shoulders. They have to remember that they are heroes because many other lent their strong shoulders for the hero to stand and perform his astonishing feat. Without the able shoulders on which he stands, a hero is as good as useless.

So heroes, be humble if you want to stay a hero for long! Acknowledge that alone you are good for nothing and credit your team for helping you succeed. Keep your team in good humour and your team will ensure that you are always in the limelight. The moment you start thinking that you are a hero because of your own talents alone, it would be the start of the end of your status as a hero.

"To manage or to coach? People will manage the work. By attempting to manage people you are limiting their potential. A manager is a title, it does not guarantee success. Coaching is an action, not a title and actions will result in successes!"

- Catherine Pulsifer

"Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous patience."

- Hyman Rickover

"Insecure managers create complexity. Frightened, nervous managers use thick, convoluted planning books."

- Jack Welch

"A manager is responsible for the application and performance of knowledge."

- Peter Drucker

"If you want to make good use of your time, you've got to know what's most important and then give it all you've got."

- Lee Iacocca

"Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage but simply because they have never organized their energies around a goal."

- Elbert Hubbard