Dhirubhai gave management a whole new ‘ism’

A G Krishnamurthy, Chairman~Mudra Communications
Only Excerpts are here, To read complete article click here. & here.

Dhirubhai Ambani was no ordinary leader. He was a man who gave management a whole new “ism”.
There is a new “ism” that I’ve been meaning to add to the vast world of words for quite a while now. Because, without exaggeration, it’s a word for which no synonym can do full justice: “Dhirubhaism”.

Inspired by the truly phenomenal Dhirubhai H Ambani, it denotes a characteristic, tendency or syndrome as demonstrated by its inspirer. Dhirubhai, on his part, had he been around, would have laughed heartily and declared, “Small men like me don’t inspire big words!” Let me explain this new “ism” with a few examples from my own experiences of working with him.

Dhirubhaism No 1: Roll up your sleeves and help. You and your team share the same DNA.

When things went wrong, he was the first person to sense that the circumstances would have been beyond his team’s control, rather than it being a slip on their part, as he trusted their capabilities implicitly. His first instinct was always to join his men in putting out the fire and not crucifying them for it. Sounds too good a boss to be true, doesn’t he? But then, that was Dhirubhai.

Dhirubhaism No 2: Be a safety net for your team.

Dhirubhaism No 3: The silent benefactor. This was another of his remarkable traits. When he helped someone, he never ever breathed a word about it to anyone else. There have been none among us who haven’t known his kindness, yet he never went around broadcasting it.

He never used charity as a platform to gain publicity. Sometimes, he would even go to the extent of not letting the recipient know who the donor was. Such was the extent of his generosity. “Expect the unexpected” just might have been coined for him.

Dhirubhaism No 4: Dream big but dream with your eyes open. His phenomenal achievement showed India that limitations were only in the mind. And that nothing was truly unattainable for those who dreamed big.

Whenever I tried to point out to him that a task seemed too big to be accomplished, he would reply: ” No is no answer!” Not only did he dream big, he taught all of us to do so too.

Dhirubhai was indeed a man of many parts, as is evident. I am sure there are many people who display some of the traits mentioned above, in their working styles as well, but Dhirubhai was one of those rare people who demonstrated all of them, all the time.

And that’s what made him such a phenomenal team builder and achiever. Yes, we all need “Dhirubhaisms” in our lives to remind us that if it was possible for one person to be all this and more, we too can. And like him, go on to achieve the impossible too.

Dhirubhaism No 5: Change your orbit, constantly!

To understand this statement, let me explain Dhirubhai’s “orbit theory.”
He would often explain that we are all born into an orbit. It is up to us to progress to the next. We could choose to live and die in the orbit that we are born in. But that would be a criminal waste of potential. When we push ourselves into the next orbit, we benefit not only ourselves but everyone connected with us.

However, when you change orbits, you will create friction. The good news is that your enemies from your previous orbit will never be able to reach you in your new one. By the time resentment builds up in your new orbit, you should move to the next level. And so on. Changing orbits is the key to our progress as a nation.

Only Excerpts are here, To read complete article click here. & here

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