Category Archives: Leadership

What do you want to be remembered for?

7 Leadership Lessons from World Cup

FIFA World Cup 2010 has just concluded and if you have been following the games, I am sure you have learned a lesson or two. My favorite team has been Spain since the beginning seeing their performance in the last 2-3 years. Most of my friends laughed at me and just wrote me down. Spain lost their first match and opinions became stronger. Well, I was confident of Spain since the day one and it actually became stronger after they lost their first game.

As I followed the games, I understood that this time it is going to be a different one. As expected, all “favorites” were out in either the league or Super 16’s. One team which has stood out was the Spain and there are definitely lessons to be learned from them. Here are the top 6 Leadership Lessons I learned:

Persistent – Even though they lost their first match, it is their Determination to win what mattered. The only thing which they concentrated was the game. Who ever the opponent is, the game came from the heart.

This is exactly what is needed from a Leader. No matter what the situation is, who the opponent is and what the game is, you need to have the determination to handle the game. Winning and Loosing are two sides of the game and there is nothing like he/she is stronger than me, more educated than me, have more experience than me.. These are all reasons we give ourselves. The fear of loss in us becomes the strength to the opponent and this is what takes the game away. You need to be confident of yourself and play it with your heart and no matter what, success is yours.

Consistent – Consistency comes from the mind. The Determination to always excel is what makes you a winner. Failure is the stepping stone to success, and if you close your mind thinking that the game is over, it is long over. Consistency is a must quality in each of us to make the difference and this does not come in a day, it is a constant practice. Also, when you are being consistent, you do not change the rules of the game, but you change the way you play. Just imagine if Gandhiji stopped his ‘Non-Violence’ strategy because he is not able to move forward? Would we have got Independence? He kept to the rules of the game, but kept on sharpening his playing skills which ultimately achieved what has to be achieved. From the beginning the Spanish kept to their cool side and only concentrated on being the wall to the opponent. They used every opportunity to hit a goal.

n FAILURE = 1 SUCCESS – It does not matter how many times you loose, but it matters if you have won the crucial game or not. In real life, no one wins everyday, but just because of that, if you stop practicing being consistent and determined and kept on changing your strategy, you will NEVER win. Only when you fail many times will you know how to be successful. Do you think it was any different with the Spain matches?

Goal! – You should DEFINE and quantify what you want to achieve and this is the key to success. But, this does not mean you bend the rules to reach your goal. In movies, we see always the Villan bends rules to become the winner, but the Hero always plays the game following the rules, and who wins? Even though movies are fictitious, the fiction comes from real life. The Spanish always got their goals (remember, they hold a record this year for scoring the least number of goals and still winning what matters) when they wanted to. They has to work hard for it, but when you are just determined to get it, you know you would get it.

TEAM WORK – Last but not the least, its all in the Team. Team should stick to their roles and live up to play the best of their capacity all the time. If one starts thinking that I am superior than the other, that’s it, the game is all over. Each one in the Spanish team came from different parts of the country but played together for one club until they achieved what they want. It’s all in the TEAM and there is never an Individual Winner, also will never be.

Play the way, the Game needs to be Played – You are playing a very truthful and committed game, but opponents are not always the same. You do not run away from a mosquito, but you do run when you see a Tiger. Why? In the last two games which mattered, the Spanish played the way the opponent was playing. With Germany, there were no fouls at all, but with the Dutch, the match holds a record for the maximum number of cards. However, one key aspect here one needs to remember, this should not deviate from the way the game needs to be played. You mend your game and not the rules!

Stay Cool – ALWAYS: If you noticed the games played, Coach played an important role and the one thing you notice is that he has always been cool. No game can be played in tension and no game can be won with a disturbed mind.

The most important aspect of Leadership is keeping yourself Cool and Lite, else every decision you take turns out to be a disaster.

Is Recession Real?

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Well, many people asked this question and many people responded with what they thought. I am not a financial expert nor an Economist who can answer this question. But, I have been in the Industry for close to 10 Years now and have friends who have been in the Industry for longer than me and also many of my close friends have their own startup’s. This post comes with my interactions with them and also what I have been seeing in the Industry I work.

During 2001-2003, we saw the Internet bubble burst. There were many people who sacrificed their lives, given up their line of work and moved to the IT field to make their name and fame. There were many organizations born, but eventually, most of them faded away. Let us also not forget, that organizations which had their fundamentals correct, grew up to be giants in their own fields.

So, are we seeing the same phenomenon here today? The only similarity I see from my eyes in the two recessions is that they are man made. We have been hungry for more in a shorter span of time and this has really effected us. If this is human’s thought process, we should never forget that the nature also has its own ways of sustaining itself. This is a natural cycle and if the 2001-2003 recession helped in streamlining the speed at which we travelled in making a new world, this recession is setting expectations for us to ensure we have our fundamentals correct for a better future.

Fortunately, most of my very good friends organizations have not been disastrously hit by this current situation and also quite a few of reputed organizations are also not hit. Organizations which have been disturbed are the one’s which missed out one or two of the key elements of ensuring the life of the organization works the way it should.

What are the fundamentals which I am talking about?

The fundamentals I am speaking apply to both individual and also the organization. The fundamentals which each of us should be aware of. The precautions we take to ensure we have a healthy living (not money, but health). Eat good food, have healthy habits, keep your mind calm and peaceful and ensure that you perform your responsibilities well. The same applies to even organizations. They have life too.

I once received a forwarded email about Recession and it made a lot of sense to me. I just wanted to summarize the story here as an illustration of the concept.

