Efforts are respected but only results are rewarded

Note: This article has been written by a member of The EdgeMakers. Using this article for printing, publishing & training purposes (without due permission from Directors of The EdgeMakers) is strictly prohibited.

Efforts are respected but only results are rewarded
Sandeep Atre (The EdgeMakers)

There are two circuits in Tennis: Amateur & Professional. The difference is simple. Amateurs play for pleasure and for them it is a hobby, while professionals play for winning and in fact rely totally on the sport for their bread (& butter). Professionals have no choice but to be productive. Nobody grows in profession because of trying hard, attempting sincerely or putting maximum efforts. People grow because they achieve targets, attain benchmarks & deliver results.

I don’t think anybody would doubt the reputation of Mohammad Kaif as a hard-worker. In fact, he is one person who you can always count upon for giving 100% but look at his career and you will realize that his greatest problem is that he has not made runs consistently and that’s why he has never been able to cement a place for himself in the team. You may say that this is unfair but then tell me what other measure or criteria would you keep for selection in the team? You cannot rely on observation or halo effect. You cannot say that a person is a good team player that’s why he should be in the team; because being a team-player is a necessary condition and not a sufficient one. It is not about only being great buddies or a pious soul; one has to have an impact on the bottom-line.

There is a simple concept in profession called KRAs (Key Result Areas). They could have easily been called Key Responsibility Areas but what is use of responsibility if the targets are not met?

A classic case emerges in profession when a person doesn’t deliver even after repeated feedbacks, appraisals & warnings. His superior finds himself pretty helpless and doesn’t know what to do? Finally, one day he decides to give a thrash to the culprit. But now the whole scene changes because the culprit takes things personally and claims to be hurt by the treatment. Suddenly he becomes an underdog and gains all the sympathy and the situation leaves the superior with nothing but a reputation for being brutal and inhuman.

The biggest problem in profession is that people don’t understand that it is not a family where togetherness is the purpose or not even a gully cricket team where enjoyment is the aim. It is plain business where creation & contribution are the objectives. Family is bonded by blood-relations, gully-group is bonded by friendship but the organization is bonded by neither of them and thus the only thing that binds it is the interrelated results. And it remains the most blatant truth of profession!

Let’s understand what is business? Let’s assume that there are resources worth 5 units. These resources can be Men, Material, Money, Machines & Methods, and above all, profession’s most important two resources: Time & Thought-stream. If you are hired by a company then your role is to process these 5-units worth resources in such a manner that it produces stuff worth 50 units. The company facilitates the whole processing and takes all the risk and you earn a share of surplus generated in the process. Company keeps one portion as reserves and reinvests another portion back into business.

Now, it is okay if you take time to learn & acquaint yourself with the process but in any month you cannot produce stuff worth ‘less than 5-units’ from the resources worth 5-units. Ideally, you may say that you will recover the loss when you learn fully but company never has the guarantee whether you will stay with the company or not. So, taking learning-curve as an excuse is beyond question in contemporary corporate milieu. You have to produce results and that too ethically and systematically.

Many people think that organizations should show more tolerance towards new people but the question is that after around 20 years of education, people are expected to perform immediately and if they boast of the high-sounding degrees then they have to deliver from day-1. Profession is not charity where intent matters more than the content. Profession is aimed at creating something commercial with tangible outcomes.

There is no place for following sentences in profession:

Well! I tried my best but…
That’s all I can do…
Give me another chance…
Well! It takes time…
Actually what happened was that…

All these sentences suffer from ‘Excuzitice’; it is an infectious disease and can be fatal for career. The most important word in professionalism’s vocabulary is ‘utility’. It is important for everyone to prove his worth regularly. In a corny way, we can say ‘Improving’ is nothing but ‘I m proving’.

There are times when bosses are blamed for being cruel or insensitive but it is no surprise! Ask today’s children’s view about their parents, majority would say that they are interfering & dominating, and that’s why it is important to remember that neither parenting nor leadership is a popularity contest. People get popular because they cater to the likes of the people who make them popular and for leaders it is not at all possible to play to the gallery. A lot of people say that the employees should be treated like adults, that they should be given respect and what not. Yet look around! Our government treats people as adults but everyone can see what they do to the roads, trains, traffic rules and taxes. In environment of such social-distrust, how can you expect bosses to coddle the subordinates…after all, they are leaders…not babysitters. Not to forget, they are also responsible to customers & stakeholders.

This concept can be completely epitomized in one word: ‘Accountability’. When a woman gives birth to a child, whole family takes responsibility of taking care of her and her husband has authority to guide her for doing something or restricting her from another. Yet bearing the child, tolerating the labour pains and eventually delivering the child is done and can only be done by the woman herself. In other words, she is accountable for it. Similarly, in profession, it is important to take accountability of a task, because in profession, there is ample scope for blaming the co-workers, overloads, external variables, market realities and communication-gaps; and you don’t have to succeed instead of them but despite of them. Ultimately, you have to be ready to turn Jesus and being crucified for the sins of your brethren. Can’t help it! So, when you take up a task, be a clincher, breathe it, live it and for god’s sake complete it.

There is a famous joke:

Boss: “This is the task that you have to complete within a week”
Subordinate: “Sir! I will give my heart & blood to this task”
Boss: “I don’t want your heart & blood, just complete the task”
Subordinate: “Sir! I will die for it but will try my best”
Boss: “I guess you didn’t understand! I don’t want your life, just complete the damn task”
Subordinate: “Sir! I will give it everything I have”

This happens almost everywhere and is most injurious to an organization. Mahatma Gandhi said a wonderful thing: “A soldier is not a soldier if he dies in the battlefield; his work is to kill and come back”. So don’t try to be a hero or a martyr, just work it out!

One very important reason for people’s failure in achieving tasks is that they “try to please all the people all the time” which is a sure-shot way to flunk.


Note: This article has been written by a member of The EdgeMakers. Using this article for printing, publishing & training purposes (without due permission from Directors of The EdgeMakers) is strictly prohibited.