A United Front
In his TED talk ‘Why good leaders make you feel safe’, Simon Sinek recounts an incident where he poses a question to many personnel, in the armed services, ‘Why would you put your life on the line for someone else?’ Simon says, that the most common and almost universal answer is ‘Because they would have done the same for me.’
In the same TED talk, Simon Sinek goes on to conclude that the reason for this is that there is a safe environment created, where trust and cooperation between peers and colleagues flourishes. In the armed services, trusting your fellow soldier, and more so, trusting your commanders’ orders, is paramount to the success of any operation at any scale.
Another concept that Sinek has developed is called the Golden Circle. The golden circle speaks to the WHY, HOW and WHAT of an organisation. It suggests that in any endeavour, your reason for doing things, as an organisation should be clear, as well as starting point of said endeavour.
- Why - This is the core belief of the business. It's why the business exists.
- How - This is how the business fulfils that core belief.
- What - This is what the company does to fulfil that core belief.
Applying Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle to the armed services, the WHY they do things is extremely clear, being service to protect the nation at a cost that may be as high as their own life. HOW, atleast internally, is that by creating an environment which is safe, we would be able to create an environment which would allow trust and cooperation to flourish. The WHAT they do is the most evident in this case, they protect the nation.
In conversation with Diksha Dwiwedi, author of Letters from Kargil, and the daughter of Major Chandra Bhushan Dwivedi, one of the martyrs of the Kargil War, we discussed the dichotomy of a soldier’s life, where they are facing fear on a daily basis. On the other hand, simultaneously installing a feeling of trust in everyone around them, making everyone feel safe, including their families at home, often times concentrating on the describing the upside which would include things like the scenery, weather and people they were getting to meet during their service, rather than the extremely scary wartime scenarios which would in most circumstances lead to injury or even death.
In many ways a business leader is like a major or general of an army, often taking decisions for the whole unit. It is critical to the success of the unit that there is trust across the board in the decisions being taken. Also it is the leader’s responsibility to make sure that the work environment created is one where all people involved feel included and safe, so that trust and cooperation may flourish between peers and colleagues. Since most companies don’t have a WHY as great as the armed services, it is even more important that we create this safe environment.
The norm so far, as Simon points out in the same TED talk, is that companies believe that for their employees to flourish and perform effectively, an environment of fear and uncertainty needs to be created through competition amongst peers and colleagues.
Whereas, it is the complete opposite in business.
In safe environments, people put themselves on the line for the benefit of others, most often their leaders who have earned their trust. Everyone involved feels included and safe in the working environment.
President John F. Kennedy was visiting NASA headquarters for the first time, in 1961. While touring the facility, he introduced himself to a janitor who was mopping the floor and asked him what he did at NASA. The janitor replied ‘I am helping put a man on the moon!’
Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group says “If you take care of your employees, they'll take care of your customers”
Wars and battles have often been won on account of a cohesive front of courage, trust, cooperation, faith and unity, being displayed during adverse circumstances. Running a business has many parallels to fighting a war. Enabling a safe environment which encourages trust and cooperation may be the first step to creating a united front at work.