When I brought her home, she was less than a foot tall and
was few weeks old. Today, she stands tall at close to 40 feet and towers over
our home…she is our favourite Christmas tree. Nobody expected her to grow this
tall when we planted her in front of the house. We thought she would be around
15 to 20 feet and that was the height that we wanted so that we could get her
properly decorated during Christmas, take a look at the top of her from our
roof, etc. But, life wanted something else and she did the right thing by going
with what life wanted – she grew to 40 feet and is still going strong!!!
Like this lovely Christmas tree, there are many who do the
right thing…not just do things right. There are many who just want to do things
right even if they are the wrong things. As I watched the debate in the Indian
Parliament, I was surprised to see some young leaders from the current
Opposition Party in India say things that I am sure even they would not stand
by in private. Yes, of course, lots of things are said in the heat of the
moment. Yes, of course, lots of things are said because you are in the opposition
party. But, when it comes to what is best for the nation, there cannot be
division along party lines. It should only be dictated by the conscience and
true Leaders focus on doing what is right rather than doing things right.
Similarly, when it comes to the workplace, true leaders
stand out when they stand up for what is right and do what is right by the
organization and their team rather than getting things right. That is the difference
between a leader and a manager. The manager focuses on doing things the right
way whilst the leader focuses on doing the right thing.
What is right or wrong, depends on the circumstances of
the case and will be subject to different opinions. That is why we find so many
decisions trashed by people who take charge as leaders and say things that are
uncharitable about their predecessor. They do not know the situation in which their
predecessor was when s/he took that decision.
Many a time I have been asked as to why I took some decisions in
favour of employees rather than the organization. I always held, and still do
hold, the belief that Leaders should be kind rather than right. The person sitting
in front of you is more important than the organization that both of you work
for. Here, I have always felt that taking the side of the individual (not when the person has committed a crime or a fraud) over the
corporation was the right thing to do. So much so that some of my HR Business
Partners would call me a weak leader who did not have the courage to take those
“tough” decisions. “So be it”, was my response always.
When the honey hunter in the Sundarbans stood in front of
the hive filled with honey, he cut out only 75% of it. He could have been more
efficient if he had cut the whole hive off. He then said a prayer and set off.
He came back in to the jungles after few months to the same tree and found a
full hive of honey!!! By leaving the 25%, he had brought the honey bees back to
re-build the hive. He had been effective. Just imagine, searching for a new
place in the whole jungle to figure out where the bees have set up their
hive. He avoided that and saved considerable time. He did the right thing by
leaving behind the 25%. He would have done things right if he had cut off 100%
of the hive. In other words, he would have been efficient but not effective.
Peter Drucker said this, “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is
doing the right thing.”
