25 HOURS AND THREE BALLS
by
Rajesh Soundararajan
SMASHWORDS EDITION
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PUBLISHED BY
Rajesh Soundararajan on Smashwords
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25 HOURS AND THREE BALLS
Copyright © 2011 by Rajesh Soundararajan
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SMASHWORDS EDITION LICENSE NOTES
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
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DEDICATED TO
Lavanya, Vimala and TG Soundararajan
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FOREWORD
It has been my long time wish to help people be more successful. I have seen through career that people have the skills, competencies and experiences and yet they underestimate their own potential. Often times, they are looking for simple new tricks to make them successful.
I maintain a blog aspire2be that urges you to ‘dare to dream’. For dreams define your aspirations and aspirations sculpt your character. Character determines the person you are and the person you will be.
Happy reading!
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CONTENTS
Part 1 – Getting To The Top 8
Start Your Own Firm
Get Your Dream Job, Not Any Job
Always Take The Job That Offers The Most Money
Be A Profit Centre, Avoid Staff Jobs.
Get Closer To Your Customer. Be A Salesman.
Do Not Be A Paper Pusher, Push Ideas.
Give Zest To Your Hello
One Nasty Email Can Seal Your Career.
Learn Email Basics First: Pass The Test
Wave Your Company’s Flag; Be Its Spokesperson
Make Your Boss Shine Like A Star
Part 2 – Accelerate Progress
Treat All People As Special.
Temper Your Temper
Overpay Your People
Don’t Build Empires And Fiefdoms.
Follow The Footsteps Of Your Boss!
Avoid Office Politics
Avoid Travelling With Your Bosses!
Add Fuel To The Fire!
Don’t Hide The Elephant.
Learn Differentiated Decision Making.
Manage By Moving Away
Part 3 – Staying There
For Your Life’s Sake, Have A Goal
Learn To Juggle The Three Balls.
Only Bet On Yourself!
Be An Active Listener
Have Fun@Work
Be An Icon!
What Do I Want To Be?
Practice Multitasking
Manufacture The 25th Hour Each Day
Keep Physically Fit.
Always Take Vacations.
Do Something Hard And Lonely
Master The Rules Of Time
Realize Your Dream – In Three Steps
Make Your Life A Masterpiece
PART 1 – GETTING TO THE TOP
START YOUR OWN FIRM
To many this thought might unsettle a bit. Others may ponder a bit and give it a thought. And for those who wish to continue working the rest of the articles will continue to help.
A formal employment gives, or at least is supposed to give three things:
Job security
Identity with a name card with title and a company name
Monthly cash flow to sustain living expenses and/ or to create assets.
Job security: The very fact of closure of Lehman and lay-offs by GM, Microsoft and IBM in 2008 only questions the very hypothesis of job security as it exists in salaried jobs today.
Identity: a business card and title does give one a sense of social status. Why would you not achieve the same if you start your own company and become the CEO or consultant? You have just given yourself a title and a job scope, which you have always wanted.
The other aspect of identity is a "company brand" or "revenues" of the company. Think about it – these top Wall Street banks just crumbled. General Motors and Chryslers reported pathetic performance, they just could not get a single act right. You sure are better than those CEOs. At least you did not depreciate public money. In your personal evaluation, your worth needs to be better than what you think by being an appendage to someone else's.
Monthly cash flow is clearly the most rational reasoning and has a practical impact. One needs money, to run their homes, to eat, to pay mortgage and pay for children's education. If one were to calculate these with a level of practicality – just go back and check your current bank reserves and re-prioritize. Most people in middle and senior management should be well off. In most cases, I have seen we can live well, without a job for 5-10 years, with fairly good quality of life style. Does that give you some confidence? You are richer than you think and you are far more capable than you think.
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GET YOUR DREAM JOB, NOT ANY JOB
A CV with a ‘for everyone’ cover letter = junk mail; A CV without a cover letter = waste paper.
Imagine the fate of hundreds of direct mailers that you pick from the mailbox. Do they ever get into your door? They hit the trash somewhere between the mailboxes to the door.
99% of CVs go straight from Inbox to Trash. Some companies auto-generate a nice sounding rejection letter before moving to trash. Most CVs are ignored.
