Organizations need “Island of personality”

Jose Mourinho one of the finest football managers of this era is a go getter, a manager for big time matches, an achiever and an epitome of footballing success who knows how to win array of trophies.

JM was heavily criticized recently for his defensive approach after United were eliminated from Champions League but he responded to that criticism with an extraordinary defence of his methods & record at a press conference mentioning that he was not afraid of his responsibilities. In that process, he had demonstrated once again the power of courage, conviction, passion and a great footballing mentality.

Here are some of the important things to ponder on and we can relate to business and organizations, I say “HR Mentality”.

“Football Heritage”

"Do you know what is heritage? Nicolas Otamendi, Kevin de Bruyne, Fernandinho, David Silva, Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero - they are investments from the past, not from the last two years. One day, when I leave, the next Manchester United manager will find here Lukaku, Matic, of course De Gea from many years ago. They will find players with a different mentality, quality, background, with a different status, knowhow. I could be in another country with the league in the pocket, but I am here and I am going to be here, and no way am I going to change my mentality. “I’m not going to disappear from the tunnel, running immediately; the next match, I will be the first to go out. I am not afraid of my responsibilities.

In business leaders create organizations, they create the culture and Heritage. Sufficient time, patience and efforts are to be invested to nurture talents to build a Heritage. Organizations can become impatient, ruthless and greedy but leaders who would be able to identify, create & nurture talents of different mentality will leave a legacy not by shying away from failures but by taking responsibility with dog like determination, courage & conviction.

“ When the sun is shining & everything goes well”

You win matches you score goals, everything goes in your direction, every player is a good player & wants to play & wants the ball and looks amazing and confident. When it is dark cloud in football that means a period of bad results or a bad result not everybody has the confidence & personality to play really”.

Quite relevant in business too, isn’t it! When business is shining & everything goes well; you do mass hiring, you bring on costly resources, your L&D and R&D spends are its peak, you could afford best of the pay rises and what not. When the business is dark cloud; your margins fall, you lose out to big orders etc. etc. and you start to control cost, optimize staff, cut your L&D and R&D budget and not everybody has the confidence & personality to rise to the occasion and deliver.

This is where true leaders with “Island of personality” are born and more importantly it’s a great responsibility to identify & nurture those.

"An Island of Personality”

After the Champions league loss, JM wanted a big response from his players. It’s quite natural; you get exhausted, shattered and out of place on defeat after a high octane match. But players like Matic & Lukaku with personality traits of resilience and perseverance, the conscientiousness the never say die attitude had exhibited how to bounce back. Many, many times Matic was an island of personality and desire and control, surrounded, not by water but by a lack of personality, class and desire. Matic did show his class in the next FA cup match and was Man of the match with his personality & quality & reaction to the earlier defeat.

 In business after a lackluster quarter or losing out to your competitor, many a time you find leaders with an “An Island of Personality”, surrounded not by water but by a lack of personality, class and desire . Leaders need to recognize and understand that, we are not doing well but at least are trying to do the basic things right; getting agile, working hard, becoming more efficient, coming with smarter & better ways of doing things and not repeating mistakes. Leaders ought to take responsibility and respond in a big way to regain the faith bestowed on them.

To summarize the business and HR leaders need to;

• Leave a legacy for the future and the organization to excel and exceed.
• Rise to the occasion in times of dark cloud, ready to take tough & unpleasant decisions not merely self-subsistence but organational survival
• Identify & nurture “Island of personality” 

Organizations need “Island of personality” and more so to identify & nurture those. Hope you agree……

By Bikram K Nayak, Head Talent Acquisition L&T