Structure breeds Hierarchy - A gross misnomer?

An opinion

Often I have heard business leaders profess that organizations need to be nimble and quick to adapt to change. Therefore, it is important for organizations to be loosely designed and structured, so that they can morph and adapt periodically.

I often wonder what has morphing to do with loose design and structure. The argument often stated by business leaders is that they support a need for structure and some level of governance to run their organizations but do not want it crafted to the last man in the organization. The logic being, “I want to promote openness and a non-hierarchical organization. Hierarchy breeds desire for control and drives consolidation of power.”

 

 

The logic sounds very astute and difficult to contest. The interesting question however is what does an organization with loose design and structure solve?  Is it truly open, non-hierarchical, no centers of control and/or consolidation of power? If seen carefully with another lens, it has all the so called ills of a structured organization, namely, lack of transparency, hierarchy and consolidation of power. The big difference however is that it is not distributed as it would have been in a structured set up rather it is actually consolidated with a select few at the very top. Besides, it breeds slow decision making, lack of accountability at all levels, multiple voices pulling the org in different directions (anarchy of sorts) and semblance of a directionless army.

 

 

An organization’s ability to adapt is not driven by structure or a lack of it, but its intrinsic DNA (what is often called culture). For an organization to perform despite a loose structure it is heavily dependent on relationships across the spectrum and a complex matrix built around an informal org model. When organizations are small and located in fewer countries / continents, the model is scalable and works well. However, when organizations globalize and are required to embrace a global work ethic, these models are destined to fail. This results in disillusioning people who neither have context to the past of the company, nor are interested in it beyond an awareness level.

 

Leadership foresight is about acknowledging the past, celebrating it and moving forward by embracing a different approach based on what is needed to take the organization to the next level. Org design and structure are an integral part of a company’s functioning. It creates predictability, accountability and a balance of power. It can propel an organization’s business strategy and results. It does not breed hierarchy. People and their personal leadership styles breed hierarchy and control. Besides, in an organization culture which is diverse and inclusive one needs to encourage varied styles. In certain roles, control traits are significant strengths and can enable the company’s vision and goals. Leveraging diversity and different styles is also a quality of a great leader and of organizations that aspire to be great.

 

I want to be KING

There was this young prince who desperately wanted to be “the King”. He was the only child of the one of the queens who was out of favor. This child was also not the favored child of the King. But he so desperately wanted to be King that he killed his own older brothers and captured the crown after his father’s death. He rose to be King and fought numerous wars to be an Emperor, feared by everyone around. He was a great warrior, an astute war strategist and a brave soldier.  He was Emperor Ashoka.
The irony is that Ashoka was an Emperor, a king and a ruler, yet was never truly a King. He so desperately wanted to be King, but did not know how to rule, command the respect of his subjects and lead with credibility that a true administrator would need. He lost interest in power, governance, his subjects etc., and turned into a Monk.

Why am I telling you this story? I think this story is so very relevant even today. How many of us want to be “the King”? Probably the question is why should I not want to be “the King”?

Aspiration and ambition is an integral part of one’s professional existence. Every professional wants to grow, command respect, demonstrate control and manage a territory in an organization. Smaller territories, one is probably a prince; larger territories a king and huge territory an emperor!! Why not, if one can conquer territory?

The question is not, why not? The question is can you? Am I worthy to be a king? Ashoka went through a self-realization after becoming an emperor that he was not worthy of being even a King or a ruler; he abdicated his throne and walked away an embraced Buddhism (became a Monk). Did he reflect on how many thousands of people he killed to become a King, how many civilizations he destroyed to be an Emperor, how much damage he did to the state by failing to be a worthy ruler? He did not. Even if he did, could he ever bring back what he destroyed? He could not, he just walked away.

How do we know we are not going to end up as Emperor Ashoka? Do we have it in us to not only grow our territory but also manage it? Are we worthy enough to manage it? Some self-reflection would be worthy today, than later after the damage is done.

