Kazira

Heck, “they” wrote books titled “Tao of Pooh” and “Tao of Steve” – So then why not a foray into “Tao of a company”. All I mean out of it is the inherent structures and classes within a typical company. You get glimpses of it when you enter the work force but no one tells you about it. It is what we, as human beings; eventually settle into; as a structure, as a character; for a company.

I think a new comer to the global work force must understand the soul of a company before defining a career path for himself/herself. So, what is the soul of the company and its corresponding characteristics of different layers of definitions? Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) – A company can be thought of a living, breathing entity and the people who define it are the people who work for it. It is the collected souls of the individuals and there collective wisdom, weaknesses, and all other human attributes – define a company. And just like the human body, where each part of its physical and psychological constitution define the whole human personality – a company has the same distinguishing attributes that makes it whole.

So lets begin understanding how a companies are laid out these days – how they aught to be laid out and how you can maximize your contribution and your potential while making a mark. Based on your education and capability, the levels described below will be applicable for all parts (departments) of the company – Sales, marketing, purchasing, human resources, design, production, finance, travel, business –development etc. I must make another point that when you join a smaller company, these responsibilities described below will be more apparent and utilized – the bigger corporation loose sight of these and the folks stay locked into one level without much exposure.

GROUND ZERO – Level 1 – YOU ARRIVE AND YOU ARE HERE – Junior Level – At the bottom of this enterprise. A new comer, ready to make your mark in this world. This is where all the grunt work gets done. You want to work and you will be assigned a lot of it. Initially not a whole lot will be expected of you but sooner or later you will be expected to produce. All the knowledge that you have gathered from your teachers and professors from your school are now ready to be used. There is a big disconnect here – what you do and how you do it in the school will not be applicable here. Depending on the company that your join – there will be a lot of learning expected from you – to come up to speed on how the business gets done there – open yourself to learning and embrace all its culture and idiosyncrasies. It is good to realize the importance of ‘practical training’ during your education – because the intent of it is to get you a head-start in learning exactly this ….

Level 2 – Senior Member – This is the second layer that sits on top of the junior folks – Theoretically, their task is to perform detailed work that may require experience to support clients. Some responsibility of this layer includes mentoring of the junior folks and also provide guidance to them – at the same time – use the folks at level 1 and utilize them to the best of their ability. Now to get to this level from level takes time and dedication – and that’s it. Senior associates, senior members, senior engineers are some of the designations that you see at this level.

Level 3 – Senior Management – These is the layer of the company that can be very aptly called “Middle Management” and most of the ambitions find their resting place at this level. Most folks showing up at this level are either long-term company veterans, acquaintances of the levels above or hot shot MBA’s. Product lead, senor financial analyst, Chief Engineer, program managers, Brach chief etc. are the designations that you may see at this level.

Level 4 – Vice Presidents – vice-Chief Executives and other CXX’s. These are the guys and gals that ensure the fact that the policies set by the President and the CEO are properly executed. They are CEO’s most trusted bunch and offer suggestions and recommendations on policies. They are also the ones that run the company while the CEO battles the political crisis or takes the credit for all the success. Chief Financial Officers, Chief Operating Officers, Chief Information Officer etc. are the designations at this level.

Level 5 – The big cheese – The President – and usually the Chief Executive Officer. All the VPs and other COO’s report to this person. Usually the company founders or the choice of the board of directors decides the appointee. Based on the size of the company, these are the ones that see most of the lime light, get to meet the decision makers from other companies and also do the company public relations to the investors (banks and corporate investors). The CEO pretty much sets the tone and the culture for the company. His or her policies are the ones that gets implemented in due course and set the long term vision for any given company. The skill sets required for this job are very succinctly summarized by Lee Iacocca in his latest book on leadership – Please refer to my February book review to see the 9 C’s of leadership that he mentions in this book.

Level 6- The Board of Directors – The board of directors are usually formed by choosing the appropriate . The appointment comes from the investors or the fellow board members themselves. The Board of directors are the final authority on approving the CEO plans and the tone for the company. Depending on the company, the board of directors are the usually the luminaries such as the ex-government officials etc.

Now that you know the layout of a typical company – you, when starting at the bottom, need to know the traits required for each level – Know who you are (Refer to Uday's previous blog on “Knowing Thyself”) and finding the right place where you’ll be most productive at the same time would meet your career ambitions.