Promoting Thought Leadership

Mission & beyond

2009-07-20T04:12:00.000-07:00

“Mission to moon”, which started with the presidential speech of John. F. Kennedy in 1961, was accomplished so well by NASA. “Mission to moon” has become an inspirational slogan, so much so that even today many a challenging missions are given names linked with the historic mission. July 20, 1969, was a day that symbolized American superiority in Space technology and today after 40 years it is viewed as the greatest achievement for humanity in general.

One has to admit that even today it still is a giant leap for mankind and no further step by man, as far as space exploration is concerned. There has been a general criticism that enthusiasm of “Mission to moon” could not be sustained by the Americans.

This is not unique either to the Americans or the Space conquests. This is what we see frequently – in all facets of life. Once you reach the most cherished goal, suddenly you find that you have nothing else to chase – a state of no purpose or goal, which is not only dangerous but a real killer too.

In business also, we see the enthusiasm, creativity and performance which once helped organizations to stage a remarkable comeback are not sustained for long afterwards. They rejoice their achievement and complacence makes sure that whatever aspiration they have had of future are turned into wishes.

If mission accomplishment brings you excitement and top of the world feel, it also brings relief and contentment. This explains why moon landing could not serve as a stepping stone for further manned space exploration.

It in fact is a lesson for all of us, who have had our own versions of “mission to moon” and settled for it happily ever after. Our “mission to moon” could have been topping the class or earning a decent job – the lesson here is that at the accomplishment of a mission we must find ourselves a higher purpose to strive for. We must call the “Kennedy” in each one of us, who can inspire us by setting us a goal to live by and not let the vacuum that lies beyond the goal engulf us.

It is Teamwork after Leadership

2009-06-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

Since yesterday, television news channels are flashing images of Pakistan victory in the T20 Cricket World Cup. Conquests of a team that was considered underdog right through are being glorified. The team deserves every bit of praise that is showered on it. Pakistan once again lived upto its reputation of being the most unpredictable team and always a difficult proposition when its team chemistry works.

If leadership was one differentiating factor that emerged from IPL T20 competition in South Africa, the T20 Cricket World Cup has brought team work to fore front – A great lesson for professionals in every walk of life.

Teams that combined well made it to later stages in the tournament and those which could not rallied behind.

Indians, were at best a loosely packed bundle of talent, which never worked together or in tandem. The result, the pre tournament hot favourites could register wins only against teams like Bangladesh and Ireland and losing all the super eight matches against majors.

Aussies, a side, full of hard core professionals, seem to have forgotten all about team ethics and their professionalism could not get them any where.

Sri Lanka was one team that had variety in bowling and batting departments and exhibited a lot of enthusiasm on the field. This team played great cricket till the finals where law of averages caught up with them.

Pakistani outfit, with their back to the wall at each stage of the tournament had started to click as a team as the tournament progressed. In the finals, all their bowlers delivered. Batsmen exhibited the kind of discipline required against a superb bowling attack of Lankans. It was indeed a triumph for the team.

Cricket like any other team sport will be won by individuals thriving on their talent, professionalism, intelligence and discipline only when backed by their teams. Impeccable execution of plans hinges on coordinated efforts by the team and not on brilliant performance of individuals alone. So the need of the hour is that captains and coaches must create a context for unity of purpose among the team members and see that the unit delivers as a team.

Nano Car – the power of foresight

2009-04-04T23:31:00.000-07:00

Following lines are taken from Power of foresight, a fine article on foresight of leadership.

"It is essential that leaders are endowed with foresight as it has the power and potential of transforming the industry. In the absence of which, the organization is deprived of opportunity of having a peep at the future even before it actually arrives and reaching there ahead of the competition would certainly be missed. In other words opportunity to create market leadership position in the future is lost. Leaders with foresight can put their organization ahead of competition by changing the very basis of competition and thus charting a path for transforming the industry."

As I was reading the article, I could not help thinking of Nano project of the Tatas.

Power of foresight was exemplified by the Nano project. Ratan Tata’s decision to embark on the challenge of providing the most affordable one Lakh car for the typical Indian middle class was not just another business decision. It is in fact leadership foresight at its best. This “affordable, all whether transport” would not only give other small cars a run for their money but also will compete with two wheelers which served as family transport for typical urban and rural middle class in India.

