Meet The Duggals. They lead a simple life, live in a Delhi Development Authority (DDA) flat (which weren’t really made to look swanky) and own a scooter. Head of the family, Mr D, ekes out a living as a school teacher and adores his wife and tries to be strict with his children. Mrs D loves him back, but she probably loves living it up more. The children are, well, children. They want what they can’t get or have to whine to get. And then, there’s the scooter. Yes, a two-wheeler for four people. That’s middle-class life, right there.In essence, The Duggals are the epitome of middle-class living.When Planman Motion Pictures released Do Dooni Chaar, last year, little did they realise how it will strike a chord with millions of middle-class Indians out there. The film received rave reviews from critics, and the box office numbers added more feathers to its cap. Why was it that there were hordes of people queuing up to watch the movie? Even the youth loved it, which was surprising, given the absence of ‘youth-icons’.What struck a chord with half the population was the feeling that this was their story, playing out on the big screen. Small, primitive flat on rent – check. Two-wheeler for a family of four – check. All signs of basic, simple living – check. An extreme desire to be better-off and live a life of not necessary luxury, but higher than rudimentary living. A car, neither a Maruti, nor a Toyota, but maybe a Hyundai – on loan, of, course. And yes, a flat with a few modern amenities.Meet the Urban Aspirers – The Duggals of real life. Of AspirationsThe term, Urban Aspirers, coined by the Boston Consulting Group in association with the CII, defines what roughly 19 million households are – what is called the Middle Income Group (MIG). They have successfully eked out a place for themselves between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’.Urban Aspirers constitute a neat 8 per cent of Indian households, preceded only by Strugglers, a whopping 50 per cent, and Small Town and Rural Next Billion at 24 per cent.That translates into an annual household income for Urban Aspirers that falls between $7,400 and $18,500 and ownership (for two-thirds of their population) of basic television, single-door refrigerator or LPG stove.The same is true for less than one-half of the Rural Aspirer population (at 14 million households, 6 per cent of the population). While two-thirds of Urban Aspirers believe, in two years’ time, their lifestyle will be better than what it is now; only 53 per cent of their rural counterparts feel so.Urban Aspirers are typically characterised by their urbaneness, higher spending power and their propensity to spend compared to their rural counterparts. This Aspirer class will be driven by the urge to mimic their Affluent counterparts, but what will set them apart is their relatively watchful approach to discretionary spends.The BCG says some 300-400 million people will migrate to cities over the next 25 years. With this part of the population playing such an important role in the India growth and consumption Story, the Urban Aspirers of today will end up becoming the New Affluents of tomorrow.The one common thread between Aspirers, both Urban and Rural is the dream of owning a house they call their own. The Urban counterparts, with their stable jobs (if not necessarily double income but controlled discretionary spend), are the target audience banks and other lenders look out for, to provide a home loan that stretches for two decades.What also binds these millions together is their hunt for a house that is actually affordable. Given the current housing shortage - conservative estimates put the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-2012) at 26.53 million dwelling units - finding affordable housing is a tricky problem.In a 2010 report on Affordable Housing, global consultancy KPMG and CREDAI broadly defined affordability in buying a house based on three key parameters: income level, size of dwelling unit and affordability.Taking these three parameters, the Urban Aspirers, or the MIG fall into a category that earns INR 3-10 lakh per annum, needs a dwelling unit of 600-1200 square feet in and whose household expenditure to income ratio is less than 5.1 – the dictionary definition of Affordable Housing.A more commonly accepted rationale for affordability is the household expenses to gross income ratio. In the United States, for example, housing affordability means housing costs that do not exceed 30 per cent of a household’s gross income, while in Canada the figure has changed with times – it went from 20 per cent to 25 per cent in the 1950s and finally now at 30pe4 cent. For India, this number is 40per cent.Although, recent data suggest that housing affordability has declined (to 4.6 in FY 11-12, from 22 in ‘94-95), the serious lack of available housing essentially means the prices of dwelling units coming down will take time. The concept of “Affordable Housing” in contrast is applicable across “ALL” income categories. The ‘affordability’ of a household in a given location is an interactive outcome of house price, income, spending & saving behavior. It is recognized that “affordability” is relative to geographical area, time & income category.The Central government tried to define affordable housing by setting up a committee under HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh. The committee has defined affordable housing in two parameters: The minimum area each category of income should be living in and how much should he be paying for that area.Say for example, a 300 sq ft flat is a decent