Grinders, Minders and Finders — the missing “Glue”?
The “Binders” who hold an organisation together as one entity
The “Binders” who hold an organisation together as one entity
My son, after having graduated with a dual degree in Computer Science and Business Administration from a leading American University in California, was picked up from the campus by one of the Four Big Audit-cum-Consultancy Firms in the USA for the job of a Business Technology Analyst. He had a very meaningful first year there and was promoted out of turn. He was, however, working literally 60 hours a week and we, as parents, were naturally concerned that this might not be at the cost of his health and well-being.
He said one day, “Dad, don’t you know in organizations like ours, there are grinders, minders and finders.” When we expressed our ignorance about this terminology, he dilated. Grinders are the junior-level beginners, who are doing the bulk of the drudgery work. They are being managed by or minded by the so-called minders, the middle-level managers. Finally, there are the senior and Partner level personnel who use their personal and professional contacts to find and bring in new lucrative projects, which they often do on the Golf Course.
This set me thinking. It seemed this classification applied not only to the Deloitte’s of the world but also to other organizations, not excluding Government Departments. However, I wondered whether we were missing something crucial here. Wasn’t there another class of the employees, who might not be too visble but who play a very crucial role in the sustainability and growth of the organisation?
These low-profile people act as a kind of glue that holds the different blocks, pieces and verticals of the organisation together — the binders. Let me clarify two things right at the very outset. The “binders” are no really a fourth class of the employees — any grinder, minder or finder could be a binder. Secondly, the binders work and operate, often without an official label or designation, and generally beyond their strict job-description. They may work up and down their own vertical or horizontally across the other verticals.
The “binders” are really the employees and managers or leaders who glue the different building-blocks of the organisation together into one organic whole. In absence of them, every individual, section, division, department or vertical, would to too closely focussed on their own targets and objectives, while the organisational aims fade away or get blurry.
So what kind of qualities does one need to be a successful “binder” who is greatly valued not only by their own boss but also others in the company and, sometimes, even the top management. We have tried to enumerate these qualities below, in no specific order.
Great “People’s Person” and Excellent Communication Skills
They have this quality of getting along with people and far from being abrasive and abrupt, they are able to sense and diffuse potentially tense, if no explosive situations. They possess great communication skills, both verbal and written and are able to select the medium as well as timing to communicate with a person, as per the latter’s preferences: phone or text; home or office; weekend or otherwise, forenoon or the later half of the day.
Appreciating the viewpoint of the other
They excel at appreciating the viewpoint of the other person and exhibit empathy, while talking. They are also patient people and are great listeners. They are able to convey the concerns of the mating team to their home team and vice versa, leading to arriving at mutually-acceptable compromise solutions. Remember, in any organisation or a situation, a negotiated solution or agreement, even though it may not technically be the most ideal one, is better than a logjam. They aim to optimise, rather than maximise. They love to be the architects of win-win solutions.
Great Negotiators and Persuaders
They are good at both negotiation as well as persuasion. In negotiation, there is any element of give-and-take, whereas persuasion is a more difficult skill since there is very little leverage to barter anything that is palpable or economically valuable. It’s more often an appeal to the other person’s sense of justice or selling him the idea that his being on-board at the initial stage may make him a part of a great organisational success in future.
Multi-disciplinary, Inter and Intra-disciplinary skills
They possess reasonable multi-disciplinary, Inter- and Intra-disciplinary skills. It does not mean that they are masters of different and varied disciplines — say technical, creative and financial — but they have a good working knowledge in the same to be able to strike a sensible conversation. They are good at interpreting the “message” of one person/ unit to the home unit, using or eschewing the jargon in accordance with the audience.
Tend not to “specialise”
The binders tend not to remain in a particular vertical, throughout their career. They like to switch from one vertical to the other, gaining more experience in new and diverse area, while bringing in the perspectives of their previous strand. Thus when they speak across groups and teams, within and sometimes even outside their organisation, they are taken far more seriously on account of their diverse experience and exposure.
Use their personal contacts outside the organisation
The binders, essentially the natural propensity to interact with multiple people, build up their own valuable network of personal contacts, both within and outside the organisation. They keep in touch with people who might leave the current company to find a job elsewhere or with their colleagues from their previous employer-companies. They can dip into this rich database to produce quick, low-cost and effective results, when the situation so demands.
Binders are quite like intermediaries, interpreters and interlocutors
They may not always be successful in their mission and often both the sides would rise to blame them. And, when they succeed, they may not always get the credit to the extent they deserve but for them, a job well done and a vexed issue resolved is its own reward. They don’t rest on their past laurels or boast too much about their success stories; they are quick to get onto their next job. Further, since this is not their full-time job, they have to keep their own work up-to-date.
Go Grab it!
No organisation advertises, internally or externally, for the binders but the opportunity pops up for everyone, irrespective of his position in the organisational hierarchy, to exhibit the initiative and leadership qualities to grab the role, instead of saying, “This ain’t my job; am here to mind my own business.” Trust me, it shall be worth it.
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K.B.S. Sidhu. The author is an IAS officer of 1984 batch of Punjab cadre. The views expressed are his own.
He can be reached on kbs.sidhu@gmail.com or @kbssidhu1961 or https://www.facebook.com/kbs.sidhu