The balance between Agility, Inclusivity & everything in-between

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The balance between Agility, Inclusivity & everything in-between

28 Aug 2020
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“Actions are the louder expression of thought. The quality of thought is ordered by the nature of our inner belief and faith.”

― Swami Chinmayananda

The last five months have presented a unique opportunity for all of us to reflect on our beliefs and also act on them. Amidst all its creations, the novel COVID-19 pandemic has abruptly changed the reality for businesses — dislocation of employees, modification in customer behavior and disruption of supply chains, amongst other realities. The changes may have been instigated by a necessity, but have the potential of becoming permanent inflection points. As with all situations, a few leaders took the lead in coping with these changed realities, and are steering their organizations in pragmatic and inspired ways.

I like the fact that Anil and the SOIL team had the Vision of creating the ‘Becoming the Best Version of Yourself’ Webinar series – to create a platform for listening to some of these leaders. It is a beautiful way of serving the community, so that instead of fear and insecurity the people source inspiration and rise to their highest and personal best.

Listening to some of these leaders during the SOIL ‘Becoming the Best Version of Yourself’ Webinar series has been a pleasure and a privilege. With such an inspiring lineup, it was hard to restrict myself, but I have focused on my reflections from Anil’s conversations with Gopal Vittal (CEO & MD, Bharti Airtel; Laura Kohler (Senior Vice President – Human Resources, Kohler) and Shaheen Mistri (Founder & CEO, Teach for India). This blog is my attempt to explore the three inherent themes that I gleaned from the three leaders: Inclusive is effective, agility allows unlocking of bolder aspirations, and ‘to-be and ‘to-do’ go hand-in-hand.

Inclusive is effective

There is joy in working towards big, bold and ambitious targets; however, the ability to achieve and sustain them is rare. Those rare times are manifested when clarity of thought is mapped with sensitivity towards all stakeholders. As Gopal Vittal said in the webinar, ‘my role as the leader is to be the bridge and glue between different functions and different agendas’. At an intent level, everyone comes to do a good job, but as leaders, it is as important to listen as it is to share. Curating listening posts opens up the pathways for seeking and offering support, truly making it everyone’s journey. They allow conversations on the ‘hows’, which are as important as the ‘whats’, and which are usually the weak link in strategy execution. Inclusivity creates a richer solution and also enables members to feel more compassionate towards each other, something that we all seek today. For instance, Airtel chose to provide continuity of service, free of cost, to the migrant workers during the first two months of the lockdown (keeping their reality in mind). For me, this spirit of inclusion wasn’t just a response to the pandemic; it is as evident in Airtel’s Open Network, which started in 2015, and is a vibrant illustration of making the customers a part of the solution generation.

Agility allows unlocking of bolder ambitions

Agility allows nimbleness to renew oneself, to adapt and to change quickly. While it has significant importance at a personal level, it is equally important at an institution level in order to survive and to thrive. Like with all good things, it has to be nurtured and cultivated, deliberately. Like Shaheen said, ‘agility to cope with problems didn’t emerge in Covid, it’s a way of Life for us’. This way of life is deep rooted in two beliefs — having a strong sense of possibility, and the resilience to relentlessly pursue goals. The short term goals could change because of the environment, and we need to have the agility to adapt. Maybe this is what has allowed Teach for India to become one of the largest fellowship programs in the country, impacting 20 million children thus far, and enabling the future of so many more.

Laura shared Kohler’s adoption of agility — be it the Sprints which have teams from across businesses, or the Business Resource Groups, where workforce self-organizes, activates, and solves problems in addition to their ‘day jobs’. Deploying the most appropriate person, instead of the highest-level person is a beautiful example of harnessing the power of its people for the better. And these principles are probably what enabled a Kohler factory in UK to figure out how to assemble ventilators, and Kohler factories in China and US to leverage their sourcing capability and find ways to get PPEs to the medical community.

The equilibrium between ‘to-be’ and ‘to-do’

Staying on the right side of optimism is critical, now more so than ever. A lot of it comes from mindfulness — by understanding oneself better each day and by discovering facets that make up the ‘whole’ person. Workplaces are compelling spaces to gain self-knowledge,and in some cases discovering our calling. If we are able to discover our Ikigai (Japenese term which literally means the reason for being), a sweet spot which integrates our talent, passion and purpose towards something that the society and world at large needs, we are so much better prepared to serve.

As leaders, finding and serving that Ikigai, also allows us to enable the same for others. It came through as Laura shared her own journey of embracing the legacy and history of the 142-year-old company to serving the organization and its people. Incubation of new ideas and nurturing the Micro Communities within Kohler would probably be allowing many of its employees to work towards better lives, better communities and a better planet.

These webinars reiterated for me that inclusivity makes solutions more effective; that agility can allow unlocking of bolder aspirations; and that the equilibrium between ‘to-be and ‘to-do’ does start with oneself, but can be built at the institution level as well. These beliefs and ways of working are critical in today’s new world, but unlike the PPEs, they can’t be acquired overnight. They have to be thoughtfully nurtured in the institution, one action at a time. And the Leaders who nurture these Values in the Institutions probably learn them early on in their lives; which is where institutions like SOIL play a pivotal role in instilling these Values. Keep up the fantastic work SOIL!

Akansha Arora

“Akansha, thinks of herself as a life-long learner. She is particularly interested in Group Relations and is pursuing her PhD. She also serves on the Advisory Board of Udayan Care, a NGO that focuses on vulnerable children. She comes with a blend of industry and consulting experience. Her last assignment was with KFC, as Director of HR prior to which she had worked with Right Management, the strategic HR Consulting arm of Manpower Group”

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