Leadership lessons from Cricket World Cup Semi Final 2011

Yesterday’s semi-finals clearly spelled out the leadership qualities of captain of the Indian cricket team MS Dhoni that helped team India win the match. Some of these qualities are:

1. Making the right fitment -Sachin & Sehwag as opening batsmen and Harbhajan as crucial bowler.

2. Pre-empting the opponent’s move –giving slow balls to Pakistan Captain Afridi so that his shot could be caught.

3. Making strategic moves to tackle the situation with efficacy.

4. Giving every team-player a fair chance to show case his talent.

5. Giving timely feedback.

6. Expecting the unexpected and fighting it out-that's how the match could take a positive turn.

7. Believing that team’s synergistic performance is above the individual’s performance.

8. Playing a fair game- Ashish Nehra asked the umpire to recheck his decision of catch which did’nt actually happen.

9. Staying undeterred and composed even under tremendous pressure.

10.Taking accountability for the team’s performance-good or bad, not just making the team accountable.

Taking these lessons from our captain, we wish team India all the very best for the finals.

Trust means acceptance

While watching a talk show on Trust on television a couple of days back, I got a few key points that play crucial role in our day to day relationships in personal & professional life. Here they are:

1. Trust is nothing but acceptance. When we accept someone the way he is, we show our trust in him.
2. When a person behaves in a manner which is not in sync with our perception of his image, we feel our trust has been breached.
3. When we have lesser expectations from someone, it becomes easier to accept that person.
4. A person becomes dishonest or starts hiding the truth when he feels insecure or fears non-acceptance from us.

Appears a little abstract? Let’s take an example to understand better.
A fresher recently joins a private bank in sales. In a couple of weeks, he starts giving false information about sales calls fearing loss of job or public reprimand. Further he gets false documents to open accounts and the account is opened without a satisfactory KYC check. This can have serious repercussion on the organization and entire banking system.
On the contrary, if there is an atmosphere of mutual trust, the results can be much better. How?
If the sales-person did not feel insecure and could ask for help, maybe by being deputed under an experienced and successful person good at getting numbers, and the senior showed confidence in him and extended the needed support, he would have picked up how to generate numbers without resorting to unfair means.
All that is required is:

• Making a concerted effort to create an environment of mutual trust.
• Sharing values, objectives, information relevant to one’s job.
• Providing the necessary clarity and support.
• Using positive motivators.
• Making others feel that we trust them and are within their reach if they need us.
• Encouraging others to trust us by listening to them without being judgemental.
• This way, they shall also learn to trust us and give their best without any kind of compromise.

Lead by example

Lord Krishna demonstrated exemplary leadership qualities. A few instances from which we get great lessons are:
1. Krishna carried Draupadi’s slippers in His own hands when He took Draupadi to Bhishma Pitamah to seek his blessings before the battle of Mahabharat.
2. He did the job of the charioteer of Arjun during the battle.
3. He washed the soiled and bruised feet of Sudama with His own hands.

While Draupadi, Arjun & Sudama were very very dear to Him, the sole purpose of Krishna’s existence was establishing righteousness. The above examples give the following important messages.

• No task is menial or below one’s dignity.
• Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
• Get involved when with your body, mind and soul when you can make a difference.
• Evolve as a visionary & strategist.
• Always strive for a great cause.
  
  A great leader is one who before expecting results from his team, sets examples of excellence and greatness.
  
  Please share your ideas and suggestions.
  
  
  

Corporate Social Responsibility- long way to go

Every child in this picture is suffering from polio. Some have been afflicted in both- leg & hand. There’s one child who can neither sit nor stand except on his tricycle, & to attend an hour’s class, he leans across the wall in a circular posture. India is one of the four countries where Polio still exists, it has been eradicated from the rest of the world. One of the main reasons of polio is excretion in open. Yes we as a country (and as people too?) are so diverse that on one hand there are Antillas being constructed and on the other, there’s a majority of population living in grave poverty. People in interior villages can’t even afford two square meals, sanitation is a far- fetched dream for them.

Recently a group of young men & women from Stanchart Bank contributed their one day’s salary which came to around Rs.20.00 lacs, and they changed the face of a village they were working on. They got houses constructed along-with proper sanitation facilities, and started a school also for the children living in that village. In the second phase, they are in the process of contributing another day’s salary to generate similar funds to upgrade school facilities. Commendable indeed! Many NGOs are doing great work like this.

But, if a bunch of corporate employees can change a village and improve the quality of life of its inhabitants, can’t our leading corporate houses make a similar effort? How can we be so indifferent that we get to see nothing beyond filling our own pockets?

Though some of companies have been doing a lot for humanitarian causes, yet the number of such companies is abysmally disproportionate looking to the need. In a country known for its rich culture filled with humaneness, compassion and brotherhood, do need Bill Gates & Warren Buffet to come and motivate us to work towards our responsibility, so called CSR? They seem to have adopted and implemented our philosophy of-Puta saput to kyun dhan sanchay, puta kaput to kyun dhan sanchay. Do we really need to hoard for ourselves and our posterity? High time to do some soul searching and come back on track.

Please do give your inputs and feedback.

Success & devotion

There’s a beautiful musical composition in Hindi, from which I’m quoting a few translated lines:
Who says God does not appear, you don’t call Him like Meera;
Who says God does not sleep, you don’t put him to sleep like Mother Yashoda;
Who says God does not eat, you don’t feed Him like Shabri;

I am sure we all are familiar with the three women mentioned above. The simple messages that these lines give us are:

• When one is earnestly devoted, success cannot elude him.
• Patience and perseverance can make the impossible (Him) possible.
• Smart work is surely in, but hard work can never be passé.
  

