Introduction
When looking for a suitable leader to shadow, I had two main considerations in mind. First, I needed the leader to have an exemplary record of personal achievements. Secondly, the leader needed to be enthusiastic about sharing his wisdom and opinions. This second requirement narrowed down my choices to one person. I have known Ramesh Airi for the past two years, and he was very helpful when I told him that I needed to write about him. He is the manager of the Mac’s Convenience Store. This is the largest convenience store operator in Canada, having a network of over 2000 stores there. In the US, it has a considerable presence, what with its additional 3000 stores. Most of the stores are company-operated, but nearly 1400 are operated under an affiliate program.
Ramesh Airi personally runs the store at 178th street and 66 avenues. He handles his managerial role skillfully, relying on his extensive experience to quickly and efficiently delegate responsibilities. Ramesh stayed as a market manager for almost two years and then afterwards he got his own Macs store. This was a slow store but he picked its sales up and the management was so happy with his performance and hard work that they gave him the second busiest store in the city. And due to his leadership qualities he is running this store quite well. Now he has good reputation in the management.
I remember once the Macs owners came to our city to evaluate a couple of stores. Ramesh’s store was selected for evaluation. The local market manager was there as well. And one of the owners asked the market manager to tell them about the store history and how to improve its sales. The market manager could not answer the question satisfactorily. The owner then asked Ramesh the same question. Ramesh said that if the latest equipment was bought and the store was renovated, the sales could be improved by 10-15%. The owners looked very satisfied and impressed with the answer and the way it had been delivered.
Ramesh’s Philosophy
Ramesh believes that leadership is all about setting an example. He doesn’t subscribe to the common “hands off” kind of leadership observed in many other organizations. For him, delegation of any responsibility is only done once it has been ascertained that the person taking on the task can actually handle it. New recruits to the store in particular find his mentorship to be invaluable; since he makes sure that the recruit has understood his or her responsibilities well. Then afterwards, this recruit is assigned over to another member of staff to progressively train him “on the grounds” (Warren, p54). This process reduces the “adaptation period” by the new member of staff.
While I was shadowing Ramesh, I realized that he actually followed up his philosophy with actions. More than once, another member of staff would approach him and ask for a clarification on a certain situation. Ramesh never faltered, but instead diligently and efficiently attended to the staff’s issue. It soon became clear that he was very conversant with almost all aspects of the storehouse. The reason for this, as I came to know, is that he started work as a market manager when the store was still small. The post exposed him to all the sectors of the store, and he’s never forgotten the experience.
Ramesh’s leadership
One trait that really stands out in Ramesh’s leadership is the efficiency and management of time. You only need to observe him for a short while to pick up on his almost subconscious, and frequent, checks on time. It is like everything around him is on a timer. He has a digital wrist watch, and whenever he is referring to time, he always uses the 24 hour format. I queried him on this. He told me that as a youth, he’d attended some military training, and the efficiency there had stayed with him. He believes that if people were to manage time efficiently, most of the world’s problems would be solved.
Ramesh has maintained a lean staff within the company. It is his way of maintaining maximum efficiency from each staff member. Most of the staff members got recruited because of their demonstrated capabilities in more than one field. This way, there is no time when any staff member is redundant within the company. If a certain task is currently not available, the staff is shifted to the next area of expertise. This way, all the staff members clock productive hours in the company (Roger). Ramesh sets a personal example by always being on time in the morning, and rarely moving out of the company’s precincts in the evening before time.
