Tribute to a Leader
I wanted to take some time and digitize my thoughts about great leaders who impressed me. This will be a series, so watch for some interesting stories spanning well over three decades. My first job was in manufacturing, and, looking back, I still think fondly of my times with shop floor staff, with whom I was very close and, even today, enjoy casual conversations of the great times. In those days, it was all personnel management, and you needed to know the labor laws to survive and maintain a good relationship with the Union. I enjoyed my conversations with the unions and was always the go-to person for the white or blue collared workforce in the factory. I never referred to anyone by his/her employee number, addressed everyone by name and was quite friendly with all. I must have inadvertently picked this up from the general manager of the factory, who impressed me from day one and who I always looked at as a role model. My first day with him, he asked me my name, and, when I told him, I said it was Sanskrit. He then said, “My name is Kalidas and it is also a Sanskrit name!” He had the habit of meeting every new joiner for 10-15 minutes and clearly remembered everyone’s personal information, requiring no reminders. When he walked through the various departments in the factory, he would address everyone by first name, and it was not a small factory – it had over one thousand workers at that time.
Every day, Kalidas made it a habit to visit various departments, waving to those he could not say hello to and walking briskly to address all issues that needed his attention. He always seemed to have time for everyone. I went to his office several times, and his secretary would promptly find five minutes in his calendar to meet with him. On days when he was extremely busy or there were union negotiations, he would stop by before going to the car park in the evening if there was anything urgent. He was an amazing personality, and his involvement was not only in the factory, but outside, as well. He was a regular tennis player and a keen cricketer; we were a handful of players in cricket, and he encouraged us to participate in the local league and provided all the support required. He also granted special time off to play in tournaments whether it was cricket, tennis, table tennis or any other sport.
He was also a tough union negotiator and made sure the productivity agreements were fair and win-wins for both parties. He always treated the union representatives with respect and made sure that there was absolute discipline on the shop floor, never letting anyone get away with any wrongdoing. His attention to detail was phenomenal; his memory, elephantine! In short, everybody in the factory looked up to him. He changed the production process, the approach to employees and the handling of the unions, and when he moved to his next role with the corporate office, he had groomed enough talent within to take over. I wasn’t able to meet him later, as he moved to Egypt to set up another plant. The minimum that I can do is write a blog that will give you an idea of how great leaders think and act differently. In summary, from Kalidas, I learnt some early lessons of great leaders.
- Phenomenal memory
- Attention to detail
- Focus
- Personal interaction
- Empathy
- Discipline
- Trust building
There is more. As a follow up, I will write a separate blog about the trade union and its leader, so stay tuned.