Mirror Mirror on the Wall...

In a recent training session I asked my team to participate in a simple game. They were paired across the room and within each pair one person was to act as a mirror. The objective was that whatever the other person did, the mirror would have to reflect. What followed in the next 60 seconds was a myriad series of actions and reactions that ranged from uninhibited imitations of one’s partner, to self-contained rigidity in failing to follow through the game’s objective. The observations laid bare a number of realizations of which one in particular warrants attention.

In the spirit of customer focus, we endlessly theorize and thrust down our employees' heads, the need to represent our corporate values and standards to our stakeholders. Imagine for a minute, if we were the mirror that when looked at, reflects our employer crystal clear, through our actions and interactions. While this pristine image of the ideal scenario is to be enviously desired, what we face in reality is the tainted image of failures similar to the reactions seen in the game mentioned earlier. This chasm between the ‘desired’ and ‘demonstrated’ outcomes begs the question – WHY?! Let's consider a situation. An employee processing the joining formalities of a selected candidate knows what information needs to be collected, by when, and what the consequences of any breakdown in the process would entail. Yet, is this knowledge of the transaction in itself adequate to create the mirror impact we seek to create for our stakeholders? In this case, the selected candidate?

While the obvious answer is ‘no’, the above question in itself poses a rhetorical question of what does one need above and beyond the knowledge of one’s job, to successfully mirror one’s corporate culture, values and standards? The answer that comes to my mind is ‘alignment’. Seldom would one look into a mirror and see another’s image reflect in return. Yet, in reality, 80% of our workforce accomplishes this feat effortlessly. A lifeless mirror has but one purpose – to reflect the image of the object in front of it. Would it then be feasible to expect an equivalent output from a living, breathing human being whose complex brain functions and free will have their own influence on his/her actions?

 In truth, I believe the answer is still ‘yes’. Note that in the game, there were those 20% who uninhibitedly mirrored the actions of their partner and came pretty close. What differentiated them was that they bought into the objective of that game and aligned it with their personal thoughts and outlook. The 80% when asked about their experience and reasons for failing to mirror their partner, cited reasons of self-restrictions, self-consciousness and other such self-imposed constraints as the major distraction from their objective. So an enormous opportunity lies before us today - both as a check point of our own level of alignment with our employer, and as leaders, to create a similar alignment between our employees and our organization’s corporate values and standards.  Let us introspect ourselves and ensure that our personal differences and motives do not stand in the way of reflecting our employer’s vision and value proposition. After all, in the words of Torben Rick, “Organisational alignment is the glue for achieving better performance”.  

In light of the benefits at stake, it behooves us to wipe the dust off the surface and to polish the dullness that has settled upon us so we can regain our shine to reflect our employer’s mission through our actions. In the words of Edith Wharton, “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” To the purpose of our employer’s mission, let us take pride and be the mirror reflecting it every day!