Charismatic Leadership

The Vijay Mallya debt saga has become the subject of case study at B-schools. The IIM-B study is focused on corporate governance. It discusses the need of organisations to balance the interests of 5 stakeholders - customers, owners, employees, suppliers & society - for consistent high performance. Learning lies in how excessive focus on ‘pampering’ customers, or the obsession in companies to meet the interest of ’owners’ can lead to disaster.

Insight
Charismatic leadership is a double-edged sword. It brings results, but proves disastrous when the leader starts feeling s/he knows best.

Keeping Resolutions

#LivingStories
”I never keep my New Year's resolutions, so this year I resolve to gain weight, make less money, & hate my life”. - A cartoon by Glasbergen

#MyLearning
New Year resolutions are notoriously difficult to keep. The Vedas offer a 3 level hierarchy to test the intensity of our intentions.
L1: Abhilasha: A wish with little energy, with little impetus to move one forward
L2: Svatmi karana: Wish becomes important enough to influence thoughts and actions
L3: Iccha bhavana: Our desire, will, action, speech & thoughts, all become laser-focused on achieving the goal.

For L 3 focus, get a coach.

Right Focus

Hindi film lyricist Varun Grover says Hindi poets had a purist angst that a poem should not be part of a film. But now, threatened by English and Hinglish, they are changing tracks. But Urdu poets didn't mind such things, so even today, romantic songs use Urdu words.

#MyLearning
Focusing on performance over process, volume over value and quantity over quality etc, have their place, but know when to widen focus, or change focus so as not to be left behind in the race.

4 Ways Leisure Pursuits Can Provide a ROI

 “I’ve realized that somebody who is tired and needs rest, and goes on working all the same”, is a fool” - Carl Jung.

We live in a highly competitive world where employees have high material and professional aspirations. Many work at jobs that demand global business interactions, which keep them up at unearthly hours. To them any leisure activity may only seem at best like a dream, or worst, an unproductive use of time. Not just that, but any mention or suggestion to spend time on them, is likely to elicit a response such as the one below

Carl Jung's words notwithstanding.

But what if they knew that leisure activities could teach them valuable skills which could be assets to them in other their work, as well as other dimensions of their lives? What if they realized that the returns on them could be disproportionate to the amount of time invested?  Would it then make it a worthwhile investment for them?

Well, 'show me the ROIers', (and also others) read on and decide for yourself: 
1. ROI: Leadership and Negotiations Skills
Activity: Essaji Vahanavati, son of former Attorney General of India is a young partner at a reputed law firm. He is passionate about wildlife photography. Benefits: His leisure activity has ingrained in him the virtues of patience; given him an eye for detail; and taught him to stay cool in critical situations. During transactions, he can patiently wait for others to put their point on the table and at the same time quickly grasp the matter and come out with solutions. This has earned him the respect of senior partners at the law firm.

2. ROI: Importance of Making the Journey the Destination

Activity: World Bank economist Kaushik Basu spent his leisure time working on a longer method to prove what Pythagoras proved 2600 years ago. In a right angle triangle, the sum of the square of two sides equals the square of the hypotenuse.  
Benefits: To justify the new and longer proof,  he invokes the Greek poem Ithaca, which describes the long journey to Odysseus' home island. The island,  the poet Cavafy says, is disappointing, but Ithaca's charm is in the journey itself.

3. ROI: Patience
Activity: Stock market man Ramesh Damani has a thing for dough which made him seek out baking and attend a week's bakery course in Paris. 
Benefit: Asked for the similarity between brokers and bakers, Damani's reply is, "Both like the feel of dough....and both (investment and baking) need a lot of patience."

4. ROI: Inspiration

Activity: For geniuses, a routine was more than a luxury - it was essential for their work. Charles Dickens took three hour walks every afternoon, while Beethoven took lengthy strolls after lunch.

Benefits: For Charles Dickens what he observed on his walks, fed directly into his writing, while Beethoven carried a paper and pencil with him in case inspiration struck. 

Call to Action
Leisure activities can be both both satisfying and capable of building and honing useful skills and virtues. Discovering the parts between your profession and your hobbies which are similar, or support the other can help you get satisfying returns.

