People management

Leader or Team – who maketh whom?

~ Rishi ~ 1 Comment

This week two things dovetailed rather interestingly. I finished the final 3 episodes of “The Last Dance” on Netflix and also the last few chapters of the book “No Rules Rules” by the Netflix founder.

Apart from the common aspect of both being related to Netflix, what I found interesting was that both dealt with a common subject – teams and leadership, and which one is more important!

What makes some teams tick and not the others? Why some leaders are more successful? These questions are important not just in sports or business but also in our daily lives. Because, that is what helps us move forward as a society…

Most of us believe that the leader is the most important person. There are paeans written about some of the most successful ones and how they changed the course of history or of their team. There are multiple books devoted to the art of leading and how to be a good leader.

On the other side, some of us believe that it is the sum total of the team members that makes a team reach the top. Each member plays an important role in the buildup and the final act towards that success. And yet, we are all expected to play a part as a good team member naturally; no one teaches us how to be one.

Looking at the two examples this week made me realise that it is a symbiotic relationship. A leader is as good as her team and draws strength from the individual parts to shape it up for the success. And the team members are equal contributors to the success if they fit in that gap and play to their strengths.

There have been many leaders who were good in their own right but couldn’t succeed because the team wasn’t just good enough. And there have been teams which were very good on paper but didn’t have the right leader to lead them to success.

So what makes both of them tick? I think it has got to do with one’s ego, mutual respect, self awareness, and interpersonal bonding. As long as these are in the right place, teams work wonders. And if not for these, things disintegrate!

As we enter an uncertain phase in our lives again with the rapidly escalating virus situation in India, these aspects become doubly important for us as citizens and as a society. Time to buckle up and play as a team to win this battle! In all the spheres we play in…

The people angle in business

~ Rishi ~ Leave a comment

Business is in fashion across drawing rooms these days!

Reading news of companies and platforms raising millions and billions of dollars has sure got the average Indian interested. There are regular discussion happening over these topics across age groups and everyone wants to know how do these hotshots get built…

Over the past few months, I am in the process of building up my new business. During this time, I have often thought about what makes a business venture successful and how do entrepreneurs succeed. And specially how to build once such company!

I must confess when I started out, I thought it was all about hard work and some luck. But as my journey has progressed, I have realized it’s all about how to manage people…

People management is the mantra to run a business successfully. If I can manage people and build a great team that shares my passion and belief, the business will scale and do well. The execution of the idea shall be as planned and success will be a formality.

Even in jobs, if someone is a good people manager, he or she will automatically do well and excel in the chosen field. Most successful managers I have read about seem to have this trait in common…

In fact, I was reading an article about how Richard Branson, one of the greatest entrepreneur of our time, has scaled up his empire. He mentioned one very simple thing – “I hire good people, leave them to run the business and trust them to do their best. It frees up my mind and gives me time to think about the future.”

A great example of great people management leading to greatness for the founder and group companies!

However, most people neglect this aspect when they are figuring out things in their professional life. They treat others with contempt or neglect the human angle and in turn this gets ingrained in their behavior, leading to future fallibility.

If we also become as steadfast about the all important human aspect as Richard Branson, more companies and empires as vast and efficient as Virgin can be built!