Ramesh is a very straightforward person. He doesn’t believe in beating around the bush when dealing with problems. Once, a member of staff approached him while I was shadowing him. The staff member proceeded to describe a problem in the stores in a round-about way, without really getting to the heart of the problem. After a while, Ramesh suddenly cut him short and told the member of staff to state the problem in less than ten words. It worked. The employee gave a succinct description of the situation in just eight words. In the next two minutes, Ramesh had devised a tentative solution to the problem, pending a deeper analysis in due time. Afterwards, Ramesh told me that most problems were actually trivial within the workplace, and not worth spending a lot of time on. Skirting around the edges of a problem was also not advisable, for at the end of the day, the heart of the matter had to be tackled, if the problem was to be solved once and for all. Hence even in the staff meetings, Ramesh would start by reminding the rest of the staff that time was of the essence. This would have everybody focused, and the meetings would proceed very effectively.
Foremost amongst Ramesh’s priorities, as far as client relationships are concerned, is absolute commitment to responsibilities. According to him, it is better not to accept a commitment, than accept one and then fail to deliver on it. He knows that his credibility in the business circles, though awesome, is fragile, and can be lost in a moment of irresponsibility. Hence he has always maintained an atmosphere of total commitment to any orders he has contracted (Kevin, p109). He also holds staff meetings every once in a while to remind the staff of their priorities. Any person discovered to be failing in the commitment area gets reprimanded. According to Ramesh, it is better to lose a staff member if need be than have your hard-earned credibility trashed by a staff’s careless actions. Staff turn over is low in Ramesh’s stores, however.
The ability to deliver on all commitments can be related to Ramesh’s steely determination. This determination became evident when Ramesh drove into conclusion a contract that had had everybody else pessimistic. Mac’s store had been one of the hundreds of stores vying for the opportunity to supply the government with fuel. All sorts of odds had been stacked against Mac in this contract. But Ramesh had been zealous and unrelenting in his lobbying for the contract to be awarded to his stores. When Mac’s stores finally clinched the contract, all staff members celebrated, and Ramesh’s determination and resourcefulness was proven once more. Ramesh simply doesn’t believe in impossibilities. He believes that all odds are surmountable, given enough time and determination. And every other day, he supplements this belief with personal achievements.
Ramesh has structured all the staff members in such a way to provide maximum flexibility. This has given Mac’s stores an unusually high level of adaptability to market forces, considering its size. In this way, the stores have been able to weather economic storms that would cripple any company of the same scale but less flexibility. Ramesh maintains the adaptability of the stores by always having an ear on the market forces and trends. Any emerging trend is taken into account and given the gravity it deserves. For example, Mac’s stores were amongst the first to tap into the emerging environmental issues. Within a short time, Ramesh had deployed researchers to try and identify products that would be cognizant of this new trend. The results from this research gave Mac’s stores a huge advantage in the market.
I realized that Ramesh treats all his staff fairly, regardless of their backgrounds. To him, the workplace is a professional environment, and biases of any kind are simply unaffordable. I once heard that Ramesh used to avoid office politics. He himself told me that he hated mudslinging of any kind. And if any employee comes to him with gossip of any kind about a colleague at the workplace, he will cut him short and remind him about his duties in the stores. This fosters a result-oriented and very efficient workplace, whereby everybody puts his or her personal differences aside for the good of the stores (Ridley, pg 25). Ramesh told me that, more than once, prejudice has cost mega companies to lose valuable employees, and he isn’t willing to risk the same. His employees respect him for this attitude, and they all strive to remain professional as long as they were within the store’s precincts.
Ramesh’s professional outlook, however, doesn’t make him indifferent to his employees. He recognizes that every employee is unique, with different motivations and aspirations. Ramesh told me that this diversity could, if well utilized, create synergy at the work place. Different backgrounds make the people have different perspectives, and more than once, these factors in when working out problems. Hence whenever possible, Ramesh goes around and communicates with the staff on an individual base, getting to know their interests, values and well being. In the past, these kinds of communications have led to a staff member being moved from one department to another in which he or she is more suited. This show of empathy gives Ramesh’s otherwise totally professional leadership a personal touch and the staff members cherish him for it. Along with this, Ramesh always keeps the door to his office open, unless a high profile board meeting is in session. Every employee is welcome to pay him a visit at any time and express his or her concerns, with the assurance that Ramesh will attend to those concerns.
