BOOK CONDENSATION

K.L.BALAJI, MANAGER (TRAINING)

STATE BANK LEARNING CENTRE
TIRUCHIRAPALLI

Name of the Book : 109 WAYS OF GETTING TO THE TOP

The Authors C. NORTHCOE PARKINSONS &
M. K RUSTOMJI .
Publishers Vision Books Private Ltd,
36 – C, Connaught Place, New Delhi.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

C. Nortcote Parkinson has taught in universities as far apart as Illinois

and Liverpool, Harvard and Malaya. He is world-famous author of
Parkinson’s Law and many other books.

M.K. Rustomji was a top executive in the Tata Engineering and

Locomotive Company, TELCO, one of the largest organizations of its kind
in the world, before turning to consulting and writing.

His numerous books on management are in great demand in countries

such as UK, USA India, Spain, Japan etc. Rustomji has published twenty
books in collaboration with C. Northcote Parkinson and co-authored a
popular book on health with world famous Dr. Christian Barnard.

He thrice won the Escorts Book Award for the best management book of
the year.
COURTESY TOWARDS ALL:-

We show courtesy willingly and automatically to strangers but very little

courtesy to people with whom we have to work day in and day out. We
often forget their names. We often interrupt the conversation of people
who work for us or half listen to them. People appreciate courtesy from
the boss, and they are quick to notice the lack of it too.

HELP OTHERS:-

You have to know how to criticize people properly. The purpose of

criticism is not to punish people or to make them feel bad. Its purpose is
to make them understand what they did wrong and to make them
anxious to do better next time. Sometimes it is best to soften your
criticism with praise. Criticism is a lot easier to swallow when there is
some praise mixed with it.

Before you criticize, give a person a chance to criticize himself. If he is

aware of his shortcomings, he might prefer to admit them himself rater
than have you point them out, and when you criticize anyone, do not act
superior. Talk as one sinner to another. We all make mistakes. Soften
your criticism. Use it to help people, not to punish them.

DO NOT SHOUT- EXPLAIN:-

Why shout at someone? “ I am disappointed.” “ You have always been

such a good worker”- these surely are far better ways of telling off
someone than yelling at him in heat of moment. Remember, the whole
purpose of reprimanding is to improve someone, to help him not to
repeat the same mistake . Shouting at someone will make him
determined to make the same mistake again, if only to annoy the boss.
A PROMISE IS A PROMISE:-

People appreciate a boss who is straight and honest with them. They
will never respect a clever, slippery leader who does not keep his word. If
a boss is completely honest and fair, his people will be willing to put up
with a lot of his shortcomings- and every boss has some.

DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD LIKE THEM TO DO UNTO YOU:-

There are always lots of people with different and strong opinions. But
they usually manage to live peacefully side by side and without any
trouble. Suppose you do not agree with somebody, so what? Why be
unpleasant and argue about it. Everyone has a right to his own opinions
and beliefs. It is a waste of time and energy arguing to bring them to your
point of view. Let them keep their point of view and you keep yours.
Arguing is useless and never succeeds in winning people over. It only
creates tensions.

LISTEN TO COMPLAINTS:-

When a person complaints for the first time or tenth time, listen patiently
and attentively. Some times all a man really wants a little more attention.
His complaint may be entirely unreasonable but do not brush it off. Nod
your head and say “Is that so” The listener will be most impressed
because nobody wants to think he is unreasonable especially if he is
unreasonable. How often one gets excited over little matters and makes
an issue out of them.. Sometimes it is best to leave things alone and not
make an issue out of things unless it is absolutely essential and we just
have to do it. Human beings are emotional and excitable. Give them time
to cool off and to save face.