The Path of Four-Way Wins

Stewart Friedman, founding director of Wharton's Leadership Program and the Work/Life Integration Project,  recommends pursuing the path of four-way wins. The path comprises practical steps to making things demonstrably better in four domains of of our life,  at work,  at home, in our community and our private life. To begin, do a quick  review to explore: what's important to you,  where you focus your attention and how things are going in each of the four domains. Use some of the the thoughts and experiences of the people given below, help to generate ideas for experiments to better align what matters to you to what you actually do. Design experiments in which you are deliberately aiming to improve your performance and results in each of the four domains.

    1.   Expand your Knowledge

Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert cartoons, believes, every adult must have working knowledge of; Public speaking, Psychology, Business writing, Accountancy, Design (the basics), Conversation, Overcoming shyness, Second language, Proper grammar, Persuasion, Technology (hobby level) and Proper voice technique.

       2.   Declutter you Mind

"To compose, I need to be happy and to have free mind space, " says A.R. Rahman the Oscar winning music composer, and Leander Paes, winner of the US Open Mixed Doubles title along with Martina Hingis says, "if I can keep Martina happy,  if I can keep her relaxed,  the tennis I don't even have to worry about. "

Focusing our motivation results in our single-minded immersion and harnessing of our emotions into performing and learning. The emotions are not just contained and channeled, but positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand.

     3.     Dance with your Emotions
"A relationship is like a dance,  says Indian classical dancer Anita Ratnam, "sometimes you are close, sometimes you pull away;  there is passion, anger and forgiveness;  and much like a dance,  the relationship will end one day." 

Every relationship has its share of a range of emotions - most, if not all are impermanent, changing with time, context and our personal and mental growth. Let us make the best of our relationships in our time in the world.

     4.    Accept the Past

"Not surprisingly,  I find myself thinking about that slippery substance - the past - and the infinite variety of human attempts to make peace with it.  The impulse to freeze it into tradition,  to tame into verity,  these are common options.  But just as readily available is that other inconvenient choice,  so seldom exercised - the choice to wonder at it,  too accept it's essential non- graspability." Arundhati Subramaniam in book review of Keki N Daruwala's book Fire Altar in HT

      5.   Accept your Ignorance

"Belief means something that you do not know. You want to assume and bring a certainty to something that you do not know. says Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.  "That means you are concretising your ignorance.  There is no need to know everything.  What I know, I know. What I do not know I do not know."

       6.    Establish a Routine

For geniuses, a routine was more than a luxury - it was essential for their work…Charles Dickens took three hours walks every afternoon - and what he observed on them fed directly into his writing. Tchaikovsky made do with two hour walks, but wouldn’t return a moment early, convinced that cheating himself of the full 120 minutes would make him ill. Beethoven took lengthy strolls after lunch, carrying a paper and pencil with him in case inspiration struck. Ernest Hemingway tracked his daily word output on a chart “so as not to kid myself”. Arthur Miller said, “I don't believe in draining the reservoir you see? I believe in getting up from the typewriter, away from it,  while I have still things to say.” 

        7.    Measure What You Can Control

Film director Ashutosh Gowarikar's advice to  actor Abhishek Bacchan - do not measure your success by how your film fares at the box office - because that is not within your control.  Measure your success by how you fared with the goals you set yourself for the film. Their success is within your control.

         8.     Be Resilient
"The hardest time to Captain the team is when your are not scoring runs and that's when your character and of leader you are outweighs your own form. The team needs the Captain to be a strong person who enjoys other people's success and sees the bigger picture. " Brendon McCullum, New Zealand skipper.

         9.      Create Lasting Emotional Bonds 

"In every situation, says Deepak Chopra, make it a habit to ask the key questions of emotional intelligence: How do I feel? How do they feel? What are the hidden stumbling blocks? A leader who can answer these questions will be in a position to create lasting emotional bonds.” 

Call to Action

The result of undertaking the practice of the four-way win is a greater sense of control and freedom living in ways that are consistent with what you're passionate about, what you really care about. When people take even a small step that's under their control, that's intentional and that's in a direction that they choose, they feel better about their lives and about the people they're affecting with their actions on a daily basis.

Power of Intention

It was my son Sooraj's 12th birthday and I was feeling guilty that I had to attend an urgent meeting out of town.  So, I was at the Delhi airport. My flight had been announced but the since the queue was long,  I decided to continue to wait for some time.