He generated an all round curiosity about the project by promising the Indians of 1 Lakh car. Time and again, he repeated his promise with a reassurance that come what may, a promise is a promise and would be kept even in the face of odds such as moving his factory midway from Singur and rising costs.

A great innovation from India, which promises to change the way business is done or thought of for two wheelers and low end cars.

The second sigmoid

2009-03-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

Long time back I happened to read a book called The Empty Raincoat by Charles Handy. Here I share with you a thought from the book – “An ‘S’ shaped curve” called sigmoid curve. Sigmoid curve epitomizes the story of product life cycle, organization’s life and even our own lives. We start with faltering steps before rising to the heights and then the downfall.

Secret of sustained success lies in ensuring a series of successive sigmoid curves even before the earlier ones fade out. Organizations that sustain their performance over long periods have managed to put themselves on to the second sigmoid when they were at point A along the first sigmoid. The unequivocal message from the curve is that organizations require leaders who when at point A can see the future and embark on the change programme to take the organization on to the second sigmoid curve.

Those few organizations that have the foresight to move on to the second sigmoid have to face challenging time depicted by the entrapped area between the two curves. This typically is the period when change is actually happening. There is change in all related facets of organizational life be it leadership, strategy, culture or technology. This is where the implementation capability and discipline of execution of leadership comes to the fore.

Though most of the times it is only at point B that leaders see the urgency to change and by then it usually is too late.

I found this curve to be a great leadership lesson and have seen it happen in organizations some of whom made it to point C and many others to B. Personally too, I found this curve an inspiration to focus on my long term goals and take on the second curve at the right time to reach there.

Obama's first speech to the Congress

2009-02-25T06:54:00.000-08:00

An excellent speech - true to his repuation of being a great orator.

The speech had all the ingredients of a historic communication that will be remembered for a long time to come. There was that attempt to inject unifying force where eleced representatives from across the political boundaries can find a common ground to debate on.

The speech had the elements of inspiration when he remembered subtle and yet extraordinary efforts of common people, in the face of adversity and their indomitable spirit of "we are not quitters".

I can simply go on and on about this speech. Why don't you check this out yourself here

Problem with good ideas

2009-02-14T22:43:00.000-08:00

Good ideas are controversial and difficult to implement. I have experienced it many times. Good ideas tend to shatter the generally accepted norms in our environs. It takes a lot of hard work to gather data in support of your argument and erase the patterns of data arrangement and established insights around them. Even if you get over this obstacle by successfully convincing people with your rationale, you only land up at another in seemingly insurmountable barrier of implementation.

It being your idea, and it was you who ran from post to pillar to get clearance for implementation, it will undoubtedly be you who stands to gain the most with successful implementation – is how the whole affair is seen by the people. This is where most of the good ideas are stuck. It is where implementers ponder over different options to find the way forward.

It may be the point where whole thing gets wedged, but the problem definitely does not belong here. The problem started with the projection of idea as yours. The problem started as soon as you came up with your idea.

Tackle the problem early on - throw the problem at your team and help them define it precisely and guide them in finding the solution in such a way that they eventually land on the most viable solution – which could exactly have been similar to the idea that you had in your mind. This exercise gives the sense of invention to your team and they suddenly take the ownership of your idea. Now your team drives the idea and for you the challenge shifts from forcing the implementation effort to matching their eagerness with astute facilitation and resource mobilization.

In brief it is about overcoming the ego and letting the team take prominence.

Trying to be all things to all people?

2009-01-13T01:53:00.000-08:00

Never do it. Heard of the story of a boy who had tried to emulate all types of boys who had girls interested in them? Here was a boy trying to copy all the “winning behaviours” and became nice, wild, polite, conservative outspoken and what not. But girls falling for a nice guy would lose interest in him for his wildness. Girls attracted by his politeness would leave him when they discovered his one-upmanship and thus the boy finally ended up with none.

I have come across guys, who at work, try to be all things to all people and end with satisfying none. These are the guys who think they are working hard all the time and yet the end result is loss of credibility and labeled as irrelevant to the most.

Instead of casting a wide net, the strategy of targeting a niche area or a specific area of expertise works better. Focus is the key word here. Focus all your attention to it, so that you make a distinct impression of yourself in others’ mind for what you are very good at. This is the area of work, where you will be seen as 100% relevant and an expert.