FOR A SENSE OF HUMOUR:-

A sense of humour is a fine thing. But be careful not to overdo it. Some
people are sensitive and just can not take it. In such cases, humour
becomes ridicule. In dealing with people it is essential to have a sense of
humour. By sense of humour, we mean having a sense of proportion and
the courage to smile. It is ability to take care of yourself and your
problems with a grain of salt. The ability to smile at yourself and the
world as well.
GIVE A GENTLE PUSH UPWARDS :-

Good boss never consider himself above his subordinates. Of course he

should not let his juniors walk in and out of his office as they please, but
he lets it be known that he is always available to listen to their problems
and grievances. After all, if his men are unhappy, their work will suffer,
the organization will suffer and inevitably, he will suffer. It is very
important – particularly as a business grows larger- to keep the lines of
communication open at all levels. An organization is always better off,
and a lot of trouble is avoided if ideas and complaints move quickly and
easily in both directions.

MEN, NOT MACHINES:-

A common failing with many managers is that they often consider

themselves superior to their men. They don’t appreciate their view point
or make any effort to understand their hopes, fears and problems. If you
treat your men like machines they will respond like machines: which
means they will work just so much and no more. On the other hand, If
you show your concern for them as human beings, they will feel obliged
to help you and the organization. Remember a manager only achieves his
objectives through people. That’s why we say that dealing with people-
their knowledge, their peculiarities, their temper- is one of his main jobs.
Management is human relations.

NO MISTAKES, NO INITIATIVE:-

When something is going wrong, investigate, ask, don’t accuse. Give the
men a chance to tell his side of story. Like this, he will be far more willing
to recognize and accept responsibility for his mistakes. Try to avoid
mistakes happening at all. It takes far less time and effort to prevent
mistakes from happening than it does to correct them.
PROBLEMS WILL OCCUR- :-

Problems will occur especially when you are dealing with people.
Therefore, a good manager should make a habit of acquainting himself
the thoughts and ideas of the people who work for him. He should
encourage them to say what they think. In this way, the management
will have continuous and accurate information on attitude and opinions
of its employees.

DISAGREE WITHOUT ANGER:-

If you do this, and do this sincerely, people won’t be offended at all when
you don’t agree with them. It is an open minded approach and
encourages others to be open minded too. You will be surprised how
often most of us tend to fly off the handle. But this is something which
we must try to avoid at all costs. Anything done in anger will always lead
to bad results. Keep your personal feelings and prejudices right out of
picture that is the secret of getting along with people successfully and
takes a lot of self control. The fellow who is good at controlling others
must first learn to control himself.

There is a tactful method of disagreeing with someone. Start out by

asking the person to explain his views fully. Listen to his views. Agree
wherever you possibly can. And than when you cannot convince yourself
in front him that he is right, point out why. Show him why you can not
go along completely with him on what he says and than ask him to
consider your point of view. Surely, this is an effective way of getting
people to come over to your opinion.

MONOTONY BREEDS LACK OF INTEREST:-

Doing the same job day in day out doesn’t necessarily mean that it is
most efficient way of getting things done. People aren’t like machines.
Many of them get tired of doing the same thing over and over again with
the result that they do it badly. Good manager is to take the boredom
away from a job and make it more interesting. He can delegate, ask for
suggestions, contact people and get people to use their brains. All this
helps to take away boredom.
WHY ARGUE? TRY TO UNDERSTAND:-

Have you noticed that the people who are really smart rarely get into
arguments. They have learnt that arguments are a complete waste of
time . The best way of settling differences is to show other fellow that you
understand his point of view. Stress the point on which you agree with
him and than quietly and calmly point out where you can’t agree. Never
flatly contradict him. Even if you know he is wrong, never act as if he is
obviously ought to agree with you. Never, get into an argument. Even
with the best lawyer in the world, you won’t be able to convince him that
black is not white if he does not want to be convinced.

BE BRAVE- FACE UP TO MISTAKES:-

When we make a mistake, most of us are scared and try to wriggle out.
But why not admit a mistake? We can’t be right all the time: A man who
is right only 60 per cent of time can be a tremendous success- if he is
quick to correct his mistakes the rest of time. If there is no mistake there
is no initiative. Not to admit a mistake is plain foolishness. You’d be
surprised but people respect a man who is quite open about his own
mistakes.

