Full text of my
address at the BK Gulf Headquarters, Dubai
World FM Day
13th July
2016
Good afternoon Ladies and
Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to
address you all on the occasion of the World FM day 2016.
It is indeed a special day for
all of us in the FM fraternity, because we all belong to a large global family,
connected through our profession. Today, as millions of the FM professionals
across the world celebrate, we too share our excitement with them, through this
wonderful event. Let us hope that in the years to come, our tribe grows
multiple times, creating new opportunities for the young professionals, who,
under the able guidance of experienced seniors, shall come out with innovative
solutions for the benefit of the clients worldwide.
Though the FM industry was formed
several decades ago, it has grown significantly in its intent and content
during the last two decades. Today, FM deals with not just the conventional FM
aspects but also new areas like contributing to the client’s core business processes
and enhancing their operational efficiencies. This is further prompting the
clients to focus only on their respective core functions, leaving the
responsibility of managing non-core domains to the FM service providers.
The UAE market has been very
exciting for the FM industry and it promises to be so in the future too. The
sheer number of high-rise prestigious structures demand high level of FM
services delivered in a highly professional manner. The demand for good FM
services in Dubai is poised to grow exponentially, with the global event 2020
triggering growth in various sectors, particularly the hospitality segment.
As the demand for good FM
services increases, the market will witness new players entering the market and
jostling for their space. The competition shall grow further, leading to a significant
improvement in service delivery standards on several fronts.
Here, I would like to quote a
very well-known story about four friends who go hunting in a jungle and
suddenly find a tiger at a distance. Incidentally, they do not have their guns
with them at that moment. In panic, they start running. However, one of them
starts putting on his sports shoes. Seeing this, one of his friends asks him
mockingly, “Do you think you can run faster than the tiger by wearing your
sports shoes?”
He replies, “No. My target is not
to run faster than the tiger, but faster than you.”
The message is very clear in this
story. As the competition grows, you need to run. But you have to ensure that
you run a bit faster than your competitor. You cannot afford to be the slowest,
as the tiger will catch up with you.
In order to run slightly faster
than the nearest competitor, the FM companies come up with different strategies
from time to time. This year’s theme is ‘Empowering people for a productive
world’.
So, let us dwell on the subject
of empowerment. What exactly is empowerment?
However, there are certain
pre-conditions before empowerment can yield any meaningful results. Let us
briefly analyze some of the critical and important factors required for a
successful empowerment.
The first and foremost factor is
that the leader has to be strong enough for empowering his team. The leader has
to have power and authority, courage of conviction, and a clear vision before
he can empower his team.
Here, I quote the example of
three prime ministers of India to illustrate this point better. Before I name
them and talk about them, I would like to urge you not to draw any political
message out of this reference. All these three personalities had their strong areas
and weak areas. We are only going to focus on their one aspect of functioning,
which is related to the concept of empowerment.
We had one Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi, who kept most of her powers with herself. She did not delegate any of
her authority to any of her ministers. All the women of 1970s and 80s were
highly inspired by her personality.
Then we had another Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh. He has been one of India’s greatest economist, who had
earned international accolades during his professional career for his subject
knowledge and expertise. However, as a politician, there was a popular
perception that he did not have much powers with him, in order to delegate
further.
The current Prime Minister
Narendra Modi is making International headlines for various good reasons and
has delegated the important functions to his chosen ministers. He only
exercises administrative control over them, for monitoring and controlling
purposes.
The second major aspect of
empowerment is that when the responsibility is delegated, the expectations have
to be specified very clearly and in specific terms. Otherwise, there is every
likelihood of a goof up.
Here I quote the example of a
blacksmith in a town, who hired a new apprentice to help him in his works.
After giving him some basic training, one day, he held a chisel on a metal
sheet on ground and gave him a big hammer. He said, “when I nod my head, hit
hard.’
The next day, the apprentice was
the owner of the workshop. The blacksmith did not give clear instructions while
delegating his tasks.
Another interesting example is a
joke on Saddam Hussain. One day, Saddam Hussain observed that one of his sons
was not good at speaking English. So, while chairing his high level meeting
with the generals and commanders, he asked them to find out who is the best
English teacher in Iraq.
After about a week, he recollects
about his instructions and asks them about the status. They all say in unison,
“Sir, we identified him on the same day and finished him off.”
After delegating the tasks and
giving specific instructions, the leader should also give the team some power
and authority to execute the task. Otherwise, for every small decision, the
team has to approach the leader, which defeats the very purpose of delegation.
Here I quote the familiar example
of every Mother-in-law’s reluctance in handing over the control of the kitchen
to the Daughter-in-law. Unless the former gives a free hand, the latter cannot
perform.
Finally, the leader needs to be
friendly, respectful and positive with his team members. Unless there is a free
two-way communication, problems would remain unresolved.
Here I quote the example of
Indian cricket captain, M S Dhoni. He respects all his team players, identifies
their strengths and trusts them in times of requirement. Many of us fondly
remember, how he led from the front, a young team with relatively unknown names
in international cricket, to a stunning victory in the first ever T20 world
cup.
After discussing the leadership
qualities required for empowerment, we now talk a little about the ways of
encouraging the employees to perform. Because, having delegated the task is not
sufficient. The employee needs to be motivated enough to execute the task
assigned to him.
Here, the first factor is about
acknowledging the employee’s achievements. All of us crave for acknowledgement
of our efforts.
I would like to conduct a small
quiz. I shall ask you five questions. Please DO NOT answer them. Just raise
your hands, if you know the answer. I would be surprised to see even one or two
hands raised.
Who was the ‘Man of the Series’
in 1983 World cup? Who has won the Oscar award for the best Actor category in
2005? Who has won the Noble prize for Physics in 2010? Who has won the award
for the highest Military honor in Indian in 2012? Who has won the highest
number of individual medals in last Olympic Games?
