Why Great Student Enterprises don’t take Excuses for an Answer II

Part 2: Five Strategies on Student Enterprises

In the previous article, we talked about the different kinds of students who are involved in student enterprise. Perhaps, before we continue the article with what I thought might be helpful for the students I mentor, it is important to make a few points clear to ensure that we can have good discussion. We are not to tell students that they should not prioritize their studies above the rest. As a student advisor, I always tell them that their first priority is studies. If they cannot do it well, they can resign their positions and not hog that place for a better and passionate student. That’s the stand reflected from the best student enterprises in the world. We are here to explain to them that if they have committed themselves to a responsibility, they need to learn accountability and professionalism. The favourite counter argument I hear from most people is that it does not matter because they can go out to the real world and do a good job. Since old habits are hard to break, it would be the same problem for them in the future. Learning to manage your time and responsibility is an important lesson for your future in the real world.

Five Strategies to run a Student Enterprises

I have a few tips for my student leaders on how to deal with some of the problems which they had faced. Perhaps, they are about to hand over to the next generation of leaders, but I believe that they can take these lessons and move on to grow to better people. If they don’t and fail later in life, it is not because I have told them so, but because they did not listen and accept criticism and feedback on their part. I am not afraid if any rival organizations will learn this and bring the competition on. Without adversity, there is no enemy for the current team. It is always better to have competition, because it keeps your whole team and the future teams in check. Even if another student organization took this advice and made it great, I have done my part to inspire great teams.

Law 1: The Value Proposition is your ultimate weapon

Managing people is an exercise of influence. A lot of people don’t understand that, including some people who I mentored. The rule is simple: if you cannot offer someone a value proposition that can help them to grow better, they won’t work with you. That is only the first half of the equation. The other half of the equation is that once you have hired this person, you have to work out what it takes to get him or her motivated such that they can contribute to the organization and how they will get their way in the organization.

What is the value proposition you want to give? There are two types of power a leader can exercise over his team of volunteers. The first I termed as “soft power”, you need to know your team member’s thumbscrew. You need to know what each and every single one wants. Don’t indulge in what you want them to do and talk to them. If you have done that and the method is failing, the second part is to check yourself whether you are pandering to them. If you are pandering, you need to exercise the whip, otherwise you will be taken advantage of. In your position, if such an approach does not work, you need to use the second type of power which I call “hard power”.

Law 2: Be ready to fire your friend but part on good terms

This is one of the most difficult rules in a student organization. After all, it is only a voluntary organization. Why do you have to be so ruthless and harsh? It really depends on what kind of student organization you want to create. Not every case you can exercise such a law. For example, there are some student organizations which are dedicated to a particular interest area, for example, music, photography, toastmasters, and sports. However, if you want to run a business enterprise or a faculty club level above (I include hall and student union), it is better to work on professional level.

It is hard to fire your friend, because your friendship can be damaged. I prefer to advise in a delicate manner. You have to make that person understand why he or she is fired. Either he or she is part of the problem or part of the solution. You don’t fire people for no rhyme or reason. You only do that when there is a professional reason to do so. You dismiss someone if he or she is guilty of insubordination, incompetence and inability to be part of a team. Believe it or not, that’s how big companies and small startups work. If a person becomes emotive to your good reason, you should leave that person alone for a while and then continue on your life. It might be good sometimes to let them cool down for a while.

Law 3: Plan ahead and meet your milestones and objectives

If you are running a series of events, it is always important to set forward the milestones and objectives before you start the operation running. The problem I see from most of my teams is the planning problem. They treat the entire activity like how most students deal with their studies: last minute work.

Chance favours the prepared mind. You need to be two steps ahead to lead and your team need to be one step ahead so that there are no potential screwups. That sounds very difficult. There is an important rule that can be applied to all situations except fundraising which I learned from my American friends, “Do not seek permission but beg for forgiveness.” There will be times where your team member might need to make an important decision based on all the discretion and circumstances. Even the leaders may have to do that at times. This rule is essential when the stone comes to the wall.

Law 4: There is a time for everything: to complain and to get things done

Peter Drucker, a famous management guru gave an advice to most leaders in the following phrase,“The most common source of mistakes in management decisions is the emphasis on finding the right answer rather than the right question.” There is a time for brainstorming and there is also a time for execution. Planning without execution is lame and execution without planning is dangerous.