The class and the classless and my wandering thoughts

As i ponder to write upon a new blog I suddenly fall short of words, a million ideas that run through my mind seamlessly and some profound thoughts that eat away my cerebrum as to what i should be writing. In India if you even travel out side your house you would have plethora of thoughts that run through your mind and you shall be forced to write about it even though you fall short of words and you might not get all the answers that you ultimately want. A well know Chinese proverb proves this - "the knowledge that you get by travelling a kilometre cannot be derived in by reading 100 pages of a book", that what happened with me recently

Its early morning Friday and I get out of my house towards a meeting in Chandigarh to be made to the secretary on a recently completed project. I am nearing the station and I get off my air-conditioned cab 400 meters away from the station. As Soon as i step out of the cab it’s all together another world as opposed to the calm and the serene world at my vasant kunj home. I see crowds of people nearing the station as if an army of millions are stranded or lost, these people either are travellers, some are shelter seekers and some others seeking alms. There is total anarchy and chaos, I realise that there is a distinct world that exists beyond my usual world, although I have travelled length and breadth across India I guess the realization comes to me now. I enter the station and I visualise a dozen porters running towards me to carry a single backpack and to earn a few bucks thinking that I might hand them over the 5 kg pack, forcing me to think the about the perils of capitalism. Capitalism has its own cronies although it creates wealth in the society it also raises the disparities in the society. I move forward towards the platform where my train is scheduled to arrive and as-usual I realize that I have left my ticket print out back home (my absent mindedness would not leave me). Ah than the technology comes handy here, I take out my laptop and there are curious onlookers who would like to see what am I doing. I check the soft copy and then allow my laptop to hibernate. Suddenly a lady walks upto me and curiously enquires, "yeh kya" hai ? (What is this??), I respond its a computer. She was not able to follow what I said, she asks me again what is this I respond a computer that stores information.  By this time my train arrives I need to rush, stay alive in this rat race, compete and suddenly my heart is touched forcing me to write this piece of literature with the millions of thoughts wandering in my mind.

I see a class of people who have a penchant for luxury ranging from the Louis Vuitton to the Bvlgari, those who ride the Porsche, the Ferraris and the Audi’s and the next moment I see a class of people who ask me what a laptop is? can i carry your bag you can pay me whatever you want? My heart sinks to into despair, making me about the class that exists in the Indian society.

The idea of this blog comes to me from my conversation with my friends at the JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University). The discussions always revolved around the fact the isms of capitalism and communism. Having spent close to a decade in the corporate world you often have your ideas skewed towards the capitalistic ideology the social element in your heart somehow starts fading away and you visualise profit every aspect of your life. Someone rightly said if you are not thinking about the society before you are thirty, it means that you don’t have a heart and if you are still thinking about the society post thirty that means you don’t have a brain.

My train has arrived but the thoughts still pursue and they wander in the wilderness to seek some right answers.

 

Lessons from the Men in Blue

A billion prayers heard, wishes come true India's triumphant victory at Mohali proves that the "Men in Blue" have the ability to repeat the feat that Kapil's devils once achieved. The match was so crucial for India that most of the Indians believe that if we won this game its equivalent to win the cup. What a country we are, a billion people sharing a common passion for a game called cricket, roads empty, offices remain closed, every single Indian glued to their seat and just one wish, India beat their arch rivals Pakistan in semi final. A lot of lessons to be learnt from the Indo-Pak semifinals sharing a few of them:  

a)  Nerves of steel - "Success is not measured by the position we attain in life but by the obstacles that we overcome in the journey called life. Dhoni's team paved their way to the finals after a lot of struggles. Remember the match with England they bled through their noses to defend a total of 327 and struggled to beat the minnows called Ireland but at the end came back triumphantly to win two crucial matches against Australia and Pakistan. True success does not come the easy way one needs to have nerves of steel to achieve and work hard to reach the milestone called success. 

