Zeitgeist

Why do Business?

dbikram — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:19:56 +0000

The goal of business is to create happiness. It should lead to the empowerment of material wealth, knowledge wealth, and emotional wealth – for internal & external customers. We should have long term view, and focus on long term gain – because in long run, we can’t avoid consequences of short term mistakes. The western shareholding system promotes short term thinking, If profit is good, exactly how much profit (or greed) is good? Does profit leads to innovation? How does profit maximization helps in building sustainable happiness for internal & external customers? Long story short – the focus is somehow skewed. That leads to Bhopal tragedy, or Subprime crisis, and no one responsible. Comparatively, eastern family business model should be better than public limited liability companies, in terms of short term vs. long term leadership. However, they have to stay “professional”, and not biased towards blood line. Good example – “Bharat”, the emperor our country is named after, begot three sons on his three wives, offered great sacrifices to search his successor, received an illegitimate son Bhumanyu from God, and made him the king – just because he was capable of it (meritocracy). This is eastern culture of running business, promote happiness, empower all three wealth areas, judge without emotion, think long term, focus more on spirit & belief than rules & behaviors.

Director’s Inaugural Speech

dbikram — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:31:45 +0000

Posting here after a long time, running out of any spare time in life. I recently started my MBA, and coping the academic demands after 14 hours of daily work puts my mettle to ultimate test. I wanted to share the insights shared by IIM Lucknow director in his inaugural speech to our batch:

This is a good time to be in Indian, this is a good time to be in India. This is a time to feel proud of our identity.
Being an expert in something alone is not enough to handle complex challenges we are facing today, it requires a holistic contextual awareness in a diverse range of areas. Leaders should improve this skill of larger perspective analysis.
There will be highs and lows in our life. The real caliber as a leader lies in how we handle and react to the low in our life.
Ethics is at highest premium in today’s world. Governance should be top priority in every leader’s life – both in personal and professional life.

The dean, and the chairman also welcomed us and shared their thoughts. I am moved by the depth of the faculty and diversity of the batch. Chairman explained the case based learning, and I can’t think of any better way to learn how to react to business situations. Looking forward to this exciting journey in one of the best academic institutes of India.

Do Great Work

dbikram — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:29:48 +0000

Innovate or Stagnate. Leave everything you touch better than you found it. Mediocrity happens when people refuse to change and improve all that they do. Look what happened to some of the big car companies because the slowed down their devotion to innovation. The competition ate them for breakfast. And put some out of business. The best leaders and the best enterprises have a hunger to improve. It’s such a deep part of their culture they know of no other way to be. And that’s the edge that makes them great.

Become a Value Creator versus a Clock Watcher. Success comes from the value you add rather than from the busyness you show. What’s the point of being really busy around the wrong things? Leadership is a game of focus. Focusing on fewer but smarter activities, the ones that create real value for your teammates, customers and the world at large.

Even the best performers are spending less than a fraction of their time doing “great work” – the kind of innovative work that pushes business forward, stretches creativity, and offers true satisfaction. Mostly employees are treading water with “good work”- the work that keeps the business going but will never move it ahead, Some are mired in “bad work”, the endless meetings, the energy-draining bureaucratic processes. We have to learn to move away from bad work, learn how to use the drama triangle of transactional analysis and stop being a “rescuer” who takes on other people’s problems, and how not to say “no,” but how to say “yes” more slowly, making sure you’re doing what’s most important.

Last 10 %

dbikram — Wed, 19 May 2010 12:13:02 +0000

In most fields, there’s an awful lot of work put into the last ten percent of quality. Example – laying out the design of a page or a flyer so it looks like a pro did it takes about ten times as much work as merely using the template Microsoft builds in for free, and the message is almost the same…

Of course not. The message is not the same.

The last ten percent is the signal we look for, the way we communicate care and expertise and professionalism. It’s the hard part because everyone is busy doing the easy part already. The secret is – that’s what you get paid for!