Differentiate yourself from the crowd. Unique identity comes from improving your credibility in the chosen area by consistently delivering at “higher than expected” levels. This will certainly enhance your chances of “being noticed”, of building a strong image and for creating a path for your career progression.

Leadership - Is it about a person or a process?

2008-12-19T04:01:00.000-08:00

I believe that real leadership is not merely about a person, it is about the process that creates next generation of leaders. More I think about it the more I get convinced about it. Be it in a business organization, in sports or in a simple environs of a household.

Leaders are a great thing to happen, but leadership on the other hand is about a process and a phenomenon. Great leaders appear once in a while, awaken by the situation or inspired by their inner urge to take up a given cause or by their belief in their principles. But what is saddening is the fact that even these leaders achieve limited success in building a factory of developing leaders.

We admire leaders, even try to emulate them and some of us even think of developing second line of leaders with all sincerity. And that is all. We do not look beyond this point. We do not think of how can we make leadership development a key process in our organization.

We tell our people what is the time, also some of us teach them to read time, few of us give them watch to see time for themselves but practically none of us teach them how to fabricate watches, so that there are leaders every where and at every level in the organization.

Different styles - one crisis

2008-11-26T18:08:00.000-08:00

Those were perfect testing times for leaders of a nation, which earned freedom through a unique non-violent political struggle lead by Mahatma Gandhi and yet got the freedom at the cost of partition of country on religious basis, migration of people on a never-seen-before scale and unprecedented bloodshed resulting in atleast half a million human beings losing their life.

Freedom at midnight, a novel by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins, is a brilliant work on the events during the fateful days of Indian independence and aftermath. I feel it is a great book on leadership. The book is full of illustrations of leadership in action and I share a few of those instances involving three excellent gentlemen – Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India, Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of British India and Mahatma Gandhi, the man who won freedom for India.

Jawaharlal Nehru emerges as a compassionate leader overwhelmed by the miseries of his people struck in the “Greatest Migration in Human History”. His genuine desire to help his countrymen combined with his helplessness sets a perfect background to his quandary. His warning to a group of Sikhs in a village against assault on neighbouring Moslems was indeed effective. The authors say “Nehru’s dilemma was how to translate an effective, isolated action like that to the scale of a nation …”. Authors also bring out the fact that even as Mr. Nehru was delivering his famous “tryst with destiny” speech at the stroke of midnight, 14th August, 1947, “he could only conceive the awful pictures of Lahore in flames”, the news of which he had received just a short while before.

Lord Mountbatten is depicted as a leader of exceptional organizational skills. His sense of urgency and setting challenging targets is highlighted all through the novel, but the most spectacular instance is when as head of Emergency Committee he converted Viceregal palace into an intelligence centre and a control command for monitoring and guiding rescue operations across Punjab. Not to mention the stringent timeframe he set for himself for transfer of power to India and Pakistan and made it possible.

Mahatma Gandhi with his ideals of love, non-violence, truth and belief in God of all Mankind resorted to fast unto death at the age of seventy eight in an attempt to touch the hearts of people behind the riots in Calcutta and restore peace which he did after seventy three hours of fast. As per the authors, “Rajagopalachari, Governor General of Bengal said Gandhi has achieved many things but there has been nothing, not even independence, which is so truly wonderful as his victory over evil in Calcutta”. Gandhi repeated the miracle again after four months with his last fast spanning 121 hours, to restore peace in Delhi. The novel establishes Gandhi as an ultimate example of a leader, leading by example and his astonishing mastery over communication with simple gestures stirring the souls of his countrymen and binding them in instinctive unity.

The book is about leaders whose actions and emotions never cease to amaze me.

Be comfortable, even in resentment

2008-11-17T18:40:00.000-08:00

Expressing resentment was never my cup of tea and I also hated how others disagreed. Disagreement to other’s point of view in team dynamics, generally leads to a play of egos.

Approach that works for me is to find a way out to get along with the colleagues in spite of differences and move on with job at hand. Along the way, I consciously try to see and understand other’s points of view and genuinely try to iron out the differences by moderating my views or by showing others the necessity to reconsider their views, depending on the emerging facts, difficulties and successes.