b)    Learning from mistakes - Team India learnt from their mistakes and a brilliant example of the same would be the improvement in every department of the game. Bowling line and length, showing commitment on the field and the most important batting all the fifty over’s. Ditto applicable to every aspect of our life. There is no harm in committing mistakes but its more important to learn from the mistakes and move on.

c)      Leadership makes a difference - Politicians, corporate honchos everyone should learn from MSD. The ability of a leader to steer the team during the time of crises, maintain calmness and think out of the box solutions to tackle every problem. MSD did not lose his cool when Umar Akmal started penalizing the bowlers he brought back Bhajji and he strikes. MSD's confidence in his men that his men will be able to deliver is amazing I think every leader should learn from this maintain cool and the most important of all "think act and strike" with an end in the mind.

d)     Stay till the end – Finally to stay with the problem till the end and not to leave the course in the mid way. India batted fifty overs completely without losing all the wickets – moral keep the final goal at your sight and don’t run away from the problem.

All said and done every Indian loved the game, I wish we showed this passion in each and every field may be we will be able to resolve some our critical problems the country is facing today. Wishing India all the best for the finals.

Leadership Series 5-The New Age Mentor and the rise of a New "ism"_

As i garner some time today to put my thoughts across I wonder how I am to go about it as a lot of thoughts have cropped up in a very short period of time but I am going to pen down some thoughts on a new “ism” called Stupism. In fact I have stumbled upon this ism in the long conversations with a very special character called Anustup Naik and that leads to discuss something more about the origins of this “ism” that is going to be the next ism to reckon with, forget Socialism communism ....and all other isms "Stupism" is the next juggernaut "ism" to survive in this ruthless world.

No please dont go back to the BC era the new age guru and the founder of this ism is technology geek with a lot of babes around him to flaunt fondly called "Stupie". As i mentioned earlier this technology geek armed with a public policy in his belt from one of the premier universities in the world and an educationist by choice and a man with sharp acumens whose theories of Gyan keep revolving around your cerebrum forcing you to ponder that - how does this guy come up with his complicated yet understandable models in casual conversations. Sharing some of his “Gyanvardhak” stuff on my blog today.

Business is all about mating with several clients at a time (The Ande Ka Funda)

In one of our casual conversations Stupie came up with this funda called Ande Ka Funda He says that as a client is like a "Murgi"(hen) and we need to identify several murgis at a time and mate with them and in the due course of time the several murgis with whom we have mate probably one of them will lay the egg.

What this means is that a sharp enterpreneur would not depend on one source to derive his business from, he would at least try to find out alternative sources from where his business would come and for this he needs to meet several clients at a given period of time and than zero down to a few clients from where the mullah is going to come.

Spontaneity is the name of the game

“Stupism” is all about spontaneity and a sense of urgency to get the task completed on time, get ready to face the wrath if you do not have your figures correct, one fine day you are given a Mckinsey report and you are expected to read the same and come up with your thoughts and write synopsis as to what have you understood from the report, create a model/framework with lot of thoughts imbedded from your side ...phew makes me remember my good olden days at my B-school where I am given a case study and expected to go through the volumes to survive in a group of intelligent Homo-sapiens who further go on to sell soaps and tractors in the remotest part of the country. Thankfully Stupism always makes me feel that i have taken the road less travelled.

Get ready to think out of the box

Stupism is all about thinking of out of the box and out of the world sitting around you the new age mentor (Stupie) would suddenly spring up a thought - the other day he came up with the theory that how at work as people we talk about all the good things in the world before coming to the point and he brought his point through a short skit called "what do you do Mr Iyer" A satire directed towards people who at work places talk about the all the crap in the world before coming to the point. A fearless critic who plays a devils advocate and would come upon you ruthlessly if you are caught on a wrong foot.

