According to psychologists, déjà vu (yes, Denzel Washington experienced this big time on one of his movies too !) is an intense feeling of familiarity although the situation or experience seems to be the first that you can recall. But somehow you feel that you have been there, said that, or did that. The faces that you seem to have seen somewhere before, the utterances that seems to be said at a time and circumstances not entirely the first time. Jamais vu on the other hand is an experience or situation which you find strange although by right you should be familiar with it as you have indeed experienced it before. A name you should know, a response you should be familiar with.
As we move into 2010, there will be two kinds of people managers; one who has a déjà vu and one that has a jamais vu. Which one are you? You have been there before haven’t you. Or, have you forgotten? For those of you who have gone through a period of downturn before, you will find all these strangely familiar while for some, you might be scratching your heads to remember what exactly you did the last time you had to manage people during an upturn.
The economic crisis has blown over. I bet my money on this. But I must tell you that I don’t have much money. Still, my bet is that 2010 will see a definite bullish market. Though I was not planning to argue my case why I think so (as you can see, the title is on people management), I think it is prudent to do so just in case you are still using the ‘downturn’ as an excuse to push your usually excellent people management skills to the back burners.
Here are some reasons why I think the economic crisis is over and that there will be a definite pick-up in 2010. BUT…this will be true only if Israel doesn’t attack Iran, India doesn’t attack Pakistan, North Korea doesn’t attack the South and/or Japan, China doesn’t attack Taiwan/Tibet and Russia doesn’t throw a nuclear missile into Georgia and a few hundred other former Soviet block nations bent on humiliating Vladimir Putin and the other guy who is supposedly to be running the country. Other than that, the reasons are clear why 2010 will be a robust economic year. Now, for my reasons to be optimistic:
1. This was not an economic crisis. It was a financial fiasco. The big fat financial manipulators are out of the way (or so they tell me).
2. Indian and Chinese banks have been pretty much protected from the devastation thanks to their conservative lending policies. So are most of South East Asian banks.
3. The African economic potential will begin to be felt and once again we must thank the Chinese and Indians for this as they are re-igniting the dark continent long forsaken by the west and by default by much of the free world.
4. World Cup 2010 in South Africa. It will not be the grandest but the stock market in the FTSE is going to hit the ceiling especially if the English team is doing well and the ripple effect will be felt through Europe. South Africa will make this an African dream and the whole continent will stir from its slumber. We will know more about South Africa and the African Continent than we did for the last 100 years. Advance thanks to ESPN, BBC, FIFA and the SkySports.
5. With the awarding of the 2016 Olympics to party town, Rio, the whole geo-politics of South America will be more business driven. Just like South Africa’s World Cup, Rio’s Olympics will be a South American event. Good for business I tell you as maybe finally the world will remember that there was a time when the Brazilian economy was bigger than the United States and that Argentina were the India and China of an age long gone by.
6. Barrack Obama – conservative whites-Iran-Russia-China-Europe- Israel. I can’t explain this but whatever he does will flow in this continuum and somehow I feel he will not loose which will be good news for the stock market. The fact that he couldn’t swing votes to Chicago at the IOC voting should not be an issue. Please!
7. The Japanese is stirring from their extended sake fueled slumber. Can you feel it? I can..and that is going to be good news for world business. Imagine all that money saved by Japanese housewives flooding the market. Imagine the purchasing power.
8. The Ikeas, Nokias, IBMs, GEs, Fords, VWs, Samsungs, Philips and Sonys of the world will do more of their business in Asia which will help them reduce their costs and open up more markets in Asia, Africa, South America AND parts of Europe that will enjoy a dramatically lowered pricing of goods and services. There is a huge slice of the Eastern European market that is under served as they are unable to enjoy the same purchasing power of their more affluent cousins in Western Europe. I have a feeling this is the market Ratan Tata is eyeing with his European version of Nano.
Now that you are convinced with my scholarly arguments for the recovery, I am sure you are eager to hear my expert advise on how to manage people in the upturn. Thank you. Here it goes :
1. Remember that your people are damn angry with you. In fact, they have sharpened their knives. Your situation will be worst off if you had downsized, froze promotions, cut budgets, reduced employee welfare, closed plants, etc. Don’t expect any love. Your survivors didn’t stay around and keep their knives in their pockets because they love you. They just knew better. But with things getting better and with job opportunities opening up, you are in trouble buster. Be closer to your people than you have ever been or you are going to loose valuable battle hardened talents to your competitors. Find out what they are planning to do in 2010, how they feel as we move into a new financial year, how did they take the whole downturn and its effects.
2. Whatever credibility and good-will that you had accumulated over the years have evaporated. You have to begin all over again from ground zero. You have to win over your people again. Your soldiers are wary and battle scarred. They are also questioning your loyalty to them. This is the time to use your personal power more than your expert power. Win them over (again) with your heart. Huddle together with them while waiting for the sun to rise over the horizon and allow the old familiar warm feeling of trust and security to emerge.
3. Your carefully and lovingly developed talent structure, power base, chain of influence, and internal sponsors are all gone or dramatically re-configured. You are back where you started when you first began. You will not wield the same kind of influence anymore. Your wise words and motivational advise will not have the same kind of effect. You will have to slowly develop new relationships. There are bound to be those who had to take the plunge into new roles and responsibilities when you downsized. Nurture them as you did their predecessors. Take time to build new relationships. Give all, expect little for the next one year.
4. You probably broke every promise you made to your people – with the board’s blessing. The board had probably covered your back these last 12 months or so. Now, they want to see results and they are no longer going to protect you. Ironically, the ones that you will depend on again are your people. You will have to dig deep into your people management skills to re energize and reignite the team. Go for refresher courses. Take your team to team-bonding sessions. Allow time for venting and get all unresolved issues out of the way. Remember, your board is impatient for results. Your results, as always, depend on how well you manage your people.
5. Take some time off. If you are like most of the people leaders that I have met in the last 15 months, you have probably worked non-stop with total disregard to your physical and emotional health. Go refresh your self. You need to allow that punching-bag body of yours time to heal. Enjoy your family and friends. The storm is over. Time to dust your self, pull up that tie, put that lipstick on and face the new year with renewed hope and energy.
Remember : Give it all you got, expect little in return.
Good luck.
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