MEET THE BOYS FACE TO FACE:-

That’s what they do in Japan, and that’s why they are so successful.
They settle things face to face and on spot. No separate offices. No long
memos. To obtain the best results when dealing with people, do it in
person. If you can’t see a man in person, telephone him. A phone call is
more personal and persuasive than a letter.
THE WISE BOSS IS A FRIEND:-

The main function of a leader is to help his people to produce more. That
surely is main job of every boss- to help his people to do a better job:
through guidance, interest and appreciation. The boss’s efficiency is not
measured by the work he does himself, but by what his people have
done. That’s why it’s so essential for a boss to know how to handle
people and get them to do their best.

REMAIN LEVEL- HEADED WHEN THINGS GO WRONG:-

That’s what you will have to do, when things go wrong. There is always
temptation to find out who is responsible and give him a piece of your
mind. But this doesn’t do much good, except to relieve your own feelings
and aggravate somebody else’s. When something goes wrong, hold your
fire. First find out why it happened. When people do poor work, there is
usually a reason. When you find cause, attack the reason, not the man
himself.

CAREFUL LISTENING ELIMINATES MISUNDERSTANDINGS:-

Most people are afraid to admit that they do not understand. As a result
you don’t even realize that they haven’t got your message until everything
is all messed up. One way to be sure that your meaning has gone home
is to ask your listener to repeat the message back to you in his own
words. Like that, you can be sure that you are both on the right
wavelength and that your listener understand your message and not his
own interpretation of it. Be more careful with your instructions. Check
back in early stages of the job to make absolutely sure that it’s going
properly.
UNDERSTAND YOUR CASE:-

I MAY BE WRONG, BUT--,

DON’T YOU THINK THAT--,
ISN’T IT LIKELY THAT--,
ONE WAY TO LOOK AT IT IS THIS…,
IT’S POSSIBLE THAT…

These phrases are most effective way of getting your ideas accepted. Soft
pedal your opinions. Use phrases like these and you will find people
more willing to listen and less quick to bristle. Even when you know you
are right, it’s important to show that you have an open mind and this
encourages others to accept your decision, but there is no law which
says that people have to agree with your thinking.

BE MILLITANT, BUT ONLY AS A LAST RESORT:-

For emergency use only- try force. If we seem to talk a lot about a
friendly and constructive approach, it’s because we believe that we can
always get better work out of people by making them want to do good
work, than by trying to force it out of them. Some times, however, this
approach doesn’t seem to work. In such cases, take the matter up
bluntly and directly with the person in question. If a man doesn’t
respond to a constructive approach, face the issue and find out why. Try
to straighten him out without resorting to punishment and penalties.
Failing that, get rid of him as soon as you can. You’ll have a healthier
organization if you do so.

ENCOURAGE INITIATIVE AND TOLERATE ERRORS:-

All bosses profess to encourage initiative among their employees. But

what happens when someone does take initiative and make a blunder.
Do you deluge him with blame and criticism or do you take as much of
the responsibility as possible on yourself and try to soften the blow. This
fear of taking initiative and then being criticized for being wrong is the
greatest initiative killer of all. The manager who wants to encourage
initiative among his assistants has to expect and be tolerant of errors.
Otherwise, many people would prefer to do nothing- they’d rather pass
the buck than risk being wrong.
A COMPANY LIKE A PUMP, REQUIRES THE RIGHT PRESSURE:-

One of the problems of leadership is to know what degree of pressure to

apply: to what extent should the boss repeatedly control and check his
subordinates. Pressure is not necessarily bad but excessive pressure
certainly is. A manager should be able to gauge how much pressure to
apply on his subordinates.

REMEMBER, THE OBJECTIVE CONTROLS THE MANAGER:-

Under a system of management by objectives, it is the manager who

controls his own performance, and not his boss. The manager’s task is
made easy because, he has actively participated and given his agreement
and taken responsibility for objectives of his unit. Once the objectives are
settled the manager should be allowed to get on with the job of achieving
them any manner he thinks best, but, of course, within the general
framework of rules of an organization.

