Street Smart

As I mentor young MBA students for life after college the question arises as to what it takes to be a great and even successful manager in a world that throws up new challenges at the rate of knots. Many of my young friends feel that one needs to be street smart, another claims that he would like autonomy at work and would like to be micro-managed. I dislike the words. What does street smart mean? It could get you just that far and no more. Street smartness, indeed - balderdash!I always felt that it was a way for the shirker to say that academic excellence was not required and could be replaced by a notion that one could work his way to the upper echelons of an organization by just being smart, whatever that would mean. Micro management is another word that is loosely bandied about by people with little experience at work. Too much of autonomy to those with little work experience and even less cognitive skills can only end in disaster for the manager who empowers those who cannot handle responsibility with understanding. However on reflection I concede that there could be elements that differentiate a great manager from an average one. My laundry list would be: 1. Be culturally sensitive: India is without doubt the most diverse country on earth and it is imperative that one is culturally sensitive as work takes us across different cities.Carlos Ghosn, of Renault Nissan says says that he owes his success in Japan simply because he immersed himself in the Japanese culture and way of life.While it is important to be rooted and proud of one's own culture, being parochial is stupid in today's flat flat world. 2. Network: Network furiously is the mantra for successful managers. Networking and communication are key competencies that cannot be ignored. The use of social media may have destroyed intimacy but has improved reach. Reach out to as many people that you can and stay connected. 3. Multitask: This is surprising. The west thinks sequentially and so getting the brain to do do multiple tasks is a tad difficult. In today's world you just can't stay on one ball at a time but need to juggle many with finesse. The above three would be that X - factor that seperate's the men from the boy's along with the long list of competencies that a person needs to have in terms of hard work, domain skills and the like. If these constitute street smartness, then you have me in your corner.

Money......one way or the other!

Labour peer Lord Swaraj Paul, was suspended from the House of Lords, in the United Kingdom, last week for allegedly cheating the taxpayer out of tens of thousands of pounds in wrongly claimed expenses. Apprently the Lord cannot be expelled!

It amazes me as to why somebody as rich as the peer would try to deprive the system of its due.What is even more amazing is that the British MP thought he could get away with a simplistic scam that he tried to pull off................

It was found that Swaraj Paul, a steel magnate and one of Britain's wealthiest men, lived in London but designated a one-bedroom flat in an Oxfordshire hotel that he owned as his main home.

The question is 'Are politicians the world over, no different from each other'?

On that note lets look at the business world:

On August 6, 2010, Mark Hurd resigned from all of his positions at HP, following discovery of inappropriate conduct in an investigation into a claim of sexual harassment made by former reality TV actress Jodie Fisher.The probe concluded that the company's sexual-harassment policy was not violated, but that its standards of business conduct were.Hurd said he "realized there were instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles of trust, respect and integrity that I have espoused at HP" and added that he believed it would be "difficult to continue as an effective leader at HP." In exchange for releasing HP from future litigation, Hurd received $12.2 million in severance, plus vested options and restricted stock for an estimated total of $34.6 million.

What followed was even more bizarre!

Oracle Corporation CEO Larry Ellison, a close friend of Hurd who has also been the object of sexual harassment claims, sent an e-mail to the New York Times saying "the HP Board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple Board fired Steve Jobs many years ago. That decision nearly destroyed Apple and would have if Steve hadn't come back and saved them. HP had a long list of failed CEOs until they hired Mark who has spent the last five years doing a brilliant job reviving HP to its former greatness".

The only sad conclusion that one may draw from these rather distasteful episodes are:

1. The richer you get the meaner you become.
2. The better you are at your job, there is a latitude for indiscretion, that mere mortals are not offered and you are entitled to believe that normal rules do not apply.To me it smells of 'megalomania'.
3. You swing along as long as you do not get caught.

At the end of the day, it is sad that many believe, that one can be dishonest, if you do not get caught and if you do then have friends or a system that can bail you out.

Honor & Ethics! You gotta be kidding......the buzz word are networking and money, any which way you can!