Chief Of Decision Making Body-Needs To Be Mr. Cool.
Ravi Speaks:
Top Managers Spot erratic Behavior During Critical Meetings.
Circumstantial, as well as situational conditions compounded with the consistently happening mistakes by the responsible managers-has proved detrimental to them because of the spur-of-the-moment decisions – many a time. Such actions as those taken by the concerned top authorities could have been averted or even postponed for later occasions had the concerned authority shown a stable and cool temperament at the spur of the moment.
[bctt tweet=”So ‘Temperament’ is a vital component that plays a decisive role .”]
So ‘Temperament’ is a vital component that plays a decisive role not only for the concerned senior manager under scan but also for the overall health of the organization, which gets affected directly or indirectly by such sudden-vital decisions taken by the top-notch managers for their respective follies. The biggest trait of a senior top-notch responsible manager, therefore, has got to be his stability in his temperament-what we normally call as the ‘Cool & Calm Head.’
Here I would relate a very important happening which took place in the ‘HO’ in the main SM’s meeting which was supposed to be the core managers’ meeting with crucial aspects attached in terms of various decisions dependent on the vital outcome from such meetings.
This happened around two years back in 2018-where all the SMs from the country had gathered in their usual monthly meeting at the beginning of the new month at Bangalore. We were in the company’s conference room giving our presentations about performing the previous month with the sales forecasting for the new month-when suddenly our CEO entered. He started asking individually from each one of us about our performance in terms of the percentages got. He was in a good mood when suddenly he asked my colleague in charge of the south looking after the whole of southern states, certain questions regarding the poor show of one important brand. My colleague had been performing badly in that brand and he tried his best to clear his position and also tried to impress upon the CEO-the various steps which he had covered up the deficits accruing in the same. The CEO, who did not appear to be convinced by his argument, directed him to grab his suitcase and laptop and leave the conference room in the middle of the discussion. He had no choice but to exit the room, and this decision gave the gathering a peculiar vibe.
This step depicted so many aspects-which I would like to discuss here. First, all of us the remaining SMs took it seriously and started having a sense of apprehension what would be the next move from the CEO and the next move might be another such action that could be detrimental for yet another person’s existence in the capacity as SM. The only two people who seemed to be normal were the GM and the Business Director-who were taking the review meeting. Second, it created a definite effect on each one’s confidence level. Third, at being the top-notch post-the word ‘Trust’ started getting the erosion. We all must have been thinking about why this action was done in front of all the other responsible senior executives. Even this feeling crept in, whether there was any specific move from the top management for the eradication of the then existing managerial setup. Since such actions had been taken earlier in so many companies-where the total managerial setups too had been changed. Finally, one more inference coming out of this action was the state of mind of the CEO at that given point in time. Which depicted his temperament? He was the most pivotal in decision making, could have shown the cool head there-and postponed or averted the situation of taking such a drastic step in front of all the managers like that. So, with just one step of showing the stable temperament, the CEO could have changed the entire scene and things too could have been dealt with later but constructively. Who knew had that happened, the same SM would have been carrying on with the company still, but with a bigger motivational push and a greater sense of belonging to the company? The SM who was told to go was very young, but a very promising employee. We all were of the view that the situation in which he was told to leave the room was not only his own created, but since he was the commander as SM of the area, he had to face the adverse decision.
With this example- let us discuss the word ‘Temperament’ more: -Temperament refers to personality traits that determine how someone reacts to the world. A person’s temperament style plays a role in how they behave and interact with other people and within their world. Temperament remains fairly consistent, particularly throughout adulthood. Scientists estimate that 20 to 60 percent of temperament is determined by genetics. Temperament, however, does not have a simple pattern of inheritance and there are no specific genes that confer specific temperamental traits.
[bctt tweet=”Yet again there is a very important example of a very varying temperament of a senior GM-sales.”]
Yet again there is a very important example of a very varying temperament of a senior GM-sales-which, as the luck would have it, was my GM as well. He had been on the post for quite some time and during his tenure, he must have displayed his varying temperamental glimpses many a time. These glimpses surely came to his people, on whom he used to exercise them as the most unpredictable acts. In my meetings with managers and the boys-he would show his different colors of the temperament. In one of the managerial meeting which was held at Patna and all the RMs and ZMs were there-he suddenly expressed his annoyance on one small fig of a thing and left the meeting hall immediately after hardly a couple of hours in the morning and did not attend the rest of the meeting till evening. I had to continue that meeting realizing the importance of the company matters and the company cost. His whimsical type of behavior made him very unpredictable, with even his close managers reporting to him. Imagine the impression carried out by all the managers of such an act of his uncalled ‘Temperamental-depiction’. I had to gear up and motivate my manager after he suddenly left the meeting for his hotel room so that the fervor of the meeting was maintained. This sort of behavioral expression, with total neglect to the overall company’s visionary requirements by a manager of GM’s stature, talks inferiorly even to the company’s further prospects.
Another example of such a grim expression by the same GM in one RM’ meetings at Delhi-even caused an atmosphere where the other Business Director too got affected in expressing his losing the cool type of temperament during the meeting. There are many such incidents-where the temperamental expression had caused an enormous loss to the company, may it be as firing the most suitable ones at the moment’s spur or even as long-term losses company accruing because of such people.
In the end-‘excessive-irritability’ or ‘sensitiveness’ in the temperament or even the extreme ‘erratic behavioral expression’ as depicted by the GM mentioned & discussed above-are only going to worsen the situations and the net result for such acts surely is going to be detrimental even for the company bearing such persons.
When a person is calm and collected and doesn’t get mad easily, this is an example of a person with a calm temperament. Managers holding the decisive powers and deciding the future of the companies through their powerful decisions should ideally behave or exhibit their emotions in a most balanced way and not get suddenly triggered. They should always be professionally efficient, calm, and collected, no matter even if they are called- “Mr. Cool”.
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