While these simple women could achieve success with their devotion, patience and perseverance in the eternal world, even if we have an iota of these virtues, we shall achieve perpetual success in all our worthy endeavours.

Have a nice weekend!

Your feedback is immensely valuable.

Time Management & Self-discipline

Recently after being penalised for not putting on the seat belt while driving, I made it a point to put it on irrespective of the area or distance, & now realise that I feel much more comfortable with it. This is because by practice it has become a habit, and a good one. It’s just a matter of self-discipline which should be developed without waiting for someone to come and penalise us. Be it traffic rules, simple things like daily walk, exercise or managing time, once we use self-discipline, the good habit becomes our second nature.
Talking of self-discipline in day to day work and way of working, we shall be able to overcome a lot of time wasters and hence have quality time for so many important things that often get compromised on.
A few time wasters-
1. Lot of Multitasking- Though the modern day work demands a person to be multi-task a lot of times, still a lot of jobs require single minded attention.

2.Having too many windows open on your computer- Being on social networking sites and chats at the time of work.
3. Checking emails every now & then.
4. Checking the stock market every now then.
5. Habit of brooding.
6. Too much of perfection even when not required.
7. Doing other’s jobs at the cost of one’s own.
8. Entertaining all calls and messages at the spur of the moment.
9. Over controlling.
If we learn to differentiate between important, urgent, not so urgent and unimportant activities and decide which activity requires what percent of our time, we’ll see a lot of positive results. Along-with this, if we use a few self-disciplinary measures we can get rid of time wasters and improve our efficiency:
1. List out the work for tomorrow today itself and inform the concerned people about their tasks.
2. List out activities done throughout the day in order of sequence giving time consumed for every work.
3. Check deviations and take corrective measures.
4. Delegate.
5. Respect other’s time, don’t keep people waiting –it’ll not give you extra importance, rather you’ll be tagged as unprofessional.
6. Inform people about cancellation or changes in time schedules for meetings.
7. Stick to the fixed time for every work.
8. Rule out engaging in negative activities- leg pulling, criticising etc.
9. Take lesson from past, plan for future, and live in the present.

If the almighty can manage so many different time zones impeccably, can’t definitely manage just one-our own time, that too for our own benefit?
Please do share your ideas and leave your comments or questions.

Nothing lasts forever

Life looks like a hurdle race at times, you clear one hurdle and there stands another one. Certain hurdles are easy to pass, while the others test you really hard. Here are a few examples of the situations that act as spirit and energy testers:

• Your company is reducing flab and you are an easy target
• You have been detected of a serious disease
• People around you at work take undue advantage of your long unavoidable absence
• Someone else is taking credit for your good work and you are being ignored completely
• The anchor of your life has decieved you

I hope and pray that none of these situations come in your life. Though we should hope for the best yet be prepared for the worst. How?

• Don't s react impulsively and don't lose control over yourself
• Try to find a solution
• Talk to someone wise (official or unofficial mentor)
• Think of all possible resources and seek help
• Look at the macro view/ the bigger picture
• Pray, pray and pray

Remember that nothing lasts forever, good or bad; and if you can stand the bad times, you'll thrive in the good times. Even if you failed at something, it does not make you a failure in life.
Life is a roller coaster ride, so give your best and enjoy the ride. The control of this ride is in the hands of a flawless controller, HE will never ever fail you.

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Compete with yourself

Surpassing others in a horde is not competition. Real competition is when you surpass your own self. How? Let’s have a look-

• Break your own records (like Sachin Tendulkar)
• Make your strengths stronger
• Grow over your weaknesses
• Face and overcome your fears
• Set your fallacies right
• Turn your reaction into response
• Control distractions
• Be contented without being complacent
• Strengthen your relationship with the Almighty

Raise the bar and surpass yourself. If you can do the above and compete with yourself, external competition will become insignificant.
So, should we now say, on your marks, get set & go?

Your feedback is valuable. Please do write in or leave your comments.

Stop assuming Start living

They form a part of every person’s thought process. They can finish something before it starts. They govern our actions and thus our destiny. They are - so very unnecessary assumptions.
During one of the induction training in one of the organizations I worked with, we- the new joinees were asked to unlearn what we had learnt over a period of time. This was to make sure that we don’t start working with a conditioned mind; we were trained to start afresh and look at every different situation with a new perspective, using the earlier experience only as a reference point.
It is not a rule that-
1. Boss is a villain
2. Colleague is the culprit behind your slow growth
3. Favourites will be promoted
4. Doing boss’s personal work is a step towards growth
5. You are just another rat in the race

6. Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have to be in a tug of war , & so on...

When we start making assumptions we damage ourselves and the environment. So the disadvantages of assumptions are:
1. We miss out on getting positive energy
2. Work without understanding
3. Don’t explore solutions
4. Our efficiency goes down
5. Relations get ruined
6. We stop something good in store to unfold
7. Lose opportunities
Why one or more bad experiences leave us with negative feelings for the rest of our life? It is just not worth anything. What has happened has happened, let’s just close it, and take every situation anew. Let’s not stop believing in somebody’s goodness even if the world has been bad to us. When we start assuming negative about others or situations, we actually stop trusting the Almighty, and when we stop trusting Him, we lose trust in our own selves too. This takes us far away from the road to success.

World appears green if one wears a green glass, it appears red if we wear a red glass. It’s better to wear a colourless glass to enjoy the colours of life.
Please do give your feedback.