Finally, the queue had thinned and I rose from my seat.  Just then I spied a tall imposing man with a shawl wrapped around his shoulders striding regally towards a seat. It was superstar Amithab Bachhan! The last of the passengers had walked out of the gate to board the plane, just then, a thought struck me;  why not I take Amitji's autograph as a gift to Sooraj? I quickly retraced my steps and headed towards where Amitji was sitting.  But my țhroat was dry and my steps faltering!  I seemed to have been struck by a sudden bout of nervousness! Regardless,  I went up to him, and croaked, "Sir, could you give me your autograph? " and stuck out a piece of paper from my pocket. "Certainly", he said. "... and please say,  happy birtday,  Sooraj, as your message*. He duly wrote the message and handed it back to me with a smile. 

On my return a few days later,  I gifted this 'special message for Sooraj from Amithab Bachhan" to him He was very happy! I do not know whether Sooraj still preserves that piece of paper,  but I still preserve the memory of it. For it demonstrated to me that if your power of intent is strong and emotional ( guilt of being not present on son's birthday), one can overcome one's weaknesses ( my terrible nervousness! ).

Size Doesn't Matter

In the human body,
the large intestine weighs 1.8 kg,
a lung weighs in at 1.13 kg,
liver: 1.5 kg,
brain: 1.7 kg.
But the heart weighs only 0.3 kg

#MyLearning
Size doesn't matter - your contribution does

5 Stolen Recipes to Do and Become

A recipe has no soul, You as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.” - Thomas Keller, chef, writer, restaurateur.

Every artist gets asked the question, "Where do you get your ideas?" The honest artist answers, "I steal them."

Here are a 5 stolen life recipes to which I have added my soul (aka my learning spin) to;

1. Adapt to the times

Restaurateurs today, realising that food is not the only carrot drawing diners in are giving more emphasis to the design and giving their places a makeover. Attention is being paid to the decor, layout, music. lighting, the clean fragrance (of herbs or fresh coffee and bread or wood charring in a clay oven) comely staff. All of which come together very nicely to pull in the customers. Ultimately however, as Chef Solomon says, as good as the decor maybe, it will be the food which will pull in the customer.  

Know when to focus on targets, when to pay attention to emotions and when to focus on the changing needs of customers. Be sensitive to the ecosystem and respond accordingly, taking care to never forget your essence.

2. Connect to the environment

When we think of the word 'food', we only think of nutrition, says chef Pankaj Walia. But the truth is our connection with food is deep and spiritual; something that our ancestors realised and respected. Archaeology professor Dr Kurush Dalal recommends slow cooking to establish the connection. Slow cooking, he says, recognises the connection between plate, people, planet and culture; things we have forgotten to correlate these days while munching on fast food."

People, planet and culture - each, some, or all three, are integral to our every action. Recognising the connection between our actions and their impact on the three, can help us become more conscious and connected to our environment.

 3. Connect to the Universe

“You’ll find a sense of calm overtaking you as soon as you pray or sprinkle water around your food before your meal," says Prof. Kurush Dalal. That time - even if it is for a split second - makes you appreciate the world, its wonders and the food on your table. It connects you with the Universe.”

Ritual or ceremony is a celebration, a tradition. Through these rites we re-live, re-enact, honor, remember, and call forth ancient spiritual teachings, tradition and divine spirits. Studies show that they are good for people’s physical and mental well-being. They help make life seem predictable, under control, and meaningful.

4. Have a hobby

Money isn't  the only thing stock market man Ramesh Damani kneads. He has a thing for dough which made him seek out baking and attend a week's bakery course in Paris. Asked for the similarity between brokers and bakers, Damani's reply is, "Both like the feel of dough....and both (investment and baking) need a lot of patience."

A hobby is an echo of the soul, and if you are following your heart, so can be your profession. Seek answers within, discover the parts between your profession and your hobbies which are similar, or support the other.

6. Play your cards wisely

"I realised my face was never going to be my fortune," says  Prahlad Kakkar, ad guru. "(So) I decided to impress ladies by tickling their palate - good food, full-bodied wine, candlelight and my storytelling powers are a lethal combination.  It has always worked. Food is much more than fuel for your body."

Remember what Randy Pausch said, "we cannot change the cards we are dealt with, just how we play the hand."

CALL TO ACTION

Now that you have a bunch of recipes to choose from, make your choice, put the ingredients of your choice into the pot, marinate in a thick sauce of motivation for a few days. Then light the fire of your passion, stir in a good dose of determination and serve. 

Bon Apetit!

