Why I can never be Sachin Tendulkar

Only Rajni knows the number of articles written on Sachin…On his 38th bday today, Sachin holds the orange cap for the IPL season-4. That means he is the highest run scorer so far, in a tourney, that is conventionally considered fitting only for the YOUNGSTERS, not for 38 year olds. But defying the odds EVERY TIME is what Sachin is all about, isn’t it?

To summarize his achievements in one line, he has just about everything and every record. More than the cumulative number of mortals can ever imagine.

But his most important achievement, for me, is also one of his very few controversial ones. His century against Zimbabwe in the 1999 WC, a day after his father’s death. Controversial, because critics point out to the fact that it came against Zimbabwe. But, most important, because he achieved this very big professional feat a day after his father’s death. How many of us can bounce back after small incidents or setbacks, leave alone the death of someone so close. What happens when we have a little fever or we meet a small accident. Let’s face it, we want the world to know. We call our colleagues, our boss and friends. A 99 fever inevitably becomes 101 when we speak to them. A small wound on the leg turns into a ligament tear, to say the least. A slight brush with a car turns into an accident. Lets face it. We make a mountain out of a mole, to get some sentiment value, and to get a day off work. That it turns into 2 days off is a no-brainer.

But did Sachin do that? Did he call a press conference to mourn the death of his father, and to take time off the WC? Leave that aside, he did not even skip the very next match, which happened on the very next day! He could have easily gotten away without scoring, no questions asked. Instead, he scored a century and won it for India- the highest you can do at work on a day! The opposition was not difficult, but the match was. For him, the situation was.

This is the dreaded month of April, when appraisals happen. Most of the very few who are reading this, already have their appraisals done, and are pretty dissatisfied with them. What are the few common things we say these days? “ Waise bhi company itna kam de rahi hai, to fir itna kaam kyun karnekaa?” ….or…. “Yaar I am gonna be leaving early now on. Only 8 hours and that’s it. What’s the point of slogging so much when the company does not respect my work, or when it does not reward me?” …ironically, even if you get a very GOOD appraisal, what do you say? “Aah,,,I am happy the company finally realized my worth and reawarded me well..I have worked so hard for so long, I can finally stabilize,,I can finally leave early, spend only 8 hours, and lead a more relaxed life now.”

Either way, we are giving up. Either way, we look for reasons to work less, do less and not raise our performance. There is no incentive, good or bad, to motivate us to raise our performance. We just remain content at being discontended.

And this is why I say I can never be Sachin Tendulkar. Because, that man does not know the meaning of GIVE UP. He does not know what it is to not perform. He has been doing great for a very long time, but he continues to excel. He has also done badly at times, but he has only bounced back strongly. It is not his profession that gives him these opportunities. It is his character that does.

Reverse Feedback...now that straightens it for managers

We all dig giving advice! We just love it. As they say in Hindi “Aur kuch free miley na miley, saali advice free zaroor milti hai”. Managers are paid to do this  But in corporate jargon, this ADVICE is called FEEDBACK, or less obviously, APPRAISAL. These are strong undercurrent words, trust me. Regardless of how great a relation you have with you manager, things are always accompanied with a constant undercurrent- a realization of the fact that you are, well, subordinate and manager.

Appraisals, however complicated, are simple. Both, the manager and the subordinate, know a set of parameters, or more fancily, goals and objectives, on which the subordinate will be evaluated. There is a discussion and it is basically a game. Both of them have their view points and try to enforce these on to the other. Someone either prevails, or there is an intermediate area that is found, which keeps both happy till the next appraisal. It’s quite simple actually.
Appraisal is good in a way. Salary invariably increases, promotions mostly happen, some constructive feedback happens, and in the end, all iz well. Otherwise, there is attrition 

Anyway, for all its merits (or compulsions), appraisals, or simply, feedback, generally lack one very basic but fundamental element of EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION. This element is the REVERSE FEEDBACK, a word often treated with undue disrespect. Appraisals are mostly one way. Reverse feedback gives a manager tremendous opportunity to REALLY gauge the gap between the expectations of his subordinates and what he actually delivers. This is really very important because a manager cannot be effective if this gap is not 0. A manager knows what to expect from his subordinates, by way of a checklist handed to him by his HR.

But a subordinate expects the world of his manager. He does not know what to expect since he has no checklist. A subordinate literally grows and develops under his manager’s guidance, and therefore, the manager has a very important role to play in how his subordinate’s career sets. A lot of times, due to the mistakes or shortcomings of the manager, his subordinate has to take the beating. And the manager’s manager will not completely know the details of what has REALLY transpired. His only way to know is through the manager, his own subordinate. Reverse feedback, therefore becomes very important. And while no manager will admit or like being feedbacked by his subordinate, it really is very important. I would also go to the extent of saying that the manager’s true management lessons have to come, not from the text book, but from the ground level- the way his subordinate thinks about him.

It’s simple- Reverse feedback is more important to a manager than feedback is important to his subordinate.