Brave New World

Even years before his name would end up as a commonplace utterance in the world of smartphones, Pete Lau never really liked to settle. If one small detail irked him, a logic board would end up smashed into pieces.

In 2014, Lau had to dig deep into his professional-acquaintance list to get his hands on the software he needed for his dream. He didn’t have a manufacturing unit, so he had to make do with that of his former employer’s.

What made this David look even tinier against the gargantuan Goliaths it was up against was the fact that Lau had a grand total of six employees under him. His marketing budget was just about enough to buy only one unit of his own product. Lilliputian or not, Lau decided that he wasn’t going to pull any punches.

#NeverSettle debuted on social media. The picture below is self-explanatory enough to convey what Lau intended to do to his opposition: multi-billion conglomerates or not, they were going to be had for breakfast.

Lau was so confident in his roll of dice that he did a 180 with his business model. Everyone else drifted with the B2C current. But he decided to swim against it, and went C2B. Those who had an invite to his world felt special. The ones who didn’t kept clamouring to get one, so much so that OnePlus — despite losing steam over the last couple of years, and not to mention internal shifts — are still chomping on a big slice of the global smartphone pie.

Were Lau’s methods clutter-breaking? Yes. Were they successful? Goes without saying. Would all of this have worked for such a fledgling company if Lau hadn’t guided, backed, and inspired his personnel through each and every bold move? Probably not.

Is this story a case in point for the wonders that Managerial Courage can work? Undoubtedly.

The Assertiveness Asset

A common, trait-based thread that connects all the dots of Lau’s story of Managerial Courage is confidence. While his calculated rolls of dice at the various stages of OnePlus’ evolution were both innovative and clutter-breaking, his positive, assertive leadership approach too played a big part in the brand’s success.

A positive attitude and confidence are the basic ingredients for not only organisational resilience, but agility as well. The same line of thought is applicable from an individual perspective too. Managerial Courage can only take shape with confident decision-making and an assertive presence in the workspace.

Consider this simple example. In a survey conducted for Dale Carnegie’s whitepaper The New Competitive Divide: Building the Foundation for Organizational Agility, only 31 per cent of 3,500-plus full-time employees across 11 countries “strongly agreed that people in their organisation have a generally positive attitude toward new information”.

Now, use this statistic in the context of this hypothetical situation. An employee chances upon information that could bring about massive growth for his/her company. But at the same time, this information, though ethical and authentic, is radically different from the company’s prescribed values. So, there’s a 69 per cent chance that this employee will never bring this information to his seniors’ notice, thus nipping a big opportunity for growth right in the bud.

But in a workplace that encourages employees to be confident, positive, and assertive while voicing their thoughts, that will not be the case.

By promoting risk-taking as a cultural value in a workplace, Managerial Courage too is automatically fostered among all members. In this regard, leaders can look at policies that can be a starting point for the following mindset shifts:

1) Positivity in all aspects of work.

2) Banishment of blame.

3) Encouragement for out-of-the-box thinking.

4) Willingness to consider new, radical ideas, and being vocal about them.

5) Viewing failures as an opportunity for new learnings.

Goes without saying that leaders need to set the tone for these shifts, exuding these traits in the way they conduct themselves at the workplace. After all, Managerial Courage has a lot to do with being the first one who displays it.

The different generations that can be seen in a professional environment these days are: