CEOs, Get Out of the Way!

http://blogs.hbr.org/hbr/nayar/2012/05/lets-just-get-out-of-the-way.html?referral=00563&cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-daily_alert-_-alert_date&utm_source=newsletter_daily_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert_date

Very well articulated by Vineet Nayar(CEO, HCL Technologies Ltd.)

In today’s uber fast-changing age, its the employees(specially new recruits) who have the inclination to change if something is not right and/or improvise the current systems. Ideally the top management and people hanging on to their cosy chairs must acknowledge, appreciate and apply feedback. Of-course not every feedback may be in the interest of the organisation, but if majority is saying the same, there has to be some truth in it.

Organisations who stay in the past, will soon become a thing of the past!

P.S. – I just commend Vineet’s approach to employees, how easily he is approachable and trying to connect with his employees first, through various mediums! 

Fantastic Read : The Twelve Most Important Lessons I’ve Learned So Far

Great post by Tony Schwartz !

Few excerpts :

1. The more we know about ourselves, the more power we have to behave better. Humility is underrated. We each have an infinite capacity for self-deception — countless unconscious ways we protect ourselves from pain, uncertainty, and responsibility — often at the expense of others and of ourselves. Endless introspection can turn into self-indulgence, but deepening self-awareness is essential to freeing ourselves from our reactive, habitual behaviors.

2. Notice the good. We each carry an evolutionary predisposition to dwell on what’s wrong in our lives. The antidote is to deliberately take time out each day to notice what’s going right, and to feel grateful for what you’ve got. It’s probably a lot.

3. Let go of certainty. The opposite isn’t uncertainty. It’s openness, curiosity and a willingness to embrace paradox, rather than choose up sides. The ultimate challenge is to accept ourselves exactly as we are, but never stop trying to learn and grow.

4. Never seek your value at the expense of someone else’s. When we’re feeling devalued, our reactive instinct is to do anything to restore what we’ve lost. Devaluing the person who made you feel bad will only prompt more of the same in return.

To read the remaining go here!

Recommended Read : Managers Don’t Really Want to Innovate

http://blogs.hbr.org/ashkenas/2012/05/managers-dont-really-want-to-i.html?referral=00563&cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-daily_alert-_-alert_date&utm_source=newsletter_daily_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert_date

So true in majority of companies!

Useful read : Engagement Ain’t Nothin’ But A Number!

Its a delight listening/reading what Brian Solis has to say! He is a true Social-Media guru and the way he engages(with his views!) is simply commendable!

Read his interview with Forbes!

Interesting Read : Why E-books cost so much!

 

Very insightful article!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57412587-93/why-e-books-cost-so-much/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

Book Summary #2 : The Traveler’s Gift

Book Summary #2

 The Traveler’s Gift

 By Andy Andrews

 

 

 Background

Forty-six-year-old David Ponder feels like a total failure. Once a high-flying executive in a Fortune 500 company, he now works a part-time, minimum wage job and struggles to support his family. Then, an even greater crisis hits: his daughter becomes ill, and he can’t afford to get her the medical help she needs. When his car skids on an icy road, he wonders if he even cares to survive the crash.

But a unique experience awaits David Ponder. He finds himself traveling back in time, meeting leaders and heroes at crucial moments in their lives—from Abraham Lincoln to Anne Frank. By the time his journey is over, he has received seven decisions for success—and a second chance. The Traveler’s Gift offers a modern day parable of one man’s choices—and the attitudes that make the difference between failure and success.

 

Seven Decisions (you must make!) For Success

Decision #1: The buck stops here!

I accept responsibility for my past. I control my thoughts. I control my emotions. I am responsible for my success.

 

Decision #2: I will seek wisdom!

I will become a humble servant. I will not look for someone to open my door – I will look to open the door for someone. I will not be distressed when no one is available to help me – I will be excited when I am available to help. I will be a servant to others. I will listen to the counsel of wise men. I will choose my friends with care. I will seek wisdom.

 

Decision #3: I am a person of action!