livable area for a driver working in a government or private firm. Then, he should get it at 5 times his annual income which is defined as Rs 60,000 per annum. So he should get a 300 sq ft flat worth Rs 3 lakh somewhere near his area of work. If he cannot get houses at that rate, then we have a problem that the market is not producing products that people could pay.Suburbs like Boisar and Vasind near Mumbai, Talegaon near Pune are areas where developers are focusing, given the availability of land and access to city centres thanks to a growing network of public transport.Urban Aspirers, who typically fall in the middle income category, are set to play a major role in the demand for affordable housing in the coming few years. What this translates into is a housing shortfall of roughly 35 million plus dwelling units in Urban India.With their numbers set to rise to 23 per cent of the population in less than a decade, Urban Aspirers will rule the roost. The BCG suggests Urban Aspirers are going to lead the India Consumption Story in the current decade, with current consumption pattern suggesting that Urban Aspirers account 11 per cent of India’s total consumption ($109 billion out of $991 billion) and rising three times to $358 billion by 2020.With Middle Class India increasing in size over the next decade, there will be many, many more Duggals added to the list. A large number will be looking for a permanent roof over their heads. While the reel-life Duggals were able to temporarily manage a car, Urban Aspirers will unlikely settle for temporary solutions for housing. What is needed, are millions of such affordable houses for the millions of Duggals out there. Are we up to the challenge?(The author of the article is Brotin Banerjee, MD & CEO, Tata Housing )
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A little while ago, we were chatting informally over dinner with a small group of senior executives. One had just been appointed as president of a multibillion-dollar division in his company — a huge promotion. We asked him what his biggest surprise had been following his appointment. After a short pause he said, "Look, I was really surprised at how overwhelmed I was. Prior to my promotion, my career had been a series of successes with the company. When I got into this new position, I assumed that I'd do just fine – it would be a little bit different but everything would be okay. It had always worked this way. But in fact, the intensity of demands inside the division, outside the division and across the company was just overwhelming. And this caught me completely off guard." Another executive at the dinner had just become Chief Operating Officer of a multibillion-dollar apparel company based in Asia — again, a great promotion. He joined in the discussion. He told us something even more surprising: how alone he felt in his new job. As he described his hesitancy to talk with anyone inside the company about his challenges, his colleague at the dinner nodded his head in full agreement.J. Stewart Black We decided to follow up on the dinner discussion by talking with other executives about the challenges they faced transitioning to senior leadership roles. We studied nearly 50 other top executives and learned that they shared much in common. As with our two friends at dinner, they felt overwhelmed not just by how much they had to do but by how different the challenges were from what they had done up to that point in their careers. Worse still, they felt alone and isolated because they could not effectively share their feelings of stress. High TensionOver the intervening time as we dove deeper into these particular leadership challenges, we consistently came across four tensions that senior executives suddenly face when they make the transition to the executive suite. Between the present and the future. There are so many pressures on companies and their senior executives to produce results here and now that it is almost all-consuming. At the same time, senior executives need to be strategic, investing in and building for the future. This is a critical tension they must conquer to be successful, while in previous positions they primarily had to focus on delivering today. Between customers and shareholders. Senior executives are also uniquely challenged with both delivering value for customers and at the same time capturing value for shareholders. If you give the store away to customers, they will be happy but you’ll have nothing for shareholders. Eventually, you’ll be out of business. At the same time, if you keep everything for shareholders, you will have dissatisfied customers, and soon you have no value to capture for shareholders. Senior executives must wrestle this challenge to the ground, whereas most of them in their previous positions had the luxury of focusing primarily on creating value for customers. Between global and local. Although globalisation is not new, senior executives told us they must not only think about what is best for the enterprise and how localisation should be accommodated concerning customer, legal, regulatory, or other demands. Now they must actually decide on the right balance and make it happen. Some had been in multiple countries before being promoted to a global role. But they said that while working in France, China, and Brazil helps you think about the world, those three countries (or any combination) are not the world. In fact, as they stepped into their global roles, they admitted that nothing could fully prepare them for thinking about the whole world and the global enterprise and balancing