It was that time of the year again when the travel bug hits our family. Schools were closed for summer holidays and Gurgaon was unbearably hot. Our last real vacation had been to the Hobbit country down under, but that seemed a long time ago and it was time to submit to our wanderlust again. Weighing several options we decided to head westwards to the enchanting lands of Turkey and Greece.
lot has been written about individual and team effectiveness with focus on leadership and teamwork and how they combine for organisations and teams to succeed. Not much has been written or spoken about what it takes to build sustainable, strong and effective families. It’s important to look at the framework of a family. Family has universal appeal and recognition but the structure of families across the world has changed.
The only thing that is certain in life is change.” This is one adage I have come to strongly associate with my own life. It started early, as a child growing up in a middle class Bengali family that moved around every two or three years. As a result, I shifted schools seven times before heading to a boarding school in the hills. Twenty three years of work life has seen me move 10 jobs and half a dozen cities in India and abroad.
Twenty five years ago, as a new entrant in the Industry, me and my peers were quite in awe of the senior managers and directors of the company. To us, they were powerful people, not easily accessible and wielded that invisible arm of authority which we revered and often feared. Power flowed from authority and work got done through directions down the chain of command. Hierarchical management structures were the order of the day and there was a clear demarcation between the thought leaders who gave directions and followers who executed them in an organisation. That was the era of “Command and Control” leadership.
In today’s fast paced and constantly changing business environment, Organisations are constantly striving to out innovate and out execute each other to remain competitive. As cost advantages narrow and product differentiation and life cycles dwindle in most industries, the ‘Right to Succeed’ is often determined by ‘Execution Excellence’, that is, the speed and quality of execution. Not surprising therefore that a significant part of management writing has focused on execution.
The word balance means many things to us. For instance, corporations are working to balance short term results with creating longer term sustainable value for their shareholders. Corporate executives are challenged with maintaining a work-life balance. Investors are balancing risk and return. A musician is creating harmony by balancing scales and notes, while the accountant balances his books. In a more literal sense, balance and timing are ‘life skills’ for a trapeze artist. Couples strive to strike the right balance in their own relationships and parents seek balanced development of their children.
