Has the art of management lost its soul?

Look around and you will have to look no further to see managers, leaders, HR practitioners and subject matter experts doling out advice on the importance of negotiation and the art of posturing. It is spreading like an epidemic across layers of management and seems to destroying the human fundamentals of honesty and transparency on which the art of management, was once truly based.

True leaders displayed human qualities – the ability to feel, to connect and to inspire and not merely say all the right things and posture well. Seems like this is where we are at today. Almost every discussion today between individuals, professionals or firms seems to have an underlying play (pretty apparent at most times) of who can get ‘the’ better deal. Whether it’s an employee discussing his/her future with his/her boss or management trying to retain someone by showing them they matter or an M&A or something as simple as checking someone for performance/non-performance ; it seems to be happening in all spheres of professional engagement today.

This isn’t to say ‘honesty’ and ‘transparency’ aren’t being practiced but there is selective disclosure (and more lip service at times) being exercised with the intent of having the ‘upper’ hand always. No question about the ability to negotiate and posture being important, but does it need to transcend every facet of professional relationships. Does every relationship need to be transactional?

Absolutely not and in my opinion there is still some soul left in the smaller entrepreneurial outfits that exist today. Large companies and their over reliance on processes and their need to always protect the business first doesn’t allow for it.

I strongly believe the larger companies need to figure out a way to bring the ‘soul’ back because a large part of mankind today works for these companies and learns from them on a daily basis. Society has to improve in order to overcome the current crisis the world faces; and I’m not referring to the financial one alone but to the religious and political ones as well.

We have to become better humans and the larger companies have a big responsibility here. They have a captive audience for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week in a live environment. They need to make a start by recognizing and rewarding these qualities in individuals even if it means the business doesn’t gain for a change.

Let’s not make individuals who put all their cards on the table feel like fools and look to short change them in the interest of the business.

Let’s get some genuineness back into engagements! Let’s make a start!

A depressing saturday evening

I haven't felt like this on a Saturday evening for years. Last night was bad. Some like my wife would call me a fool for getting so wound up as a result of Arsenal beating Manchester United at the Emirates, but football, at times, is just my way of expressing disappointment. I have other more direct reasons and occasions as well in my professional and personal life, but this is mostly the safest way.

Football is a great leveler of expectations. It teaches you a lot including a very important lesson that the better team don’t always win on the day. This isn’t to say Arsenal aren’t a great team, but yesterday they just didn’t have the odds in their favour with all the injuries. I’m sure a lot of their own fans were hoping to pull off a draw, at best, let alone win (keeping in mind their last 3 performances) against a full blown United side.

Yesterday’s game was also a great example of the how the paranoid survive. Arsenal were quick, they showed desperation and they took every chance they got and what did United do - control the ball mostly, move slowly and be arrogant about the chances they got, inturn missing all!!

The media and pundits have speculated a lot on Arsenal’s title challenge falling apart after their performances against Hull, Stoke and Tottenham but I get a strange feeling that there might be a problem at United, this year. Optimists would say you’ve played all the top 3 teams away and are still in the top 5 in the league table; there isn’t anything to worry about. I’m pissed. In the past, we have on an average come away with atleast 3-5 points from our away visits to the Big 3, but this year its 1 point only. Not good. United haven’t even scored as many goals as the other Big 3.

I know United are famous for comebacks and it generally starts post the half way point (Dec 31st) and I still believe we are favorites to win the title, but I want our performance to improve dramatically. It doesn’t feel the same if you win a title by not beating any of your top 3 challengers. I truly hope that the home visits by Big 3 to Old Trafford aren’t memorable for either one of them.

I felt cheated last evening after United’s performance. I truly hope the players felt the same and this game fires up our title defence big time.

Add to that, a fabulous dinner with friends, the only problem being the Arsenal fans among those were suitably dressed in the club’s attire. I have to say though that they were gracious enough not to rub it in.

But as they say, disappointment can’t be hidden and I was perfectly evident!!

Till next week and some redemption.