Keep it straight avoid analysis of paralysis

Last but not the least Stupism is opening your minds and ponder upon the dimensions of thinking solution for a problem by understanding the core root of the problem before carrying out the analysis which often leads towards paralysis of the problem. Let me illustrate the case the other day Stupie introduced to me a theory called "Core instructional Framework", A framework that helps the child to learn and understand better and he says that there are three core dimensions to it and they are Teaching, Curriculum and Assesments. Each of the dimension has a subdimension which actually strengthens the core dimension eventually leading to improve child learning. A simple framework for which one has to go through the epitomes of literature before making such a powerful statement. Thanks to the new age mentor the most complex of the theories are injected in the mind without any pain and makes a last impact for the times to come.

More on this space to watch as i get gyan and inspiration from my Guru to carry on the good work that we are seeking to do as an organisation.

Common Man's Leadership Fundas - Series 4

It’s has been a long time since I posted my last blog and I have now been seriously thinking of maintaining and updating the same regularly. A lot of my friends have gone through my blog and have eulogised my efforts for writing a blog which has again motivated me to come with my leadership fundas combined with an element of humor in each and every blog that I post across.

In this blog I shall be writing about Discipline. Of late I came across a good term called the "Disciplined Recruit" (invariably a colleague of mine used this term to describe a fool like me) and it stuck to my mind and I thought of combining the leadership traits with the term that I came across. In any organisation as everyone knows, discipline is very essential nothing works if there is absence of discipline across the organisation. Discipline is the torpedo of any organisation. Now who are these bunch of jokers called “Disciplined Recruits” and what do these species do and how is it that they carry the legacy of the leadership values and virtues in them sharing some of the traits, insights and the thoughts that go on the minds of such recruits.

Punctuality: The disciplined recruits are finicky guys they are they guys who believe that there is zero tolerance when it comes to punctuality. Dot on time on meetings, functions, gatherings and even they some time seem appear to be a dumb ass as they are the first one to be at such places. In India we have something called the IST and very true it’s not the ‘Indian Standard Time’ but it’s the ‘Indian Stretchable Time’. Disciplined recruits are they guys who value time and they are well aware that time is money; everything else can come back but not the lost time. A leader has to set an example of punctuality before his subordinate’s co-workers so as to make them realise the importance of time. Imagine a small kirana shopkeeper who is the sole owner of his business he has to come early to open his shop he cannot be late, thinking that his workers would come and open his shop. Leaders have to value time only than can they prosper and deliver the value that they intend to provide their customers.

Sense of Urgency: One of the most commonly missed traits in any organisation especially in Government Departments and public organizations. Disciplined recruits emphasize on a great sense of urgency to complete any task. Leaders who seek on sense of urgency pass on this trait to their subordinates and colleagues and they ignite a fire in the belly of the co-workers and thereby promoting a sense of urgency culture in the organisation. Readers should not confuse ‘sense of urgency’ with hastily carrying out a job sense of urgency here points out of updating systems and mechanisms from time to time without any de-compliance.

Self Imposed: Discipline comes naturally to these guys nobody superimposes the discipline on them. Disciplined recruits try to achieve results, goals and objectives by binding them to certain self imposed set of rules. In any organisation as discussed earlier discipline is critical but simultaneously leaders should recognize that discipline should be fostered among the employees and not imposed. The true test of a leader starts when he can really achieve discipline among his team members without coercing the employees of the organisation to follow the set rules and regulations.

Urge to learn: Another critical characteristic of these guys there is a strong urge in these species to learn diverse set of skills. Alvin tofler one of the greatest educationists has pointed out that – “The illiterate of the coming century would not be those who cannot read and write but they would be those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn”. What a powerful statement man has to keep learning throughout his life otherwise he becomes archaic. A leader can only nurture his employees when he keeps himself updated about the alterations taking place in the business domain and he adapts himself and the Organisations to the changes taking place around him.

Plunge to help: Disciplined recruits always seek an opportunity to learn in anything and everything and thus the phrase. They derive a great sense of happiness by helping others they plunge in each and every case in an expectation that they will learn by teaching others. Leaders in organisations always come as the rescue angels and plunge into the problems of the employees, customers and take proactive measures to solve the problems and in this whole process the learn a lot about problem solving and they pass on the legacy to their successors.

