PERSONAL/ MUSIC SPECIAL.................... Tune in for success

 Tune in for success





Corporate trainer and violinist Sunita Bhuyan on picking up leadership skills through music

Music has often been used as a metaphor for life. It has its ups and downs, a start and an end. But, can we expand the scope of music to the boardroom?
Hindustani violinist Sunita Bhuyan believes it's possible. “Music facilitates internal wellness and has a calming effect on the mind and body. But, it also inculcates positive social behaviour and hence can be used to impart leadership skills,“ says Bhuyan who first picked up the violin when she was five-and-a-halfyears old and even trained under maestro Pt. V. G. Jog. Bhuyan later graduated in music from the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal, and also got a management degree in Human Resources from Gauhati University.Following two decades as an HR pro fessional, today, she is a corporate trainer offering exponential leadership workshops.

Ahead of her talk at Vikhroli's Godrej India Culture Lab next week -where she discusses how music is a great tool to teach leadership skills and help build creativity -she shares some lessons:

1 DO YOUR RIYAAZ, DEVELOP A SPECIALITY

In a `master-of-all-trades' world, Bhuyan says, people are not concentrating on the ability to master one function.

Driven by titles, everyone wants to be a CEO at 35, working in application mode, focussing exclusively on the project at hand, an early promotion and the next big job.“Consequently, they ignore the need to upgrade their skills or brush up on what they have already learnt.However, the deeper your domain knowledge, the greater your flexibili ty to adapt to market changes,“ says Bhuyan, pointing out how classical musicians practise the same raagas as part of their riyaaz every day.

“This reflects on the music they perform. A sturdy foundation, built on skills allows a musician to perform jazz, folk, blues, etc. Similarly having deep domain knowledge or expertise allows one move across industries,“ she adds.

Bhuyan elaborates on this in her workshops by playing different interpretations of a certain raag. “All analogies from Indian classical music are scientific and there's a lot of Math in the rhythm. You pick the structure of a raag and build around it and there can be a thousand interpretations of the same raag,“ she says explaining how she discovers a new facet of the Raag yaman each time she plays it.

The lesson here is clear: You were hired for a certain set of skills, but they will become redundant if you don't develop them further. Even if you join a job that doesn't focus on your core skill, you should still continue developing it on your own as that is what will distinguish you from others in the long run.

2 A GOOD PERFORMANCE IS NEVER A SOLO ACT

A crucial challenge for the Indian corporate sector today is the gap in efficient middle management. So, you've spent 5-7 years in an industry and your ability to perform the job with diligence has been rewarded with a promotion. Now, you head a team of subordinates who perform the same job you started out doing.

Your new KRA is to get them to deliver.

“In this scenario, how well you manage people becomes more important than how well you know NILESH WAIRKAR your own craft,“ says Bhuyan who believes that the first step towards managing people has to do with get ting to know them. Each person is different and a manager must be aware of every team member's strengths, personal goals and ambitions. And while every member may not top the performance chart, they can have a defined and crucial role that contributes to the larger picture.

Bhuyan explains this by talking about how the table player and bassist in her group are encouraged to perform solo. “One might feel that their contribution is minimal in the overall performance but it is the bass that holds the tune and the tabla that gives rhythm to every composition,“ she says. The takeaway from this: the best sound comes from a synergy and that's exactly how a team should function.

“If you behave like a boss, you will have subordinates and not team members. You have to get them to work with you and not for you,“ she says about the importance of setting the tone within the team.

3 ASSIMILATE TO GROW

During her workshops, Bhuyan introduces participants to different forms of music, ranging from Assamese folk, Tagore and Irish and Scottish folk. Then, she works on creating a piece blending the different forms together in a way that they complement each other, while retaining their unique identity.

This, she uses as an example to teach participants about how to manage assimilation in your present environment, will dictate your performance. “It is not necessary that the strategy that led to success in your old company will work today.Flexibility is important,“ she adds.Every organisation has a different culture and one needs to be flexible enough to change their methods of working to suit the new board of directors and stakeholders, while retaining their individual identity.

Kunal Guha

MM6JUN15