WORK IS FINE, BUT RESULTS ARE BETTER:-

The focus of the executive must be always being on contribution. The

focus of his efforts should be on results rather than work. Most
executives are flooded with papers. They have no time to think and plan.
They are all too occupied just working, but not thinking about the results
of that work.

An all round squeeze produces good results:-

It is best to give managers a tight budget and minimum number of staff.

They will raise hell to start off with, but under pressure they learn to
simplify and than produce much more and at lower cost.
ANTICIPATION IS BETTER THAN CRISES:-

The organization which accomplishes the most is usually a quit, rather

boring one where there is never a crisis because everything has been
anticipated and made into a routine. This is a far better atmosphere for
an executive to get down to his job which he thinks out plans for the
future and also to develop his subordinates.

DECENTRALISE AND PROFIT:-

Give the man on the spot as much authority as you possibly can.
Experience has proved time and again that not only will he live up your
trust but that the work will be done far better, and you will hardly ever
be let down.

ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE:-

The secret of effective leadership is to concentrate on and develop the

strength of an individual- his strong points. Individual have many facets
but for average individual there is usually only one area where he might
be very capable. Concentrate on that area and forget about his
weaknesses because if he is normal person he is bound to have them. If
a man has no weaknesses, it may well be that he has strong points either
and will nothing more than a mediocrity. All well –known leaders have
their failings, but important thing- and this is what really matters- are
that these people produce results.

PRESERVANCE ALWAYS PAYS:-

One is bound to succeed in the end if one keeps on at it! It doesn’t matter
how many times you fail. Remember what happened to Robert Bruce of
Scotland. It is not the brilliant fellow that gets on in the long run, but the
fellow that has the capacity and the patience for going at it again and
again and not giving up. Who was it who said that, Genius is one percent
inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration.
THE WELFARE OF YOUR STAFF COMES FIRST – ALWAYS.

The Organization of the armed forces of most countries can tell us a

great deal about man management. Why is it that soldiers follow their
officers through a hail of shrapnel and bullets? It is not because they are
especially well paid It is not because they will be punished if they
malinger. It is because they the way in which discipline has been built
up the armed forces. There officers see to it that their man are properly
settled fed before they attend to their own needs; they see that they write
home to their families; they try to help them to study so that they can
improve their position. An officer makes it his business to spend time
and effort over welfare and health of his men. This could apply equally in
civilian life too. Let your men feel that you really are concerned about
their welfare. If you do that you can be sure that they in their turn, will
do everything possible to be loyal to you and the organization.

A GOOD TIP PAYS OFF IN BUSINESS:-

In some organizations a suggestion is looked upon as a slur on the

manager. The manager thinks that people will ask why he did not think
out this suggestion himself. This whole attitude is, of course, entirely
wrong. Every employee must be actively encouraged to make suggestions
for improvement and he must know that his suggestions will be carefully
considered.

THE RIGHT TOUCH:-

And it was just a little touch. But he’ll think of her for days on end.
That’s all very well, but you’ll be astonished at what a big difference such
little touches make in one’s day to day life. If one of your men looks
unwell, ask him about it. If he takes leave to look after his ill wife, find
out how she is when he comes back. If he walks with a limp, enquire how
it happened. Ask about his daughter’s progress at school. Good human
relations do not normally take up much effort But how very often
otherwise experienced and clever managers entirely ignore such an
approach.
DOWN WITH SYCOPHANTS:-

One of the biggest dangers for the average executive is the yes -man
type subordinates: the subordinate who is always buttering up the
boss. A good executive needs men around him who have the strength
to give dissenting opinions. He must be able to see through the yes-
man and shoe-licker as quickly as possible. Otherwise they are bound
to land him in trouble. It is so easy for a busy executive to jump to
wrong conclusions. That is why it is important for an executive to
have independent thinking men around him- so that they can correct
him

ONLY FATHER CHRISTMAS CAN GRANT WISHES:-

A good executive must have courage to say ‘no’. And this could be one
of his most difficult tasks, because he is under enormous pressure.
Everyone always wants something from him- his friends, his relations,
and people in high positions. He will have to exercise all his self-
control to resist such requests.

