Career guidance from the Bible

A V Ram Mohan.

The normally pleasant facial expressions of the Chairman were replaced this time with ugly contortions of anger and irritation. ‘If you think you are not being paid adequately, Llewellyn, you are free to leave the company’ words came out involuntarily and hit Llewellyn Sundaram like bullets. To understand what exactly caused this atypical outburst of the part of Mr Bharat Jain, who as the Chairman of the group was Llewellyn Sundaram’s direct reporting boss, we have to back up a bit. Like about two years and six months before this unfortunate incident. Llewellyn was a mechanical engineer who had a decent reputation as a result oriented manager, to use that unfortunate jargon, who had a track record of handling difficult turnaround situations. When he was head hunted nearly three years back, the group was having a problem child in one of its largest companies, and not many executives were willing to tackle the difficult job of being the CEO of a troubled company in the Poona Chinchwad industrial area. Llewellyn was not only willing to do so, but was supremely confident that his earlier experiences had prepared him for just such a job. Mr Bharat Jain, the chairman was known in the Bombay-Poona business circles as a progressive professional leader took great pains to assure Llewellyn in these welcoming words ‘You turn around this wretched company which has been a bugbear for some years for me, and sort out the new project ideas well, and I promise you, you will go places within our group’. Llewellyn Sundaram took the Chairman’s words at face value placed his implicit trust on a leader with such a modern outlook.

And there were no reasons to doubt the Chairman’s approach to managing his group of companies. Llewellyn was given wide freedom to do things in the company, and he made full use of his authority to move things around in the company. The Boss was with him all the way when he had to make some difficult people decisions, and he was pleasantly surprised that he was getting the green signal all the way. The monthly reviews were a strictly professional affair focussed mainly on what can be done to improve things, and apparently there were no coterie of ‘sideys’ around the Chairman, and who would play political games with the operating managers like himself. There was however one fly in the ointment. While the company was progressing well and coming out of red ink, and the improvement was visible to everyone in the group, one thing remained stagnant, and that was Llewellyn’s gross salary. While Llewellyn was normally confident to the point of being arrogant, he was reticent about his own terms, and felt rather delicate that he should seek increases for himself. ‘Asking for raises is a classic middle management ploy, and I am above all of that’ he told himself.

However, soon there was an opportunity for him to broach the subject with the Chairman. A clerk in the payroll department called him one afternoon at work to tell him, ‘Sir, the Chairman has noticed that you have not taken any increase in the last two years, and he wants you to add one increment, that is Rs 2000 to your basic pay.’ After Llewellyn recovered from the surprise of getting his pay increases in this awkward manner, he was rather disappointed at the size of the increase proposed. Now, to be clear, one increment was something given to people rated ‘average’ in the performance evaluation system prevailing in the group at that time. Quickly regaining his composure, Llewellyn told the payroll clerk ‘Please do not add any increase to my pay now; I will have a conversation with the Chairman and then you can act on it’ as it was his intention to discuss the matter with the Chairman at the earliest opportunity. Soon thereafter he was seated in the elegant offices of Mr Bharat Jain; at the end of completing other matters relating to the company, Llewellyn rather diffidently raised the point of salary increase, and narrated what the payroll clerk told him previously. It was at this time the Chairman erupted in anger along the lines outlined at the beginning of this story.

It was a rather strange experience for Llewellyn Sundaram, who has in his wide experience has faced many unbelievably strange things. How to deal with a boss who was telling him to get out if he does not like what was given, was a first even for him. His reaction to his boss’s harsh outburst was therefore driven by his instincts rather than any serious thought of consequences. He calmly looked at Mr Jain with a placid expression, and in an exaggerated tone of politeness said, ‘Thank you, sir, for your clarification, I now know where I stand. I will of course leave when I am ready. However please rest assured that I will not do anything silly in the mean time; I will run the company along the same lines that I have done all these months’. The somewhat perplexed reaction from the Chairman was proof enough that it was the first time anyone reacted to the Chairman in this manner. Llewellyn came out of the Chairman’s office struggling to keep his composure and he needed some time with himself. He took his car out of the car park and drove towards the Sahyadri Hills about forty kilometres from the office. Soon he was seated in front of a monsoon panorama of the Western Ghats where short hills and wide lakes were enveloped in several shades of greens and greys. His mind was in a turmoil, thinking whatever good he had done in his career in the last three years seemed to evaporate right in front of his eyes. A new and totally obnoxious aspect of the Chairman’s personality was revealed to him that afternoon, and Llewellyn was trying to find logical reasons for all that anger and irritation. He looked back critically to see if he had handled it wrong. ‘Was there anything wrong in asking for a proper performance review?’ he asked himself. After several minutes of torturing himself with self doubt, he concluded that his response to the Chairman’s outburst was a honest reflection of himself as a proud human being, though very much ill-advised and harmful to his career. He dragged himself eventually to go home to his apartment in the Deccan Gymkhana area in Poona late in the evening.

