Be Humble not servile!!!

There is this interesting concept of humility in our society. It gets expressed in many ways. In the social context you see (Hopefully) good examples of humility. Like giving your seat to lady in the train (you don’t see it much in New York, and its also confused for courtesy), apologizing when you are wrong (surprisingly you don’t see that all too much either) or listening to another point of view (or in fact listening itself)…

Anyways, I wanted to share my view point on this topic more from a corporate environment standpoint. First things first, what we see around us most of the time is servility manifesting as humility. My spiritual guide says that “Being Humble is synonymous to being Natural”. Quite on the contrary servility is often a manifestation of the individual ego with the sole purpose of doing something for the sake of something.

Over the last 3 months, I had the fortune of meeting and having some good discussions with some industry leaders and CEO’s. Some of them lead industry leading companies and some are in the launch pad well fuelled to a great take off. Here are some incidents that revealed the very DNA of their leadership: “Charismatic personality backed by rock solid value system”

• I was travelling with our President to meet the CEO in a industry leading hedge fund in New York. When I had called him and left a message, he took the initiative to locate my number in his EPABX and call me back! When we reached his office, he was at the door to receive us. All the while during the discussion, he gave us all his attention and valuable advice. While escorting us back, he mentioned that he was leaving for Bangalore. I said “Hotels there have become frightfully expensive”. He smiled and said “Oh this time luckily its taken care of. I am going there to inaugurate a 5 star hotel me and my partners built on the side”. This gentleman worth millions taught me that “No matter how much you make, always treat a guest like you would like yourself treated”

• On a late Thursday afternoon, we were finishing off a meeting in a leading Wall Street firm. The President of this firm walked by. He knew that there was some discussion going on with our company. He also knows the President of our firm well. His first question “Hey, when would you be free to meet with me? It would be good to discuss. I am keen on meeting you”. When a CEO of a company to which you are trying to sell to, catches you off guard this way, there is a profound lesson to be learnt. “You are never too big for any one and every meeting is not just about buying or selling”

I would like to know what you think of this approach to genuine, natural behavior in a corporate environment? Would that make you vulnerable or shatter all the vulnerabilities around to make you a more solid corporate citizen???

No one kicks a dead dog!!

Last year on Valentines day, Jet Blue (high value low cost airline in the US) reset their systems. As simple as it sounds, this was a major debacle from an operational standpoint. The airline just didn’t start-up like a well oiled machine. People were stranded at airports, missed meeting loved ones and the business media was quick to make this a chart topping news item….It took a total of 48 hours (I think it was more) to get the operations and passengers back on schedule.

The shares took a beating and so did the enormous goodwill and brand that JetBlue had built painstakingly over the last many years.

The management response however was classic….The CEO came up with something called a “Passenger Bill of Rights”. This document was made public in a matter of 72 hours. All the fares of stranded passengers were refunded. The bill of rights came up with suggestions and ideas to empower the customers.

In parallel, JetBlue made sure that all the media covering the debacle also applauded the Bill of Rights. Overnight the JetBlue stock rebounded and more importantly, JetBlue used a crisis it created in the first place to its advantage.

Something similar happened to United last year. I think there are still passengers trying to get out of the O’Hare airport. I for one, spent overnight in the airport doing the Tom Hanks in the Terminal routine by brushing and shaving in the airport and enjoying the luxuries of an early morning Mac Donald’s breakfast.

A more recent example to share is Netflix. I have been using the service for the last 3 years and they are simply awesome! Great service, excellent value, super movie collection and a very engaging online experience sum it up for Netflix.

Thestreet.com reported a crash in the Fulfillment system in Netflix and as a result the customers did not receive CD’s. I realized that I was also a day delayed in the delivery of the dvd’s. Everyone from bulge bracket analysts to national reporters wrote about this mishap and how some other online media delivery systems are better.

Two things to clarify here….1. Netflix online delivery model has taken off and for sure they have a winner again. 2. In all these years of service if the system blipped just once, I must say the reliability is state of the art.

The moral: great management’s use the brickbats thrown at them to reinforce the foundation of their enterprise.