The Mantra for Leadership in Turbulent Times

Dr. Rajnish Jain


Turbulence is omnipresent. It comes in everybody’s life - individuals, products, brands, organizations, communities or even nations. Tough times never last, turbulence is also a time to be managed with utmost care and best of the competencies.

PR

Characterized by high degree of uncertainties, complexities and risks, turbulence often results in sudden disruption of strategies and operations of any business organization. It may be because of unpredictable changes in the business environment at macro level - economic, political, technological, socio-cultural etc or at micro level - customers, competitors, suppliers, facilitators etc.

Everything is highly dynamic. Even with best of the forecasting techniques, we are unable to predict the intensity of change leading to state of high alert in the organization. In a state of turbulence a wave of organization wide negativity starts spreading. Everybody, at all the hierarchical levels, across all the functional areas along with the business partners, is in a state of anxiety, fear, confusion and low levels of motivation. The perceived threat of failure sometimes leads to escapism - everybody may start leaving the ship, thinking that it may sink.

Captain of the ship, the CEO of the organization faces a critical task of steering the organization in the right direction to take it to the destination of success. In the event of turbulence, staying together is the only survival strategy.
Bonding is the most powerful Mantra for leadership in turbulent times. The bonds of belongingness, ownership, affiliation, love, unity and loyalty often result into a defence mechanism to bear the pressures of turbulence, and keep the organization moving ahead.

Everybody contributes significantly in a positive direction. Business organizations must manage the relationships in an effective manner to strengthen their bonds with all the stakeholders - investors, customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, government, society, financial institutions and all other business facilitators. Creating and nurturing strong bonds rely on the fundamental principles of Relationship Management. It demands, going back to the roots, relive with the core values of business. Researches and practices in the area of relationship management clearly suggest three dimensions of bonding: Trust, Commitment and Transparency.

Trust serves as the basic building block for the organization. In the turbulent times, when the risks are all pervasive, trust in the organization works wonders.

It acts as a shock absorber in turbulent times. Trust instils a confidence among stakeholders that organization will live up to its known levels of performance. Trust is developed over a period of time through sustained efforts reflecting credibility, integrity and reliability of the organization in minds of public. Basic values of honesty, fairness, authenticity, care and concern are required to be reinforced through words and deeds to maintain the trust in the organization.

Commitment to the stakeholders calls for a gesture of honouring promises, respecting every individual and reflecting desire to maintain the valued relationship with them. It is commonly observed that many organizations resort to cost cutting measures by way of lay off, salary reductions, reduced production levels, lowering R&D and promotional budgets, delayed payments and deliveries etc. Such acts intensify the anxiety levels among stakeholders and force them to look for exit options.

Any amount of exit of any stakeholder may further worsen the situation, hence, must be prevented. Relationship serves as the invisible thread to bind them tightly with the organization. In the event of turbulence, additional care is required to fulfil all the promises made at any point of time. Anxiety levels can be reduced by maintaining consistency in basic operations, finding better ways of serving them through quality enhancement and innovations, and supporting the clients in adverse situations.

Transparency relates to openness and completeness in communication. Turbulent times often result into communication gaps leading to confusion, conflicts and chaos. Clarity of the issues faced and regular updates keep everybody informed about the current state of business affairs. Even in the case of delays or shortfalls, timely information creates a mental preparedness about the phenomenon.

It not only fulfils the basic human desire of need for information, but also encourages them to cooperate in the difficult times. It further reinforces a sense of belongingness with the organization. In addition to mandatory disclosures as per the requirement of corporate governance, any strategic, policy or operational changes should also be communicated on regular basis. Modern information technology including social media along with the conventional personal channels can be very effectively used to communicate with internal as well as external publics.
Businesses run on Relationships. New age businesses are witnessing the emergence of Network Paradigm. Relational networks are the essence of success in the changing business scenario. Information Communication Technology has created a whole new world of connectivity. In present times, the focus is on establishing, nurturing and maintaining beneficial relationships with the stakeholders. Turbulent times demand a well thought out plan for managing relationships.

Every effort made in the direction of building long term relational bond must aim at communicating Trust, Commitment and Transparency at every stage. They are integral part of the whole communication process. Leader of the organization assumes the most important task of initiating the process of relationship orientation in contrast to transaction orientation. In order to successfully lead the relationship management program, the roadmap should be developed on following lines:

Communicating a value based vision: A large number of organizations give greater emphasis on human values in their corporate philosophy, vision and mission statement. Most of the times, these values remain on paper, walls or engraved on stones. The role of a leader is to personify the cherished values and create a relationship oriented culture. Basic human values must be reflected in every act of the organization. Organizational citizenship behaviour and customer citizenship behaviour have been reported to create perceived ownership and belongingness to the organizations, products and brands.

Allocating resources and designing information systems: Execution of a relationship management program calls for developing required infrastructure - hardware as well as software to facilitate interactivity. In spite of pressures for cost cutting, leader must judiciously allocate sufficient funds required for creating new systems or updating existing systems.

Developing people for managing relationships: There is a need to reorient people to acquire and sharpen soft skills, along with their technical skills. Special training for improving interpersonal communication, with a focus on emotional and behavioural dimensions, is inevitable in the age of turbulence. Everybody in the organization is an ambassador, who builds or breaks the corporate image.

