The Identities We Own

#LivingStories
Business leaders often get carried away by the power their designations command. Nitin Nohria, Dean of the Harvard Business School understands well that position is not personality.  He is clear that the way people approach him today as the Dean of HBS may be different from the way they approach him as just the individual.

#MyLearning
Inside of us we carry several identities: inner and outer identity, professional (leader,follower), and personal (father, son, friend, subordinate) identity, and so on.

Be aware that the overlap of one identity by another, can be good or bad, or it can be something in between.

Picture: yzoedesigns

Overcoming the guilt of 'Why'

#LivingStories
At a recent art auction, artist Souza’s painting sold for $4m. Before fame and fortune came calling, he lived in poverty. In a letter to his second wife on her birthday,  he wrote,”I wish thank you for raising my daughters… for a decade or you have me great joy Lisolette. What did I give you? I gave you children and a load of misery with my alcoholism. I simply can't fathom why?

#MyLearning
Before undertaking an action, to lessen the guilt of the ‘Why's’, follow the rule of the Indian roads. Look left, look right, look above, look below, look back and then look front again.

Then let your karma do whatever it intends to do!

Doing and Being

LivingStories
American businessman Mark Cuban believes the worst advice he has received is, “Follow your passion.“ He says everyone has multiple passions, “but those don't lead to career success.” What does, he claims, is finding something hard to work at. By following your effort instead of your passion, you can develop skill and learn to appreciate it.

#MyLearning
Doership has shades of nishkama karma, effort without expectation. But behind every effort is an emotion; anger (vengeance), fear (of loss) or passion (happiness). I'd rather let passion the healthiest of them all, drive my efforts.

Humour - A Great Leadership Skill

#Livingstories
At a function of the industry body ASSOCHAM, CEO Rana Kapoor asked celebrity guest actor Shahrukh Khan how he would counter the Chinese film industry and take Bollywood to new heights. In a witty rejoinder to the challenging question, Khan, speaking gibberish with a Chinese twang said, “I have responded to the challenge to the Chinese. You will not understand it, but they will get what I said.“

#MyLearning
A sense of humour is a great skill for leaders to have. It can help to fend off awkward questions and also help defuse  tense situations in a non-threatening manner.

Living With LSD

LivingStories
In 1997, a student Mahan Mitra was awarded a PhD in topology by the University of California,  Berkeley. The very next year, he renounced the world and joined the Ramakrishna Mission & became known as Mahan Maharaj.  This year,  he was awarded the Infosys Prize for 2015 in Mathematical Science. His reaction was , “I have little to do with awards. It is the recognition of the work which I value. “

MyLearning
Live with the right proportion of LSD in your life. Balance between:
Laxmi: wealth & prosperity,
Saraswati: knowledge seeking and
Durga: spiritual fulfilment & peace.