Inspiring thoughts on Leadership

Three factors, integral to good leadership in corporate life is C - I - D:

• Creativity
• Integrity
• Descipline

Acc to Robin Sharma, best practices that drive sustained personal development and changes in performance levels:

• Daily affirmations
• Visualization
• Reviewing our goals and key performance indicators each morning during our Holy Hour to drive focus and enlisting the support of other people who are devoted to similar goals.

Trust Vote in Indian Parliament

As I got ready to leave for office, BBC was reporting from Delhi/India on the 'political tamasha' unfolding on the political arena.
It carried most of the negativities of Indian democracy and ended with a puppet show based on 'Singh is King' features PM, Sonia Gandhi, et al. We are proud of Indian democracy, but not the political leadership.

Finally, the Govt has pulled it off. The goal achieved, but the method adopted ?!?! While there were some inspiring speeches in parliament, some of it was not allowed by opposition. Flashing money in the parliament and all the tamasha thereafter, make us dumb with shame. Our freedom fighters will be turning in grave !

Dr Singh has come out of it stronger. I am happy for him. He was instrumental in taking the most important steps towards liberalisation. This would be another big contribution from him. An educated, soft-spoken economist, deserves more respect from the members of parliament in opposition and others. Today, truly 'Singh is King'

Nelson Mandela

Some inspiring lessons from this great leader :

1. Courage is not the absence of fear - it's inspiring others to move beyond it
2. Lead from the front but don't leave your base behind
3. Lead from the back and let others believe they are in front
4. Know your enemy and learn about his favorite sport
5. Keep your friends close - and your rivals even closer
6. Appearances matter - and remember to smile
7. Nothing is black or white
8. Quitting is leading too

SOurce : Robins Blog ( based on article in TIME)

Enthusiasm

1. Master says, live in 'present'... it is gift hence called 'present'


2. Sri Sri says, 'mast raho'


3. Enthusiasm comes from 'enthuse.' Enthuse means what? Theos. It comes from entheos – put God into your heart. So we say Constant Remembrance – think of the Master and do it. You have God in your heart and you are doing it; you are enthusiastic. Work must be done without knowing it is work. My Master used to say, "Work as if you are playing and play as if you are working." Shri. P. Rajagopalachari, President, Shri Ram Chandra Mission - http://www.srcm.org/

Quote

"Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth, "You owe me." Look
what happens with a love like that, It lights the whole sky." - Hafiz, Sufi poet

Left-handed, a better LEADER?

One in 10 people in the general population is left handed - but lot of children in earlier generations would have been forced to switch hands :)

• both Barack Obama & John Mc Cain are southpaws
• in 1992, all 3 contenders : Gerofe HW Bush, Bill Clinton & Ross Perot
• also few earlier : Harry Tryman, Gerald Ford, Reagan, Bush Sr, Clinton ...!

Pablo Picasso and Benjamn Franklin were lefties too.They also exhibit better communication skills. Are lefties better-equipped to handle the challenges of Leadership ? They seem to be...

Check out : Sam Wang & Sandra Aamodt's book in "Welcome to your brain : why you lose your car keys but never forget how to drive and other puzzles of everyday life"

KIM:A fitting champion for Woods' event

Tiger woods dominates the Golf-arena, God-like. His story would inspire people for generations, like many other great sportsmen, who have not only hit the pinnacle, but also remained a fine example of Character.

Tiger Woods is personally responsible for the success of this new player, Kim, who is considered to be the next Tiger !

In an earlier match, he was ('fashionably'!) late ... but found Tiger already there and was 'calm, cool, imperial and adult', like a true professional. And that was enough to 'wake up' Kim and swear ' he would change'.... Rest is history.... or history in the making !

It is just that one proverbial step that keeps us away from jumping from Good to Great !

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/06/AR2008070602177.html

Arushi Case

I was deeply hurt to hear the tragic death of this teenager . Did this world become less safe for our children ?? The allegation and subsequent arrest of her father was one of the shocking parts of the case.

The media went a bit overboard in terms of coverage of this case. While it is one thing to keep the case alive and keep the conscience of the nation, it is another thing to cross the lakshman-rekha.

Now, thanks to CBI, the case seem to be in the last phase of resolution. But, I am glad to hear the father is absolved of the allegation.