Well, all these personalities
have struggled hard in their respective fields to get such an honor. They were
very much appreciated during those respective times. However, many of us tend
to forget them and their achievements as the time passes by.
Now let me ask you another five
questions. I bet that all of you would know all the answers. Again, no need to
answer me. Just raise your hands.
Who was your best teacher in the
school? Who was your best friend in the college? Who has helped you in your
times of crisis? Who has motivated you in your forming years? Who has
appreciated your work?
The reason why you knew the
answers for these questions was that all these people have touched your
life in some way or other. Therefore, you tend to remember them for much longer
time.
When you acknowledge the team’s
efforts, they would be willing to give their best. Nothing motivates a person
more than to see his work getting recognized and appreciated.
The second factor is about giving
feedback. You should give more compliments than you criticize them. That works
wonders for the team.
I would like to recollect a
training program attended by me, in my first job, almost 28 years ago, in which
this point was discussed in a very interesting manner. Even after so many
years, it is still fresh in my mind.
The concept is that every person
should evaluate, how many positive strokes and negative strokes
he gives to self and to others during a normal day. That would
reveal a lot about the person’s personality and attitude. Giving Positive
strokes to self as well as others is good, but not always. Similarly, giving
only negative strokes to self and others is also bad. The worst is about giving
all the positive strokes to self, while giving only negative strokes to others.
When you criticize a team member,
please also mention about his positives. That would pass the message across
without getting it personal or hurting the sentiments.
The leader should constantly try
to understand what holds back each of his team member and try to remove that
obstacle. This could be achieved through periodic training, mentoring,
counselling and providing necessary exposure.
The biggest known obstacle, which
holds back the people from performing, is the fear of failure. The leader
should seek to find out the root cause of his fear and remove it.
Here, I would like to narrate the
famous story about how the baby Elephants are tied to a rope in the early days.
The baby elephant tries hard to free itself from the rope, but it cannot. It
suffers a lot, often bleeds around the neck, and then at one moment gives up
trying. Thereafter, throughout its life, it does not attempt to free itself
from any rope. Even after the elephant grows to its full mammoth size, when it
is tied to a much weaker rope fixed to a small nail on the ground, it does not
attempt to free itself.
Similarly, most of us have tied
ourselves up with such imaginary ropes which curtail our creativity and risk
taking ability. Some failure of the past haunts us and discourages us from
taking even smallest challenges in life. As a leader, we should identify such
ropes from our team and snap them, unleashing their full potential.
The leader should give a feeling
to his team that they are a part of the company. He should also show them a
growth path with timelines so that they remain motivated enough to carry on
with their assignments enthusiastically. A proper succession plan would be one
effective tool to give them such a feeling.
The leader should sometimes go
the extra mile and help the team in achieving its true potential.
One of the effective measures
would be to educate the team in its weak areas. Here I would like to quote the
‘Spilt Milk story’.
Once a lady asks her small child
to take out a milk bottle from the fridge. The child, while taking out the
bottle, slips the bottle and all the milk spills over the floor. When the
mother sees this scene, she calmly comes over to the child and says, “Come on,
let us together clean the floor.” She then takes the child to the small garden
in the backyard. She takes the same bottle and fills it with water. Then she
asks the child to lift it again. This time too, the bottle slips from his tiny
hands. However, after two more attempts, the child realizes that if he held the
bottle near its lid supported by one hand at the bottom, he had a proper grip
of the bottle. A lesson was learnt. The child was never ever likely to drop the
bottle in future.
Similarly, whenever the team
makes a mistake, the leader should identify where the team has gone wrong, and
educate the team. This would ensure that the team never fails again, while
executing a similar task.
Seeking the feedback of the team
is another powerful mechanism to keep the team motivated. Everyone feels great,
if his opinion is counted. Sometimes, the team might come out with unexpectedly
brilliant suggestion for a complex problem. The feedback also reflects the
team’s attitude at the workplace.
Here, I would like to quote the
most-often-told story in the sales conferences. A shoe manufacturing company
sends its two sales executives to African villages to explore the market
potential there.
After intensively touring the
area for three days, one of them sends his feedback, “Boss, it is waste of
time. No one wears shoes here.”
The second executive sends his
feedback, “Boss, Wonderful opportunity. No one wears shoes here.”
The situation is the same, but
the feedback is different. Similarly, when you take up a new site, if you have
too many problems, you should feel that it is a boon. Because, you have an
excellent opportunity to prove your worth. If you take a new site, where
everything is in excellent condition, what would you achieve?
Make the workplace a positively
charged zone. Problems will keep coming. However, that should not put you down.
The problems are always temporary. They have a shelf life. They have an expiry
date.
You can create the positive
atmosphere at the workplace by sharing with the team, the positive results of
the company. For example, the achievements of the company can be shared with
everyone on the ground, mentioning that these results were possible because of their
valuable contribution.
While concluding, I would like to
say that we too have empowered BK Gulf to manage a significant portion of our
huge portfolio. BK Gulf is empowered to react to emergency situations and deal
with the tenants on our behalf.
My last quote for the day.
A person is passing by a
construction site. He asks one labor, “What are you doing?” He replies, “I am
placing the bricks.” The person asks the same question to second labor. He
says, “I am constructing a wall.” The person finally asks the same question to
the third labor. He says, “I am proud to be contributing to the construction of
the biggest mosque of this town.”
While all of them were actually
doing the same task, their outlook differed.
Similarly, like the third labor,
I too am proud to get an opportunity to address the management team of a
leading FM Company in Dubai, on the world FM day 2016.
Thanks for your patient hearing …
and Best wishes.
