Rickshaws and Management

Last week, I was returning from Vile Parle from a meeting by a rickshaw. To avoid driving in the office rush, I kept my car parked near the office in Malad. Somewhere between Jogeshwari and Goregaon, the driver swerved to overtake a tempo, and the rear wheel went over an elevated drainage cover. 

I could feel the rickshaw tilting to the left. I threw my weight on the right and luckily, we stayed upright. It all happened very fast, and if I had not been alert, the rickshaw would have overturned. Needless to say, that got me thinking….

After 6 months at the helm of affairs as Director @Deviprasad Goenka Management College of Media Studies, I think it is like driving a rickshaw. Just listing a few management lessons I have learnt …

The wheels are my team mates, my colleagues with authority (learnt that today!) with whom I navigate the academic path. When they know the road better than me, I listen to them. I need to see that they have enough air, and deflate ones with too much of it! Sometimes, though, I have to replace the one's that do not function, or go out of shape. Better not to take the risk of toppling the rickshaw.

And while doing all this, I function as the fourth wheel, maintaining the critical balance.

Students are my passengers, they come and go, but I function solely for them. Without them I have nothing to do. If they say I am good, I get more passengers, and my institute grows. I need to care for them, play some music, keep the atmosphere lively, at the same time, see that they reach their destination, get to the right jobs. I have to make their journey comfortable, give them the best I can from my limited resources. I have to also ensure that each one has a pleasant journey, and occasionally offload an unruly passenger.

I may be driving a rickshaw, but I have to flaunt it like I am driving a Mercedes, and aspire to make it onto one. Its not about what I have, but how I show it. One of the most important lessons that I have learnt in the last 6 months is that I need to STOP thinking like a rickshaw walla and think like the owner a Mercedes. 

You know why? 

A rickshaw walla DREAMS of buying more rickshaws; a Mercedes owner PLANS to buy more Mercedes.

All comments, more insights welcome.