"Today, be a little bolder. Reach a little higher. Be a little kinder. Be a bigger dreamer."
- Robin Sharma

Business Leader

Kevin Roberts, global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi : excerpts from his interview....

• Key to a successful campaign : All you need is love - Indeed…That is the case with anything...esp to reach a level of excellence
• He accepts he is not a team player and would always like to lead a team - This is more than ‘autocratic’ style of leadership :)
• His personal, and his company’s success depends on the next big idea & he is always focusing on it...
• His main job is to inspire his 7000 plus employees - That should be the case with every leader, in every field of activity... INSPIRE !
• In 2006, he developed the Lovemarks marketing technique - based on the idea that the strongest brands are the ones that establish an emotional connection with the consumers.
• Today, he says, is the "age of the idea"
• While dealing with Toyota, a senior there said ‘Kevin, you will never know more about cars than Toyota,but we will never know more about the people that buy them than Saatchi & Saatchi." "So to me the consumer is boss."

Role of business is to make the world a better place.....INSPIRING STUFF

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/518547-the-power-of-love

Journey

Journey through life in courage, joy, peace, charity and all humility - Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Follow your DREAMS

"If you can dream it, you can do it"- Walt Disney

• Destist to Singer: a professional dentist, Andrew Bain, 35, will swap his drill for a microphone. This opera loving dentish has signed a four-album recording contract with Sony BMG, worth 1 mn Euro. After years of juggling two carriers, he will take up singing full-time. He says, "it is a dream come true". He says, he will miss patients, but not the drill :) Another example of POWER OF A DREAM
• But Australian treasury chief, Ken Henry, is yet to chuck his job for a full time role of animal lover. He has taken five weeks leave to nurse endangered wombats ! While the press has criticised this ( what else can we expect!), he has responded, ' this place does not stop when I am not there " ! Cool

India's Nuclear Deal

Communists have termed it as anti-Muslim and warned SP it would affect their vote bank. That is crude politics...

Communists are allegedly clouded by their inherent anti-US stand ( read it as pro-Russian/Pro-Chinese )

Congress failed to build up a favourable public opinion. They should have visualised anti-US stand by some of their key allies and opponents. They should have been ready to handle it, if they also were serious about it.

The so called 'Leaders' among the polilticians have just failed to understand the long term utility and advantage of a nuclear deal and rise above petty politics... as usual


Democracy is one of our strengths. But, we continue to be victim of irresponsible political leadership. Afterall, they are our leaders and we chose them. We get ( political leadership) that we deserve !

Parental Responsibility

Indian Minister, Mrs Renuka Choudhary, wants stricter measures to control drunken driving by youngsters. She has suggested impounding the licence of not only the guilty, but also parents of the youngster. She feels the parents are as responsible for it, as the youngster himself/herself is.

Can I have your opinion ? Pls use poll option... thanks :)

Journey thru The Mahavakya on Leadership

28 Aug 08

More thoughts on Leadership...Source, one of those mails forwarded by a friend:

CHARACTER VS REPUTATION - we get confused between these two. While we end up chasing reputation, we should be focussing on character. The difference, being

• Reputation is what people think we are, and Character is what we really we are
• We end up managing perception and reputation, esp in organisations of all sorts.
• Character is revealed by actions, not words
• Our character is revealed by how we deal with pressures and temptations. But it's also disclosed by everyday actions, including what we say and do when we think no one is looking and we won't get caught.

Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing." - Abraham Lincoln

it is WHO WE REALLY ARE

13 Aug 08

Hard Rock Cafe : The world's leading collector of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia, it operates under the logo ‘Love All Serve All’, and is owned by a 500-year-old Native American tribe. http://www.kippreport.com/kipp/hard-rock-cafe/


19 June 08
Leadership has always been a subject of interest for me, for a very long time... long time before the management school gave me a structured peep into this. The exposure at my alma mater gave me a new direction, forward.

An opportunity to present the subject for a select audience of family friends was a good experience. This made me go through the book selected for the presentation, take out my own paper clippings on leadership ( and dust them clearn:) ) and most importantly, think on this fav subject...