that with necessary localisation that makes everything work. Some said privately that because they don’t have all the answers, they had a tendency to default to what they knew – the tried and tested, the way they did it when they were younger and their world was a simpler place. Between the organisation and the executive. Finally, senior executives talked with us about the tension of on the one hand wanting to find fulfillment, develop themselves, stay fresh and nourished individually, and on the other needing to constantly feed and nourish the organisation. Managing this tension was perhaps the most exhausting of all. One described it this way: "I feel like I'm an old-fashioned soda in an organisation with a thousand straws." Now For The Good NewsFrom our experience and research, we found that those who adapt best to senior roles tend to share two common characteristics. First, they have an innate curiosity. As senior leaders move into roles that require them to look outside the company and across the world, they need to be curious about government systems, regulations, NGOs, society at large, etc. Leaders with a high level of innate curiosity found these differences invigorating. Those without it found them exhausting. Their curiosity helped them view the new tensions and demands less as tsunami waves to be avoided and more as opportunities to learn a new type of surfing. The second thing is a drive for impact. Learning and understanding the new challenges and tensions is a necessary but not sufficient step. The most successful executives in our research wanted to translate understanding into impact. This desire helped them overcome the sense of isolation, tap into past networks and create new ones inside and especially outside their organizstions to get ideas, advice, critical questioning, and sometimes just the support they needed to move forward. When these leadership challenges are met, great things can happen—as was the case with our two executive friends at that dinner. The first one, who had just become president of one of five major divisions in his company, recognised that the tensions we discussed had to be faced and that a perfect balance was not possible but a workable balance had to be struck. Continuing to flounder in the stress and isolation was not an option. So he changed his approach to the transition, was recently promoted to COO of the whole company and is in line to occupy the CEO chair in about two years. The second executive, who had become COO of the big Asian apparel company, is still in that position. But he successfully reinvigorated his team, which reduced his stress levels and allowed him to focus on two successful and high-impact acquisitions for the company. Moving into a senior executive role is a major change, filled with new challenges and tensions. However, if you can better understand the nature of the transition and equip yourself with the necessary tools it can be one of the highpoints in your career. (J.Stewart Black is Professor of Global Leadership and Strategy at IMD. Allen J Morrison is Professor of Global Management and the holder of the Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Chair for Responsible Leadership at IMD. They co-direct The Leadership Challenge, a new IMD programme aimed at senior executives).
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A couple of years ago, India grandly decided to double its exports. After much fanfare and tomtomming, many complex strategies were announced. A product country matrix was formed. Several new trade agreements were promised. The government though neglected a tiny detail, ports. Not surprising then exports are barely growing. And the target looks tough to achieve. The commerce ministry is quick to blame the slump in global markets. But that is the easy answer. The tougher answer is the government’s inability to increase its port and shipping capacity. Let’s take a look at exports figures before we come to port capacity. The commerce ministry set a target of crossing $400 billion of exports by 2013-14. But a quick look at figures show that India is nowhere close to achieving the target. This fiscal, exports are unlikely to reach $360 billion. So a figure of over $400 billion will be tough to reach next year.Meanwhile the government continues to sign free trade and preferential trade agreements with various countries and blocs. Currently there are about 20 such agreements in place. And more such pacts are under negotiation. Will these pacts be able to accelerated India’s trade with the world? They could have. And they should have. Except India’s ability to ship goods remains woefully inadequate. The Planning Commission estimated that port capacity should double to 2003 million tons (MT) per year by 2017 to meet increased trade. Currently the capacity is about 1200 MT. But fresh investment in the sector is mostly stagnant. Regulatory clearances, lack of clarity in revenue sharing agreements and slow decision making have held up many new projects. Even existing projects are awaiting security clearances for expansion. Port companies are grappling with revenue sharing and tariff rules set by the central Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP). Not only does the industry have high discomfort level with TAMP, it covers only 12 major ports. There are over 187 smaller ports that are controlled by state governments. A fresh attempt to improve regulation in the sector is expected through the Port Regulatory Authority Bill that remains pending. Under this framework, a central regulator would set the framework for