9 Thoughts to Craft The Leader In You

Though much of the art and science of leadership remains unchanged over time, it needs to be crafted to suit the needs of the current environment. The following stories of contemporary leaders and views of leadership gurus, should give you food for thought to craft your individual leadership style and craft it to suit your time and context.. 

1.Reinvent Yourself  

"Companies fail or are successful because they either get or miss market transitions", says John Chambers, CEO and Chairman of Cisco. ..."What Cisco has done is that we compete on market transitions, not against competitors...We have reinvented ourselves five times"

Reinventing is not a necessary evil to be undertaken to undertake to survive. Being inquisitive - a hankering to learn new things, can lead to seeing the world of work as an opportunity and make it easier to adapt - a quality essential in the present times.

2 Give your people permission to fail

"One of the saddest things that happen with creativity...I think sometimes it isn't expressed because of fear," says Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel. "Everyone is born very very creative. But at some point it can be scary to do something new." To overcome this fear, Snapchat encourages the idea of 'failing fast', since it's better that those failures happen in private before being released on users.

3.Play for Win-Win

Unlike Steve Ballmer, Satya Nadella is clear that times have changed and he is taking tough decisions. For him,  competition is not a zero sum game. Just because Android wins does not mean Microsoft loses.  If Android wins great. I'll also put Office 365 on Android so it can be a win - win,  it doesn't have to be a win - lose.

3. Make the right life choices

"There is nothing like work-life balance, there is only one life", believes Padmasree Warrior, former CTSO of Cisco. Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman Of Microsoft India, agrees with her wholeheartedly. "You live life the way you want it. Life is about choices," he say

4.Practice brevity in communication

A Microsoft research reports that the average person's attention span is just 8 seconds, a second less than that of a goldfish.  For humans it used to be 12 seconds in 2000. Abundant reason why CEOs and you and me, need to communicate well internally and externally in the most effective manner.

5. Surround yourself with the best people

Leslie Gaines-Ross, Chief Reputation Strategist usually gets involved worn CEOS in their first 100 days  that they  build up their credibility quickly. And this what she tells them, in that order - listen to customers, surround yourself with the best senior management and communicate with the board.

6. Make your knowledge 'future ready'
"Half-life of knowledge is getting shorter and shorter with new breakthrough technologies and discoveries," says Management Guru Jagdish Seth, Management guru.."Therefore old perspectives and evidence are no longer relevant.We need to develop or discover new perspectives which are suitable for tomorrow's world"

7. Tailor your communication to the audience

Mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik explains how in the Gita, there is a three way communication between Krishna the speaker, and three receivers; Arjuna, the seeker of knowledge, Sanjay the transmitter of the knowledge  and Dhritirashtra, who is eager to know only the fate of his sons. This, Devdutt observes, is aimed to draw attention to the complexity of any communication. Are people around you interested in what you are saying (Arjuna),  are they merely memorising (Sanjay), or are they just disinterested or even suspicious (Dhritirashtra)? 

Tailor your communication accordingly.

8. Be Considerate of your people

On his last journey from Guwahati to Shillong for a speaking engagement, the late president's car was being escorted in front by three soldiers travelling in a Gypsy. Seeing one of them standing throughout the journey, Kalam repeatedly asked his aide to request him to sit down, but his aide was not able to get him on the phone. At the end of the journey, Kalam invited the soldier to his room, shook hands with him, thanked him and enquired whether he had eaten.

9. Appreciate - Motivate

Debutant Actress Ruhi Singh says, "When you enter the sets of (film director) Madhur Bhandarkar's film, you hear words like 'jalwa' (charisma/luster/ splendor) and 'aag laga de' (be on fire) which is a driving force for us. I had to shoot a waterfall sequence in the night, and it was freezing cold. But I could only do it because (Madhur) makes sure everyone feels comfortable before filming." 


Call To Action
Time to craft your own leadership recipe? Set the fire going!

Adapt or Perish

Restaurateurs today, realising that food is not the only carrot drawing diners in are giving more emphasis to the design and giving their places a makeover. Attention is being paid to the decor, layout, music. lighting, the clean fragrance (of herbs or fresh coffee and bread or wood charring in a clay oven) comely staff. All of which come together very nicely to pull in the customers.

#MyLearning
Adaptability is one quality that is key to success.  Know when to focus on targets, when to pay attention to emotions and when to focus on the changing needs of customers. Being sensitive to the ecosystem and responding as per need the need of the time is the essence of adaptivity.