The common man Leadership fundas shall continue to enrich and there is more gyan in the future in the domains of leadership with such exiting jargons and terminologies so keep watching this space.

Common Man's Leadership Fundas - Series 3

The common man in the due course has learnt some leadership traits and these leadership traits can be useful to anyone. Though they can be considered as the fundamental basic traits but when implemented can be really powerful to lead teams and can help in achieving the goals to a great extent.

Much of what is taught is, in fact, not leadership at all but management. It is entirely possible to learn and even to put into practice what is taught and still fail at being a good leader. The essential components of leadership have remained more or less constant: intelligence, insight, instinct, vision, communication, discipline, courage, constancy.

The common man just discovered some tips for leadership traits from (Mark Sarner, president of Manifest Communications, Canada's leading social-marketing agency) which he thinks would be useful for the leaders while leading their teams.

1. Thinking: Leaders must know how to gather, sort, and structure information, and then connect it in new ways to create intelligence. Today, being informed is confused with being smart.

2. Seeing: Leadership requires vision. And developing a vision requires the ability to see. To look backward and see clearly what has happened and avoid the mistakes happened in the past. To see what's in front of your nose, the present tense. To see ahead to the next day when the challenges will be greater. To see the future that will become reality

3. Feeling: Yes, empathy for the led is vital. As Michael Hammer, coauthor of Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution, says, "All change is loss. Even when change is for the better, there is still loss." Leadership is not simply a form of therapy, however. The essential feeling is the one in your gut where morality and certainty live. The right way ahead is not in the data. It is an informed intuitiveness. This is where charisma comes from.

4. Listening: All can hear. But only a few really listen. And too most of the people only listen to themselves. A leader has to listen to colleagues and collaborators, listen to markets and constituencies, and listen to himself -- all through the endless din of the present, the ominous voices of the past, and the deafening silence portending the future -- is vital.

5. Speaking: The watershed capacity in leadership is unquestionably communication. Through it, people are informed, convinced, united, motivated, and directed -- things that are critical to group enterprise from the inside and to buy-in on the outside. The powers to inform and persuade win the battles for hearts and minds.

6. Walking: The art and science of putting one foot in front of the other, sometimes referred to as "waking the talk," is the "doing" part of leading. Credibility comes from being first through the door to the unknown. Standing in one place, or stepping back while others take risks to make the frontier safe for others, simply doesn't cut it. Moving forward is not a leap or a sprint but a plodding process.

7. Fitness: Leadership requires strength and endurance in all areas -- physical, mental, and moral. Because leadership is a heavy load and it’s a long journey that drains resources.

The Leadership traits seem to be very basic in nature but are powerful tools contributing to the vision and the mission of the organisation.

Common Man's Leadership Fundas - Series 2

Some one has correctly pointed out - "Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches". Similar is the case with leadership. Only the leader knows where the shoe pinches. Assuming leadership role is not easy as it’s generally thought, currently spearheading a large scale project in Gujarat and have been gaining tremendous learning's during this phase. Some of the learning’s as a leader has helped me to grow personally and at the company level also, sharing some of the learning's with the masses.

Stretch the limits: One of the foremost qualities that a leader should have is the ability to stretch himself only than will he be able to exemplify to his subordinates and they shall emulate the leader. Though the simple & literal meaning of the phrase means "work hard" but they have to be taken in a very deeper sense. The leader has to go beyond limits I remember a statement from a prominent business magazine wherein a leader turned entrepreneur mentioned - "A leader has to get the job done by going to the lowest level - he says get the hands dirty, work at the grass root level put in efforts results are bound to follow".