The next few days were difficult for him, since he had to suffer in silence. He didn’t want to tell his wife the details of what went on that afternoon with the Chairman, for the fear of alarming her. But he was underestimating the perspicacity of his wife, who asked him, ‘What is bugging you these days, Llewellyn? You have been mooning around the past one week as if the sky has fallen down, out with it, what is the problem?’. Not wanting to keep his wife in the dark any longer about recent developments at work, he narrated the events of that afternoon to her. Her initial reaction was one of uncontrolled laughter, ‘Talk about the definition of idiocy. You are doing the same thing every time expecting different results. When will you ever learn that the world will not respond to you the way you want it to?’ She went on to remind him about the earlier episodes in his career when he was let down by his earlier bosses after difficult jobs were done by him. She said, ‘your bosses realise you are a clean-up artist, and after all that sewage had been cleared up by you, they can no longer tolerate your confident and distant manner’. She reminded him about the time when he missed his daughter’s first birthday, to get something important done, only to be shafted by the head of the group he was then working for. ‘Unless you change your attitude to your bosses, and make them like you, you are forever condemned to running from company to company every three or four years’.

There was some point in what she was saying, Llewellyn had to admit to himself. He decided to consult a former HR director of Hindustan Lever in Bombay who wrote columns in the Economic Times about the dynamics of relationships at work under a pseudonym ‘Frank Raj’. His views on dealing with difficult bosses appealed to Llewellyn and seemed to have a remarkably close resemblance to his own problems. During his next visit to Bombay he sought a meeting with Dr Tarun Sheth whom he knew professionally. He met Dr Sheth in his modest apartment in a building named Miramar on the Marine Drive. While having tea Llewellyn took him through his career, highlighting his professional achievements at work, while lamenting the lack of proper appreciation from his employers. He narrated the latest episode with Mr Bharat Jain with dramatic pauses, that kept Dr Sheth spell bound. After listening to this and other earlier encounters Llewellyn had with his bosses, Dr Sheth started speaking giving his assessment of the situation, ‘It is clear to me that you are a competent manager, Llewellyn, in that you did achieve the goals as expected of you. However, you should by now know that in most work situations you cannot expect automatic rewards just because you had done your job competently’. ‘What do you mean, sir? Here we are talking about some very difficult things to be done, and people had run away from such jobs in the past. I completed these assignments against all odds, only to be told I can leave if I don’t like it?’ Llewellyn pushed him. ‘No, I am here not justifying Mr Jain’s boorish behaviour recently towards you, which in my opinion was most unprofessional. On the other hand your response to him practically immediately and instinctively, was most dignified and you can be proud of it as self respecting executive. However, that is neither here nor there. The fact is that all your bosses had liked what you did for them in terms of results achieved; looking back it is clear to me however they did not like you enough to credit you with these achievements. That is the reality you are faced with and if you don’t sort it out now, the same pattern will repeat itself a few more cycles in the remaining years of your career’ was Dr Sheth’s considered judgement. 