Dr. Rajnish Jain


Turbulence is omnipresent. It comes in everybody’s life - individuals, products, brands, organizations, communities or even nations. Tough times never last, turbulence is also a time to be managed with utmost care and best of the competencies.

PR

Characterized by high degree of uncertainties, complexities and risks, turbulence often results in sudden disruption of strategies and operations of any business organization. It may be because of unpredictable changes in the business environment at macro level - economic, political, technological, socio-cultural etc or at micro level - customers, competitors, suppliers, facilitators etc.

Everything is highly dynamic. Even with best of the forecasting techniques, we are unable to predict the intensity of change leading to state of high alert in the organization. In a state of turbulence a wave of organization wide negativity starts spreading. Everybody, at all the hierarchical levels, across all the functional areas along with the business partners, is in a state of anxiety, fear, confusion and low levels of motivation. The perceived threat of failure sometimes leads to escapism - everybody may start leaving the ship, thinking that it may sink.

Captain of the ship, the CEO of the organization faces a critical task of steering the organization in the right direction to take it to the destination of success. In the event of turbulence, staying together is the only survival strategy.
Bonding is the most powerful Mantra for leadership in turbulent times. The bonds of belongingness, ownership, affiliation, love, unity and loyalty often result into a defence mechanism to bear the pressures of turbulence, and keep the organization moving ahead.

Everybody contributes significantly in a positive direction. Business organizations must manage the relationships in an effective manner to strengthen their bonds with all the stakeholders - investors, customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, government, society, financial institutions and all other business facilitators. Creating and nurturing strong bonds rely on the fundamental principles of Relationship Management. It demands, going back to the roots, relive with the core values of business. Researches and practices in the area of relationship management clearly suggest three dimensions of bonding: Trust, Commitment and Transparency.

Trust serves as the basic building block for the organization. In the turbulent times, when the risks are all pervasive, trust in the organization works wonders.

It acts as a shock absorber in turbulent times. Trust instils a confidence among stakeholders that organization will live up to its known levels of performance. Trust is developed over a period of time through sustained efforts reflecting credibility, integrity and reliability of the organization in minds of public. Basic values of honesty, fairness, authenticity, care and concern are required to be reinforced through words and deeds to maintain the trust in the organization.

Commitment to the stakeholders calls for a gesture of honouring promises, respecting every individual and reflecting desire to maintain the valued relationship with them. It is commonly observed that many organizations resort to cost cutting measures by way of lay off, salary reductions, reduced production levels, lowering R&D and promotional budgets, delayed payments and deliveries etc. Such acts intensify the anxiety levels among stakeholders and force them to look for exit options.

Any amount of exit of any stakeholder may further worsen the situation, hence, must be prevented. Relationship serves as the invisible thread to bind them tightly with the organization. In the event of turbulence, additional care is required to fulfil all the promises made at any point of time. Anxiety levels can be reduced by maintaining consistency in basic operations, finding better ways of serving them through quality enhancement and innovations, and supporting the clients in adverse situations.

Transparency relates to openness and completeness in communication. Turbulent times often result into communication gaps leading to confusion, conflicts and chaos. Clarity of the issues faced and regular updates keep everybody informed about the current state of business affairs. Even in the case of delays or shortfalls, timely information creates a mental preparedness about the phenomenon.

It not only fulfils the basic human desire of need for information, but also encourages them to cooperate in the difficult times. It further reinforces a sense of belongingness with the organization. In addition to mandatory disclosures as per the requirement of corporate governance, any strategic, policy or operational changes should also be communicated on regular basis. Modern information technology including social media along with the conventional personal channels can be very effectively used to communicate with internal as well as external publics.
Businesses run on Relationships. New age businesses are witnessing the emergence of Network Paradigm. Relational networks are the essence of success in the changing business scenario. Information Communication Technology has created a whole new world of connectivity. In present times, the focus is on establishing, nurturing and maintaining beneficial relationships with the stakeholders. Turbulent times demand a well thought out plan for managing relationships.

Every effort made in the direction of building long term relational bond must aim at communicating Trust, Commitment and Transparency at every stage. They are integral part of the whole communication process. Leader of the organization assumes the most important task of initiating the process of relationship orientation in contrast to transaction orientation. In order to successfully lead the relationship management program, the roadmap should be developed on following lines:

Communicating a value based vision: A large number of organizations give greater emphasis on human values in their corporate philosophy, vision and mission statement. Most of the times, these values remain on paper, walls or engraved on stones. The role of a leader is to personify the cherished values and create a relationship oriented culture. Basic human values must be reflected in every act of the organization. Organizational citizenship behaviour and customer citizenship behaviour have been reported to create perceived ownership and belongingness to the organizations, products and brands.

Allocating resources and designing information systems: Execution of a relationship management program calls for developing required infrastructure - hardware as well as software to facilitate interactivity. In spite of pressures for cost cutting, leader must judiciously allocate sufficient funds required for creating new systems or updating existing systems.

Developing people for managing relationships: There is a need to reorient people to acquire and sharpen soft skills, along with their technical skills. Special training for improving interpersonal communication, with a focus on emotional and behavioural dimensions, is inevitable in the age of turbulence. Everybody in the organization is an ambassador, who builds or breaks the corporate image.