It’s not easy to be a super hero; it’s harder to be a leader.
“He hates me”
“He is partial”
“I hate him”
“How can he give me this rating. I should have been promoted this time around?”
My friend yelled at the top of his voice. He was angry about not being promoted. Of course he has worked hard all these days and he is very experienced. He deserved better. However, the results where shockingly different. Shocking because he didn’t deserve it. Less shocking because it was expected because of the slow down.
All that his lead could do is cut a sorry face. I could feel my friend’s pain and anger, at the same time I was thinking about the lead. I was sorry for him as well. Professional courtesy you may say.
I read my colleagues post on being a leader. Very well written with practical questions to be asked to oneself before you become one. His last question,
“4. What is your best foundation/strength that will help you be a good leader?” brought back the incidents which had happened over the week. What could be the answer?
I was fortunate to work under a very good, development project manager when I started my work at cognizant as a tester, on contract. Few months ago, I had shared my concerns of leading a team with him, just like any of you. He told me something which seemed to be funny but was very practical.
“Raj, before marriage you are concerned if you will be a good husband or a good father to your kids. But, will this fear, stop you from getting married? You still get married, handle the responsibilities and try to be the best father in this world. Don’t you?”
“I have seen you and your work. According to me, yes, you do have the potential to lead the team.”
I will never ever forget that conversation in my life. In fact, it can be applied to any concerns you have in your life. In simple words, “If you are afraid of something then, run towards the fear and embrace it. You will see the fear subsiding. In fact, the fear won’t exist anymore.” Have you watched the mountain dew add? I like that line, “Dar ke aage jeeth hai” meaning “Beyond fear, lays victory”
I have been working in my current organization for a little less than 3 years now. I work for one of those clients who are not very good in sharing their appreciations. So, it becomes that hard to be motivated. I was asked to lead this team few months ago. I believe I have been doing very well. One of the challenges of leading a team which doesn’t get many appreciations from client is to keep them motivated. Especially in testing, where it gets monotonous sometimes. One of the options is to re ward the deserving team member’s with the internal award programs. We do have one of these programs in testing as well. Recently, I was asked to nominate the deserving candidates in my team to this award. Now, look at the fun part of this.
As I said I have been working here since a little less than 3 years and never before I have received any award here, though I have been recognized in other ways. It’s very special to receive award in front of your colleagues and managers. Now, here I am collecting the data and nominating the deserving team members for the award. To be honest, as a human and a first time lead, I was feeling the pinch of the situation. However, I nominated the deserving candidates after a lot of thought on who should be nominated for which title and they 200% deserved it and I was ready to fight at any level for that.
Now, on the day of award, when they named out the members of team to receive the award, I was happy that my nominations have been respected. My team mates received these awards. I could feel the pride, the joy in their eyes. Right there, at that moment, I knew the meaning of being a lead. I exactly knew what it was to be a lead or a manager. That feeling of bringing happiness and joy to someone’s life this way is just awesome. I can’t put it in words.
They told me it was their first in their career and I could feel the joy. One of them had cheekily asked me, what I had received. I wish I could have told him how I felt. I wish I could have told him that, it was totally a different experience. It was the kind of award, I would never forget.
But hold on. All of these will be forgotten in time. There will be days when a lead will have to make tough decisions. A lead will not have a choice. There will be days when the lead will be fired by the client for mistakes. There will be days when he/she will be shouted upon by the managers or his/her superiors. The lead will have to take it all. A lead cant went his anger on the team though he knows who is at fault. He becomes the wall which takes all the punches from all ends but makes sure his team performs seamlessly without much stress.
There will be a day, when his own team will ridicule him. Just like my friend. That’s the test of a real leader. He will be ridiculed, shouted upon by sometimes by his own people. But the lead will go on. Because he has to focus on the bigger picture. It could be his project; it could be his client or company.
The best example of resilience comes from one of our own hero. Super hero of cricket. Sachin Tendulkar. No matter how big his name is. No matter how much he has done for cricket or country, one bad match will turn all that around. He will be written off, ridiculed. All the statistics will come out to prove how bad he was.
One of my friends said this, “I wonder how this man can stand straight with so much on his shoulders. I wonder how he can afford to whack a 150 kmph Shoiab Akhtar ball in the air, well knowing that if he got out, he’ll break more hearts than Aishwarya Rai did when she married that ….”
Probably that makes him a superhero - faith in his powers. Spiderman doesn’t fear that his web would snap - he just keeps somersaulting. Batman doesn’t fear that his Batmobile is gonna crash while chasing baddies at 200 miles an hour. They both have faith in their abilities, much like Sachin has.
My friends lead told him this, “Sorry mate. I am as surprised as you. Everything went well. I think you have been dropped at the last round of discussion. There is nothing I could do.”
Later on my friend came to know that his lead had got a rating very much lesser than himself.
That is what it means to be a leader. To put the interest of once team before his own. One of the biggest bollywood actor was asked, what does it take to be number 1? He said, “The first thing is, Good Heart. If you can take all the bricks all the failures with a smile on your face, then that’s when you are on your way to number 1.”
The last scene of one of my favorite super hero comes to my mind.
Batman asks Lt. James Gordon to get the dog’s chase him and he runs away.
Lt. James Gordon’s Son: But why he is he running?
Lt. James Gordon: Because he’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we’ll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he’s not our hero. He’s a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight.
It’s not easy to be a super hero; it’s harder to be a leader.