‘Now, the relationship between the ultimate boss and his immediate team members is a complex one, and needs to be handled delicately. If you for example surrender completely thinking you would please him in all ways, the boss losses his respect for you and takes you for granted. If on the other hand you behave in a stand-offish manner and think that your results alone will speak for themselves, as you had been doing in the past, that would also be counter productive. That kind of behaviour plays to the worst insecurities of the bosses, and they may feel ignored, put upon or even looked down upon by you.’ Dr Sheth went on expanding on this theme. ‘What then is the right balance? How do I find out what the boss wants other than getting results on the job?’ Llewellyn asked. ‘There you have me, my dear friend, since no body will tell you what exactly would please them. Bosses are too subtle for an open declaration of their inner feelings and insecurities; it is for you to assess them as human beings, and decide what will work with each individual. In the real world you have to interpret clues dropped by others as to what would please them; finally, let me tell you that you have to be lot more demonstrative about your feelings towards your bosses than hitherto. The boss must feel in his gut that you are there for him and not for yourself; so keep in mind that all the results you achieved, which you think are great, are only secondary in this complex relationship’ he wound up his long lecture. As he was leaving, Llewellyn was talking about Miramar, the building. ‘Do you realise, sir, in the Marine Drive and the streets behind it, Bombay has the largest collection of Art Deco buildings in the world, though many of them not very well kept or even shabbily kept, sad to say. This collection is even larger than the number of Art Deco buildings in South Beach, Florida. And look at the elegant names of these buildings, besides Miramar you have names like Firdaus, Marcopia, Goolistan and so on. People in Bombay eighty years ago were much more sophisticated in the choice of architecture and were imaginative in naming their buildings. You have to admire them for that’. As he was shutting the door behind him Tarun Sheth was somewhat puzzled, that a man who could observe buildings and their architecture so astutely did not pick up the signals from his bosses on what they liked. 

That evening returning to Poona on the Deccan Queen, Llewellyn was deep in thought. He saw the merit of what Dr Sheth had to say, but his only doubt was if he could do what was required of him. He decided to consult his wife on Dr Sheth’s ideas. Upon hearing the plan to get close to the boss, she could not contain her amusement ‘Be demonstrative, indeed. I can’t believe he said that of you. In the last twenty years of marriage, I have not seen you being demonstrative towards me more than a handful of times. How are you going to transform yourself into being a considerate demonstrator of your feelings towards someone? It sure will be interesting to watch’ she teased. With all these thoughts sloshing around in his mind, he was idly flipping through the Bible before he went to bed. ‘Place not your trust in the Princes’ the Bible cautioned ‘in mortal man in whom there is no salvation’. More along the same vein ‘Like a bad tooth and an unsteady foot, is the confidence placed in a faithless man in times of trouble’. Llewellyn was trying to reconcile what the Bible was saying with what he heard from Dr Sheth. Curiously he didn’t see them as conflicting views. ‘What the Bible is saying about not trusting the bosses, who are after all human, is a long term perspective, but playing up to them in the mean while is a practical short term tactics’ he told himself, as a constructive strategy to deal with his present situation was evolving in his mind.

For the next several months he behaved as if nothing had happened between him and Mr Jain, the chairman. If anything he was extra careful in ensuring that his company’s performance had nothing to warrant a complaint. He was also careful to see that he spent more time with Mr Jain to facilitate a more understanding professional relationship. While he could observe how many senior executives were doing all kinds of contortions in front of the Chairman to get into his good books, he found their methods to be distasteful, even though Mr Jain seemed to enjoy such actions. He had however not forgotten about the insulting episode with the Chairman, but decided to take his own time about his next career move, while a diabolical plan was shaping up in his mind. ‘When the right opportunity comes my way, I will execute my plan’ was what he was telling himself.

One evening in the lobby of the Blue Diamond hotel he ran into Mr Bhuwalka who was the chairman of a large industrial group in Bombay, much larger than Llewellyn’s present employer. Mr Bhuwalka said in passing ‘By the way, the MD of our largest company has left last month, leaving me to find a replacement. If you are interested I can put your name down in the list of people being interviewed.’ Somewhat intrigued at this unconventional approach, Llewellyn agreed thinking it wouldn’t hurt to attempt to get a much bigger position in a larger company. The next few weeks Llewellyn attended discreet interviews with the Board Members of Mr Bhuwalka’s group in various locations like Oberoi Towers in Bombay and the Turf Club in Poona. In a manner of speaking he was jumping through the hoops by some of their aggressive questioning tactics, and he had reasons to believe that the Board was comfortable with his candidature. He was expecting a final meeting soon with Mr Bhuwalka to conclude matters.

