Different Strokes for Different Folks

Steve Waugh the former Australian captain famously said, “You need to treat people equally but at the same time differently.” This might sound paradoxical but he emphasised by saying that having 2 of the world’s best bowlers at his disposal he needed to treat Shane Warne differently from the way he led Glen McGrath although both of them were match winners for him.

Sourav Ganguly went on record while addressing a group of young leaders that he needed to be a different leader while handling the likes of Yuvraj Singh. He goes saying that being a teenager Yuvi was fond of having fun, attending parties and sipping a drink. He needed to give freedom to him but at the same time had to look after him with an eagle eye. He quotes an incident where in the year 2000 when Champions Trophy was played at Nairobi in Kenya, Yuvi was not to be seen in his room on the evening before an important game against Australia. Instead of reporting the incident to the manager of the team he asked the security guy to take him to few prominent nightclubs where Yuvraj could be hanging around.

He found the young boy sipping a drink and dancing around. Sourav patiently asked him when he plans to finish his dinner and brought him back to the hotel. As a captain he told him not to move around from the room since they had a crucial knockout match on hand against the then World Champions the next day. Ganguly checked in Yuvi’s room again by 11:00 pm to make sure that he is there in the room.

Sourav goes on to say that as a leader he needed to handle players differently and says he never had to bother about preparations or discipline of a player like Rahul Dravid who knew what should be done and what ought not to be done. But he needed to manage the maverick Yuvi differently. He knew that if he had reported to the manager of the team Yuvi would not have found a spot in the playing XI for breach of discipline. Incidentally, Yuvraj scored a match winning 81 to knock the Aussies out of the tournament. That is why I say, “Different Strokes for Different Folks.”

Moving away from the sports arena to the bustling corporate world Jack Welch always propagates the practice of treating people differently. You would have to give freedom to a star who is a Can Do & Will Do player and at the same time constantly challenging him/her with a tougher target. If you try to micro manage a star for sure that person would exit your team. Most leaders also suffer from “I” & “J” factor while dealing with a star performer which is insecurity and jealously. The same leader would then cry that he is unable to retain the talent while the fault squarely lies on him for not having given the independence to a star player. A star player needs to be told what is to be done and not how it needs to be done.

A solid citizen who is a Can’t Do but Will Do guy needs to be coached and the participative leadership style would work. In my initial days of my sales career I had a lot of enthusiasm to perform but never knew how to handle objections and that is when my boss would show to me how I need to handle those objections. A solid citizen would need to be guided on ‘how to do’ but the leader needs to bear in mind that today’s solid citizen is a tomorrow’s star.

Wasim Akram always says if Imran Khan had not taken the pain to teach him on how to bowl a Yorker his career would have ended by the year 1985 itself when he was taken to the cleaners in the slog overs.

While this style of leadership would work with a solid citizen we would also have to deal with a set of people who neither can do nor would do. They need to be directed and micromanaged to get the results.

Finally we would also have a set of people who were yesterday’s stars but have turned into liabilities for sheer lack of inspiration or their personal issues. They need to be counselled to ensure that they are either shaped up or shipped out from the system. I have seen reluctance from many leaders in not addressing these people and that is when we would have a situation where you would have bunch of people who Can Do but would not do and more importantly would not let others to do. This is a dangerous virus for any organization.

Finally remember the myth of leadership either it is “My Way or Highway” never works. You need to know your people and lead them differently to get the results.

Concept of leadership & people management always amazes me and I am sanguine it excites you too.

Wishing you an awesome week.

Loving you.

JVC Sreeram