state level regulators. But the nine maritime states that administer the tariffs for the smaller ports are opposing a central regulator. While this can streamline tariff setting and increase competition, states say this will impinge on their powers. This discord means that congestion is growing rapidly at ports. Turnaround time for ships at Indian ports is among the highest in the world. While countries like Singapore allow a ship to offload and load within a day, it takes 3-4 days at Indian ports. Close to 95 per cent of global merchandise trade is done through sea routes in India. This staggering dependence on ports should have ensures that the Ministry of Shipping take urgent measures to resolve the issues and move ahead with reforms. But most investors and exporters are disappointed with the pace of change. Port regulation and capacity will have to be expedited through an inter-ministerial initiative, if the government wants any meaningful results from trade agreements. Without comprehensive effort by central and state governments, exports and domestic growth targets will remain targets. (Pranjal Sharma is a senior business writer. He can be contacted at pranjalx@gmail.com)
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As 2012 is nearing end, it's time to take a step back and understand what exciting new trends in technology space we can expect in 2013 — ranging from developments in big data, to software-defined networks, virtualisation, cloud and stateless branches.Virtualisation Extends to the Edge: Virtualisation of data centers has caused a ripple effect and will be increasingly making its way to the edge of the organisation in 2013. Virtualisation technology has enabled enterprises to create multipurpose “branch office boxes,” completely eliminating the need for conventional remote servers.The Stateless Branch Becomes a Reality for More Enterprises: In parallel with consolidation within a branch, advances in technology allow enterprises to build “stateless branch” offices. Achieving 100 per cent consolidation of edge servers, applications and data into the data center lets IT more effectively secure, manage and protect its resources.Software-Defined Networks & Data Centers Come into Sharper Focus: As enterprises look for ways to increase automated, policy-based computing, a programmable infrastructure enables enterprises to visualise and control their network with their own tools and in essence “program” their network with their own parameters. With software-defined networking and software-defined data centers, more enterprises will begin strategizing how they will build out their future data centers in 2013 so that they can rapidly and dynamically carve up their network and data center as needed. By creating entire functioning ensembles of servers and networking on the fly to meet changing business demands, these new networks and data centers are offering up a level of flexibility and nimbleness that is not available with traditional networks and data centers.Mobility Becomes More Pervasive: There will be greater penetration of mobile devices in enterprises than fixed access devices in 2013. With the availability of 802.11n Wi-Fi and further enhancements coming such as 802.11ac in 2013 as well as mobile networks increasingly using 4G, the typical office will be wireless soon. More enterprises will also inevitably need to incorporate BYOD policies into its IT planning, especially as enterprises plan and manage BYOD as it converges with virtual desktops adoption.Disaster Recovery Becomes Highly Automated: Disaster recovery will become more automated with simplification of processes and failover in mind in 2013. More organizations are upgrading networking connections to remote offices and adding SANs with virtual servers so they can replicate critical data to these branch locations. Other enterprises are choosing to move to the cloud as providers are continuing to make it an even more affordable option. DR in the cloud is also gaining momentum as cloud storage is being leveraged as a dedicated DR site.Cloud Drives Cross-Functional Teams: Enterprises are rapidly adopting virtualization and cloud architectures to consolidate and reduce costs, increase flexibility and efficiency, and dynamically deliver services to end users. In 2013, more enterprises will assemble cross-functional IT groups across computing, storage and networking teams for both troubleshooting and achieving predictable, reliable delivery of applications.VDI Adoption Gains Momentum: Finding a cost-effective and reliable way to manage end users in the branch office has become a priority for many organizations. A growing number of organizations view the centralization and management of branch environments through desktop virtualization as an effective approach to streamline desktop and application management while improving security, meeting regulatory requirements, and increasing flexibility and productivity. As virtual desktop performance improves, more enterprises will consider it.Advances in SaaS Leads to Better Integration & Workflow Services: Today, enterprises have predominantly adopted monolithic SaaS suites. In 2013, we’ll begin to see value-added SaaS integration and workflow services to create more of a dynamic environment that offers real-time management of end users, application components and IT environments such as multiple or distributed cloud platforms.Big Data Leads to Federation: Big data is driving an analytics movement in the network. More organizations will look for ways to consolidate as well as looking to invest in federation solutions, especially those that are cloud-based, to abstract, gather, transform and combine internal and external data from different physical locations and storage types into a consistent format.Scalability Continues to Concern Enterprises: We will see unprecedented levels of data, traffic, users and devices in 2013. Factors including consolidation, video, cloud, DR and organic growth, will drive enterprises to better allocate bandwidth, prioritise traffic and address latency.(The author is MD, Riverbed India, an IT performance company)