The presentation is over. But the thought process continues. I feel among other things, this 'hobby' helps to divert too! But three personal take aways:

1. Bring back focus on physical fitness - only a soldier ( author) can talk about it convincingly, as he stresses in the book. Dad, also a soldier, was always an inspiration.
2. Habit of writing diary - If Benjamin Franklin could mould his character through this, why not ?! But I find it an opportunity to 'interospect', write down the frustrations and dissapoints of the day and try to move on ! Happiness when shared, it doubles. But, I would rather 'share' negativities with my own diary and thus try to halve it !
3. Learning - Author says the purpose of improving knowledge in the work related area is to develop sixth sense/intuition. Brilliant, I feel. So, more focus on improving knowledge on the work related matters.

The journey just got more interesting !

Amitabh goes back to school

Amitabh was in news for his new passion of blogging.
Now he is in news for his visit to his alma mater. I am sure that would inspire some of his fans to reconnect... they may visit their own alma mater, get in touch with old friends... ( I did that personally after seeing the movie, dil chahta nahin :) !!)
Of course, RGV's Sarkar Raj hits theaters tomorrow.

For once, the superstar is in news for right reasons... Let us re-connect & give something back to our favourite schools and colleges ! Happy re-connect-ing !

IPL

As the semifinal line-up is drawn, some thoughts :

• It has been going on for too long.... though the matches got tighter ! As the count of the match is flashed, even my son raised an exclamatory remark at the quantum of the count!
• Vijay Mallya is an icon in his area. But, he proved to be a poor sponsor by washing dirty liner in public. That too Rahul Dravid, one of the most loved sportsperson of our country, for not only his contri in field of cricket, but the overall elegance and character he brings into the game, on the field and off the field. Character is most important, afterall, in every field.
• Sharukh came out supporting Rahul. But, he was unable to bear the string of losses. He made an issue about his permission to be with the team at the pit, but what inviscible ! ( as he would talk about Aamir Khan's absence from film-award functions). Shahrukh had made an earlier statement 'he loves to be a winner 'of sorts, but seemed dissappointed with his team's inability to get into the last four
• I am a fan of dada too. I always admired his leadership skills. He salvaged some cricketing-pride in the last game, by leading from the front.
• Sachin indeed is my favourite cricketer. Sad, he could not play in the earlier matches and managed to lose some closest matches. I have great admiration for his cricketing genius, and also the character... the way he carries himself around. But felt, he was not a sharp leader ! Afterall, God would not give everything to one person :)
• Some crowds were vociferous in the support of their hometeams. Yuvraj was most vocal about same at Mumbai. The best advise came from his own coach on NDTV to react with the bat and ball, by raising the bar ( and not by cribbing about it !) Indeed...

Let the best team WIN !

Bollywood hooked on to Blog

Shobha De's take on 'the art of blogging' :

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Columnists/Shobhaa_De_Mere_paas_blog_hai/articleshow/3069489.cms

The world of blog is one of the wonderful things to happen recently. Shobha De has given her usual touch to this article, to be read as any other comment on Bollywood ( defintely not about the art of blogging !)

Interesting fact is Amitabh Bhachans & Aamir Khans of the world may give just the impetus needed to make this'art' more popular in India

My IPOD

Steve Jobs has been a great inspiration. Pepsi to Apple by John Skully was one of the popular books among management students of our times :) But perhaps the genius of Steve Jobs was IPod. The fact he continues to innovate on the great product is proof od his greatness.

IPod remained in the list of my must-buy for a long time. But, affordability was the issue ! Meanwhile Apple continued to innovate and go beyond ( I Phone, etc)

Affordability is very relative! When it became 'affordable' ( on relative terms of course!), I kept delaying the inevitable! I continued to track the developments as a student of innovation/marketing/etc.
Robin Blog made an inspiring question - "what is your IPOD?"

I delayed the purchase further...partly the cost/value for money...
Main reason was different now: wanted to peg it to some great personal achievement ! Parameters thereof very personal..JUST TO CHALLENGE MYSELF

indian cricket downhill

Times of India asks, is indian cricket going downhill...?
You bet...
of course, it is going downhill... IPL as a whole is the embodiment of this 'journey' downhill! Too much of anything is bad, even if it is Divine Nectar, Amrut, it is said ! We seem to be picking up the bad aspects of Aussie cricket and losing our own individuality & culture.