Stuff leaders are made of

As a young sales officer with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation handling Coimbatore Sales Area, I had a reputation for being upright, someone who gets things done, takes more than acceptable risks and not averse to bending the rules a bit (though not breaking them) for what I believed was beneficial to my organization. The last bit created lot of headaches for my Superiors at the Regional office, as on the one hand I produced results but on the other they feared that my risk taking might put all of us in trouble. Fortunately for me, my first Senior Regional Manager was a tough talking Kashmiri Pundit, V K Sawhney. Standing well above 6 feet with a physique to match, a baritone voice that commanded immense respect and a Cigar in his mouth, Sawhney was one of his kind. He took it upon himself to mentor all of us young sales officers and was a holy terror. We were all a little overawed of him. Well, not only us, even the Chairman P Ramakrishnan was once heard saying behind Sawhney's back "give the bugger whichever posting he wanted, but keep the **** as far away from Petroleum House (our HQ in Bombay where PR sits) as possible". Sawhney had utter disregard for anyone in the organization but he was superb in his work.

During the Annual Review Meeting of our Region chaired by the South Zone General Manager V K Singh ( who was Sawhey's immediate boss), I was making my presentation. During the course of highlighting my achievements, I narrated an incident where I had stretched the rules to the limit (exceeded my authority by a mile) to get business from a major industrial customer who was a die hard Indian Oil client. Expecting a pat on the back, I was stunned to see me being pulled up by the Senior Manager (Sales) South Zone Menon who was the aide to the General Manager. He hauled me up over the coals for flaunting Company guidelines and in short gave me a roasting. Not wanting to offend his key aide, the mild mannered Vikki (as GM V K Singh was fondly called) though not joining the bashing, maintained a neutral stand. Menon turned to my immediate Manager, Prashanth Mainkar and asked him whether I had taken his approval. The meek Mainkar, who to tell the truth was never aware of this (no one was, as I never had the habit of keeping my superiors informed), promptly washed his hands off and said he has not been informed leaving me in the dock. There I was, all of 25, in front of very senior managers being hung to dry. Sawhney, who was Mainker's boss and our Region head, was outside the room enjoying a Cigar blissfully unaware of what was happening inside and confident that since I was making the presentation he was on safe grounds. Word got to him that I was in serious trouble but he didn't know why. He stuffed out his cigar and made a dynamic entry into the room. I thought that with Sawhney coming back, my goose was truly cooked.

"Vikki, what seems to be the problem", queried Sawhney

Before GM could say anything, Menon explained to Sawhney the situation and how I have violated the policy which is a major breach and the need for me to be censured.

Without blinking an eye, Sawhney turned to me and said " Beta (son), you remember I gave you the approval when you called me early in the morning at 6 am on a sunday". Then to V K Singh, "It is alright Vikki, I had given him the approval and it is within my authority limits"

I looked at him dumbfounded as I know for a fact that Sawhney never had an inkling about this and I definitely had never ever talked to him about it. I spluttered " er............."

Seeing my confusion Menon asked me point blank "Rajan, is it true you took Sawhney's approval?"

Before I could say anything, Sawhney roared "Menon, I am telling you I gave him the approval. The matter is closed"

Menon seethed but just didn't have the guts to take on Sawhney. A relieved V K Singh quietly interjected "Well, if Vijay has given the approval orally, then it is fine. Regularise it through a document"

During the lunch break, Sawhney asked me into the room and barked "Son, I saved your ruddy ass out there. You owe me one. Next time, you BLOODY WELL INFORM ME before you venture out on one of your risk taking escapades. No surprises like this"

Look at his response. He had the common sense to know that what I did was not for personal benefit but for the benefit of the company and used his superb judgement there. He didn't mind the least about my action but just wanted me to keep him informed so that he can protect me.

V K Singh drifted in and said " Vijay, you played out a great drama out there. I know for a fact that you had no clue as to what Rajan had done".

"Vikki, of course i don't know because this little SOB takes law into his hands and never bothers to tell us anything, but he gets me results. Do you think I am going to allow a dumbwitted A**hole from Zonal Office Menon to put down one my boys. I may scream at them but I don't allow ANYONE ELSE to touch my boys. Tell that to the ***** Menon".

That was vintage Sawhney. Later I heard through the grapevine that he chewed my Manager Prashanth Mainkar for not backing me in the meeting.

He taught me a lesson that day. Never, never let your subordinates down and I have never done that in my two decades of working.

People like Sawhney evoke extreme feelings but they are terrific bosses and no wonder their subordinates are prepared to give their life for them - Isn't that called 'Leadership'?