Don’t lead from front, lead from the centre!
By Vivek Sharma
What is a team? Have you ever thought about it? Yes, you must have at one point of time or the other and your ideas, I am sure, would have been limited by the popular definition—“a team is a group of the like-minded to get the work done.”
Well, that is ok as long as it works. But, it has its own flaws too. This will never make you a true team leader. Because, the gang of yes-men will never allow you to find your weak points and thus keep you ill-equipped to face a real work situation!
The word ‘like-minded’ may get you a gang of sycophants, slaves and order-carrying machines who shall promise you skies but shock you with a blow when you expected it the least!
In fact, a team is a group of fit persons for the job. Of course, many of them may not think as you do and yet prove to be an asset for you. So welcome the persons who dare to differ, on the basis of merit and not out of ego! Because, they shall break your mindset and force you to rethink, revisit and revise your way of doing things. Such a team of diverse talents is good for the team leader and the organisational setup as it shall always keep you honing your skills and never allow you to be a stagnant pool which stinks more than it quenches nobody’s thirst!
Show-off workers
But, what is happening around is that the so-called team leaders only want a team of sycophants, slavish survivors and show-off workers. Who are these show-off workers? This is a new term. Yes, I had coined it when I was working with a leading media group of the country after a careful observation of workers and their working style.
The show-off workers are great actors. They have a great sense of timing as to when to act busy without work to convince the team leaders of their dedication. But, as a matter of fact, their act is a tool to escape team leaders’ eyes and the load of work at hand. They shake in their pants when they are in a real work situation where the conditions don’t allow them to show-off and escape! They stand fully exposed in such a situation. This is the time when they will request the talented worker to bail them out of the situation. Well, it only shows the team leader the worker who really works. So he should notice it and reshuffle his team merit-wise.
Tips for team leaders
Hunt for diverse talents instead of show-off dependables! You should know that a talent will always challenge your decisions for good and back you when he thinks you are right. He will be a yes-no man instead of yes-yes man! Such talents are difficult to team together, but it is not impossible to orbit them functionally if you go by the centric system of management instead of the vertical one.
The best way to be the team leader is to choose to be at the centre—always interacting with your team, learning from them and giving them easy tips. This co-operative work group is called a team. But in a real life scenario, a team leader has the ego of being the boss and hence he does monkey-hopping on workers’ heads instead of doing the axil job for the work wheel.
So the centric system of management is always good for the team leaders, team members and the talents. Because, it makes the best use of all. I would suggest never lead from the front, top or behind. Lead from the centre!
What does Gita say?
Can you first answer me who is the team leader of the Pandava group? Yes, it is Krishna. A team member is best represented by Arjuna, who dares to challenge Krishna’s decision, puts many questions to Him and even highlights how His words don’t match and are confusing him only. He seeks clarity on the matter and doesn’t just act like a yes-yes man. Krishna, like a leader at the centre of the team, clarifies Arjuna’s doubts and makes use of his talent for his own good and the good of the kingdom. Krishna is a centric planner. He doesn’t get pissed off by Arjuna’s nasty questions. He patiently reveals His talents and manifests His excellence to Arjuna in order to bring the best out of Arjuna and not just egoistically proving that He knows more than Arjuna.
There are many places where Arjuna literally says Krishna Your words are confusing.
ज्यायसी चेत्कर्मणस्ते मता बुद्धिर्जनार्दन ।
तत्किं कर्मणि घोरे मां नियोजसि केशव ।। ३/१
If you hold wisdom is higher than action then why are you employing me into this intense and cruel activity?
व्यामिश्रेणेव वाक्येन बुद्धिं मोहयसीव मे।
तदेकं वद निश्चित्य येन श्रेयो अहमाप्नुयाम् ।। ३/२
Your sentences are mixed up. This is confusing my intellect. Please state with clarity what is best for me to do.
In reply, Krishna clarifies Arjuna’s doubts. And later, He tells Arjuna that the only difference between Him, the team leader and Arjuna is the ability to effectively implement experiential knowledge. He has it all and Arjuna lacks in it a bit. “There is no difference between me and you, Arjuna. We have been together through various life experiences and cycles. In fact, all our life experiences are the same. But, तान्यहं वेद सर्वाणि न त्वं वेत्ति परन्तप—I know them all fully and you don’t—knowing here means the practical skill and not bookish wisdom. So, the difference between the team leader and the team worker can only be of perception and implementation. That much is okay. But, had Krishna said ‘I know it, you don’t know it, so do as I say,’ then He wouldn’t have proved to be a good team leader.
Who is a team leader
A team leader is like Krishna, who takes the responsibility of his members like a driver takes the responsibility of taking the passenger to his destination. He gives direction, not instructions. He drives the team in the direction himself. He doesn’t just instruct them with loads of commands and himself sits in the AC chamber. Krishna was very much there in the middle of the battlefield with Arjuna and other Pandavas like the axil of the wheel and not like a load on their heads. He was responsible for bringing the best out of each. And the outcome was Arjuna regained his kingdom—the target was achieved.
Krishna defines how a team leader follows the centric system of management the right way. He says there is none above me —मत्तः परतरं नान्यत्किन्चिदस्ति धनन्जय। It is here Krishna demolishes the vertical system of management. He says there is none above me—no verticality. He refuses to place Himself vertically. Now where does He place Himself? At the centre—अहमात्मा गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थितः । How does He keep His team together? Krishna says I keep all strung together as in a garland—मयि सर्वमिदं प्रोतं सूत्रे मणिगणा इव।। मणिगणा is a coded word. It means like magnets attach themselves to each other—opposites attracting. Therefore, He is simply saying that a team leader should be at the centre of his team and keep all diverse talents together through the string of motivation or the formula which keeps two magnets together.
Think!