There was a poor man, who made eateries on the roadside. He worked very hard, to ensure he maintained cleanliness around the place he ran his business, he had few chairs for his customers to sit, clean drinking water and his USP was that he always ensured that he was presentable and welcomed his customers with a big smile. He did this for all the last 15 years since he started his small outlet. He was contended with his earning, and ensured that his customers left with a smile.

This businessman had a son and ensured he provided the best of the education to him, with what he could earn. His son went on to study well and acquired a very decent and dignified job for himself. One day, his son stopped over at their eatery and was explaining the current situation to his father. How people are loosing jobs, how banks are going bankrupt and how access to money was getting difficult day-by-day. With this, the poor father began to think. Over the period of time, he reduced his expenses. He was getting the place cleaned once in two days instead of every day. He stopped buying fresh water every time, but instead managed by mixing tap water to the water he bought. With various thoughts and tensions in his mind, his smile went away, he cared less about his presentability.

Over the period of time, his customers stopped coming and his business went gloomy. He told his son that he was absolutely correct and the economy is really very bad. Their business has come down heavily and tomorrow does not look bright.

What is the morale of the story? It is actually not a story, but REALITY. The reality is that we are more worried and hence our productivity is reducing. What would have happened if his son never studied and helped his father? I am sure their business would be the same and their lives would have definitely been the same. At times, too much of thought also hits our overall productivity.

Let us stop worrying about recession and concentrate on our work. Organizations should do what they need to do and individuals need to do what they need to do. I am sure, our tomorrow is more bright.

In my next post, I would share about my experiences with the industry and entrepreneur friends who are definitely working at the same pace and ensuring they get their business 🙂

Innovation Series #3 : Choosing a Mentor

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‘Mentorship’ is one of the key contributors to your persona/professional growth. No matter how educated you are or how many ventures you have started or been part of, Mentorship is very important to realize your dreams. Most successful business people definitely have mentors who must have helped them in one way or the other.

This short write-up on mentor ship is my learning, experience and thought.

Who is a Mentor?

According to Dictionary.com, a ‘mentor’ is a wise and trusted counselor or teacher. Note the word “trusted” because this is very important consideration which cannot afford to miss while choosing your mentor.

How do you choose a Mentor?

There are various articles and many speakers who have defined aspects which you need to consider while choosing your mentor. However, in my opinion, choosing the right mentor is a very tedious task and you will need to spend lot of time evaluating all your short listed people who can be your potential mentors.

Before you begin

Before you begin to evaluate various acquaintances to choose your mentor, you will need to first perform your SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat) analysis. This would provide you with what you have and what you need.

Second, you will need to write down what is that you are looking for in guidance and support to achieve your goal.

Third, you will need to keep identifying people whom you have access to, for approaching for mentor ship.

In my opinion, there are two approaches for finding a mentor; One, you have a person with whom you are working with (colleague / boss) and Two, you have a person whom you look up-to as a master in any subject which interests you.

Getting mentor ship in both the situations is not easy. There are challenges in finding either/both of the above mentioned kind of people around you and most importantly, they should be ready to be your mentor (this plays a major role).

Key Qualities of a Mentor

It is your very personal choice of choosing a mentor, however, there are few key qualities which are common to all mentors and you will benefit if you can identify your priorities and then choose your mentor.

Listener – Mentor ship is all about guidance. You are banking on the person to guide you to be successful in your work. ‘Listening’ is a very important quality which you can notice very predominantly in your mentor. If you have made a list of people whom you can look up to for guidance if that person is not a good listener, then you will need to revisit the name again (this is my very personal guidance). You can definitely compromise on this aspect to ensure you learn tactics in handling your business/project, but there will be many times when you want to question and learn from your mentor and hence, listening becomes a key attribute.

Optimist – Being optimistic is nothing short of greatness. The key attribute of successful people are that they are always optimists and this is contagious.

Teacher – You mentor should be able to teach you what you need. True, you will need to know what you want to learn, but your mentor should help get you the information when you are ready for it.

When you find a mentor

Understand your mentors schedules
Do as much research as possible regarding the person before you choose/begin. You are not obligated; if during your research you understand that your selection is not appropriate, then do not proceed. Do not just choose a mentor, because you have to, choose because you want to learn.
Be specific of what your expectations are. Do not approach the person and say “You are good at People Management. Can you teach me all of it?” This will never work. You will need to very specific of what you want – “I would like to learn from you, how you efficiently manage your resources.” Also, before proceeding explain what you do and how you do. It would give a good insight for your mentor as to what your thought process is and can guide you accordingly.

How do you become a Mentor?

Remember – “you take to give”. Do not be selfish and share your knowledge. As much as you want to be mentored, there might be others who look up to you for guidance. Share your knowledge and learning as much as you can.

The qualities you look for in a mentor are the qualities you need to have too 🙂

How does a Mentor choose you?

It is not that you choosing the mentor is important, the mentor accepting your request is also important. Remember the famous saying – “When the student is ready, the master appears.” This is the truth. You might be successful in finding a mentor, but your mentor accepting your candidature is the underlining factor. You will need to have patience and keep following up with your request. Your mentor should see the determination in you to learn.

Once you started working with a mentor, appreciate their time and knowledge and always be pro-active in accomplishing things. It motivates the person teaching you and also shows your interest and respect for the person.

Keep looking out always; you don’t know where you might find another mentor. Meet with people, talk to them and share your ideas.

The above are just my views and this might not be the way which works always. If you have a story or want to share your personal experience, please comment back and share with us.

The discipline of freedom

think higher, feel deeper…

Category Archives: Leadership

What do you want to be remembered for?

7 Leadership Lessons from World Cup

Is Recession Real?

Innovation Series #3 : Choosing a Mentor

9 C's of Leadership