Evolving your Leadership Style

“When people say they have cracked the code to success, it feels so wrong because there could be many right ways of doing it”, says actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

That's exactly how I feel about leadership. Googling for ‘leadership’ presents you with millions of styles, models, options, processes, perspectives and experiences on the topic - which one do you make your own?

My take - there is no single right way of leading people,  each of us has to discover his  own style.

Tip: Open image page on leadership style. Choose a framework that you feel is closest to your preferred style. Use the Plan, Do, Check, Act process, experiment, reflect, improve and know that you need keep on evolving your very own leadership style.

Let me know how it works for you.

Your Life Plan Should Evolve

We have to find our own way forward. There is no perfect model that can imported and therefore rather than strive for “unworkable perfection” from day one, Singapore opted to let it's political system evolve to suit it's unique needs. - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, referring to the country's Constitution

Insight
Rather than live life on borrowed templates, continuously evolve your life plan, and customise it to suit your particular needs and circumstances.
#KnowYourself #Connect2Coach

Life is Semantics

#LivingStories
“If you say that creating the Taj Mahal is indulgence,  then it is - in the eyes of the world”, says filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali. “If you say he loved her and he created a monument - then it is a monument. It is the way you look at it.” He claims what others call indulgence, he calls commitment and the two should not be confused.

#MyLearning
Personal truths, are a summation of experiences from the personal notes we make of them. Indulgence or commitment, successes or failure, profit or loss etc, are only the topic heads to a deeper set of self narratives of their meaning to us.

Yes Is A World

#LivingStories
“Find a way to say yes to things”, says Eric Schmidt,  executive chairman, Alphabet. “Say yes to invitations, to a new country, yes to meet new friends, say yes to learn something new. Yes is how you get your first job and your next job, and your spouse even your kids.”

#MyLearning
E.E. Cummings couldn't have put it better when he said, “Yes is a world & in this world of yes live (skillfully curled) all worlds”. Truly, saying yes can open the door to so many exciting and unexplored worlds!

Image: Improvised life

Skill Building Framework

"I want to thank everyone for the cricketing advice given to me over the years and apologise for not accepting most of it. I had a reason; I did it my way." Cricketer Virender Sehwag announcing his retirement.

#MyLearning
The path of skills evolution is:
1. Learn the Rules,
2. Practice the Rules,
3. Break the Rules and finally,
4. Make Your Own Rules

While the linear path to evolution may be best,  mavericks and geniuses can, and do,  skip steps. I am the best judge to decide what, where and how I shall deal with rules.

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.

Evolution of a Leader

Acording to LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, a CEOs skills and responsibilities need to evolve according to the size and needs of the company:
Small company
(1 to 50 or100 people, depending on industry)
# build a strong team
# work on a few clearly defined problems
# focus on establishing company's identity

Medium company
(50 or 100 to 500 or 1000)
# focus on process and organization
# setting new set of priorities
# training employees on how to meet new goals

Large company
(500 or 1000+)
# focus on leading company strategy
# developing and maintaining corporate culture
# creating  appropriate structure for company
# ensuring right people in essential  roles
# making the most important hires
# empowering employees to meet their goals