And I have been successful in my approach to a great extent, but at the same time simply cannot escape from times when I had to openly express resentment to my colleagues and superiors. These are the times when I feel awful, both during and after the act. At the same time I never thought it as a problem – As far as I knew, this is the way people express their disagreement - you cannot be nice and still disagree with others. You have to be offensive in your resentment.

It was during one such act of disagreement over an issue with my leader that I was noticed by a very senior colleague of mine, who had overheard the strife and promptly sent in for me.

In a very straight forward manner he said, “I do not know what the discussion is about, but I must tell you something, you do not have to be rude and aggressive while disagreeing, instead be comfortable in resentment. That will certainly help you in making others comfortable as well and more receptive to your point of view”.

Here was the defining moment, a belief strengthened by my years of on-the-job interactions with insiders and outsiders, that one must be rude and aggressive in disagreement was not only shattered by this gentleman, but also had verbalized my problem: Uncomfortable while resenting.

So learn to be comfortable as you express your disagreement! Your view, after all is just another point of view. Once you gain this capability, your acceptability in teams is bound to surge.

You can never over-communicate

2008-11-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

You can never over-communicate, more so if it concerns with building a cultural infrastructure to propel the organization towards its future goals.

Here is a small piece of communication by a leader to emphasize the importance of desired cultural changes in his organization. The communication underlines and clarifies desired cultural undertones, which will help transform the unit.

Thanks to a close friend who worked in this reputed firm, who enriched my collection of great “leadership communications” in business organizations, with this wonderful piece, which I have always wanted to share with others. Next follows the text of the communication:

Some of you must have noticed fresh set of posters in the reception area and must be wondering -- why do we need them and what is it that they are trying to communicate? If you have not noticed them – don’t worry for they will be everywhere; Very soon they are going to become a way of our life.

For us to be positioned successfully for the future, we need to undergo a cultural transformation for we are in crisis. The biggest challenge(s) that we face today are “What do we want to be known for?” and “What is our future roadmap?” All of us need to step up to the challenge and be a part of the cultural transformation that will help us find answers to the above questions. The poster campaign is going to remind each of you every single day on what needs to be done, how can we reach there and who can take us there.

These posters communicate the following:

Building our Identity
Moving up the value chain
Identifying the leader in you
Creating a culture of Excellence through Focus Demonstrating CLR: Creativity, Leadership and solid relationships with our partners, peers and customers.

We need to make sure that we are focused on what ever we do; be it technology, processes, business knowledge and/or project. It is only through focus can we achieve excellence and excellence is what we require to move up to the next level.

Creativity: It is a process of developing and expressing novel ideas for solving problems or satisfying needs.

Ask yourself how flexibly and imaginatively did you approach problems?
Did your solution challenge the status quo?
Ask yourself what could you have done better?

If you have an inner passion to solve the problem at hand then creativity will automatically get reflected in proposed solutions. Also, to be creative you have to be an expert – be it technical, procedural or intellectual knowledge.

Leadership: Leadership is not just about leading people, it is about:

Being focused on getting short term results and at the same time not losing sight of long term needs
Understanding the specifics of how things work
Respecting the limits of what are the available resources
Being compassionate and responsive to other’s needs and feelings
Listening to other’s opinions and ideas
Thinking broadly on how can we move up the value chain Making tough calls, taking stands and articulating reasons for taking stands clearly

Relationship: Last but not the least, any success that is achieved at the cost of relationships is not truly success. Make sure that your relationships with partners, peers and customer are stellar for then only will we be truly successful.

Go, take a lead in building a culture of excellence through focus and demonstrate CLR every single day to reach new heights!

How did you like it? Any comments please?

Ambiguity of carbon footprint

2008-11-09T18:32:00.000-08:00

Climate change has grabbed the attention of industry all over the world and yet there is no single definition or measure for it, leave alone a road map by the industry to contain it.

The issues pertaining to definition range form inclusion of CO2 only to other Green House Gases like methane as well. Questions are also raised whether GHGs that do not include molecules of carbon be included. Should emissions not having GHGs also be included in the definition? These are the gases that still have hazardous impact on the environment e.g. CO – which has the potential of being converted into CO2 in the atmosphere.