The meeting did happen, but it did not run exactly to the format Llewellyn expected. Mr Bhuwalka did make the offer of employment saying how the Board was pleased with Llewellyn, but there were two twists in his offer. One, it would not be the position of Managing Director, but at one level below as President, but with the same powers as MD in terms of decision making. Two, the annual salary offered appeared to Llewellyn about 75% of what the earlier MD was getting paid, still much higher than what he himself was paid at that time. ‘These minor things like board position and salary can be corrected, Llewellyn, when people see your performance, so nothing for you to worry’ Mr Bhuwalka was reassuring about his offer. Having gone through similar conversations in the past with his prospective employers assuring him expansively only to forget their promises at crunch time, Llewellyn was ready this time around. 

He started speaking in a carefully modulated soft tone of voice, ‘I very much realise, Sir, that a place on the Board as MD is the board’s prerogative to offer. At the age of fifty with my list of achievements, if I am not thought to be ready for the board, I am naturally disappointed, but I am realistic enough to accept their verdict, though I do not agree with the evaluation of me. Secondly, if you don’t mistake me, again at this stage of my life, I do not feel the urge any more to prove myself to the world that I can deliver as promised. Therefore the position of President is fine by me, only I request that my desire not to be on the Board be respected even in the future. Let this be a terminal position for me, with no change till I retire. However, on the terms offered I have substantial reservations, though I respect the gracious offer made to me. You see, I have done some research on the pay structure of the earlier MD, and this offer is only about 75% of it. It is not clear to me why it should be so. If the job and result expectations from the incumbent are exactly the same why should the salary be different? Once again I am too tired to prove to others with my results so I can earn a bit more money. And if I accept your offer as it currently stands, I won’t be doing justice to my abilities. Therefore if you cannot offer the same terms in all respects, including perquisites, ESOPs and retirement benefits, as the earlier MD’s terms, for whatever reason, perhaps we should not conclude anything now’. Mr Bhuwalka was not expecting this turn of events either. He made a few phone calls with his people in the company and came back with an offer matching the earlier MD’s terms in every way including stock options, but he was apologetic about not offering Llewellyn the Board position, saying ‘My hands are tied on that matter, you must understand’. While accepting the increased offer, Llewellyn casually asked ‘I trust that you have no objections if I or my family members buy shares in the company I am going to head. I have some spare cash lying around which needs to be invested somewhere’. Mr Bhuwalka of course had no objections. While he was going home, Llewellyn had reasons to be pleased. He was smiling to himself ‘Board position later, indeed. I don’t give a tinker’s toss for a place on the Board. Don’t I know that board memberships are for vanity, and cash-on-hand is for sanity?’

When the appointment documents were finalised, he went to his present Chairman, Mr Bharat Jain, to offer his resignation. Mr Jain was surprised at his departure, saying ‘You have a bright future here; what can I do to make you stay?’ Llewellyn was gracious in his response ‘Sir, I don’t believe in extracting terms at a pistol point, I am sorry’. For about one week thereafter he was very busy liquidating all his stock holdings and converting all his savings into cash. He even sold off the apartment he owned, and rented it back from the buyer. The entire amount thus generated, which was sizeable, he placed it in buying the shares of the company of which he was going to be the President. He was placing his faith in himself and his ability to change the fortunes of the company he was going to head. A risky move, perhaps, but a well-balanced risk. 

Roll forward three years. The clean-up artist had once again done his trick. Mr Bhuwalka was pleased that the company had been turned around in a big way; Llewellyn was careful this time around to keep his employer in a good mood through his genuinely respectful but always professional behaviour, along the lines suggested by Tarun Sheth. While Mr Bhuwalka was moderately appreciative in rewarding Llewellyn for his efforts, Llewellyn was not at all disappointed with his rewards. He knew very well that it was the stock market that rewarded him in a big way, because the stock had appreciated by ten times in three years. His major bet on himself had paid off.

‘The Bible was right. Place your faith in yourself and not on the princes’ was a good career advice in my case, thought Llewellyn Sundaram.

A V Ram Mohan 3rd October 2020

(Note: This is only a story, all characters are imaginary ones, and real characters if any did not behave as narrated)