A Frog's Tail - The Last Chapter ( Building Passionate Organization)

As we came inside, he looked at me and said” Are you learning some thing new my boy”. I was quick to respond “absolutely Sir, I don’t think I would have learned all this in span of some hours”.

Sanjey….. Remember this! no matter how capable you are, how great you are, no matter what sort of attitude, skills, intellectual ability you carry… Nothing works when we don’t have the right plat form. There is an immense power, talent which is not being used on this earth. I truly feel sad about the situation around us… I truly hope that we have that environment where we at our best, where we do what we all like to do, where we feel great about living. Life is not living for hundred years, even if you live for one day…. Living every second is life, and you can see, doctors, engineers, professors, businessman, sportsmen, writers, but you hardly can find people who really live….  That brings us to the last but not the least stage of Employee Development and I call that as Nature….

I could feel his energy all over the bus; I felt he might have been the man I was waiting to meet. I could not believe that I m with such a superb human being. God is mysterious isn’t it? I felt as a real frog which Swamy Vivekananda Mentioned in his great speech in Chicago…

Sanjey….. When I say Nature (He said this word with such warmth and calmness) “I mean the environment in an organization… Environment in an organization refers to the forces that impact and employee. Both internal and external factors affect Employee Development and Employees..  There has been many reason why Training and employee development doesn’t succeed and almost everything boils down to Nature or Organizational environment. Jim Collins in his book called “Good to Great” perfectly defined how to build a fun loving environment. Where employees build relationship with other peers and meet, socialize during and after work.

Whatever you have learned so far wouldn’t be fruitful if you don’t create Nature (Environment) to explore more about themselves and their new found skills.

You cannot learn swimming by reading about it, you need a pond or a swimming pool to practise and make it as a character so that next time when you are in water you are able to swim. Every organization is good at teaching people about swimming but they are bad at building a pond or swimming pool or even in guiding employees about nearby lake….. and he stopped ….

Deep inside me I was feeling how true it is, I myself had gone through many trainings about leadership, employee development but when I m back to my desk. We all said together, let’s forget everything and start doing what we use to do.

I went ahead and asked him ‘ Sir, how do you think we can build a great Nature (environment) where people feel valued, creative, and where people can express?

He answered with such charm, I felt as if he already knew the question.. Sanjey... 99% of people are introvert, the reason why they are.. They are taught self worth from the very early age, but they have never learned to value others and their Ideas.. That’s why I talked about teaching them Humility, then I talked about Uncovering The Hidden Talent, Matching The Skill-Set, and then we talked about Achievable Goals… Humility will help them to realize others worth, worth of working in a team….

Let us discuss about how we build a great Nature, earlier you mentioned that you dad is a farmer…

I said “yes Sir, no doubt about that…

What does your Dad once after sowing? He asked.

I told” Sir if he sees any weeds and unwanted plants he will remove that….. Because as I mentioned earlier they will harm growth of the plant..

Exactly remove bad influences from the organization, which affects employees... If you like to build a great Nature and it must start from very early stage of an employee life in the organization.

Hire Right People………..  People who have Humility, empathy, discipline, integrity, honesty, Conviction, who have Vision…..  Once you have right people in the bus then give them the direction and purpose they will drive.

Give importance to creativity and innovation - As I mentioned earlier, Its Knowledge, Motivation, Environment which can bring the best out of people.. Let put some more light on this topic, Knowledge is what you know and how much know… Motivation is what motivates to do something voluntarily…. People become more creative when they feel intrinsically motivated… Remember money is not always the key to creativity… Follow what Maslow once said “You can only create an environment where people feel motivate, you cannot motivate people”.

Create Employee Friendly environment – Employees interact with their managers and supervisor more than any other department. Now consider this A Fortune magazine survey some years ago found that nearly 75 per cent of employees have suffered at the hands of difficult superiors. “Companies Hire employees but employees leave Managers”… Now this Human technique which we have discussed today must flow from Top Management, they should learn because Humility is the Foundation to Build a Fabulous Organization. People like if some one who treats them as important, they are social beings, they like people who treat them as they are also part of this very world….

Well I can recall how I met a person one day, he was a well educated human being as some are.. He had a mysterious mustache and hair.. I suppose when I saw him first time, I realized that Chimpanzee’s are our real ancestors… till then I never believed … I heard as mentioned earlier in a story they are the most smartest apart from Human.. He was looking exactly like that….. A smart guy with hair all over…. I m not kidding and he smiled… well I hardly had guts to smile…

This gentleman with so much of hair had one thing in common….  THE certificates…. He laughed this time…. I was curiously listening to him..

