Skip to main content

LEADERSHIP: Soft Communication for Hard Times

OFTEN, LEADERS ARE NOT sure how to balance soft leadership skills such as trust and communication with the more hard line leadership approaches (read: retrenchments, realignments, cost cutting) during tough times. Research indicates that the greater the stress an organiation is facing, the more important a leader’s soft-skills, especially communication skills become. Research has found that there are four important characteristics associated with leaders of the subcontinent, who were most successful in leading their organizations through transitions:

Make Relationships a Priority:

Especially in the subcontinent, companies are about people and relationships. Leaders cannot afford to become cynical or negative during times of turmoil. They cannot remain insensitive to employee needs or be seen as inaccessible. They are expected to be caring and empathetic, giving importance to relationships even during tough times.

Maintain Constant Communication:

During tough times, people are more vulnerable and hence ensuring a constant flow of communication is a must. The need for information is so great that when people do not get it, they would invent it; the void gets filled with media speculation, rumours and inaccuracies. Hence, leaders need to remain sensitive to their people’s needs and need to focus on providing them with up-to-date news about their company and plans.

Keep People Reassured:

Leaders can actually do a great deal to keep the company on its feet, just by reassuring their people. People are normally distracted and threatened during bad times - they keep imagining the worst, and gentle reassurances about the long term vision and how they would tide over the crisis can go a long way in channelising energies and stimulating performances.

Make People a Part of the Solution:

Catch-22 gets to work during recession times. If people are not constantly occupied, they would give in to rumour mills. At the same time, it is very easy for people to be without work. During times like these, leaders create work and in turn excitement for their people, by making them part of the solution. This helps them feel a sense of control and security. A good example is Reliance Industries during 1989, when their Patalganga refinery was completely submerged in the flash floods. Even as the managers of Du Pont declared that it is virtually impossible to get the project on track in time, Dhirubhai Ambani knew that nothing was impossible if his employees put their hearts and minds in to it. As the foreign consultants looked on, every single employee worked round the clock, sweeping the floor, dismantling the machines and cleaning them, restoring the refinery back to shape in less than three weeks.

LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAY:

Use communication skills — constant, gentle, reassuring and that which puts your people at the centre of action — to tide over tough times.

Popular posts from this blog

Am you Required to E-file Tax Return?

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Buy Gold Mutual Funds Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300   Am I Required to 'E-file' My Return? Yes, under the law you are required to e-file your return if your income for the year is Rs. 500,000 or more. Even if you are not required to e-file your return, it is advisable to do so for the following benefits: i) E-filing is environment friendly. ii) E-filing ensures certain validations before the return is filed. Therefore, e-returns are more accurate than the paper returns. iii) E-returns are processed faster than the paper returns. iv) E-filing can be done from the comfort of home/office and you do not have to stand in queue to e-file. v) E-returns can be accessed anytime from the tax department's e-filing portal. For further information contact Prajna Capit...

Mutual Fund Review: HDFC Index Sensex Plus

  In terms of size, HDFC Index Sensex Plus may be one of the smallest offerings from the HDFC stable. But that has not dampened its show, which has beaten the Sensex by a mile in overall returns   HDFC Index Sensex Plus is a passively managed diversified equity scheme with Sensex as its benchmark index. The fund also invests a small proportion of its equity portfolio in non-Sensex scrips. The scheme cannot boast of an impressive size and is one of the smallest in the HDFC basket with assets under management (AUM) of less than 60 crore. PERFORMANCE: Being passively managed and portfolio aligned to that of the benchmark, the performance of the index fund is expected to follow that of the benchmark and in this respect, it has not disappointed investors. Since its launch in July 2002, the fund has outperformed Sensex in overall returns by good margins.    While every 1,000 invested in HDFC Index Sensex Plus in July 2002 is worth 6,130 now, a similar amount invested in Sensex then wo...

IDFC - Long term infrastructure bonds - Tranche 2

IDFC - Long term infrastructure bonds What are infrastructure bonds? In 2010, the government introduced a new section 80CCF under the Income Tax Act, 1961 (" Income Tax Act ") to provide for income tax deductions for subscription to long-term infrastructure bonds and pursuant to that the Central Board of Direct Taxes passed Notification No. 48/2010/F.No.149/84/2010-SO(TPL) dated July 9, 2010. These long term infrastructure bonds offer an additional window of tax deduction of investments up to Rs. 20,000 for the financial year 2010-11. This deduction is over and above the Rs 1 lakh deduction available under sections 80C, 80CCC and 80CCD read with section 80CCE of the Income Tax Act. Infrastructure bonds help in intermediating the retail investor's savings into infrastructure sector directly. Long term infrastructure Bonds by IDFC IDFC issued an earlier tranche of these long term infrastructure bonds on November 12, 2010. This is the second public issue of long-te...

National Savings Certificate

National Savings Certificate Here's everything you need to know about the 5-year savings scheme offered by the Government This is a 5-year small savings scheme of the government. From 1 July 2016, a National Savings Certificate (NSC) can be held in the electronic mode too. Physical pre-printed NSC certificates have been discontinued and replaced with Public Provident Fund-like passbooks. What's on offer The minimum amount you can invest in them is Rs100 and there is no upper limit. Under this scheme, all deposits up to Rs1.5 lakh qualify for deduction under section 80C of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The interest earned is taxable. You can invest in multiples of Rs 100. These certificates can be owned individually, jointly and also on behalf of minors. The interest rates for all small savings schemes are released on a quarterly basis. The effective rate for NSC from 1 October to 31 December is 8%. The interest is calculated on an annual compounding basis and is given along w...

Different types of Mutual Funds

You may not be comfortable investing in the stock market. It might not seem like your cup of tea. But you can start by investing in Mutual Funds. Many first-time investors invest in Mutual Funds. This is because they do not know how to invest in individual securities. Basic information on Mutual Funds People invest their money in stocks, bonds, and other securities through Mutual Funds. Each Fund has different schemes with specific objectives. Professional Fund Managers look after these schemes. Your Fund Manager could help you invest in a scheme that suits your financial goal. Functioning of Mutual Funds You could make money through Mutual Funds in different ways. A single Mutual Fund could hold many different stocks, bonds, and debentures. This minimizes the risk by spreading out your investment. You could earn dividends from stocks and interest from bonds. You could also earn capital by selling securities when their price increases. Usually, you could choose to sell your share any t...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now