After Nitish Kumar’s alliance with Tejashwi Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar, we look at how unlikely alliances can work together for the greater good
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav after taking oath at Raj Bhawan in August in Patna. Pic/Getty Images
The presence of conflict within a team can make working feel like swimming against the tide, wasting energy on everything else but the goal. Make the best of opportunities while working with people having different mindsets, and from diverse professional backgrounds to broaden your own expertise, worldview, and accolades. An example of individuals who joined hands despite clashes is Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes whose wins on the court skyrocketed at an exponential rate. Even after splits due to differences, the two continued to team up to claim more titles. Respect and recognition for each other’s strengths are what enabled this team to work. Three work coaches tell you how to put aside differences and ego to champion a larger goal.
Bury the ego, meet with success
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Leslie D’Souza encompasses in a few words an ideology to help rivals or unlikely partnerships organically develop a working relationship. D’Souza, managing director, PrePearl Training Development Pvt. Ltd and mentor, Grid International India, says, “Move from an ego-system to an ecosystem.”
>> Ego to eco for sustainability: To usher in this shift, he notes the importance of a change in mindset and behaviour. The coaching expert warns individuals from limiting themselves instead of changing with the times; if something isn’t giving you fruitful results, change, adapt, and evolve. Otherwise, you will be living in an ego-system where you operate in denial mode and put the and blame the flaws instead of working to resolve them.
>> Perspective matters: Your point of view is important, don’t work from a competitive or hate angle. Such perspectives will blind you to reality, colour your biases and and keep you operating from blind spots. To further illustrate his point, D’Souza highlights that while Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav might have been rivals, if you look into their history, they come from similar roots — they are both socialists. Coming together to overpower another political rival might still be operating from a blind spot. Instead, it will be good to see them going back to their philosophy of being socialists and working in a holistic way for the larger good and sustainable results in work.
>> Organic change: The expert shares that to get two people or teams to work together in a sustainable manner, rules, processes and bonding cannot be imposed. The change must happen organically. “Open your mind, heart, and will. Remove the cynicism and work from empathy. To move from an ego to ecosystem, the teams or peers need to experience that change from within to trust each other and work together.”
Ideas always matter
Sneha Gupta, founder of LotsOfLearning and personal development coach, tells us not to underestimate the act of resolving conflicts and that leaving out personal vendettas is the mature and professionally sound thing to do. She shares points to keep egos in check, work cohesively, and move closer towards larger goals.
>> Communicate: The most confident style of communication is assertive and not aggressive or passive communication. Put your ideas forth with facts and figures, and have the courage to respect other people’s ideas.
>> Listen: Be a good listener. Before turning something into a personal argument, always listen for a holistic picture.
>> Co-operate: If you want to come across as a confident team member, ditch the arrogant tone and behaviour. Instead, encourage solidarity, and nurture cooperation and mutual respect.
>> Address: Use candour in communication instead of sweeping issues under the carpet. If someone wants to pick an argument, remind them that it’s not in the best
interest of problem-solving and will have a direct impact on overall productivity.
>> Focus: Shift your attention from proving someone wrong to solving the problem.
We are in it together, for the better
Subhash Naidu, peak performance coach and founder of TGA Brain Train points out the importance of reinvention of self and skillset to prolong one’s career trajectory or reach goals. This reinvention, which is crucial for surviving in a dynamic market, includes forging unlikely partnerships and working with rival teams or individuals with different mindsets. For this, he suggests a shift in focus from people to work using the tips below:
>> Believe in the goal: Remember the reasons you want to achieve the goal and optimise your energies towards it.
>> Align with the team: Get clarity about team roles, and align on the goal. This will help everyone develop a working relationship and function on the same page.
>> Focus on strengths: Understand what the other person brings to the table by identifying their strengths and optimising them to drive the work forward.
>> Change in perspective: Rowing in sync will move the boat forward. To achieve this, there will have to be a few compromises, but also, more importantly, a realisation that working together will avoid stagnation.
Illustrating the importance of perspective with an example, Naidu shares, “In school, we’re told that we have to beat another person in order to be number one in class. But in a workplace, we need to understand that working together will see a project through to its completion and also highlight great qualities in ourselves as peers and leaders that can get us ahead in life.”
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