He talked for hours and he never gave a clue whether he liked me or not…. I felt I really met a man of intellect but I still remember how I felt after meeting him. I was confused and I m sure he was as well… he continued…

The reason why I said this story is because no one likes a confused man, a confused man and a confused manager is exactly like the rubber of a ship which knows nothing…

Let me derive the moral out of this story before we get in to the dreamy world of being great and creating a passionate world.. he took a sip of water from his bottle, which was labeled as Bisleri….

Never make a leader or manager who is so confused, people like a leader or a manager who is upfront they don’t like snakes.. Can you dream of sleeping with a snake ever..?? And he paused……

I hardly had an answer, just to prove that even I study about management and leadership I let a verse come of my mouth “A wicked wife, a false friend, a saucy servant and living in a house with a serpent in it are nothing but death. (Chanakya Arthashastra)

The wise old man said Bravo “People like wise men, and a wise man never had any mustache are hair to hide… Make them managers and leaders who have integrity, confidence, honesty, conviction of sailing through the tough winds. People never like a man hiding behind hair, “make them managers and leaders who can put people before the process”…… “A smooth sea never made a good sailor”….. And he felt like as if he made the point….

I realized by then we must make managers or leaders who has proven record, who really know the value of being human… never make a leader who sailed through a smooth sea… he can never be able to sail through tough times….. “Tough time’s never last but tough people do”….

Bus was moving so fast and time was flying I really wanted a time machine to stop clock ticking… He went and said “lend me ears and listen, “People like people, they don’t like managers”….. And almost all the time people think Managers are not People because they are Managers”… I felt I really want to spend some more time with my new mystic old Leadership Guru, I presume he knew everything about leadership and how to lead people..

Sanjey I want to wrap things up, we will soon reach our destination.. Let me not waste our time.

Pay right salary for the right position - This is an interesting subject to discuss how much salary should I pay so that person is content. Sanjey. If you don’t mind tell me how much you want to earn?

Sir.. I suppose I need money to manage my expenses, house, food, and some savings for tough times “ I have heard that we must save money for tough times, even ants save food grains for rainy season”.. I paused..

Well are you happy with the salary you are earning?

I said.. “A man can never be happy Sir and I m a man… I laughed…

What can you make you happy? He said

Sir I suppose I need more money because I m hoping that I should get married and settle down.. Things have gotten expensive these days..

How much more?

I don’t know…

Good in Buddhism they say “confusion is happiness”.

Are you happy with what you are doing now?

Kind off Sir I always feel that I can do better and a better Job, May be some thing into leadership and Management.. I Stopped

Everyone things he is better than others, the real problem with us Sanjey is that… We don’t know what we want. I can guarantee you.. You would be a happy person with the same salary if I offer you a job which you like the most.. Perhaps writing Job, would you like it? He questioned…

I don’t know why I said “but I loudly shouted rather … Yes Sir, you are true, I can even work for less money if some one offers me one. And I said “I’d rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate. – George Burns…. Some passengers in the bus got up as if they heard some animal crying… when they saw me they just sat back.

 Sanjey… The problem with us is that we think we can motivate a man by offering more money. “A man gets motivated when he sees a purpose in what he is doing”.. That’s why we must use HUMAN Technique to create a Passionate Organization.

Sir, what do you think is the right salary for any Human?

There isn’t right or wrong salary; the salary should never to high nor too low. A man must be able to manage his life, with basic pleasure and a purpose to achieve is the biggest salary you can ever pay anyone … A man with purpose can do anything for nothing…

I was literally awakened by what I heard “I remember how much I use to enjoy when I was earning Rs 1200 per month, I never missed a movie. But now I earn more and I don’t remember when I watched a movie last time… I felt what my new Mentor said was very apt, I felt some one woke me up from a long sleep.

Treat them as Human - Last thing I want to talk about is treating Humans as Human, when I treat them as people I mean consider them as your real asset. Make it happen; when your employees contact different departments they should be treated with utmost respect and humility. They should make them feel important, every interaction they have with other teams must make them feel they are valued and honored to be part of such a great team. Fun needs to be part of the work, take the time out, play games, and contribute some hours for community work every month. (Don’t ask them to come on weekends for community work no one likes it)

Now you see it’s easy to say people are our assets, let me tell know some interesting thing which I noticed recently. There are companies who doesn’t offer proper benefits like cab service, even if they offer. Employees need to wait for hours and hours to get a cab.. If this is the case then are you treating them as important … not at all then why do you expect to build a great organization. These are very small issues however as Mark Twain once said “Small things make perfection but perfection is not a small thing”.

There are certain things which we have discussed earlier which would help you to build a Passionate Organization… We talked about Uncovering The Hidden Talent, Matching The Skill-Set and Achievable Goals.  Most importantly teaching Humility and Creating a Great Nature..