Fear no longer has a place in my life. For too long, fear has outweighed my desire to make things better for my family. Never again! I have exposed fear as a vapour, an impostor that never had any power over me in the first place! I do not fear opinion, gossip, or the idle chatter of monkeys, for all are the same to me. I do not fear failure for in my life, failure is a myth. Failure exists only for the person who quits. I do not quit. I am courageous. I am a leader. I seize this moment. I choose now!

 

Decision #4: I have a decided heart!

What I put off until tomorrow, I will put off until the next day as well. I do not procrastinate. All my problems become smaller when I confront them. If I touch a thistle with caution, it will prick me, but if I grasp it boldly, its spines crumble into dust. I will not wait. I am passionate about my vision for the future. My course has been charted, my destiny is assured!

 

Decision #5: Today I will choose to be happy!

God has bestowed upon me many gifts, and for these I will remember to be grateful. Too many times I have offered up the prayers of a beggar, always asking for more and forgetting to give thanks. I do not wish to be seen as a greedy child, unappreciative and disrespectful. I am grateful for sight and sound and breath. If ever in my life there is a pouring out of blessings beyond that, then I will be grateful for the miracle of abundance. I will greet each day with laughter. I will smile at every person I meet. I am the possessor of a grateful spirit.

 

Decision #6: I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit!

I realize today that it is impossible to fight and enemy living in my head. By forgiving myself, I erase the doubts, fears, and frustration that have kept my past in the present. From this day forward, my history will cease to control my destiny. I have forgiven myself. My life has just begun. I will forgive even those who do not ask for forgiveness. I will forgive those who criticize me unjustly. I will forgive myself.

 

Decision #7: I will persist without exception!

For me, faith will always be a sounder guide than reason because reason can only go so far – faith has no limits. I will expect miracles in my life because faith produces them every day. I will believe in the future that I do not see. That is faith. And the reward of this faith is to see the future that I believed. I will continue despite exhaustion. I focus on results. I am a person of great faith.

 

******************************************************************************

Anirudh

Book Summary #1 : The Secret Letter of The Monk who Sold His Ferrari

P.S. – After much of fighting inertia and procrastination, I have finally got around doing this! Already working on the next one now! Please note this is just a summary of the book, not a review!

Book Summary #1

 The Secret Letters Of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

 By Robin Sharma

Background

In the prequel to this book, the main protagonist – Julian Mantle, is a high powered courtroom lawyer who from the outset is any professional’s dream – Making good money, having a Ferrari, travelling all over, marriage, kids. But from inside nothing is going right for him – his health is on a downhill, he has no time for his family and his marriage is on the rocks. He finally realises he can’t go on like this when he gets a massive heart attack at the age of 45.

He leaves everything (even his Ferrari!) and goes to Himalayas in order to get his life back. There he meets a monk and his life seems to be recycled like never before. He is looking much younger than he looked at 45; his face is all radiant and glowing. He is finally living and enjoying life in its entirety!

In this sequel of a book, Julian decides to help his nephew – Jonathan Landry who is going through a similar phase in his life. He sends him on a journey to collect the various 9 amazing talisman accompanied by life-saving letters that carry the extraordinary secrets that Julian discovered when he went to Himalayas.

On a remarkable journey around the globe to places such as Buenos Aires, Paris, India, Shanghai to name a few, Jonathan meets some amazing people who live the wisdom which Julian shared with them and in the journey reclaims his life!

 

Quick Brief of the Nine Life-saving Letters

Letter 1: The Power of Authenticity

The most important gift we can give ourselves is the commitment to living our authentic life. To be true to ourselves, however, is not an easy task.

 

Letter 2 : Embrace Your Fears

What holds us back in life is the invisible architecture of fear. It keeps us in our comfort zones, which are, in truth, the least safe places in which to live.

 

Letter 3: Live with Kindness

It is important to remember that just as our words are our thoughts verbalised, so our deeds are our beliefs actualized. How we treat someone defines how we treat everyone, including ourselves.

 

Letter 4 : Make Small Daily Progress

The way we do small things determines the way that we do everything. If we execute our minor tasks well, we will also excel at our larger efforts.

 

Letter 5 : To Lead Your Best Life, Do Your Best Work

There is no insignificant work in the world. All labour is a chance to express personal talents, to create our art and to realise the genius we are built to be.