Plan: A four letter simple word never understood by me in my B-School and just mugged up by me but although realised that its not that easy to make plans and stick to it- though my mentor always insisted that i should have a plan before doing any activity but never realised that planning would make such a big difference. The idea of creating a plan and actually sticking to it sometimes gives me a nightmare but still i have learnt it the hard way planning is must to carry out any task successfully.

Feedbacks: Feedbacks are like medicines they are bitter they are difficult to digest but a true leader has to take the feebacks in a positive sense. One has to understand that the feedbacks in the longer run will be helping in making the process efficient and effective. One of the art that the leader has to develop not only the ability to receive feedbacks but also the ability to give feedbacks which is important to learn and grow.

Ownership: A leader is responsible for the acts of his subordinates. Owning the responsibility and the courage to accept that things have gone wrong is one of the qualities that a leader should possess. It does not mean that the leader does not get the credit if things go in a proper way but seldom do leaders realize that accepting responsibility for what has gone wrong actually puts them above the pedestal of common beings. A leader has to own his subordinates his role is like a potter he has to pat his colleagues for a good job done and he has the right even to pressurize his subordinates if things do not go in a planned manner. One of the lines that i remember from Narayana Murthy's sayings he says: "A true leader criticizes in private and praises in public"

The common man is learning the hard way but I hope the learning’s are useful for the masses in their professional lives.

Common Man's Leadership Fundas - Series 1

I was not able to post a blog for a long time as of now but just gathered the momentum to post it today as i have quite a few thoughts coming on to my mind. Although what makes me write this blog is my intention to put my thoughts and share with the masses probably my learning’s in life may be useful to the masses to quite an extent. Readers may be surprised that my previous two blogs concentrated on the rural markets and now why have i suddenly shifted the focus to a wierd subject called "Common Man's Learnings", essentially because i have learnt some important lessons in life the hard way which can be useful for the readers and probably they can take cue out of it and use it in their life. Very recently i had a good opportunity to join an organisation which has been a leader in outdoor based education and in the process of making a right choice I took a plenty of time and i lost the opportunity to join that organisation I don’t know whether I will get a chance in the future or not.

Am I a Crass?- The offer was rejected and this question kept on coming into my mind, I went on into a deep frustration fighting constantly within myself waging a war within myself that whether staying back with the current organisation was right move? still finding answers though i know 2.5 years in any organisation is quite a long time but in order to really develop and gain an understanding and to develop a business acumen it takes time.
Lesson 1 Understand the business well and gain a critical understanding of how successful businesses are run.

The second thought is that i need to carry out a professional course and the risk involved in it what if dont get into the course? Backups are one suggestion but what if backups dont work i should not get back into the mode of frustration though i will not but the fears linger in mind.
Lesson2: Practice soliloquy that is the art of speaking to oneself try to find a mentor in yourself helps to overcome fears

I come from a family where I have seen struggles through my life but the struggles have made me stronger but the moot question is till when should i struggle? Why should i take the path of principles and struggles? Is this going to pay me off why I am like this what values am it talking about?I have seen my father struggling even today tears ooze out of my eyes when i see him striving hard its true that he is a real hero.
Lesson3: Understand that struggle is for good but to some extent encash opportunities when in struggle.

Truly speaking I feel i am in search of a mentor Swami Vivekananda found solace in the arms of Swami Ramkrishna Parmahansa. I am yet to find such a mentor i know i think a lot positive but how do i put an end to my thoughts. One of the person who of course comes to my mind is my current mentor SRR or Sridhar Rajagopalan my current boss the man who has given a direction to my thoughts and ignited the passion for this field called education. The other person is Ranu Kawatra whom I met during a trip called Khoj. Mr Ranu had been the Regional business Director for Gillette in Middle East he suggested to me carry on with my passion and this passion would help me achieve this vision.
Lesson4: Identify mentors observe them and try to emulate them try to learn maximum from them. Keen observation is essential in life.

Common Man's Learnings series is going to bring on the struggles/the happenings in the life of a common man lets hope the he comes out of this and sees light at the end of the tunnel