Character is the essence of Good Management by Prof. Anuradha Mishra, SICA College, Indore

CHARACTER IS THE ESSENCE OF GOOD MANAGEMENT

Once Dave Ulrich, the Michigan-based HR guru stated that “Everything about leadership radiates from character.” The world knows that people who became successful business leaders had shown a great deal of integrity, commitment and strength of character. They demonstrated a remarkable amount of integration between thought, word and deed. They established themselves as honest, transparent and trustworthy individuals. People with character have strong sense of values. Having a sense of values means being guided in your thinking and actions by an inner code of standards and abstaining from what you consider as wrong. Values are built in organizations as well. 

Take the example of TATA group: 26/11 was the biggest crisis, TATA Group ever faced. But during the attacks, the hotel staff of TAJ Hotel displayed acts of heroism, including janitor, waiter, captain, directors, artisans. The staff not only showed courage by protecting people inside the hotel but even during the attacks they took care of the needs of their guests. Thomas George, a captain escorted 54 guests from a backdoor staircase. He was the last one to leave and was shot down by terrorists while trying to leave. After the attacks, Mr. Ratan Tata personally visited all the eighty families of their employees who in some manner-either through injury or getting killed-were affected. TATA Group also provided salaries of their employees during the time period when Hotel was shut down for reconstruction. They even provide relief to people who died at Chhatrapati Railway Station and its surroundings, including the pav-bhaji vendor or pan vendor. 

Values as we have seen are central to the way we operate at work. They help us to determine the kind of work we should be doing and to manage our team, talents and expectations. 

Organization needs values, for they create culture of the company. “To think and act first as citizen” was the motto of the TATA Hotels which was inherited by their employees. This made them show such act of courage during the terrifying attacks. To build character is the first thing a person requires to be effective at work and holds the essence of management.