DO NOT ACCUSE- INVESTIGATE:-

When you sense that something is going wrong, get to it straight

away. If you deal with problems while they are still small, the chances
are you eliminate the problem from becoming big. Root out
misinformation and poor attitudes before they take hold.

Most problems are caused by lack of proper communication. People

are often disturbed because they do not have the facts, so they do not
understand the real situation. The faster you put these false
impressions right, the better off will you be. The thing to do is to nip
trouble in the bud before it builds up and become serious. There are
enough real grievances in the world. So there’s no point in people
getting upset over imaginary problems that can be put right straight
away if you give them the true facts.
HAPPY AT HOME, BETTER RESULTS:-

People tend to work the way they feel. Their productivity depends to a
large extent on their frame of mind. A good supervisor gets to be an
expert in spotting people who have trouble at home. He knows its lot
smarter to help a man get his personal problems off his chest than to
let him spoil a day’s work. Under such circumstances, scolding the
person and tearing a strip off him can do only harm.

EVERYONE LOVES RECOGNITION:-

Everyone has an ego, a desire for recognition and craving for

attention. Why-goodness knows. Maybe it’s caused by some overactive
glands but this is something which has to be recognized if you want to
be successful in handling people. If people can get attention by doing
something constructive, they’ll get it by doing something destructive.
A really good supervisor simply must realize this.

MAKE YOUR INSTRUCTIONS CRYSTAL CLEAR:-

You’ll be surprised how often instructions are misunderstood. ‘I

thought you said that’ or ‘I didn’t realize this is what you wanted’.
These phrases are used again and again and things are always going
wrong. If you want your instructions to be properly understood, you
have two jobs to do: one is to explain yourself simply and clearly, and
the other is to go out of your way to make certain that you are
correctly understood. If you don’t do this, things are bound to go
wrong.

TALK STRAIGHT:-

No matter how unpleasant the task, be direct. Don’t let anyone get the
idea that you are going behind his back on anything. Put your cards
on the table and keep them there in plain straight. Don’t avoid
questions, hide facts, or try to evade an issue by clever tricks. Avoid
cleverness as you would the plough; otherwise people won’t trust you.
As the boss, the best possible impression you can give your staff is
that you are sincere and fair. The fellow who thinks he can fool people
indefinitely is fooling himself.
IN MOMENT OF CRISIS REMAIN COOL:-

When somebody is dead wrong, there’s always temptation to bang

your fist down and tell him so on in no uncertain terms. But it’s not
good business- not if you want to retain his goodwill and win real co-
operation. There are critical moments in dealing with people. If you
disagree with someone, do so gently. The more aroused he becomes,
the more determinedly he’ll stick to his own opinion. If you adopt an
open-minded approach and encourage people to be open-minded too,
it gives you an excellent chance of winning the other person over.

SLEEP OVER IT:-

Let’s admit it- dealing with people can be an exasperating and

frustrating business. Every once in a while we are bound to get
discouraged and ready to throw in sponge. But whenever things look
bad and you find yourself discouraged and resentful-stop. Look at
what’s wrong. If you can’t see the good side, drop the matter
temporarily and get a good night’s sleep first. Don’t get excited and
worried by difficulties.

HANDLING PEOPLECORRECTLY IS AN ART:-

People get their most of impressions through eyes; not their ears. If
you want to sell an idea- or even a sense of discipline to people who
work for you- you have to set a personal example. The minute you try
to sell them something you don’t really believe in, something you don’t
practice yourself, you have got a job on your hands. There’s no
question about it. If you want results you have surely got to set an
example yourself.
THROUGH MISTAKES TO SUCCESS:-

That’s really what experience means. A fellow might work in the same
organization for say 20 years, but it might be one year repeated 20
times. He learns nothing. But with another fellow, every year is an
additional year’s learning. Every mistake he makes, he notes down,
thinks about it and thinks again about it. Why did the things go
wrong? How could it have been prevented? If you do this often
enough, there’s no stopping you. The sky is the limit. Mistakes can be
your most effective teacher.

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