Ambition and aspiration is important for self & organizational growth. But if aspiration is ahead of one’s capability, it can and will cause immense damage to the organization and people around. A good leader is one who can recognize this and pace his/her aspiration accordingly. It also the role of senior leadership to recognize and intervene at the right time to staff-off any inadvertent collateral damage driven by individual ambition and sense of ignorance. Self-awareness and self-critical calibration is the key to building strong leadership muscle in oneself. Leaders tend to chase an image of themselves, after a while end up believing in that image to be true of themselves and then lose their sense of self-worth. Self-critical calibration is the key to staying grounded and balanced.

Mama, I wanna… be King, cried the prince all the time. Understand your aspiration my son, but do you know what does it mean to be ready? A question Ashoka’s mother never asked. If she had asked, history probably would have been different.

Conscious Leadership

Rakesh Sharma and Rama Murthy were Regional Sales Directors in CTM Cements. Both were part of the CTM Cements leadership team, Rakesh was RSD North and Murthy was RSD for South. Both joined CTM cements from Campus and had worked there for 32 years. Both of them were great friends and coincidentally retired on the same date, 31st Dec 2011. This is a story of 2 leaders with very distinct leadership personalities.

Both Rakesh and Murthy had lots of similarities in their leadership styles. Both were driven by exuberant passion, high achievement orientation, building teams around them, driving teams for success and celebrating success with big bang parties. Both leaders commanded a lot of loyalty and commitment from their teams. When they retired, both of them got tons of accolades, huge farewell parties / dinners, people paid rich tribute to their contribution & leadership. As they stepped into the sunset, there was a new dawn awaiting them.

Murthy walked away from the lime light into the shadows. He spent quality time with his family, children and friends. He engaged in his passions around photography, social work and educating the under privileged. Murthy continued to live in Bangalore and made it his retirement home.

Rakesh lived restlessly in his Delhi home. He was still full of energy, his family was feeling troubled by having him at home, he often called CTM cements to talk to his erstwhile team, he felt they gave him less importance while they owed him their careers, he tried his hands at a few ventures but they did not work. He was frustrated with himself, felt not valued by people whom he groomed into leaders.

It so happened that Murthy and Rakesh met at a social event and got into a conversation. Murthy was saddened to see his dear friend unhappy post retirement. Rakesh was upset about people he groomed in CTM cements ignoring him and not valuing his contribution to their careers. Rakesh asked Murthy, have you not experienced the ungratefulness of your teams in South.

Murthy calmly replied, “I never spoke with them for the last 1 year since I retired. Yes, a few of them called to ask how I was doing, that’s it.”

Rakesh was astound, what? “Why would they not call you?”

Murthy asked Rakesh calmly.., “my friend, instead I would ask why should they call me? I had a job to do as RSD, I did my job. I have now retired. I am now just Murthy, not a RSD anymore. Why should they call me?” 

Murthy, “but don’t you think they owe us their careers?”

Murthy replied, “yes probably they do. But don’t you think we also owe our careers to them? If not for them, would we have grown to be RSDs? Just think about it. Besides, Rakesh…., the way I look at it, I had a role I played the role, I have retired now I am just Murthy the individual. Even while I played the role of Regional Director, I never forgot that I was Murthy the individual with a title of Regional Director. Hence when I retired, I left my title at CTM Cements and I continue to be Murthy. Rakesh, let go of your RSD image in your mind, you have retired, embrace Rakesh the individual. You will be happy.”

Rakesh stepped forward and gave Murthy a tight hug. You are my best friend Murthy!! Thank you for rekindling my “self-awareness”.

Often times when one plays the role of a leader, one’s ego could get the better of the individual self. This is where being grounded by heightened level of self-awareness helps. If leaders think they are the ones who are creating the world or the eco-system around them, the thought may be partially true. It is not fully true because there are many others who are contributing and playing in sync for the eco-system to come alive. It’s not just the leader. Leadership is about giving, sharing and building. It is not about self. A leader is always as good as the team he or she builds around him/herself.

Leaders like Murthy –

• who lead from a deep sense of “self-awareness” recognize everyone’s contribution besides their own;
• who know how to differentiate “self” from the “role” they are playing

… are known to be demonstrating conscious leadership.

A question for self-reflection is what kind of a leader are you?