LEADERSHIP And / Or LEADERSHEEP?

Hormony Vs Harmony
Over my 42 years (and blessed to be still counting!) of career experience in the industry and higher
education sectors, I have had the good fortune to be either an actual participant in, or proximate
ringside spectator of, calls to action needing sometimes quick, and sometimes considered, responses
depending on the situational context involved.

Typically, my assignments over 23 years in various industry sectors have required ‘hormonal’ pulling
action from the front, to get process and people traction behind the purposes involved, while my
engagements over the succeeding 19 years in the higher education sector, have revolved around
‘harmonal’ pushing action from the rear to align and guide my ‘flock’, so to speak, with and along
the perceived path ahead.

This differentiated, context-based approach to decision making, both at the operational level and
leadership at the strategic level, have often led me to wonder if it is always essential to have a
hormone driven exclusive ‘this or that’ approach or a harmony derived inclusive ‘this and that’
inclusive approach to leadership level decision making.

To share context, during the computerisation of banking operations in India during the closing 1980s
and early 1990s, as a part of an implementation team, I recall the rigid resistance we faced at the
field level from the unionised bank staff at the customer counters, who were more comfortable with
and competent at simply swiping at ledger pages with spit lubricated finger tips to generate
customer balances on the trot. They were just not able to reconcile themselves to the new processes
involving staring at blinking monochrome computer screens and inputting data using qwerty
keyboards. This despite the banking unions having come on board after having accepted the new
process philosophy of ‘mechanisation’ as against the otherwise unwelcome ‘computerisation’ of
banking operations! Using a process of trial and error while working with the staff, we were able to
make slow but steady progress using a mix of purpose based ‘hormony’ and process based
‘harmony’.

From another perspective, while ‘fire drills’ regularly emphasise the importance of harmonious
movement to safety through designated and well identified exit routes, in case of a real fire,
individual hormony often works at cross purposes with group harmony, sometimes leading to
undesirable unfortunate consequences.

Authored by Ranga Rao I V

Higher Education & Strategy Consultant

August 19, 2019