Loyalty is not just about Dogs!

I often find myself reviewing job description documents that our Human Resources routes my way. I also discuss with our hiring managers regarding the customer facing and the back office roles that they propose that will enable us to execute our organizational and revenue goals. We do this as a part of our Workforce Planning process. I also get into brief conversations with prospective employees who come to interview with us. In all these situations a point of discussion is what are the key qualities that will make the new hire tick?

As you would expect, the flavors of the response are varied. The MBA types will call out education, communication, integrity, conceptual skills, leadership, intellect, analytics, execution et al. Others will categorize honesty, hard work, relationships, knowledge, quality of work as key attributes for success.

All these assumptions are true and why not? Possessing these skills requires tremendous resolve, focus and discipline. These make up the professional’s arsenal that will take the owner a long way! However, what is the quality that plays an equally crucial role, if not more … an attribute that all organizations look forward to in the employees and test them on it over time? Nobody, (even the glib talker!) gets away talking through this – the proof lies in the actions of the employee and takes time to judge! I do not want to leave you hanging there but let us look at this from another perspective. The greatest professional & individual successes within organizations, Gates, Jobs, Buffet, Grove, Iacocca, Ellison, Welch have happened after these individuals focused their attention and effort on one single company over many years. Granted that some happened to be the promoters of the organizations that they worked for! Still it is undeniable that they worked hard, demonstrated commitment and passion, earned the loyalty and trust of the employees within the organization and progressively earned their stripes. Conversely, the organizations also recognized the capability of these individuals, the sincerity of their intent and progressively entrusted them with more authority and responsibility knowing well that these individuals had the capability to carry the accountability that comes along with it! And boy, did they and some of them are even doing so today…

The missing attribute for success I am talking about is ‘Loyalty’, a quality not discussed or probed much in most interview sessions. You cannot talk someone into believing that you are a loyalist. You have to demonstrate it with solid proof points and do it over time! Not just in fair weather, that’s easy but when the going gets tough, the adversities run high and when the organization needs believers! That is when true loyalty shows up and believe you me, there are people looking out and checking in to see who are the ones demonstrating this trait and sticking with the company!

In fact this is so not just at the corporation’s level, even within departments, workgroups and functional teams. Loyalty is an attribute that does not go unnoticed. It never should! It does not really matter how capable, experienced, influential or connected an individual is. Any demonstration of lack in loyalty will certainly not be an ingredient that will propel professional growth and success! Take this as a thumb rule in small family run businesses to global multinational corporations. Many organizations will state this in their manifesto, many will not … instead they will bracket the skill as ‘ability to align with the corporation’, ‘be committed to the corporate culture’ etc. the verbal flavors are many but the expectation is the same!

Put yourself in the shoes of the ‘power be it’ within the organization, most of who have risen to their high offices after having contributed to the development of the organization over the years! When they are ready to look around to hand over the mantle to someone to lead the organization in the next leg of the race and take it to the next level of success, what competency will they seek in the individual after all the ‘ticket to entry’ qualities have been checked out? They will without doubt seek out for their trust in the individual’s ability of carrying out the mission as closely as possible to what they would have done themselves! An individual who while shouldering the responsibilities of the organization will also keep an ear out for the recommendations and suggestions of the ‘old guard’! An individual who gives the confidence that he will honor the past legacy and preserve the building blocks on which the organization was built while driving the next level of growth and ensure that the bank is not broken!

Any career guidance session that I speak in is always laced with ample discussions about ‘patience and commitment’ towards the organization. If your job is a downright drag and you are gaining nothing from it then move on! Go someplace which will serve your career and your personal growth better. Else, patience is your best friend as you progress through your organization. Remember to demonstrate loyalty to your team, region, function, supervisor and the company at large in every instance along with demonstration of your capability in the role you play. Be assured that people are watching you and the rewards will come when the time is right!

Let me give you the bad news first!

I am fairly liberal and open to providing my opinion about how I view situations, circumstances, opinions and propositions and how I respond to them to anyone who genuinely seeks it! Life has seen me in different circumstances at work and play - good, bad, memorable, rewarding and downright ugly! Some, I have responded to well while others have been not much to write home about. Irrespective of the outcome, I have tried hard to learn from them, to reflect upon them and to promise myself to deal with them better if I were to face them again in the future, especially the not so rosy ones!

No one is in doubt that we live in a complex world, a complex society within very complex relationships. People I know, that is me included, fervently believe that by sharing our collective successes and the hard knocks that we have taken, will benefit others and save them time, pain recovery and missed opportunities! So we venture out and ‘seemingly’ sermonize when solicited!
Look at the flip side though! Just try expressing your views in any forum … everything we say or write is examined and inspected under a microscope! The more visible you are the deeper the inspection! In a world were bad news and negativity sells more than the good stuff, I am not even a bit surprised! Then there is the human ego that internally belittles the individual himself if he agrees to another’s opinion without punching one or more holes in it and then heroically filling that hole with another view that reflects his intellect to the audience around! The more ‘knowledgeable the circle the more sensitive you need to be with your every statement else the arrows will come hurtling down on you!

Having debated with myself on my position regarding this going forward, I have chosen to stay my course and continue to voice my learning for people to benefit from. There have been a few downsides even ‘debacles’, but the upside where people appreciate, joyfully receive and even benefit from these shared learning purely outweigh the not so memorable outcomes. Most importantly, doing this gives me joy which I think I deserve, more so if it makes the other person happy as well! I have just learnt to build some caution and tact in my style instead of the good ol’ cavalier run!

I have also learnt to be absolutely candid! To give a balanced view and to put my point of view purely as my opinion – merely my perspective, not the absolute truth! But see, when people seek my opinion, it is because they expect me to know! Well since I am but a mere mortal, far removed from a Da Vinci or a Nostradamus, I do not know it all nor have I ever seen the future! I candidly say so upfront and sometimes see their faces fall – naturally so but it sets me up with them on the right foot and sets their expectations exactly where it should be. I also set the tone at the onset that anything I say is my opinion, my finding, my perspective. Purely put together on the basis of my experiences which are in no way complete nor are they absolute references to the subject. It is for the individual to take it, rephrase it, re- orient it and use it as she deems fit.

Finally, I have learnt to dwell on balance! People who approach me want to hear me say all the bright and positive things about what they want to talk to me about. See this is how the mind works! Your mind expects to seek out agreement and reinforce what it already knows from others. Especially those individuals they have confidence in and categorize as ‘knowledgable’ in the area that they need advice. I have learnt to be more useful by going exactly against that current. I try and talk about all the things that I do not expect the individual to have thought about regarding that proposition. I give them the bad news first – not exactly what they want to hear but heck, at least I am giving them an alternate perspective rather than echoing their inner thoughts and just making them happily biased! The good news is already in there, the bad news helps these folks objectively weigh in on the pros and cons before deciding whether the option is worth pursuing! I like the honesty of this approach and also the fact that it indemnifies me from any backlashes about ‘Deb did not tell me so when he spoke about this…’ when undesired results occasionally but predictably show up, very contrary to some people’s expectations!