Saturday 30 December 2017

Focus on one change at a time


One of the lingering question most of us have in mind is “how to manage my time or how to improve my personal productivity?

To find the solution, we may get into googling for finding tips on time management techniques and even in getting into Apps downloading. Even though those help in initial stages, but managing those itself become time-consuming! The real change starts from WITHIN.

From your lifestyle, just figure out which one thing is the biggest time killer or obstacles to your productivity or find out what is one thing would save your time if it were removed from your daily practices. It could be Facebook, WhatsApp, desk management, repeated browsing of mail check etc.

Find it and work only on this improvement idea consistently rather than taking too much at a time and not completing anything at the end.

Start with one change and work on it. Your productivity will improve! Time management is not about managing time, it is managing our mind and priorities!


Monday 11 December 2017

How to become a best boss ever ?


Irrespective of any profession, each one will always admire someone as his best boss or inspiring mentor in his/ her life.As you recollect all the people under whom you have worked, finally, you conclude one or two people as your best bosses or inspiring role model.

What could be the significant factors to admire someone as best boss or role model?

You may list down a lot of attributes of role model or inspiring boss like charisma, functional competency, managerial competency and so on.However, research shows that among so many attributes, only a  few attributes  contribute to conclude someone as inspiring boss or role model 

Those attributes could be the person who had given you a lot of opportunities to learn more or the person who brought out your hidden potential or who made you believe or make you do something extraordinary which you ever thought as impossible.

Since now you are managing a team of people under you, answer yourself for how many people you are the best boss by demonstrating those attributes.

It is a moral responsibility of every manager and leaders to bring out the potential of others!!

Future is not same as past


Both personal and professional life, we tend to look at the past, its experience and based on it, try to drive the current and future strategies. In this process, we tend to believe and give overweight on the experience and success or failure factors.
If the past is quite successful, we tend to give overweight on the experience and rely on the same strategy and tactics to drive the business 
If the past is quite a failure, we tend to give overweight on the experience and give up trying new ideas.

However, future is not same as past as most of the parameters are changed like assumptions, environment, people, timing and of course you also evolved. What worked out past earlier may not be necessarily relevant now.

For example, what strategies you used to build an organization of size 10  crores may not be workable for building an organization of size 20 crores.Mainly the business environment, customers, people are changed.
Likewise, what worked out for you at a managerial position may not workable when you are at a senior leadership level.

Similarly, what not worked out earlier, may work now for the same reason.

The point is that experience or legacy alone will not drive your future.Too much dependence on the past or legacy may not work forever.You need to continually drive new initiatives or effort to be successful in personal and professional life as everything is changing!















Thursday 7 December 2017

Who packs your parachute?



Charles Plumb was a USA navy jet pilot. On his seventy-sixth combat missions, he was shot down and parachuted into enemy territory. He was captured, spent six years in prison and he survived.Now he became a motivational speaker on managing adversity in life.

In most of his seminars, he used to ask his audience “who packs your parachute?  Meaning that who helps you through your life?

His realization was that the person who packed his parachutes held his lives from falling from the jet and he remembered that unknown person with gratitude.His message is in everyone‘s life, some unknown people are helping selflessly either physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. Are we recognizing those unknown people and expressing our gratitude? 

This is a powerful metaphor for us to acknowledge the people who come across in our lives and help us in a different way.

If they are known people like your parents, teachers, siblings, spouse, children, colleagues, business partners, clients, then be grateful to them for your actions! 

If they are unknown, at least recognize and express your feeling of gratitude. That feeling, vibration makes a difference to you and to the unknown.

Friday 17 November 2017

Let us understand and challenge



There was a spiritual teacher who used to conduct a Satsang (group meeting) every evening with his disciples in his ashram.In the same premises, there was a cat who lived and made noises during Satsang times and the teacher ordered the team that during Satsang times cat can be tied up. This “tying up the cat “event became a practice in the ashram.

Some years later, the teacher died, but new teacher came, but cat continued to be tied up.Eventually, the cat also died, but the team brought another cat and tied.

The year later learned followers of the spiritual teacher wrote scholarly essays, the thesis about the religious significance of tying up a cat for Satsang and its effectiveness!!

We can relate this story in our personal and professional life as we continue to do something either without understanding the science behind it or never question the status quo as if everything is fixed as customary practices!

Relook at your habits, business practices as it may uncover some of the Satsang tied up cats!! 



Wednesday 8 November 2017

When your inherent strength turns out weakness?


Inherently, each one of us gifted with positive qualities or strength to manage the personal or professional challenges.For example, the strength could be honesty, focusing on result, straightforwardness, decisiveness, confidence, etc .Those strengths will be boon for you during normal circumstances only. During a stressful time, when you use the same strength in overdose, it would become negative. During those time your inherent strength + some more positive strength to be used with consciousness.

