By Shubhranshu Singh
Marketing Director, India & South Asia, Visa
I have been on the career highway since 1999 and have had the good fortune of working, in succession, at three leading multinationals — Unilever, Diageo and Visa. Each of them is a global leader in its industry.
On the job, I have had exposure to process management, resource optimization and talent development. Sanjay Dube, Gopal Vittal, Sudhanshu Vats, Sean Gogarty, Kevin Burke are amongst the stalwart professionals from whom I derived a lot of learning. In my assessment, they all possess the ability to prioritize and action a decision stream for several fast moving projects.
To quickly identify the most relevant, the most critical choices and pursue them with focus is a special skill. It is learnt. It is not easy. Often, executives are judged by activity but rewarded for results. It is the norm that the mass of managerial ranks spend most of their time in ceaseless activity that is entropic. Just doing the bare minimum can sap one’s energy. They are merely spinning the wheels, but under the delusion that they are, individually or collectively, tackling pressing issues. Manifestations of this abound — superfluous email traffic, setting up multiple meetings, annotations and minuting of trivia, etc.
In corporate life, the opposite of ‘urgency’ is not ‘lethargy’, it is ‘bureaucracy’. Therefore, those who diligently play by the rule book may rise well above deserved levels. This is why one sees very successful professionals exhibiting ‘active non-productivity’ — i.e., on a corporate treadmill, one burns calories but no real distance is covered.
Managers are trained, and paid to combine judgment and decisiveness. They are not meant to generate documentation whilst the inevitable happens. What I learnt (and am trying my best to apply) is that only time spent in a committed, purposeful (and most importantly) reflective manner adds value to business and professional growth. Managers who excel are persistent, disciplined, methodical. They are driven by a force of willpower.
Amongst all of God’s creations, only humans have will power. It is the ultimate marker of our distinction. Therefore, we have only ourselves to blame if we feel shackled by others’ expectations. We only need to direct our will power towards undistracted action.
So, why do managers who are qualified, empowered and talented still fall prey to inaction? Usually, in my experience, insecurity drives them to procrastination first. Once in neutral gear, the journey is over. Inaction merely follows. The other reason is disengagement — a lack of interest or distraction leading to ineffectiveness.
Lastly, it may happen due to their inability to manage the super set — tapping into resources, external stakeholders, building networks of support, broadening influence, etc.
The net takeaway is to build and strengthen will power; to refuse to let other people or constraints set one’s agenda in life.
We need more such people in corporate life.
Feedback: shubsingh07@gmail.com
