31st August, 2021
This week, I write about the book, TRAILBLAZER by Marc Benioff.
Benioff who? Founder and co-CEO, SALESFORCE as his credentials read on the cover.
A little background
The book comes to my mind whenever there is conversation about ‘trust’ or specifically, when there is talk of values.
To set context — it stems from an old workplace banter. The question was whether ‘trust’ is a value. A senior insisted that trust is not a value, but ‘integrity’ is.
I couldn’t accept that on face-value and needed to be sure. That’s when, in course of the conversation, I cited the title of Chapter Three of the book. It was ‘TRUST — The Number One Value’. Benioff saw trust as a value.
Now what reactions that drew, and what we eventually came to, merits a separate piece. So, I’ll leave that here and get back to the book.
What about this book?
I loved the book for its pointedness and some good stories. And of course, Benioff’s ideas of championing trust struck chord with me.
Benioff tells ‘Every CEO has to perform a delicate dance between two priorities: Trust and Growth.’ He tells the story of Toyota’s misadventure when they put growth first contrary to the tradition of maintaining trust first. Of course, the realisation dawned on the CEO, Toyoda San. And amends were made with his statement ‘My name is over every car’.
Essentially, the book emphasises, to quote directly from it — ‘Business is temporal, but relationships are eternal. Which means they have to be genuine and build on common ground.’
In a chapter titled, OHANA — which is a Maui term loosely meaning family and beyond, Benioff talks of the company’s culture not restricted to drawing trust around employees and customers alone, but far enough to include those who are remote or not even intended to be touched. While I fringe at the idea of an organisation or a company as ‘family’ in the typical sense, I understand the essence of OHANA and what Benioff is trying to say that people matter — no matter, close or not.
Worth a read?
The book may not be about any new or inventive ideas. But in a world where idealism is mere words, the book somehow manages to nudge you that you may not achieve idealism, nor even perfection, but you need to aim at least in that direction.
Unfortunately, so many people are self-serving. And more dangerously, they are silently self-serving or operate as cliques in the workplace that make others voluntarily silent or shut up the vocal ones. Of course, it adds to the tribe of the silently self-serving. Voices that could make a difference also dampen. The book captures this phenomenon with a quote — ‘In the Twitter age, silence is more conspicuous and more consequential.’
Benioff seems to make a plea to the people in positions of power (PIPOPs, as I call them) — ‘Hundreds of millions of people around the world get up and go to work every day, and they shouldn’t have to leave their values at the door. Employees who feel empowered to express their views on the tough issues are not just better employees, but more fulfilled people. And when we as leaders speak out for the causes we believe in, we inspire employees through the same. Regardless of our individual values, or the specific issues we choose to crusade for, by making action a cultural norm, we empower everyone in the workplace to be a trailblazer, an activist, and an agent of change.’
Clearly, leaders need to speak. People need to speak. A slogan like ‘Speak Up’, common in today’s corporate workplaces is only jingoism. To cut through it, creating environments where trust (and other values, too) can genuinely thrive is the solution TRAILBLAZER leaves me with.
READ IT FOR PERSONAL ACCOUNTS AND EVERYTHING VALUES.
