Mr. Miyagi did not teach Daniel Karate.

He taught him the lessons of life!

I am sure many of us have seen at least one release of the original “The Karate Kid” franchise. If you haven’t seen, you must. You can read more about the film on its Wikipedia page.

Many of us, while watching the film wondered about Mr. Miyagi’s intentions when he made ‘Daniel San’ undertake meaningless exercises having promised to teach him Karate. After 4 days of the meaningless exercises, Daniel’s frustration reached a tipping point and an outburst was the result. What followed was Daniel’s realisation of what impact the 4 days had had on him.

In a recent seminar, D Shivakumar, the Chairman and CEO of Pepsico, India Region, told us, a bunch of marketing seniors, that the role of the first boss is most important in how a person sees corporate life. I couldn’t agree more to this. The only change I would make to this statement is to make it the first 5 years of work life rather than the first boss alone.

With great power comes great responsibility. We do not realise but those who have people reporting into them have a huge responsibility. We often tend to approach our teams as individuals who are supposed to do a job, get a job done; the job for which they earn a salary. What we do not realise is that they aren’t just doing a job, they are building a future for themselves and, more importantly, for their families. We, as managers/superiors, have the responsibility to ensure that their future is secure and bright.

I always had good superiors. Barring 2 or 3 of them, all others have been good. However, many lacked foresight and the future view. They did not understand me as a person and they treated me as an Assistant Manager/Manager or whatever designation I was at. They did not see me as Apurva Sircar, the one who was a contributor to the company’s success and the one who was eager to make a mark. (It’s not that I did not have bad managers. I tend to consider them as learning points – how not to be a bad manager.)

Things changed in 2009 when I joined Birla Sun Life Insurance. My manager, Nikhil Anandikar, and his manager, Rahul Sinha, changed my life. I was no longer looking at only what I was doing but also seeing what I could do. I was beginning to see my future. Had I changed as a professional? I would have, 4 years into my permanent job. Yet, I am sure that I didn’t change as a person. Rahul and Nikhil made me realise my potential.

What we need to do as bosses/managers/superiors is to know our people and give them what they need. The biggest challenge bosses face is to understand their people and in most cases, bosses do not care to understand them. They simply have a one-size-fits-all approach to people and that’s where the problem is.

In my experience, just a few points of attention can ensure a happy team member, ready for the future and satisfied with what she does. Satisfied doesn’t mean she’ll stick with you forever. If she sticks with you for a minimum of 3 years having done some fantastic work, you have succeeded as a superior. The fact that she gets picked up by another company at a better profile and package than you can afford speaks volumes of you as a superior.

So, here are the action points I think are important to enable your teams to be champion teams.

1.    Give them space

Show them what needs to be done. Never tell them how to do it, even if that means leaving them at the deep end of the pool. Only in case they are fresh out of school should there be some hand holding. If they succeed, give them credit. If they fail, show them why they failed. Micromanage only and only if many attempts at making them independent have failed.

2.    Let them experiment

Have an appetite for failure. Let teams try new things. In today’s dynamic world, there are no laws of success. We learn by doing. There will be jobs that are high stake jobs and will not allow for experimentation. Develop the maturity to know where experimentation can be allowed.

3.    Define boundaries of work, not behaviour

Resources are limited. Results are what matter. These rules are universal. If your team takes breaks and works, allow them to. If the team member hates taking breaks, that is also ok. At the end of it, if the work gets done and gets done well, don’t create unnecessary rules. Let the company policies be the only rules.

4.    Don’t expect them to be you

Every individual is different, we all know this. Many do not follow this. I have seen many managers upset with their teams because the team does not work like they themselves. Your twin will not be identical in behaviour, why should you expect your team members to be? They will have their sweet spot. Help them identify that and see them fly. Marry your strengths and weaknesses with theirs so that the cumulative weaknesses are nullified or reduced. That’s the key to successful teams.

5.    Keep an eye on the future

What’s next for each member? What upskilling needs to be done? What is the next role for the person and how would she get there? These are very important questions to know answers to for each team member.

Being a superior is not about giving commands. It is not about appraising people and having to make them do as you deem fit. It is about creating happy employees who win. Know your people. When you know them, you know what makes them tick and what will make them tick. That’s it. That is the secret to your success.