Attitude – definite differentiator

How many times in corporate do we hear about attitude, about mental make-up, about an ability to differentiate between reacting and responding, about a capability to withstand pressure and noise without losing one’s focus? I find it intriguing to define Attitude and the obvious follow-up question which makes makes up for juicy debate – Does attitude as a personality comes naturally to individuals or is it something one gradually develop over a period of time.

As a HR professional, I find it extremely weird to gauge attitude of an individual / employee / interviewee, basis some hypothetical situations thrown at them or some psychometric tests (though I completely agree that these test are absolutely scientific in nature and most times give you near appropriate outcomes). For me attitude can best be seen during events that cannot be predicted; it’s these unforeseen and unanticipated encounters that defines who we are and brings out our true character. Till then, all that we see is extremely superficial and made-up versions of people we live with.

Personally, I had my share of struggle, where I occasionally end up reacting only to realize that I could have responded differently. It’s this introspection that makes me extra curious about Individuals who manage to shine through various complex situations. Whether are they doing anything differently or they always had it in them or they adapted over a period of time – these people do make an impact and that too a lasting one. This takes me to an incident that have a profound impact on my life and the way I approach things.

So I tried my hand at selling Dish networks and Mortgages to US customers. On the advent of call centres and BPOs in India, we went buzzing with new found employment opportunities that meant quick bucks to all those who knew the language – irrespective of their educational background, qualification, experience and know-how. People at the age group of 18 to 20 were drawing anything between INR 20K to 40K or even 50K every month. For Indians, the kind of money youngsters made was unheard of; additionally it allowed a great deal of freedom – as call centres operated in night shifts predominantly for UK, US & Australian clients. What followed was countless post work hour parties, do I care attitude and razzmatazz.

So it was a typical training room environment; batch of 20 new recruits were expected to go through 25 days of elaborate product training program before they hit the floor. Environment was absolutely carefree, lively, and uplifting. There were mock calls, product scripts, FAQs, rebuttals and some fun filled ice-breaker cum team building sessions. Our batch had mix of few engineering and commerce students who were working part-time, some drop-outs, and people like me who were working for big bucks while preparing for MBA / MMS entrance exams. Like any other batch, we had one group of 4 extremely notorious guys who meant anything but work. Their routine was to pass comments, disturb participants during mock-calls, make fun of everyone, create chaos – it was almost as if they were hired for creating nuisance. However, to our surprise they always managed to get through every assessment. This gang of noisepur was led by Hasan, a graduate with no interest of pursuing higher studies or serious career. As a lead, his role was to bully people, create fear and strategically plan activities that would leave others in shock.

After series of gags and embarrassing moments, other batch mates united to give him a taste of his own medicine. He was doing his product presentation, it was the last presentation before the break. Agenda was to take on him from the word go – first everyone intentionally had parallel conversations, then during a Q&A session we went after him asking irrelevant, out of context and too good to handle queries. We made faces, laughed at his inadequacies, made him feel small. For the first time since we started, he was cornered and felt the heat. Just then the product coach announced a break and all hell broke loose – It was revenge time. We started our victory celebrations, we formed a circle around him, we were clapping, we were booing him out, few showed him middle finger, and he certainly had his back at the wall.

Amidst all the excitement and leg pulling the unthinkable happened. One of our batch mates went up to Hasan and pulled down his jeans. We were zapped by the turn of event, we definitely went overboard and were feeling ashamed. There was deafening silence in the room and we had no courage to face Hasan. We also realized that our pranks had turned ugly, that Hasan would get violent, that it may lead to possible fight in the office leading to disciplinary action against all involved. As we hesitantly faced Hasan, we saw him collecting himself, he recovered fast, he sensed the awkward silence and responded with a smile – hey bro, you got me bro and he hugged the person who played that lousy prank. In a matter of few minutes, we all went up to him and apologized, he responded in a typical Hasan nod saying – no worries.

Now, that was Attitude for me. He saved the day for everyone, something that could have costed a job – brought cheer, team spirit and bonding.

For me, our ability to present our best self in the face of some disgusting, unfortunate and intense encounters is what Attitude is all about. It is this behavior that we shall try to put in practice.

I am not in touch with Hasan, but I am sure that wherever he is, he would be leading and inspiring people around him. Hope, this Hasan story strikes the chord with everyone as it did with me and inspire us to practice The Hasan Attitude with elan – because Attitude is a definite differentiator.

Happiness & Sunshine, Nilesh Mhatre