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Nordic telecom operator Telenor is reportedly in talks with Tata Teleservices (TTSL) for combining their mobile service operations. The combined entity is likely to emerge as India’s fourth largest telecom service provider in subscriber terms (120 million), overtaking Idea Cellular which has 115 million subscribers as of end-September.But, the possible merger will depend on whether Japanese telecom major NTT DOCOMO which has a 26 per cent decides to exit TTSL.The merger is important for Telenor which is looking to expand its presence in emerging markets. In the first three quarters of 2012, the India unit has performed the best recording a 39.5 per cent increase in revenues at 2905 million Norwegian kroner. The other growing markets are Pakistan (15.2 per cent), Thailand (13.6 per cent) and Malaysia (10.5 per cent). In at least five markets including Denmark, Hungary and Serbia, Telenor has recorded a fall in revenues. In its home market, Norway (18987 million kroner), Telenor recorded a marginal 1.1 per cent increase in revenues. Therefore, being present in India is important for Telenor.As a telecom industry official says, the Tata venture provides a level of comfort for Telenor, as it was looking for a safe partner in India. The venture with Tata Teleservices means that there will be no excess spectrum charges to be paid, since TTSL has only 4.4MHz of 1800MHz spectrum across the country. The only circle—Delhi—where TTSL did not have spectrum has also been cleared recently.The Norwegian group has had business ties with the Tata Group including a global IT services venture with TCS. It has also set its BTS on towers from Viom Networks, a joint venture between Tata Teleservices and Srei Infrastructure. Unlike Telenor, TTSL offers both GSM and CDMA based mobile services.It is believed that Telenor is looking for a controlling stake in the venture. That will depend on whether NTT DOCOMO decides to stay on in the venture. Telenor has won rights to operate in six Indian zones in the recently concluded auction this month after its earlier permits were ordered to be revoked. With more than 900 million mobile phone customers, India's mobile phone market is second only to China.The crowded market, which boasted 15 players until the first half of this year, is ripe for consolidation, analysts have said, as competition and rising debt levels eat into profit margins.However, there have been few deals, mainly due to regulatory uncertainty and strict government rules on ownership and airwave holdings.A cabinet decision this month determined that companies buying a carrier that paid a low state-set price for airwaves must match a far higher price determined in a recent auction and pay the difference to the government.
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Indian IT companies are looking at Latin America as the next frontier of growth, says a new research report released by International Data Corporation (IDC). The report on Latin America ICT and IT Services Market, presents a detailed view of the Latin American IT Market, IT services market, size and growth rates as well as the opportunity for Indian companies.A survey of 480 companies revealed that more than 80 per cent intend to use technology to drive short and long-term business growth. While this signals strong technology adoption, CIOs are simultaneously looking at technologies such as virtualisation and unified communications to drive effectiveness and efficiency in the IT landscape.In the IT services arena, sustained double-digit growth rates from 2009 are representative of not just economic forces, but technology adoption trends where an increasing number of end-users are reaching out to third-party providers for support, advisory, education, management and even total outsourcing of their IT implementations. IDC estimated the IT Services Market to be at $23.97 billion in 2011 and expects IT services spending in Latin America to grow at a compound rate of 10.8 per cent between 2011 and 2016.A detailed analysis of the market identifies Brazil, Mexico and Colombia as key countries for companies to target, among others in the region. It also discusses the impact of the 4 Pillars of what IDC has dubbed the third platform on the IT services market and the fundamental way these forces are reshaping it. the 4 pillars are cloud, mobility, big data, and social web.Indian IT companies are looking at Latin America as the next frontier of growth. Big banks, telecommunication companies and large manufacturers have already started to outsource large chunks of their IT operations and its incumbent upon the industry to take advantage of this.“For companies to win here, they need to be seen as serious players. This means establishing a local presence, investing for the long term and patiently developing the market. Strong local relationships and the right alliances are key to success”, said Ricardo Villate, Vice President, Research and Consulting, IDC Latin America and the co-author of this report.
