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Hari Ramamoorthy
March 23, 2022
This story was initially published on Director of Business Intelligence Hari Ramamoorthy’s LinkedIn page. You can connect with Hari on LinkedIn and read his other posts here.
It was a town hall meeting.
A senior executive was presenting, walking his employees through quarterly results, performance, details about new clients, and successful projects.
As he was wrapping up his talk, he said, "Every one of you is accountable for these achievements and where we are today. I truly appreciate your contributions. Keep up the great work, stay strong, and don’t come to me when you first encounter a problem. Approach the challenge, identify possible solutions, and then we can talk about your recommendations and—"
Before he could finish the statement, an energetic young employee standing a few steps away from him raised his hand.
The leader paused. "Yes?"
"You’re a senior executive, I thought you were here to solve our problems, and that’s your responsibility,” he said. “If you ask us to identify solutions to our problems before we come to you, what’s the purpose of your position and you being here?"
There was pin-drop silence.
There was pin-drop silence.
The executive smiled at the young man and paused for a while.
And then he asked: “Are you married?"
The young man looked puzzled. "Yes."
"Do you have kids?"
"Yes, I have a daughter."
The leader cleared his voice and said.
“As a parent, we teach our kids everything as they grow—to walk, to ride a bicycle, to read, to write. If you saw your daughter fall off her bicycle, what would you do?
You would probably wait for a second or two and check if she can get back up on her own. You allow her to learn and give her an opportunity to try. Maybe you encourage her to get up.
Are you telling your kid that your presence isn’t needed, and she has to do everything independently? No. If she continues to struggle, you give her your hand or scoop her up.
But if you immediately lift her every time she falls, you are neither providing her with a healthy environment nor nurturing her. You will end up pampering her. It’s a strong message that she has to look for you whenever she needs help instead of trying something independently.
As a parent, you will know her limitations and when to give her a hand.
A good mentor is also like that to their team. If you just run to your leader whenever you encounter a problem and expect them to address it, you will learn nothing. A good leader is someone who helps their team with problems and helps them grow. A good leader gives their team everything they need so that they can be independent.
To become a leader, you need to create a space where people can experiment, try something, and come up with suggestions and solutions before seeking help. A good mentor's responsibility is to provide you with that space. That is how you grow, learn, and become a leader.
If you’re struggling to find the solutions, your leader will work with you, discuss all the options, show you the right direction and help you identify a solution.
When you solve a problem together, you feel a sense of ownership, accountability, achievement, gain expertise, and that's how you grow.
Any further questions?"
There was pin-drop silence again.
There was pin-drop silence again.
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