Lead without a Title

dbikram — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:08:16 +0000

Some insights from Robin, we can pretty much make them our life principles:

Remember that you need no title to be a leader. Leadership has less to do with the size of your title than the depth of your commitment. I’ve seen front-line employees, taxi drivers and carpet installers doing their work like Picasso painted. Leadership isn’t really about authority. It’s about a choice you can make to do your best work each and every day, regardless of where you are planted.
Shift from Victimhood to Leadership. No great career, business or life was ever created on a platform of excuses. Too many people play victim at work. They blame the boss or the economy or the competition or the weather for their less than mediocre results. Leaders Without A Title are different. They get that they have power. It may not be the power granted through a title like CEO or SVP. But they have power. And that’s the power to see opportunity amid crises. That’s the power to drive positive change. That’s the power to encourage everyone on your team. And it’s the power to step into the person you’ve always longed to be.
Innovate or Stagnate. To Lead Without A Title is to leave everything you touch better than you found it. Mediocrity happens when people refuse to change and improve all that they do. Look what happened to some of the big car companies because the slowed down their devotion to innovation. The competition ate them for breakfast. And put some out of business. The best leaders and the best enterprises have a hunger to improve. It’s such a deep part of their culture they know of no other way to be. And that’s the edge that makes them great.
Become a Value Creator versus a Clock Watcher. Success comes from the value you add rather than from the busyness you show. What’s the point of being really busy around the wrong things? Leadership is a game of focus. Focusing on fewer but smarter activities, the ones that create real value for your teammates, customers and the world at large.
Put People First. “The business of business is people” said Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher. We have a ton of technology yet less and less humanity. Yet let’s remember that people do business with people they like, trust and respect. One of the clients we’ve done leadership development work with is RIM. Yes, they are a fast and innovative technology company. But they also get that excellent results come from people playing at excellence. So build your team. Meet your customers. Deepen human connections. Treat others with respect. And put people first.
Remember that Tough Times Build Strong Leaders. Look at any exceptional leader and you’ll find that they stepped into their leadership best during a period of crises versus calmness. To Lead Without A Title is to hunt for opportunity amid every adversity. Every setback has the seeds of an opportunity. Companies like Apple, Google and Amazon were built because their people leveraged disruptive times into brilliant wins. And because their people refused to give up when faced with difficulty.
Go to Your Limits. The more you play out on the edges of your limits and take intelligent risks, the wider your limits will expand. The more you leave your comfort zone, the bigger your comfort zone will grow. Each day at work, do the things you know you must do but are scared to do. That’s how you grow, build your leadership capability and access more of the leader within you. There’s zero safety in staying within what i call “The Safe Harbor of The Known”. That’s just an illusion that bankrupts too many businesses and breaks too many human beings.
Lead Yourself First. “The Leader Who Had No Title” isn’t just a book showing you how to create exceptional business success and win at work; it’s also a handbook for personal leadership. Because how can you lead other people if you haven’t first done what it takes to lead yourself? Get to know your values. Think through what you want your life to stand for. Become physically, mentally and emotionally strong. And have a remarkably good relationship with your family. What’s the point of becoming super-successful yet being alone?
Give Back a Legacy. Success is good. Significance is even better. Sure profit and peer recognition and doing great work is mission-critical. But even more important than that is what you give – and all you leave behind. As I write in the book, “even the longest life is pretty short. And all that matters when you get to your last day is the difference you’ve made and the people you’ve helped.” So as you Lead Without A Title and step into your leadership best, stay focused on adding value. And making an extraordinary contribution.

Do Great Work

dbikram — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:24:01 +0000

Everything we do falls into only 3 types of bucket – (1) Bad work, (2) Good work and (3) Great work.

Time’s ticking. At the time of writing this – I have got only 17,107 days left on this planet (approx).

Our work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.

Make a Difference

dbikram — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:24:37 +0000

You can tell if someone is indispensable just by the way they walk into the room. They have their head high, they look at you, their shoulders are forward, there is a sparkle in their eye. People who are indispensable make the meanings better just by being in it. They care more about what they are doing than to get personal credit. They are not bogged down by titles, position, and they realize somewhere inside that – leadership is earned, not conferred. Indispensables can be made – but we need to create a culture that questions itself, a culture that allows mistakes, experiments, failures thats followed never by blame or shame – but certainly by accountability, and the willingness to make mistakes and move and show that you are learning from the mistakes.

Don’t think win-win, think about making a contribution or about making a difference. Consider where your passion, gifts, and influence can combine. Consider that as a calling for at least some of your leisure time. If you are lucky, you can find some way to make that a primary calling for your working hours, as well. But find that place, and spend as much time as you can there!

Flow

dbikram — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 05:30:55 +0000

Have you ever had a creative evening when time suddenly flew by? A day when you executed a difficult project at work flawlessly? A brief moment in time when your challenging exercise routine felt effortless?

All of these times you were in a state of flow. If you’re not flowing, it’s probably because you aren’t allowing yourself to be challenged, you’re completely overwhelmed, or someone else is holding you back.

