The Devil is in the Detail

Someone once told me that a leader should be able to operate at 40,000 feet and at ground level.  I have held on to this very dearly and when I look for leaders I push to see the eye for detail.  It is not necessary to get stuck in the details. However, it is essential to have a good feel for the business that you are handling and, therefore, the details that go with it.  In my experience, I have always found the devil in the detail.  I have always, therefore, tried to operate both at the 40,000 feet and at the Ground Level and  build a thought process that has the ability to switch between levels in seconds.

Recently, I was talking to a very senior leader in a multinational corporation.  We were discussing a point on risk mitigation.  While we were discussing a strategic model on risk, she suddenly asked a question that was absolutely at the Ground Level and completely took me by surprise. For such a senior leader, she was asking a question that was what we would call "totally tactical".  But, that told me clearly as to why she is such a senior, respected leader.

As we go up the ladder in an organization, there are so many things to manage.  We are also getting things done by others and managing them.  Over a period of time, we forget the details as we start focusing on other aspects.  As we get farther away from the details, our decisions are more driven by our gut feel and experiences of the past and, of course, some facts.  However, if we push to get the details before getting in to a point of decision making, it helps us make better decisions.

I was walking the floor of an Operation that had lot of data entry work.  I saw the floor was dimly lit.  I asked the staff as to why they were closing out lights and working.  They told me that light was bouncing off the keyboard and that was causing them to make mistakes as they keyed in data.  They were also suffering from headache because of this.  This got me thinking.  I was thinking whether it was worth putting in light dampers, reflectors, etc.  Then I asked the question as to why the staff should be looking at the keyboard while keying in data?  Personally, I look at the screen while typing. However, these people were looking at the keyboard while typing...meaning, they did not know typewriting.  The cause of the problem was not the light or the angle at which they were placed.  It was actually the fact that the staff keying in data did not know typewriting.  The solution was to change the test that we administered to our staff before joining.  We started including a typewriting test and this changed the situation completely in few months.

One more example that I would like to share is where a friend came to meet me because she had an inner conflict. She could not spend enough time with her 2 year child. This was because of a greater than 12 hour work day at office and working odd hours.  This had made both the child and her cranky and it impacted others in the family.  When I heard her out for half an hour I thought that she could be facing a prioritization issue.  So, I told her that she should look at her current circumstances and prioritize what she wanted out of life…is it family, child and domestic harmony or a job that pays well.  Her first reaction was that she did not need the job because money was not important and that the child and family were. I dug deeper and asked her to imagine what would happen if she sat at home taking care of the child over the next year and she told me that she could not see herself doing that for more than a month.  I asked her why but she struggled with an answer.  I asked her if money was important to which she said that it was not.  So, this prompted me to use a Six Sigma technique called the “5 Why Technique” where we ask the question “why” 5 times to the answers that we get with each “why” till we get to the root cause. Normally, we end up with the root cause with 5 levels of why.  When we did this, she realized that for her financial independence was critical. The reason for that was a very deep hurt that she had experienced in life when she was a teenager.  She had grown up, got married, had a child and her circumstances had changed but she had not shifted from that bad experience in life that had made her resolve that she would be always financially independent.  When she realized this, she was no more ashamed that money did matter to her.  But to manage both family and keep her financial independence (both of which were her key priorities) she got mentally prepared to take up a job that meant a better work-life balance but with a lower compensation.  She has been more at peace with herself since then. The 3 hours that we spent together resolved a very long standing conflict in herself.

So many times we go through life without understanding key issues that we face because we do not spend time getting in to the details.  If we do that, we get better clarity and resolution to long standing problems. 

As in the example above, the person was able to rationalize as to why money was important and that it had as much priority for her as her child.  And that there was nothing wrong with that....to her, and to me, the devil was in the detail.

When it is straight from the heart, it touches people

As I was leaving for the day and got in to the car, the person who serves tea at the office walked up to me and thanked me. I looked up with a question on my face. He said, "Sir, I was stunned when you thanked me and mentioned my name in the meeting in the morning.  I felt very happy."  I felt a huge tug in the heart as this young man smiled and walked away from the car. There was a spring in this feet.  All I had done was recognize him in front of a team.  It had left an indelible mark on him.