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A believer in keeping things simple, Bajaj Finserv Lending's Deepak Reddy took to Human Resources after 17 years working in the business side of operations and strongly believes that HR professionals ought to understand business before prescribing any framework. In our series on HR practitioners, Reddy is the second honcho to share with us what makes HR leaders tickWhat made you choose HR as a profession?In my last 17 years on the business side of things, I realised that people are the critical differentiator and sustainable advantage in a business. Given my penchant for the subject, it was natural for me to lap up the opportunity that came my way at Bajaj Finserv Lending. The organisation was looking for a 'Business HR' person and I was looking for an opportunity to build the human capital. What has been the biggest achievement of your career?Clearly being part of the core team at Bajaj Finserv Lending that has been instrumental in the meteoric growth of the company over the last five years gives me the greatest joy in my career so far. What have been the primary traits/qualities that have helped you attain your present position?Management by objectivesBelief in the K.I.S.S principle – keep it simple stupidAbility to manage peopleCommitment to the long termWhat are the challenges you are facing in your organisation?Keeping the core DNA intact while we expand at a scorching paceWhat are the steps a company should take to develop and motivate future talent?Creating an environment that challenges employees to high performance, continuously raising the bar and creating platforms that seed & build on ideas is key. This needs to be done with strong frameworks of R&R, building transparency and channels of frank dialogueWhat is your rate of attrition? How do you prevent it?We have been very lucky on this account and have managed to maintain a very low attrition rate as compared to our peers in the industry. However, we must not dismiss the effect of a benign environment during the last 4 – 5 years within the category. We are cognizant that this may change soon and are preparing internally to ensure we continue to score well on this account. I believe the best way to manage attrition is by continuing to be a high performance organization that facilitates growth, development , reward and a strong sense of achievement. Having said that, some attrition is healthy during the lifecycle of an organisation. How do you retain talent in your company?Continuing to strengthen the core - high performance culture, facilitating growth and development, reward achievementWhat sets your company apart from other companies as far as work culture goes?Passion for delivery, continuously raising the bar, questioning status quoWhat is the biggest challenge you face when selecting people?Evaluating cultural fitment and managing the impulse of the hiring manager to hire "ready talent" rather that taking "top talent" and developing themHow do you track employees' satisfaction or dissatisfaction in your company?Formally, we have a robust employee engagement measurement mechanism. More importantly, a culture of having an ongoing open dialogue.How important is HR to the bottom line of a company?I would say we consider it criticalHow has the downturn affected HR?Again we have been lucky on this account to have be unscathed with the adverse affects of downturnHow should HR be integrated with the core line of business?The biggest issue I noticed as I moved in the HR world was the implementing of models and frameworks with very little understanding of businesses. As a result i don't think employees in most organisations relate to what HR is trying to do and this builds cynicism, lack trust and also huge wastage of resources.A recent survey has questioned HR's actual contribution in an organisation. Would you like to comment on it with particular reference to your organisation?HR teams that works on their own frameworks and removed from business realities contribute poorly to organisations. However the positive impact and absolute importance of robust HR teams is absolutely immense and organisations would never be able to sustain for long without strong Human Capital frameworks. If you could change three things about HR practices, what would they be?1. Knowing the business and what makes it tick before prescribing frameworks 2. Being more transparent and clear in what the culture you want to build is. 3. Keep things simple, not everything needs a complex implementation model (As told to Poonam Kumar)
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Let’s face it, it’s not easy being the boss. According to a study from HR provider Adecco, only 30 per cent of employees aspire to have the boss’s job. But simply having responsibility doesn’t garner respect or a working relationship. Around 37 per cent of the employees polled thought they were smarter than their boss and some estimates suggest that a staggering 80 per cent of employees leave their jobs because of their bosses. So what creates such a tension between boss and employee? Too often it’s the boss’s leadership style. Whereas leadership is all about enabling, engaging and building confidence, loudership is about belittling, controlling, and instilling fear. Without doubt, bosses who bully, intimidate and create an environment of fear will undermine the performance, creativity and commitment of their employees. In the short term, these employees