They see you differently

Published in Corporate Dossier, ET, April 06, 2012 Shared by KN. Subha, DGM & CS

Surya, the sun-god, was horrified when he noticed that the woman in his house was not his wife, Saranya but her shadow, Chaya. He learnt that she had run away because she could not bear his celestial radiance. Surya realized that, while he thought that he was the victim, in actual his wife was the victim of his heat. Had he seen the world from her point of view, he would have realized, before it happened. This would have given him the opportunity to change himself and save their marriage. Surya then sought out his wife, and discovered she had taken the form of a mare. Instead of asking her to change back to her human form, he turned into a horse and follows her to the pasture. If he had expected his wife to accept him as he was, or compelled her to change for him, it would mean that he is incapable of growth. Reflecting on the others viewpoint prompts Surya to discover his ability to adapt, accommodate and grow. From god he becomes animal and leads a happy life in the pasture until Saranya decides to return to her earlier form. This story of Surya and Saranya reveals how the behavior of people around us is a reaction to how they perceive us. When we decide to change ourselves, we make ourselves more trustworthy and it paves way for our own growth also. For two years, Sandesh headed the operations department and put in place a whole set of systems and processes for his team. The results had been spectacular. Then Sandesh decided to spend more time on strategic long term thinking and appointed Ketan to handle the operations role. He just had to execute the systems and processes set up over two years. But things went awry; no one followed processes and systems and all reports were late. Sandesh was angry with Ketan and his team for failing to do their jobs. But then he realized, that he had instituted the new processes by force of his personality. Alignment happened because people followed him, not the process. So when Ketan replaced him, everything collapsed. No matter how much he blamed Ketan and his team, he was the source of the problem.

Now, he had to go back to focusing on operations. But this time, like Surya, he had to change himself. Coach people to do the tasks not because he had told them to do it, but because it was the job, in other words take ownership of it. He also had to work with Ketan so that Ketan could take on the huge responsibility without feeling abandoned and alone. By this one shift in thinking, Sandesh had created a growth opportunity for himself.