I had an important realization today, while I was driving to work. I realized my powerful influence in the lives of people who work for me at Peach.
I do not recall having looked at this relation, in past, very differently than a standard give-and-take model, wherein I pay salary to each employee who made himself available to pursue my tasks for eight-odd hours. I used to feel once in a while that I do wield a somewhat higher position than their payer, but I never cared to think deeper. But thinking further today, I sense that my role is much deeper than that of the buyer of their time. I realize that I happen to wield enormous power not only on what they do during these work hours, but even on their life beyond Peach.
I must clarify, at the onset, that a vast majority of the employees that I am talking about are fresh graduates, who have never experienced another job in their life. Things may be a lot more different for people employing mainly experienced professionals. But to these just-released professionals, I define what a “job” is. I define who an “employer” is, what a “supervisor” is supposed to be. The policies I enact and the opportunities I offer develop their impression about how one grows at work. The way I encourage or praise their work, or the way I may turn it down, sets the level of their confidence about their own abilities. This confidence, and their impression about opportunities, makes an impact on their dreams – they figure whether they deserve to dream of big successes, or be content with stability. Indeed, they also gain some impressions from their friends and college mates, who possibly face different scenarios at their workplaces, but I must accept that my actions remain the primary cause of these thoughts nonetheless.
I have managed, like most other employers, to ignore this critical reality, as these fresh employees do not expect much. While they may come with high hopes and dreams, they are generally trained in college, at school, and at home, to be submissive to the so-called “higher authorities”, and accept their behaviour as their fate (unless there is a situation so repulsive as to require a rebellious change). The typical employer gets away with shirking his responsibility of being more than a payer by unknowingly imposing a routine on his recruits, which makes them too busy to introspect.
But I am not sure if getting away with this is what employers should prefer. I rather think that this is a wonderful opportunity that employers must grab. While people crave for power or importance in every community they are in, this is a situation where we get to wield enormous power to change lives. I feel that I have the power to impact 50 people and their families. I feel that I am, possibly unknown to them, among the most important people in their lives, for I get to influence their dreams, their culture, and even their day-to-day schedule. I must check myself here if I am bordering on being royally arrogant or overestimating my role, but introspection tells me that I indeed am this important to my people, so long as they work for me. Fortunately, I do not have enough power to act negatively beyond certain limit, as people always have the choice to stop tolerating my antics. But I have lots of scope to use this importance for good.
Let me now consider how I can use this power. First, I have the ability to define and execute policies. By taking interest in the lives of people, and accommodating their genuine needs, I can make my policies more effective by not victimizing such needs through robotic execution. Next, I can, directly and through my organization & policies, inculcate the appropriate culture in people. That is, I can inculcate perfectionism, care for people, respect for every human, result-oriented management, objectivity, good health practices; I can shun unethical behaviour, tobacco, idle gossip, etc. Now this is naturally restricted to my definition of “appropriate”, but let’s go with that for a while. Further on, I also have the opportunity to teach people. In the name of “training”, my flock is at least forced to listen to what I want them to hear. That way, I can formally groom them in technical and management matters, enriching them as professionals and persons. I can even pursue initiatives related to health, ethics, and similar life-sensitive topics, and expect their attendance, with good chance that they’ll absorb some stuff.
Beyond inculcating knowledge and culture, I have the power to create situations and environments. I can create an atmosphere of trust and friendship in the company. I can welcome frankness and honesty, which will percolate even in their personal lives. I can identify the strength of each employee and work out win-win solutions for her growth and progress of the company. I can learn about her dreams and figure how we can realize those at Peach, so long as she plays her part in the plan. None of these are against the interest of the company. Rather, such initiatives will develop a strongly bonded and self-motivated workforce, and every minute spent in enriching this strength will be earned back by their productivity.
I admit that I’ve written this note in tone that some might find self-flattering. But my intention is not that; when I speak of myself, I actually imply every one of the thousands of entrepreneurs in the world; and when I speak of my “power”, I only imply the ability to make a positive difference to people. We all have such power in reality – that power may be as simple as the power to smile at someone and sparkle her day, or the power to respond and not react to a slight provocation (I refer to Stephen Covey here) – here I only refer to a similar, but additional, power that entrepreneurs wield, and seem to be mainly unaware of. I want these entrepreneurs, myself included, to realize this power, and enjoy playing an important role in the lives of their colleagues.
