Please call me back
after an hour; I will call you back; send me an email and I will revert; remind
me to send you the details; the list is quite long, so I will stop here. I
am not even listing unanswered emails, requests to call back, text messages,
and connects on various professional and personal social media sites. These are
a few statements from busy CXOs running from one activity to another, meetings,
conferences, review discussions, lunches, business trips, who have no time to
catch up with work, forget time for their life !
I am sorry I forgot, I
was too busy, my work has been killing me, there was pressure to complete for
the board/weekly/monthly … meeting; and then there are those who believe
that they are above the rest and don’t need to apologize for their silence. The
resultant perceptions are generalized in culture (we are like this only) or end
up labeling the person “that’s the way s/he is”. There is no reference or
mention of the resultant loss of time or opportunity or the challenges such
tardiness creates for the other stakeholder.
The multitude of channels has increased the complexity of
staying abreast with the increased interest towards connecting with each other
for various purposes; there are also cold calls and messages from interested
parties to gain attention. Tools and technologies have also evolved to a stage
that they can provide notifications, alerts, and alarms across all kinds of
off-person and wearable electronic devices. Despite this interconnected
scenario, at least 70% of reverts do not happen (this is based on data I have
collated over the last year).
And then there is a minority who always get to meetings on
time, call back when they have promised, send you a response when they said
they would; they are apologetic if they miss their commitments and make amends
as a corrective step. They use Assistants (earlier referred to as Secretary),
technology, and plain and simple to-do lists to ensure that they don’t slip on
personal integrity. They value their time and give the same respect to others
time too. Driven by the clock at times, an appointment turning up late is not
tolerated.
What creates these two distinct breeds of professionals ?
Before we start analyzing their childhood and the foundation set in their
formative years and then blame the past for their current behavior, I would say
that internal stimulus is far greater than external stimulus to create any
change. External factors like training, mentoring, and coaching do help in
triggering internal change which when sustained becomes a habit. The bigger
stimulus is failure or an adverse outcome as a result of self-behavior or lack
of action arising out of habit (inertia).
When one falls hard, the natural reaction is to blame the
other person(s), circumstances, rarely if at all looking in the mirror for the
person responsible. It is an uncommon occurrence that a person accepts
accountability towards suboptimal or undesired end results; they justify their
conduct based on their perception of themselves and excuses based on level of
activity that constrained them. It is almost inhuman effort to acknowledge a
self-limitation, learning or improvement opportunity that gives the power to
change results.
Representative issue, not isolated: A vendor sought inputs on getting through to a CIO; he had emailed,
phoned, text messaged, and called her Assistant innumerable times without
success; it was as if he was not relevant to her. She was an existing customer
and the relationship preceded her elevation to the position. The same request also
came from other sources wanting to understand how to get through to her or get
her attention/audience. Talking with one of her compatriots it emerged that
even internally within the enterprise the situation was no different.
There are no easy answers to change; it happens one step at
a time and requires significant effort and active coaching. People who give
themselves the freedom to explore the new world gain from the new world of
possibilities; they rise from self-imposed mediocrity to taste success. People
want to be associated with such individuals who are beacons of qualities that
make them worthy of emulation. If you have been in any of the situations above,
give yourself a chance, a small chance to make a difference to yourself.
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