its staff and its bottom line, Google
knows that the best workplaces feel
like playgrounds—places where
people can imagine and invent.
Satisfaction and challenge
Creating an organizational culture
that embraces teamwork and
encourages creativity helps
companies address the perennial
question: “is money the motivator?”
Most find the answer is “no.” Higher
pay might encourage an individual
to take a new job, it might encourage
people to move a little faster or to
work a little harder, but people soon
forget about the money and start to
focus on other things—such as job
satisfaction, challenge, and respect
from managers. Virgin Atlantic
airline, for example, is not known as
one of the highest payers, but is
regarded as a great place to work.
A strong organizational culture
is, therefore, essential to success.
Through tradition, history, and
structure, companies build a sense
of identity—a unique personality
defined by the characteristic
rituals, beliefs, stories, meanings,
values, norms, and language that
determine the way in which
“things are done around here.”
Importantly for leaders,
managing people also means
managing oneself. Business history
is littered with examples of leaders
who, blinded by success, leapt into
ill-conceived initiatives or made
“bet-the-farm” decisions that
proved disastrous. “Deal fever”
can mean that warning signs are
ignored by leaders who feel they
can do no wrong. Successful
leaders, however, know that they
must fight against the illusion of
invulnerability. They also realize
the dangers of wanting to be liked
or to conform. Great leaders know
that they must guard against
groupthink and “yes-man”
mentalities in themselves and
others, because such approaches
leave decisions unchallenged, and
allow ill-judged projects to proceed
without sufficient due diligence.The best leaders accept that they
are not gods of management, and
that, in fact, occasionally being
told “no” can be more important
than always hearing “yes.”Emotionally intelligent
Creating a culture where this kind
of challenge is the norm depends
upon diversity. In companies
with employees from diverse
backgrounds, where gender, race,
and age are balanced, the different
perspectives mean decisions are
more likely to be questioned.
Perhaps most importantly then,
and as recent research indicates,
the single most important trait for
successful leaders is emotional
intelligence. In his bestselling book,
Emotional Intelligence (1995), Daniel
Goleman describes five domains of
Emotional Intelligence (EQ): knowing
your emotions; managing them;
motivating yourself; recognizing
and understanding other people’s
emotions; and managing
relationships. Without EQ, a leader
can be technically brilliant and full
of great ideas, but still ineffective.
This is because a sole trader may
be able to survive on intuition
alone, but as soon as someone
else is employed, EQ becomes key.
Lighting the fire means keeping
the sparks flying for everyone. ■LIGHTING THE FIRE 67
Everyone experiences tough
times; it is a measure of your
determination and dedication
how you deal with them.
Lakshmi Mittal
Indian entrepreneur (1950 –)