People Don't Destroy What They Create

I noticed it had become a team on the day they started doing things themselves.

What I want to write about is not what made that happen, but what is making it happen, because it is still happening.

Paramahansa Yogananda taught that if people are a little happier after meeting you, you have done your job. That is not people-pleasing, which needs correcting. It is wanting the people around you to feel happy and fulfilled. I have been trying to bring that into the office.

The difference this year has been simple. I stopped asking the team to do things. I started asking them how things should be done.

For years the most obvious answers were staring us in the face, and I would just say them. Now I don't. I show the team the problem, I widen it so they can see all of it, and then I ask them what needs to be done. The obvious answer still comes, but it comes from them. When it comes from them, they actually do it. And it costs far less pain to get it done.

We had an amazing Diwali season. What is happening with the team now is that they are learning to make decisions themselves. They have been given the responsibility of growing the company on their own shoulders.

That does something magical. They may not understand every variable that goes into running a business of this size. But people don't destroy what they create. When they own a decision, they protect it.

The magic is in helping them believe their decisions are right. They will make mistakes, and that is fine. When they start owning things, they go out of their way. They stretch themselves and step out of their comfort zone to understand what they now own. My part is to keep watching the work while letting go of the outcome a little. I still keep track, but I show them what is expected and let them work out how.

There are gaps in this way of working too. I won't pretend otherwise. But when the team comes together and owns things, the whole way we work changes.

You have to show them the real challenges of the business. Make them part of the whole story. Don't leave them in the dark. They can live in the dark if you keep them there, but then don't expect them to act as if they care. They will only care if they are part of the problem. Only then will they become part of the solution.

So don't treat them as the problem. Let them be part of the problem. Let them realise that we are in this together, and that we are doing this for everyone.

They also need to feel they will share in what their work produces. An organisation is not about peeling the skin off people for our own benefit. It is about growing together. That kind of growth builds a community. The other kind, where you drain people of everything they can give and then throw them out, does not.

Yesterday we had something like an appraisal conversation with the team. I was surprised. Three of the six said they want to move into senior management. And why not? I would be very happy to help them get there. Let's see how it plays out.

So this is the learning. When you empower a team, it doesn't matter whether they are the most intelligent people on earth. They will make intelligence happen. They only need to understand that what is happening is for them, not against them.

So let's celebrate with them. Let us share our divine joy and harmony. Let us bring peace to each other's lives.