will comply with the demands of their bosses. And looking ahead, they will seek out new opportunities. However, the struggle intensifies as the likelihood of finding a new job diminishes. Both performance and morale plummet and, for knowledge workers, loudership tactics cut at the very core of their identity and self-esteem. Combatting LoudershipWhen faced with a boss that practices loudership, employees typically see only two choices: 1) Do nothing. In the short term, accepting the behaviour feeds some employees’ needs to withdraw from an emotionally charged confrontation (not to mention keeping one’s job in a tough economy), but in the long term, such action (or inaction) means the boss continues on the same vein. 2) Look for another job. Whether transferring inside the company or not, this option enables the employee to look beyond the hopelessness of working for a louder. Of course, such efforts have to be carried on in secret. Nothing would embolden a louder more and motivate him to turn up the volume. Yet both of these options fail to address the problematic behaviour of each party. Accepting abuse becomes a habit that’s hard to break, and exiting the firm without confronting the boss’s behaviour fails to hold a mirror to the boss or send a message to his superiors that such behavior is acceptable. Ideally, an employee should deal directly with a boss who practices loudership in order to rectify such behavior. Consider the following strategies: Try to understand where the boss is coming from. Sometimes it’s hard to get past a venomous delivery to hear the message and decipher its origins. Is the boss reacting to others’ impossible or demeaning requests? Sometimes such behavior is a disguised plea to be listened to. Show empathy, “You must be so frustrated to be given conflicting directives,” and see if he calms down and answers your question. Listen carefully, and if appropriate, respond by going a step further and offering a plan for taking on additional tasks. Empathy can diffuse tempers and possibly trigger empathy toward you. Have a plan for dealing with difficult behaviours. Without a plan, two extremes are likely to occur: one—you crumble in the presence of a louder, or two—you match the venom and escalate the conflict (in which the power differential, doesn’t favor you). Neither is ideal. When you crumble and show fear, you give the louder ammunition: “I knew you were a baby…you’re not tough enough to run a sales organization.” Think ahead about your goal, what you are willing to accept, and what you will not… along with your counteroffer, “I’m not willing to stand here while you yell at me, but if we can have a calm conversation about your concerns over my team’s performance, I will gladly accept your criticism and work with the team to find ways to get back on track.” Confronting anyone can be difficult, even more so when the person is your boss. Know what you will say, perhaps practicing with a trusted friend or colleague to increase your comfort and confidence for the actual event. Also, consider having this conversation in a public space. The louder might be more willing to listen—as opposed to escalate the conflict—when others are watching. Document behaviours carefully. Without documentation, it’s your word against his and you’d likely lose…and be targeted for more abuse. Make a formal complaint to Human Resources to ensure that behaviors that may have gone unnoticed are finally revealed. What isn’t seen cannot be addressed, and may suggest that others have been too scared to file a grievance. Avoid complaining about the behaviour to everyone except the offender. Some make the mistake of telling the boss’s boss. This could backfire. The boss’s boss may see your behavior as politically motivated. Moreover, others you complain to may see your complaining as whining and an unwillingness to take charge of a situation, and may actually weaken your position. If you lack the courage to speak directly to the boss, find another way to deal with the stress, by talking to and getting support from a partner or close friend who has no ties with the organisation. Have an escape plan. If loudership behaviour has persisted for a long time, and your attempts to deal with it directly and diplomatically have been unsuccessful, it might be time to look for another boss or job.However, when asked the reason for your search in an interview, don’t say “because I have an impossible boss.” Rather, be prepared to discuss specific ways in which the interviewer’s company and position represent a better fit for your skills, experience, career goals, etc. Much as with leaders, there are few natural born louders. It can result from a lack of self-awareness combined with others’ unwillingness or inability to confront the louder. And, it can be exacerbated by a weak economy and increasing pressures to achieveperformance metrics that don’t reflect the current downturn. Bosses who feel their own employment at risk may eschew empowerment and tighten the reins of control to “guarantee” performance. Overcoming the loudership trap—fear breeding insecurity that manifests itself in behaviors that generate even greater fear and insecurity—means first understanding and recognizing the behaviors. Only then will there be progress for the louder—and those who are traumatized by loudership behaviors. (Suzanne C. de Janasz is Professor of Leadership and Organisation Development at IMD)
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