This technique needs to build in from the day one, don’t expect anything to happen overnight.. Every thing takes time, success comes after enough experience and challenges.. And he took a long breath with compassion, I can still say that he was savoring every atom of the air… what a passion, calmness and every seemed like a stand still for while…

As he complete we were almost reaching the destination I suppose It was midnight 12:30. I must admit that It was one of the most memorable day and hour for me. I have never learned so much in a span some hours, I never realized how we reached the destination.. The city was litten up and was looking like a happy bride. I saw people waving hands at the bus, small kids still awake.. In the near slum I noticed that there was fight between husband and wife and a small kid is trying to protect her mom. As we reached the bus stand I was feeling like crying and never wanted to get down, I don’t know why cried but I did.. I wiped tears from one hand held my bag from another.

As we were walking down he said “ Sanjey… Before we say good bye to each other I want to tell you some thing.. As you know we are very selfish people and I had this treasure and many more hidden in me. I never shared with any one and I m feeling sad about that.. Promise me that you will also remain selfish and do not share this with others… Never disclose my name to any one, never mention my name and think that we had never met…He also said what Buddha said “Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

He could see that I was crying, I was shocked with his request of not sharing this Gems and forgetting him. “Sir I don’t think I can do that”…  I paused and cried more..

He said ‘My boy there is nothing called mine in that, it was all given by this world and I m giving it back”.. I used this HUMAN technique which we discussed so far in my own company and it worked miraculously… but I never shared this with anyone….

Still I was persistent about not sharing with others, can I at least use it. I asked…

He said “Sure you can but don’t share this anyone, the more selfish you are… the lesser the competition for you… and he smiled vaguely..

I won’t share with any Sir, I promised… mean while we were at the bus stand, I suppose it was built recently.. Still I could smell Asian paint, it was clean and tide. I was surprised to see at first however I felt happy that we are growing… there were couple of shops which were open, a guy was selling cigarettes and other guy barged in between and said chai chai chai chai…

I asked my new friend” Sir would you like to have Chai?....

He said “No Sanjey, Its time for me to go…. And shouted Auto…. Auto…

Auto rickshaw drove like Michael and parked next to him with in some seconds.. We thanked each other… and he hugged me.. I felt so comfortable and warm, I felt as baby Eskimos (they keep in a carrier made of animal hides, close to the mother’s body, and sometimes directly against the mother’s skin). He held me tight and said ‘Sanjey… remember there is nothing kills more people than Arrogance, never grow arrogance but grow your knowledge”.. God may bless you.. he said and he hopped in Rickshaw for the ride..

I stood all alone; I think I never felt so lonely ever in my life. There are times when I was alone but this time was really alone… I felt like a small kid in the topless bar, a small kid who was getting separated from his beloved mother. And like a calf separated from cow. I could not believe all these things are happening with me. I always felt I was a strong man, but that day I realized how we feel when we loose the most important person.  My agony was all over me, it slowly started drizzling.. I recalled what Chaplin once said “I like to walk in rain, because I don’t want people to see me crying”… I walked to nearby shop and bought a cigarette and tea, I was all alone, very alone……………

I saw as rickshaw moved out of Bus stand, my old friend was waving hands at me… I kept looking and waving hands at him, I waved hands in peculiar manner on that day.. Rather than waving as good bye I was waving my hands as you call some one… I still remember I kept on looking until he went of my sight, I kept on looking I was thinking if he could come back and spend some more time with me…  I know life has to move on, we are born alone, live alone, and die alone… what a life…

Its been two years since I met my friend, I don’t know how should I address him.. Should I call him a Saint, a leadership guru, a mentor, a coach, an intellect, or my friend.. I suppose he would be glad if I call him HUMAN... He was the first Human I have ever met.. My Grandpa told me when I was small, this world needs more Human than ever….

I never wanted to share this story with any one, I wanted this to be a closed chapter in my life. But recently while talking about Employee Development I could not hold HUMAN gems for long. And I had to share this with my friends, so I m sharing this with you as well..

Once you read this story the only request I have, please do not share this with any one else… I broke the Promise which I never wanted, however as some one said “knowledge grows when you share with others”. I wish my friend reads this book and forgives for callousness of an adolescent kid..

I don’t whether I will meet the only HUMAN I ever again, I don’t know whether he will forgive me or not. But all I want to say is hopefully the HUMAN Gem transforms some of us to serve the society as whole. I m hoping that the HUMAN technique helps us to build a passionate organization, and make us the passionate about our work, and make sure we put people before process.  The greatest Hindu saint as for as I know beautifully spoke “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success..

I have taken the Idea of HUMAN technique to change my life, and change the way I think, to change the way I work, to change the way I see things around…..

The End…..

Thank you for taking your time and reading my book. Please share your thoughts @ Sanjey.meghavath@gmail.com.