Simple ways you can bring yourself into flow:

Pick a enjoyable, challenging activity. The easiest way to enter flow is by doing something you love.
Eliminate distractions. Turn off your phone, log out of twitter, switch off gmail.
Think before you do. Do any research or preparation before you engage in the activity you wish to flow in.
Isolate yourself. The best way to achieve flow is alone.
Let go. Give up any expectations that you have for yourself.
Give yourself a time limit. Give yourself 30 minutes of uninterrupted flow time and just go at it with everything you’ve got.
Keep moving. Continuous motion is key to flow, don’t give your mind a chance to start second guessing what you’re doing. Go at a pace that’s challenging for you, but not overwhelming. You want to be calm and collected, but also have forward momentum.
Don’t think. Switch off the part of your brain that observes what you’re doing. This is your self-consciousness, your ego, your sabotage.
Practice. Like any useful skill, flow takes time to master.

Be a Leader (from Robin)

dbikram — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:31:24 +0000

Act Like a Human

As the lights go out on the stage of old-school leadership, acting human is your game-changing solution. Acting human engages people – human engagement facilitates others towards their brilliance. A refreshing burst of humanity at the office outlasts and outshines the paycheck, the office with the view, or driving the company car.

Be One of the Few Who Perfect the Endangered Craft

The new leadership is all about relationships with people. And you can’t relate without listening. It’s impossible. I’m talking about listening at the level you feel like the listener is hanging onto each one of your words like they are the most important words in the world. People will trust you, respect you and shatter their limitations for you when you give them the gift of listening.

Be Scarce

We tend to value that which is scarce. We put a premium on objects and experiences we believe will run out: a Limited edition Gucci Ronson sneaker, a two week showing of Michael Jackson’s This Is It. Reserve wine. We are impacted and motivated most by that which we don’t come across everyday or that which comes in a limited supply. Spot the scarcity and rock it.

Be the Most Positive Person in the Room

Powerful leaders neutralize the infectious cycle of negativity; they deploy hope where it’s seemingly forsaken. Enlisting yourself as the most positive person in the room breaks the binds of negativity. Change the music and people will either stop dancing or start dancing a new step. Either way, it will set a precedence.

Go Bigger than Your Paycheck

Have the audacity to go bigger than your role. If a colleague is struggling to meet a deadline or lagging in productivity, be the first to roll up your sleeves and do whatever it takes to help out. Knock the status quo “it’s not my job” to its knees and do more than you are paid for.

Be the Perfect Investment

When it comes to your relationships, be a dream investment: low cost with exceptional high return. Prove to be a no gossip, no games, no regrets, no maintenance investment of other people’s time and focus. Manage yourself with others at the highest level possible – a.k.a with grace.

Get Naked in Your Conversations

Make your conversations count. Speak with candor. Brave the real issue. Say only that which is helpful: don’t use your words to criticize or divide. Anybody can do that. Be radically honest, define reality. Trust is born out of the truth. Sloganeering and masking the truth breeds mistrust and disrespect. Go to the difficult truths and people will go the mile with you.

Get Famous for Reliability

Become known for acts of reliability. Reliability translates into ownership and taking ownership is a way to present yourself as a leader. Every single person needs to take ownership of the organization’s results. Everyone needs to take responsibility for what does or does not get accomplished in a day. Anyone can reach success if they consistently do the right things.

Turn Everyone Into a Cover Story

Commit to noticing everyone. The young new associate in the elevator on Monday morning, the CFO’s assistant, the receptionist, the customers, the interns… Remember everyone’s contributions, what’s important to her, what he does well, and what makes everyone smile. Everyone is worthy of being the next cover story and leaders show it.

Leadership – Start Today

dbikram — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:50:39 +0000

Leadership means doing your vision (even if you’re title is janitor – be a visionary janitor and create wow in your work). Leadership means staying true to your self. And leadership means, well, not following. When you get to work every day, it’s showtime. No one cares if you have a cold or if you’re feeling off or if you had a fight with your best friend. We are paid to do great work. And the best businesses offer their customers an experience, not just a product or a service. The best businesses create “Fanatical Followers” – customers who are so in love with who you are and what you do that they have crossed the boundary from loyalty into outright fanaticism.

Every single one of us has each day to shift from victimhood into leadership. To transcend our current circumstances to play in the rare-air of excellence, mastery and genius. This isn’t hype. There are people who have learned to do this. Through talent, hard work, ingenuity and leadership, shed the shackles of ordinary and grow into extraordinary. You can do it, in your work and within your life. Starting today!