In the world of leadership, there is so much discussion around how to build a great culture! I always wondered what is so hard?
My simple answer is like you build a family, you build a team and that is all. We give the necessary care and concern to everyone at home and that just extends to a few more people in office. Isn't that all?
I have been wondering about this for a long time now. Some questions that popped in my head include why do families have so much bondage? why does a family become an axis of a person, why not something else? Why do we put up with jerks in the family but not outside? Why we go through so much violence and gulp it in the name of family? Why we melt when it comes to a family? Why we stretch ourselves and do the impossible for our families? Why self care takes a back seat when it comes to a family?
I got my answer as a one word and the answer was super simple. It is ACCEPTANCE. We just make our families a part of us. Like our fingers, like our organs, like our breath, they are a part of us. When one finger is hurt, it hurts the whole self. Similarly when one member is hurt, the whole self hurts. This is what mothers go through with their babies. However nasty they are, however sweet they are, they are a big part of her. Don't get me wrong. Not all families are rosy. We have our own share of regret, disappointment, frustration etc but we still put up with our families because we feel they are a part of us.
As a mother of two biological children and many design children, I have always felt, we don't need managers, we just need mothers to take care of things. When we think and act with the due acceptance, inclusion is natural. The word mother is loaded with a different connotations and makes it hard to thrive in a business context. I get it! However the core of building any human relationship is only acceptance and by nature mothers have them with their babies. If we can take that phenomenon and apply it to building teams and companies, it will be a beautiful place on earth. We can deal with any crisis when we have this set right inside ourselves.
A lot of my collegues and friends asked me, am I nuts to write this in public?
My only answer is the mother in me made me do it and I don't need to think anything more.
To me building culture is all about awakening the motherhood in you and that is all. We can thrive as imperfect beings who are always work in progress when we have this one thing sorted inside us.
So far in my two decade career, I could never resonate with the word manager, boss or a leader. None of them make sense to me. May be the role is like that of a mother than anything else? I get a lot of flake for using that word in a business context but hey, it is what it is! Just a perspective on how i see things inside me which has helped me build amazing teams so far.
