Here goes one more Blog posting on Management Lessons from Driving and it also happens to be my 100th Blog posting. Hope you would enjoy reading it.
# Accountability – It’s all about taking accountability
for what you do – be it in driving or in your executive role.
I remember a joke that read a very long time ago wherein two friends are
driving back home after the party and one guys say to the other..
Dude.. We are fully drunk and you are not actually supposed to be
driving. So you need to be very careful while driving. Should you need any
help, do feel free to wake me up. Because I am going to take a nap now.
The other guy says: Dude. It’s not me who is actually driving the car.
It’s you. Do you realize that??
Being in Driver’s seat is all about assuming accountability for safe
driving and you are the only one accountable and no one else.
Similarly, even in Corporate, you are responsible for every decision
you take and for every action in your work.
It has to be in the best interest of the Organization. You need to be
fully aware of that and carry yourself with utmost accountability.
Let me give a real-time example that talks about taking accountability,
owning all the actions including the mess-ups and demonstrating absolute
integrity.
GoZoomo is a start-up company started by three IITians couple of years
ago and the thought-process behind their Business model was, in the US, three
used cars are sold for every new car, whereas in India, it is only one used car
for every new car sold. This is in spite of the well-known fact the Indian
market is a very very price-conscious market. The major reason attributable to
this is the lack of trust in the pre-owned car segment, ie., you don’t have a
clue about the car that you are buying, whether the car is stolen, the documents
for genuine or forged etc.,
So they wanted to crack the “Trust-factor” in their Business model
wherein cars inspected and verified by GoZoomo only will be listed. The business went on well however, they had a
problem that dragged the Business down. The problem that GoZoomo faced was they
could not standardize the price. Their pricing was comparatively higher than
the vehicles listed in OLX or Quikr. The
buyers preferred such vehicles without realizing the hidden problems with such
vehicles. This resulted in delayed transactions and eventually, it killed
GoZoomo.
The CEO of this start-up had millions of dollars in the Bank funded by top
VCs. However, having realized that this
model is not matured yet in India and they will continue to incur loss, the CEO
decides to shut down the operations and retune the money to VCs instead of
toying with new ideas or continuing any further and making the loss bigger.
I think this talks volumes about taking responsibility for what you do,
even though you don’t have anyone right after you or even though you are not
questioned by the other stake holders.
To sum up, it’s all about taking responsibility for what you do, be in
it driving or in your work especially when something goes wrong. No one else
can be blamed.
diD yOU enJOY ReADinG ThIS ArTIcLE?
If yES,
yOU maY sHAre it wiTH Your FriENds tOO
