The Smart Techie was renamed Siliconindia India Edition starting Feb 2012 to continue the nearly two decade track record of excellence of our US edition.
August - 2009 - issue > People Manager
Leading from Any Chair
C. Mahalingam
The crux of the problem is most managers seem to think and believe that they have no authority and so cannot make any change happen. More often than not, this is not true. However, this belief has immense potential to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Once this happens, these managers heave a sigh of relief that they are not accountable for making things happen; and worse still, they windmill at the senior management and say they must make things happen or have failed to make things happen.
Power, like Beauty, Lies in the Eyes of the Beholder
While part of the problem may be the cultural context of a given organization, more often than not the problem is not outside the manager who feels powerless. Power or lack of it is often an internal belief finding expression as external behavior. At a fundamental level, the problem lies in what these managers perceive as power. Power is often understood in a restricted sense as positional authority to reward or sanction. In reality, effectiveness as managers is largely a mindset and actions emanating there from.
Look at any orchestra; a close observation reveals an insightful reality. The conductor does not control any member of the orchestra or plays any instrument. And therefore does not produce any great music by himself or herself, but nevertheless contributes significantly to its world-class performance. In our homes too, we have a lesson or two to learn from our dear moms. Mothers often do not have any formal authority. However, they make things happen with their sheer power of love and care; and no other source of authority can match up to this. It is the power of selfless service in every sense of the term. It is simply the willingness to make things better for the family and for her loved ones.
Asking the right question
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