What really matters in any organization

Gerard D. Muttukumaru

Chairman/CEO, Center for Global Leadership Worldwide and Worldwide Healthcare Management

The head of human resources of a leading bank in Sri Lanka lost a USd15,000 a month job with housing, children's education, travel and other allowances in a South East Asian country because this person did not return a phone call.

Another prominent management consultant in Colombo lost a USD2 million contract with an Asian conglomerate because this individual did not return a phone call after saying "I will call you back" to the caller.

Several years ago I was privileged to be part of a panel in Chicago, USA with a senior partner of Mckinsey, the prestigious global consulting organization. He observed: "Always return EVERY phone call. You don't know where your next piece of business is coming from. It is also the right thing to do".

Bright individuals

I see so many bright individuals writing very good pieces on strategy, human resources, finance, leadership and technology, but what really drives any organization is how it's people act, behave and execute. The Chinese sage, Confucius, and almost every spiritual leader who has taught us how to live were right: "Do unto others what you would want done to you". How would you feel if a person either did not return a phone call or ignored you? Sri Lankans are notorious for ignoring people they don't like. Maybe they heard something negative about a person.

How would you like it if something negative is said about you or if an untrue rumor spreads? This is a cancer that can destroy any organization or society.

Fear. It is a terrible cancer which cripples and paralyses, often without us knowing it. What are we really afraid of in our organizations? Why are we afraid of each other? A great American once said: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself".

One of the most dynamic leaders of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul 2, titled his book "Be not Afraid". Fear must be banished from ourselves and from our organizations. It keeps every human being, organization and nation from reaching their full potential. Fear prevents us from doing what is good and what is right. Where there is love there is no fear.

Jealousy is another crippling and terribly damaging emotion which destroys families, organizations and societies. In one of the first stories in "the Greatest story ever told" and the world's perpetual bestseller, the Holy Bible, jealousy drives Cain to kill his brother Abel. The Old Testament in the Bible is the common to three great faiths, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Let us examine our lives, organizations and societies to remove this cancer.

Best minds

Some of the best minds in business, government, journalism, science and every subject, give great speeches, write great articles and yet remain a part of this problem. A brand promise or advertising slogan remains a mere promise or slogan if it is not lived. A leading global bank proclaims "A Passion to Perform". A recent visit to one of it's branches revealed anything but "A passion to perform"! They are not alone in this. You see the brand promise or an organization in the faces of it's people. This has a profound impact on the bottom line. We can never truly go from "Good to Great" if we do not address these cancers in our families, organizations and societies.

Many of us go from seminar to seminar, workshop to workshop. Organizations spend so much money on this. Self-improvement programs are the order of the day. What really changes? So often, any change produced by these experiences disappear after a few weeks.

What must organizations do to sustain this change? This is addressed in my upcoming book on "Change" which is being reviewed in several key markets globally. A very senior academic in Sri Lanka, who knows me, now simply walks past me! I have to stop this person to say "Hello"! This person advices so many local organizations with good advice I am sure. I had the privilege of introducing the management guru Dave Ulrich to Sri Lanka. I last ran into this senior academic at the Dave Ulrich seminar in Colombo while I was in Sri Lanka. This person is not alone in this behaviour pattern. What triggers this negative reaction from this person? I am trying to know. I like this person. Maybe I should walk into this individual's office at the risk of being thrown out! There are similar individuals who act the same way all over the world. We continue to walk past each other and keep a distance from people with whom we are "uncomfortable".

Human relationship

At the core of my article on "The Lesson of Michael Jackson for all of us", which has now been published worldwide, is the simple truth that there is only one certainty in life. It is death. We all must die. We just don't know when. We have attended funerals of infants, people in their 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's and old people. Did we ever really get to know them as frail human beings? Why do we demand perfection from others? Why do we only see their weaknesses and faults? It is too late when we die to reconcile. A son does not visit his mother in the ICU of a hospital.

An employee does not visit a colleague in the ICU of the same hospital because of some negative feeling, emotion or experience.

The human relationship is paramount in every family, organization and society. No brilliant strategy (not even a "Blue Ocean Strategy!) will deliver the desired results in any organization if the cancers that I have mentioned are not eliminated. We may never know how much money an organization has lost. People produce profits, not strategies. Strategies can help but only people can make things happen. An organization, family or society will never become all that it can be and go from "Good to Great" if these cancers are not addressed. Books will remain books, articles will remain articles, and speeches will remain speeches, if we do not live them.

This article will remain just another article if it does not have a real positive impact on the reader Individuals in families, organizations and societies, must address the core issues that separate them while they are alive. It is too late when we die. We must get rid of all negative baggage in ourselves first.

This is what really matters in any family, organization or society.