Few days later I received a mail from someone who had attended the same meeting that day.  It said (and I quote), "It would be amiss if I did not write about an event I witnessed recently. During XXX's (name removed by me) coffee talk, what impressed me most was not what XXX said. It was not any of the questions or XXX's answers. What stands out most vividly in my memory was the part where you thanked the team and included YYY (again, the name has been removed by me) in that group. Your words had a ring of genuineness. How a person at the top treats people under him, tells us a lot about the leadership qualities of that person. This event was the catalyst that made me write the mail you are reading."

I have always believed that communication must be honest, straight, brief, timely and straight from the heart.  What has worked best for me has been when communication is from the heart...because it is genuine and is seen and heard as genuine.  The mail above and the spring in the feet that I had seen earlier re-inforce this to me.

Communication is like a weapon and needs to be used appropriately.  The general trend is to ignore it.  Somehow, I feel otherwise.  As leaders, we need to reach out to the teams that we lead.  And when we reach out, we need to be and be seen as genuine and honest.  If we show that we are genuine, our teams will reach out to us. And trust builds only when communication becomes a two way street.

The best of leaders start faltering when there are blocks or degradation in the channels of communication. That is the reason why I pay lot of attention to communication and being able to reach out in many possible ways.  While communication is very important, following through with action is equally important.  Your teams should see that whatever you have communicated is always followed through with appropriate action. That shows that you hold yourself accountable and the teams start recognizing that what you say will definitely mean something.

One of the biggest impediments to communication is the fact that what is communicated is dependant on the person receiving it.  So, the same communication can mean different things to different people. That is why leaders are very careful when they communicate. They measure their words and tend not to give away too much.  This means most of what they say is well thought through...tends to be more from the head than from the heart.

If we understand that it would be best to judge something that has been said by trying to find out the intent rather than the content, leaders will find it easier to talk impromptu and be more natural.  This will bring out what is in their hearts...and when it comes from the heart, it will definitely touch people.

Taking a Punt

I have done different roles in my career - finance, accounting, audit, risk, sales, marketing, relationship management, back office and general management.  I noticed that when I tried to shift from banking front line to a back office, it was not very easy.  A German decided to hire me in to a global back office.  While hiring me he said something that really struck me and I will never forget it. He said that he was hiring me because I have no clue of back office operations and hence will bring a fresh perspective and because I play the guitar.  Many years later I asked him why playing the guitar was a reason for him to hire me.  He told me that if I had a passion outside of my job, it helps to rejuvenate.

As leaders we spend a lot of time meeting new people for hiring them in to various positions in our organizations.  We tend to look for people who can hit the ground running so that we need not spend too much time trying to explain the role and job to the person when he/she joins.  However, what has worked for me is to try to look for a person with the right skill sets, the right attitude, a smile on the face and is very well prepared for the interview.  So, when I needed someone who could bring a customer centric approach to the back office operations, I hired someone who had done Sales in the Media Industry. Similarly, I have hired many people who bring diversity of thought and the skill sets needed for the job, not necessarily experience in the particular industry or vertical.

Human beings adapt and we need to give them the time to do so.  If we provide that opportunity, we end up getting the best of talent when there is seemingly none.  I do not believe that I would have been in this position today if leaders who gave me the opportunities did not want to take the risk.

Typically, I look for a huge smile on the face, an attitude that is easy going, skills that match the job that is on hand, a sharp mind and capacity to work hard.  I also look for hobbies and prefer someone who comes well prepared for the job discussion.  What has worked for me always has been when I have prepared well for an interview.  I do a lot of ground work on the role, what is needed for that role, what is my fitment in terms of skill sets and where I would need improvement.  As a person being interviewed, you need to show that you are keen on the job and have prepared well.  

Hiring is not an easy task and it takes years before one starts making lesser hiring mistakes.  It is difficult to make judgement calls on a person who you have never known in a short interview.  Yet we make such decisions.  The biggest mistake we make is that we do not use the same approach to someone who works for you and wants the same job.  Since we know all the improvement areas of the person working with you, we tend to be biased while making a choice.  That is why many a time, senior positions are filled from outside of an organization than from within.  As leaders, we must have the courage to take the punt.