Every member of the team is important

We were pained to hear about a tragedy in a Kolkata hospital where 89 persons died, most of them patients, due to a fire. We were even more shocked when we read a story in the Times of India that many of them could have been alive today only if the guards had responded more quickly and positively. From different stories narrated by relatives of the patients, the guards asked them not to raise an alarm and assured that it was a minor blaze. When one of the relatives pleaded to let him in, they were adamant and refused him even to go near the gate. When people from nearby slums scaled the boundary walls and were trying to get into the hospital, the lights were switched off.

We are not privy to the guards’ side of the story, but the utter callousness is so obvious. We can safely assume that if only the guards had thought & acted differently, the outcome may have been quite different. Under normal circumstances, the guards are supposed to be strict to protect the hospital and its property. However under such rare and abnormal situations as above, they need to think and add differently. In the absence of any senior person, they had to act swiftly and appropriately on their own.

After the initial shock and anguish had subsided, my thoughts turned to the wider significance of this incidence to different walks of our life. Whether at home or work and for people of all ages the main focus is on normal routine transactions. How often do we think of and prepare ourselves (and others) for the unusual, the exceptional. Isn’t the preparedness really critical for such rare incidences where absence of an appropriate response can have a huge cost?

As I was writing these lines, I saw a news flash on TV informing about two nurses working at the hospital who saved lives of half a dozen patients though in the process they sacrificed their own lives. This was in stark contrast to the attitude and actions of the guards. Obviously this depends on individual qualities & values. But there may be one possible lesson for us in this difference. The role for nurses is to care for the patients. Day in and day out they are their thoughts & actions are directed by this. So in case of danger to patients their instinctive action would be in line with caring for the patients. The guards’ case is different. While performing their normal duties, their thoughts & actions are on protecting the hospital and its interests. The patients are not their focus. At times some patients may come across to the guards as trouble-makers and in an adversarial role. This possible difference brings out the need for extra attention while preparing for unexpected eventualities, in cases where the demands in special circumstances are quite different from the behavior under normal circumstances.

What about the role of leaders at all levels; whether it is as parents & grand-parents at home, teachers & principals at schools & colleges or as managers & leaders in business organizations?

There are three possible approaches a leader can take towards those whom he leads.

Generally it is found that both the first and last alternatives have their flaws and can lead to clashes & confrontations; whereas the second alternative takes much greater maturity patience and tolerance but produces better results and greater harmony.

As more news about the hospital tragedy is pouring in, it is becoming apparent that there were problems with many parts of the overall operation. If and when more details are available publicly, it would help to take a systemic view which may provide additional learning from this incidence which we could use in other walks of life.