My little niece Prakriti and I share a special bond. I am her ‘other mom’ and she is my ‘baby’. Adulation and special bond mean she is my faithful shadow, and my little lamb whenever I am in Chennai. She follows me around, observing everything I say and do, keenly examining, and making mental notes on my clothes, jewellery, and, er……….. my footwear. It took me a while, and a promise that the day she turns 18, I will buy her, her first pair of stilettos before she agreed to climb off my precarious footwear.
She ensures that she copies every mannerism, instructs her mom to have her hair styled like mine, eats what I eat……….Puts a lot of pressure on me, as my sister keeps warning me to be on my best behaviour and ensure I eat all veggies! Not to mention the not so subtle hints to dress right and speak right!
Prakriti isn’t unique or alone in her desire to copy – it is a very human trait, to do what a favoured individual does – whether a public icon, or a leader at work, or an adored elder in the family!
And therein lies a key to setting desired cultural elements and behaviours in the workplace – smart leaders consciously use role-modelling to their advantage, and not so smart organizations fail to manage this consciously.
I remember, at my previous organization, and at a peer company, both places where frugality and a mindset of economy were desired traits, the big man himself – the founder, the promoter, travelled economy class, took cabs from the airport, refused to own and drive fancy cars, had offices that were the most modest one could imagine ………………………………….and the message was loud and clear. No one dared behave in a different manner, and those with inclinations that were otherwise, were clear that they had to subdue their instinct and conform! Brilliant case of setting desired behaviour by leader’s role modelling it. I doubt if this level of behaviour alignment would have been possible in any other way (not counting policies that can get this done. But then, all desired behaviours can’t be achieved through policies)
But if the behaviour of the leaders contradicts the stated expectations in an organization, what do you think the employees pick up? What do you think they do?
Let me share two examples. A hotel chain that I used regularly, used to proclaim and stress to all employees that customer feedback is like gold. They should value it, they should react to it in a positive manner, and they should go out of their way to respond with speed and to find all ways to resolve if there were issues. Unfortunately, the day I wrote a mail to the named mail id of the General Manager with a feedback on my stay, I got a response from a different id – generalmanager@xyzhotel.com – with a note at the bottom – ‘this is an auto-generated mail, please do not reply to this mail’.
I wonder if the General Manager realises that his employees know that they don’t really need to care about the customer.
In my management trainee days, where a morning meeting of all the heads of department of the hotel was the norm, the only interruption allowed to the meeting, and the only exception to attendance was if someone was with a guest, or if a guest wanted to speak or meet anyone of us. Similarly, Mr Jain, the General Manager, made sure personally that he or one of us, would always welcome and see off the groups who came to the hotel. These were days of numerous tour groups from Europe to India, and they always arrived by road, late into the night; and left, early in the morning – sometimes as early as 4am. There was a roster, and one of us was on it. If we failed to make it, God save us! To be fair, he put himself on the roster too! You think the employees had any doubt as to the importance of taking care, and putting extra effort, into the service of the tour groups?
Many young managers and leaders miss this simple, yet powerful tool of role-modelling; of getting their entire organization to align to what they want them to do, to focus on. They also don’t realise that their every action, behaviour and word, is driving the culture of their organization – and therefore they need to be mindful.
Like the CEO of an airline, who has, despite multiple posts and tweets, doesn’t bother to connect with a disgruntled customer but continues to delegate it to a frontline employee and the customer service department. Despite their slick ads, lofty taglines, and great slogans, I am sure his people will believe that actually, passengers are a necessary evil.
And if you are still sceptical, do this exercise with a partner now. No cheating, go step by step.
Stand in front of your partner. Say the following instructions out loud, and in parallel, demonstrate the actions too.
- I am going to demonstrate a simple exercise that is very good for stiff hands.
- Make a circle with the thumb and index finger of your right hand.
- Hold it in front of your face, about 1 meter away.
- Now slowly, looking at me all the time, bring your hand to your right forehead.
While you say this, ensure YOU bring your hand to your right CHIN.
Well, what happened? Where did your partner’s hand go? Believe me now? Do share your experience 🙂