Although Ramesh can be a hard driver at the work place, his main concern is usually on the results. Everybody in the workplace pretty much has his or her on space, and the independence to do whatever one feels like doing. However, at the end of the day, there are performance targets to hit, and possibly surpass, if one wants to get a promotion. Ramesh doesn’t believe in restricting his staff’s activities, as long as everybody pulls his or her load. This independence has helped create a diverse culture within the Stores, but one in which everybody knows his or her boundaries. Ramesh himself sets the pace by always surpassing his previous performances. Working under his leadership, most employees quickly get out of their comfort zones and start to have exemplary performances. Ramesh also works hard at raising the enthusiasm of his employees. One way in which he achieves this is by letting the employees be part of crucial decisions within the Stores. Instead of simply introducing a new concept or change within the workplace, Ramesh starts by asking for suggestions on a specified situation. All ideas generated then are deliberated upon, and by popular acclamation, the soundest solution is put in place. Ramesh calls this democracy in the workplace, and he says that it has quelled many problems in the past.
Ramesh has devised an ingenious reward system within the company for all extra-ordinary performance. First, he has created milestones that measure individual performance. This way, the evaluation of performance is completely objective. Secondly, he has devised a comprehensive bonus and commission system that everybody can understand and exploit. At any level of operation within the stores, there is always a clearly defined way of performing better by any employee. New recruits in particular find the system to be almost incredibly flattering. This is because any extra-effort at excellence by an employee gains immediate recognition, and subsequent reward. Within the vast network of Mac’s stores, there is virtually no ceiling for the highly-driven individuals. And since everybody understands that the only way to rise in the hierarchy is through performance, everybody focuses on his or her output, and lays aside retrogressive behavior like hampering another person’s performance. This is one reason why Mac’s stores have spread so widely within Canada and the USA- their systems work. And ultimately, at the end of each financial year, Ramesh throws a party in which all the employees celebrate their performances. These end-year parties help bond the staff members and make them feel like they own the stores- an invaluable trait within the work place.
One trait that I found hard to reconcile with the rest of Ramesh’s façade was his incredible sense of humor. I picked up on this trait during his frequent phone calls. At one time, a friend called him with the news of a motorcycle accident. Ramesh himself is an ardent lover of motorbikes, and he reminded the caller that motorbikes were ideally only for those who started riding as toddlers. Any late bloomers were likely to run up against a brick wall or something, sooner or later. They laughed at the joke, and then proceeded to more serious business. Ramesh later told me that a sense of humor was an invaluable possession in the workplace, especially for a leader. The ability to see the ludicrous side in every crisis helped to ease tensions, and ultimately devise a solution with a more relaxed frame of mind. In leadership it is fine to be witty, but not silly. It is fine to be funny, but not foolish (John).
After shadowing Ramesh for a day, I realized one important thing. Although some people are naturally more likely to become leaders, anybody can become a leader. It all depends on the determination and effort that one is willing to invest on the quest. Ramesh didn’t start at the top, but he put in the time and energy to get him there. And once there, he invests every single day to maintaining his status by working on his priorities and relationships with staff and clients. I have realized that I actually can become just like Ramesh. In fact, for all intents and purposes, the only difference between Ramesh and I is time. Everything else can be altered. But at the same time, a lot will depend on the kind of people I interact with. If I interact with self-driven and focused people, I’m more likely to develop leadership skills quickly.
Works cited
John Rohn (ND) quoted by Virginia Reeves in Traits of effective, respected and liked leader. Web.
Kevin Cashman Leadership from the Inside Out: Becoming a Leader for Life Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2nd Edition 2008, pg 104-115.
Ridley, M 2003 Nature via nurture New York: Harper Collins.
Roger Darlington 2006 How to be a good leader.
Warren G. Bennis on becoming a leader Parseus publishing, 2003, pg 47-67.