 

Letter 6: Choose Your Influences Well

We do not move through our days alone or apart from the world around us. And so we must always be aware of the things and the people we allow into our lives.

 

Letter 7: Life’s Simplest Pleasures Are Life’s Greatest Joys

Most people don’t discover what’s most important in life until they are too old to do anything about it. They spend many of their best years pursuing things that matter little in the end.

 

Letter 8:  The Purpose of Life Is To Love

How well you live comes down to how much you love. The heart is wiser than the head. Honour it. Trust it. Follow it.

 

Letter 9: Stand for Something Bigger than Yourself

There are no extra people alive today. Every single one of us is here for a reason, a special purpose – a mission.

 

For more on each of the letters, you can buy the book here -

Amazon

Flipkart

 

I also found some very interesting statements/quotes (from the book) worth thinking about : 

“Our daily behaviours broadcast our deepest beliefs.”

“It doesn’t matter where you are going, just who you are becoming.”

“Night hides many things, but reveals others.”

“The way you relate to others reveals the way you relate to yourself.”

“Why is that often we allow ourselves to treat family in ways we wouldn’t treat friends – or even those we don’t know? Probably because we assume they will forgive us. But that’s no excuse. “

“You would rather shop than live?”

“The more addicted you are to having; the less devoted you will be to becoming.”

“Real happiness doesn’t come from accumulating things.”

“I’m not going to live the same day over and over again, and call it a life.”

“You can’t move forward while looking back.”

“There is nothing you can do to change the past.”

******************************************************************************************************************

Hope it was helpful!

 

Anirudh

Useful Read : The One Barrier to Your Success

 

Darren Hardy who is the publisher of Success Magazine is a very active blogger on personality-development/self-growth and regularly turns out very useful posts! His latest one in particular seems to hit the nail on his head. Check it out!

http://darrenhardy.success.com/2012/01/the-one-barrier-to-your-success/

 

Cheers!

Life Refreshed!

First things first -

I truly hope the new year is better in all forms for the entire human race! Its in everyone’s interest that we all grow and do well in all aspects of our life!

Having said that I believe at the end of the day its in our hands to make it happen or at-least make an honest effort and I have no doubt it will not go in vain. You reap what you sow and in this life only!

January is a great time to plan things for the year ahead. Its time to refresh your life and start afresh…seriously! If you have had a great year overall, it will be easy to gain momentum and making sure 2012 is even better! If the year 2011 left a lot to be desired, well here is the good news…now is the time to move on! You have a clean canvas to paint a new picture as you want it!

So whats the thing you hear the most in the new year?

Its called new year resolutions!!! Everyone seems to have them or pretend to have them and almost everyone forgets it past the first week of January!

Frankly, I have never made them so I cant say whether it works or not, but am very keen to have one this year. Or rather at-least list out the things I want to accomplish in the coming year.

I have yet to finish the list, but I came across an article by Harvey Mackay which should be a good guideline to keep in mind while creating one.

To give you a brief about the article :

Making a New Year’s resolution is like setting any other type of goal.  You have to choose wisely if you want to achieve something significant.  Remember that a good resolution, like a solid goal, usually has a few definable characteristics:

• Focus.  Set a definite target:  “Lose 10 pounds by June” is better than “Lose some weight.”
• Challenge.  Your resolution should be neither too difficult, nor too easy.
• Commitment.  Share your resolutions with others.  That will help you work on them.
• Presence.  Write down your resolutions in detail, and post your list where you’ll see it often.
• Vision.  Visualize the results you want to achieve every day.

So welcome and embrace the new year like never before and let this be a year which will turn your life around!

Stay happy, stay healthy!

Ciao!

Tally Visionary “Bharat Goenka” Gets Nasscom’s First Ever Lifetime Achievement Award

 

 

Nasscom Product Conclave was a great experience and more so because my company’s MD and Visionary Founder – Mr.Bharat Goenka was conferred with the Nasscom Lifetime Achievement Award. Adding to the excitement is the fact that this was the inaugural year of the award!

Everyone remembers who got it first!  

 

About Nasscom - The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the Indian chamber of commerce is a consortium that serves as an interface to the Indian software industry and Indian BPO maintaining a state of the art information database of IT software and services related activities for use of both the software developers as well as interested companies overseas.