Faraday’s law or position and authority has made you leader – HR message

Faraday’s first law of electrolysis, the HR function and every corporate leader who wants to influence and lead their team must read, reflect and remember.

The Faraday’s first law of electrolysis states that “the mass of a substance altered at an electrode during the process of electrolysis is directly proportional to the quantity of electricity transferred at that electrode”.

Exactly like how the quantity of electricity directly influences the extent of alteration in the mass of a substance during electrolysis, the leadership skills, influencing power, convincing approach, quality, character, and conduct etc., of the leaders, are only going to impact and influence the people in the team. If the people in the team are not convinced or are not motivated, it only reflects the leadership quality of the leaders. Leader means the one who can influence others.

If others are not getting influenced means, only the influencing ability of the leaders to be blamed or questioned or doubted. One cannot use one and the same technique to influence everyone. According to the people, their behavioural and psychodynamics, the leaders have to evolve different strategies, only then they could evenly influence everyone in the team.

Unfortunately, the HR function in most corporate consciously neglects the true leadership quality of the leaders. Ones someone is made as a boss, automatically the corporate law wants the rest to follow them like how a flock of sheep follows the shepherd. The boss should not be questioned, contradicted, opposed, must laugh loudly and madly even to the most un-laughable jokes of the bosses etc. Such reclusive and rudimentary HR culture is prevalent predominantly in corporate that are directly administered by the owners.

Most of the modern corporate leaders could influence their people largely through their power and authority and not through the quality of leadership, its content or character. Further, these leaders evoke the least respect for themselves from their people. Ironically such leaders are described by some corporate as the best leaders know how to keep their flocks well. In fact, these leaders are maintaining people in their team only as flocks and the people are never developed as leaders. This aspect none really understands.

Progressively the people in such corporate become ‘sheep’ always looking for a shepherd to tame and lead them. The HR function while checking for ‘sheep’ in the corporate also must check whether the bosses ever lack leadership quality and content.

The Faraday’s first law of electrolysis is not just meant for physicist or chemists, the HR function also can enormously benefit from it.

Dr S Ranganathan