The question of gases that can be included in the carbon footprint is only one dimension of the problem of defining and measuring. Other dimension relates to the scope – it is a question of where the boundary lies. Do we consider only the direct on-site emissions or we also consider indirect emissions because of upstream activities in the chain? How the life cycle impact of processes and products be measured reliably eliminating the chances of omissions and double counting.

Look beyond competitors and industry

2008-11-07T08:10:00.000-08:00

Replicating competitors’ moves is not a strategy. Most of us try to imitate what one or more of the industry players have already initiated. This way you can achieve competitive parity at best, and a market where competition gets bloodier by the day. Price war is what we get to.

But, replication is the easiest means of implementation.

So replicate, but not what your competitors do, but draw parallel from what similar firms in other industry sectors are doing. You may have to customize what has proved successful for others - who are in the same bracket as you are in, but only in a different industry - to suit your markets.

Comparison of various financial and non-financial parameters will help in identifying a similar firm outside our industry. Apart from a simple comparison of quantified parameters, other aspects of business such as geographical spread, nature of competition, nature of products, risk factors and other value chain considerations can also be compared to zero down on similar firm.

A close comparison and study of strategic initiatives in such a firm can provide much required insights and options for charting a new strategic direction for the company.

Vague strategy statements

2008-11-06T05:08:00.000-08:00

Ever wondered what these strategy taglines are all about? First thought that comes to us is the statement so pompously delivered by the top executive and displayed at all vantage points in the company, which any way does not carry any meaning for the employees.

We are talking about the vague strategy statements such as:

To be a world class organization!
Unleashing creative potential of people!
To be an excellent enterprise!

Rest assured there are no takers for these vague statements. With these generalized and sweeping statements leaders simply are not able to put the message across.

The first job of the leader is not to translate strategy into result, though it is what he does ultimately, the first step in fact is to translate strategy into clear and understandable language - a simple statement that tells people what is expected of them.

Have you got survival strategy in place?

2008-11-05T18:31:00.000-08:00

Economic slow down has caught many a businesses on the wrong foot. Growth and expansion were the strategic buzz words; it was as if the bolt of economic slowdown was unleashed upon the businesses. All of a sudden, the focus has shifted to survival.

Some of the strategies I can think of which will not only help businesses survive the present turmoil but also keep them fighting fit to take on growth opportunities as the economy starts to stage a comeback:

Focus on operational efficiency – Shift from aggressive expansion plans to productivity improvement plans
Create alternate revenue streams – So that impact of slowdown on top line is minimized. Diversification is an option here.
Rethink your product, market and customer mix – Simple re-alignment may help you hold on to your bottom line
Emphasize sales and service as well – Encourage customer loyalty through well planned service and support initiatives

Transitory nature of jobs and the way out

2008-11-04T07:32:00.000-08:00

An article titled Career management – individual & organizational role stirred up my thinking on changing perspective of jobs, which has redefined the workplace relationship between employer and employees. Increasingly transitory nature of the jobs is a matter of concern for both employer and employees. The only way out, which promises a win-win situation, is the one where both share responsibilities for enhancing employees’ marketability.

The fast evolving solution appears to be the one where employers offer opportunity to employees to develop and hone their skills and guide competent employees towards “right job” in the organization. Employees on their part adopt the motto of continuous learning and be prepared for the opportunities available both inside and outside the organizations.

The win-win proposition that emerges is - a highly capable and flexible workforce for organizations and enhanced marketability of individuals for the employees.

Why is work important?

2008-11-03T05:29:00.000-08:00

Work is very important to all of us. People put in more than 40 hours in a week doing their work through which they earn their livelihood. Obviously, the only activity that consumes more time than one's job is sleep. Work is the identity of a person. We introduce ourselves through the job or occupation that we are engaged in. Work is not merely a means of earning livelihood, it is also a source of self-esteem for individuals. The very knowledge of how a worker creates value for the organization is itself a strong motivation for him to excel and in turn drives his self-esteem. A job is a tremendous positive force in one's life.

It is work through which we express ourselves to our communities. The experience and learning that we get in course of doing our work guides our progress in life and in a way is a decisive factor behind what we aspire for in future.

So if on one hand, work provides us our livelihood today, it also provides a means of envisioning and creating our future.