Yesterday’s Man

This evening I hosted my second and final Town Hall event for the Wipro team I have been leading for the last few months. The first Town Hall had focused on sharing the summary of the current state of the relationship with the client as I had understood it following an initial 6 weeks of listening to all and sundry across the globe. At that inaugural event I had promised that I would come back to them in a second such meeting and share with them the vision that I would develop for the account and the corresponding 12-18 month action plan. I was determined to share that vision and plan with them even despite the fact that I had resigned. In addition to the fact that it had now been validated by both the client and my direct boss, it also just felt like it was the right way to bring things to closure. I also hoped that sharing it with a wider audience who were directly impacted would help lock in the proposed changes.

A number of things struck me during the course of the evening and even now as I, back in my hotel, digest my final helping of my customary chocolate mousse.

Essentially Wipro is transactional company however the team on the ground clearly long for and are definitely open to something that is more relationship based. What they really need is guidance on how to do this, and I am convinced that if senior management show a little interest in the team as individuals, then the team will happily walk over broken glass to get the account to where Bangalore wants it to be.

A second thing that struck me is that I am already yesterday’s man. The turnout for the event was low and much lower than the first Town Hall. One can always blame the rain and the holidays (sounds like Ireland), but, especially in such a hierarchical company, if you’ve told them you’re leaving, then there are a lot of people who don’t manage to take that tram to come and see you. I suppose this is a natural human reaction even thought I was convinced I did have something of interest to tell them despite my imminent departure. My initial disappointment quickly turned into something more positive as I found myself feeling closer to the hardy 25 or so people that did indeed come.

The final thing that struck me is that the kind words they shared with me reassured me that I probably was on the right track, and that I have made the right choice. From one experienced team member who said he had opted to join the account because of me, to the younger guy who told me that he had bought a brand new shirt to attend my first Town Hall meeting after we had had an initial meeting in one of the client offices. All of these nice tributes were very touching and will be happy memories I’ll keep with me. I hope that the team does go on to be successful and that I will have the opportunity to see some of these guys again.