Delegate to Elevate

This article was originally written  for the E newsletter of APCRE (Association for Promotion of Competitive and Responsible Enterprises), an association dedicated  to promoting latest techniques and tools for facilitating the Indian Industries in General and MSMEs in particular for being Globally Competitive and Socially Responsible. In order to meet the space constraints of the newsletter, a slightly abridged version of this article was provided to them. 

The Mask Leadership series is a weekly rendezvous arranged by Mr Praksah sharma, Founder Director, Bija Training, between  customers of his company/ invitees  and experienced industry leaders. It seeks to share wisdom gained by the leaders over a period of  many years. On 7th October 2020, the speaker was Mr Rohit Toshniwal, Managing Director of Toshniwal , a Group of companies engaged in manufacture, import and export of high quality instruments like Vcone meter, Liquid ring vacuum pump, paddle mixer cum dryer etc..  He spoke on the topic "Delegate to Elevate"  

At the outset, the speaker  observed that the times have changed and that a shift is happening in the approach of management. Instead of relying on the traditional theory of heroic leadership  it is moving towards / looking at post heroic leadership theories. Today the workforce is a lot more flexible and agile. They expect to be trusted.

It would be pertinent for us to understand the theories of Heroic Leadership and post heroic Leadership. The dominant leadership paradigm of the industrial era was to view the leader as a hero who visualizes the future, defines and communicates the strategy, inspires and motivates those who are led, assigns roles, evaluates and rewards people  according to their performance. In short everything is handled by the hero/leader. The new environment requires a different approach to leadership. The "Carrot and stick" approach no longer works with the arrival of  a new generation of workers who are more connected, wish to have their say and have easy access to information.   

As we look at a post leadership scenario, the topic of "Delegate to Elevate" becomes very relevant and important. In this regard, some of the questions that may come up are what are the things that can be delegated? To whom and to what extent can it be done? A person may ideally wish to have a number of his clones in various departments who would work and act exactly like him. The reality however, is quite different. It is not possible to source and recruit people who thinks and acts exactly as you do. It may not even be in the best interests of the organization if divergent views are not expressed. I had read in a management book some time back that "People will nod 'Yes' to everything you say and then go back and do what they believe is right thing to do" Therefore, it is important to take everyone along explaining to them the reasons for taking decisions  instead of simply ordering them around.  

Mr Toshniwal said that we need to first look at what exactly it is that “we want to achieve"?  Having a tangible vision will provide the direction on the matter of delegation. In this regard two way communication is very important as it enables exchange of ideas between people. Delegation should evolve gradually, as you develop the team. After defining the task, you can start out by giving incremental opportunities and responsibilities, increasing it as the delegated person rises to the requirements and expectations.  A question that was put to the speaker at this stage was “How does one handle the insecurity involved while delegating?" Often the boss or the one wielding the power is reluctant to let go. Here, one has to develop the maturity to accept the situation, step back and consciously look at the larger goal of the organization to be able to delegate. The team also should be aware of the big picture. 

In order to remove insecurity or lack of confidence  on the part of the person to whom delegation is made, chatting up and providing reassurance will go a long way in removing doubts or fears. To a question as to whether there was an occasion when a delegation attempt went wrong, Mr Toshniwal  gave an instance. The communication with overseas principals was being handled only by the middle and senior level management. It was decided to open up the activity to young engineers. However, the youngsters got a little carried away and there was a mismatch of culture resulting in the overseas customers labeling an engineer as rude and non cooperative. The engineer who had been excited about the opportunity also became frustrated and unhappy. However, in the area of marketing, particularly in digital marketing, delegation was found to be very successful.  

Effective delegation is about hand holding while at the same time being articulate about what you want. Lack of time is no excuse for not delegating. It is also possible to be influenced by complacency with thoughts like "Everything is going on well presently. Why upset the apple cart?" What you need to do is to take people out of their comfort zones and encourage them to deliver and they will.  Delegation can be used as an important tool for preparing people as part of succession planning. Mr Toshniwal signed off by stating that making the organization inclusive is very important. The failure of Blackberry as a company was on account of its rigid structure. 'Trust' is the key for success!

 I found the proceedings of the evening very interesting. It is heartening to note that Mr Rohit Toshniwal  although  MD of a company that started  as a family business and enjoyed success for over seven decades,  finds it prudent  to acknowledge  the importance of  post heroic leadership concepts for the present times . Many business schools are yet to sufficiently incorporate changes to their curricula on these lines. There is a lure in the theory of heroic leadership where the hero or a few at the top has all the answers. In the present dynamic times when we have to deal with a VUCA world, it may not be personal characteristics of leaders that matter most but the quality of relationships between the leader and followers. The focus needs to change accordingly so that 'delegation and elevation' happen naturally and effortlessly.