Let me explain further 

For example, you may have strength “Confidence of getting things done from your colleagues.” During crisis time or when things are not going well as you expect, your tendency will be using your inherent strength. Further, you apply the “ confidence ”in overdose, it turns out as“arrogance," and the situation would become worst.

Highly effective people are aware of this paradox, and they always use further good qualities during crisis time and make the situation better. As in above example, along with confidence they use additional qualities such as being reflective + humility, then the result would be better.

To put it simply, during illness, when 100  mg antibiotics are not effective, we tend to go for 250 mg, ended up with more complication since the actual system needs  100 mg antibiotics + some other vitamin to overcome the illness, not just overdosage of same antibiotics.

The point is just to be aware of your inherent strength and use it appropriately. When you overuse the same strength during setbacks, it turnout weakness. Alternatively, in conjunction n with your inherent strength, apply other positive qualities as well.




Monday 6 November 2017

Being busy is not being effective

       
Most of us have the tendency of “being busy always” either in professional or managing a business. Being busy in chasing money, success after success or even managing the challenges with the same approach.In this process, over a period of time, either we become addicted to the same methodology without evaluating its effectiveness or become so rigid in thinking process leads to ignoring other aspects of the relationship, quality of execution, next level growth, etc.

       Most of the highly effective people have one common pattern in their daily management process. That is they take a timeout from their regular work for reflection.Frequently, they use to take time for themselves and evaluate what is going on in their life, what is important, what needs to be changed, etc. This will give them clarity on the behavior to be dropped or adopted, the strategy to be modified or tuned, etc. for improving the quality of life and even manage the challenges in a different approach.

       Take time out frequently from being busy and get clarity on what is right and good for you and your surroundings. Finally what counts is your impact and quality of life!!

Wednesday 1 November 2017

Why consistency is important in workplace ?


In most of the organizations, we can hear one common phrase “we have implemented it, but not continued and this will not work here”
Why do people come to conclusion as “no initiative will work in their workplace?". The reason is lack of consistency in implementation. 

In today’s internet world, there is not much ignorance of knowledge and know-how; it is only lack of consistency in implementation.

How this inconsistency will affect individual & Team?

When you implement some initiatives, not consistently follow it and eventually drop it, you are giving a subconscious message to yourself and team that you are not sensitive to results or incapable of execution. This inconsistency will impact the confidence of the leader at an individual level and encourage mediocre performance at the team level. The next time when you think of new initiative, old memory reinforces you about failure or low confidence pulls you down from taking action. The root cause for all consequence is inconsistency in implementation.

 So, in personal and professional level, if you take any initiative, be sure that you are consistent in your implementation even though you are relatively slow in taking a decision. Ultimately your consistent actions push up your confidence and your consistent actions inspire others to follow. This is one of the traits of leadership, i.e. consistency in thinking; talking and doing.You are meant to be a leader for others!!!!

Friday 20 October 2017

Who is with you , past or future reminder?


We are always surrounded by two types of people and they influence the progress in personal and professional life. They are either past oriented or future oriented.

They display certain characterizes with us during any interactions 

Past-oriented:

They are more oriented towards past.Whenever  we  propose or suggest something, they immediately respond as follows 

"I had already tried this.it won’t work or I had done those days itself, nothing new".

Either way, like legacy or past wound memories, affect our progress on the proposal.

Future-oriented:

They are more oriented towards future, possibilities, and opportunities and always look for new. They are too optimistic or positive about new possibilities, but they may be encouraging you to progress.

In one of the interview, Google CEO Mr.Sundar Pitchai was asked about his selection as CEO and the reason for it. He replied with guessing that one of the reasons could be his practice of thinking and be interacting with his management team about the future possibilities of Google products and services. That may be one of the reasons he was chosen for this role.

The point is that legacy or past worries may not help today as the environment is keeping on change. The world is looking for futurist and who can think of new possibilities and opportunities.

Just be aware of your style of the thinking process and whom you are surrounded most of the time, past or future reminders?

Peace in the midst of the challenges



There was a king offered a prize to the artists who would paint the best picture to represent “PEACE”. Many artists tried and only two artists came for the final round.The king looked at both artists’ picture.

One picture was of a calm lake surrounded by peaceful mountains with green trees. Overhead there was a blue sky with white clouds.The picture looked cool and everyone felt this picture would win the prize.

The other picture also had mountains, but with rough surface and plain. The overhead was the sky with dark clouds, from which rain fell and lightning was also shown. This did not represent peaceful at all. But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall, a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush, a  bird had built the nest.The bird was sitting in perfect peace in midst of the lightning and raining.

The king chose the second picture and surprised all. He explained that peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise and trouble. Real peace means to be in the midst of all those troubles and still be calm in the heart. 

Moral of the story is that how we maintain our coolness and peace at heart amidst all the troubles and challenges in life.Some times we are disturbed due to external factors.Real maturity is being calm despite external challenges and this is what we need to learn.