Imagine this –Would you have ever bought a dime of insurance from someone who just barged into your office or home without an appointment? Cold calling has extremely low success rates.
You are the product and your CV is your brochure. Super sales people never send a brochure before meeting with a prospective customer. Super sales people send brochure after the first meeting or bring it with them on follow-up calls. If the brochure is not completely customized to the customer’s needs, the sales person highlights the product benefits that will have the highest chance of solving the customer’s problems. Super sales people create interest in their products and use the brochures to re-affirm and to leave a lasting impression of the product or the meeting.
Just follow what super sales people do and make your CV stick. That happens only after customer reads it after talking to you, hearing about you, or meeting you. This is particularly true if you have interviewed or spoken to the hiring manager. Your CV will be able to deliver to the ‘needs’
Turn junk mail into an offer letter. Do not send a CV without proper preparation. If possible, deliver your CV in person. Present your CV. Follow-up with your CV that meets the needs.
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ALWAYS TAKE THE JOB THAT OFFERS THE MOST MONEY
Yes! You heard it right.
Remember Robert Kiyosaki in Rich - “Money is not the cause of all evil, lack of it is”. Well if you believe in that, read on.
After you have chosen your profession whether it is banking, advertising, manufacturing, software, or something else – go and work for the company that offers you the most money. If you have not figured it out on what career or industry is for you, better still, take the job that offers you the most money. If you are already in the organization, always take the transfer, or assignment that pays the most money. (How disgusting can we get, we have used money four times in this paragraph).
There are five key reasons why you must go for the money.
All your benefits, bonuses and subsequent raises will be based on your salary. Companies usually give extra compensation as percentages. Hence, a 10% rise on a $120,000 @ $120, better than the same raise on a $100,000 salary.
The higher paid you are, the more visible to top management you will be. (They will want to keep tabs on that super-duper guy who is taking away so much of company money)
The more money you are paid, the more contribution will be expected of you. (Whoever said, there was free lunch). This means you will be given more responsibility, bigger tasks and tougher problems to solve. And hence - more chance to perform which in itself is an invitation to success.
If there are two candidates vying for a promotion to a job that pays $150,000 and one makes $100,000 while the other $120,000, the higher paid person gets the job regardless of talent contribution or anything else. Corporations take the easy way out and it is easier to promote the higher paid than the lower paid. (Promoting the higher paid employee is the path of least resistance in most situations. Someone else has already approved the higher paid’s compensation. That means he must be really good. Others just concurred. In fact the sponsors of the higher paid are themselves even higher paid. Promoting the higher paid endorses the wisdom of the upper management. Whoever said, it was fair!)Finally, in business money is the denominator. The more you make the better you are doing. Simple.
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BE A PROFIT CENTRE, AVOID STAFF JOBS.
Why do we say that?
Well for starters, let us see the difference between Line jobs and Staff jobs.
Line jobs make money for your organization. In some places they are also called profit centres. Line jobs bring in money and have direct relationship with profit and loss. They impact the business and bottom line directly. They are the reason for your organization’s existence.
Staff jobs, also called as cost centres in organizations include lawyers, planners, data processing people, research and development, scientists and administrators of all types. Some justifiable staff jobs indirectly get and keep customers. Jobs that don’t get and keep customers are redundant.
In today’s organization structures the distinction between line jobs and staff jobs is sometimes blurred. It is still easy to identify them - line jobs are where the action is. Period.
Line jobs include sales people, sales managers, product managers, plant managers, marketing directors, foremen and general managers – generally revenue generating functions.
In many companies, majority of the people are either doing administration or field sales. Administrative people are not bad or untalented. But the organizations do not usually view them as cutting edge. The company does not depend on them. They are increasingly being replaced by automated computer systems and application software that can manage the routine. In other cases, these people are replaceable by people from other industries with minimal training and tolerable impact to business.
Take a staff job only if it is
purely temporary, a stepping stone and if it pays more money.
Be
sure what the line and staff jobs in your company are. Be sure to get
the right one. You do not want to be a cost centre. Do you?
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GET CLOSER TO YOUR CUSTOMER. BE A SALESMAN.
Is it a coincidence that majority of corporate Presidents started as a salesman or were sales people at some point in their career?
Selling is a super critical function. Selling possibly is the only function that gets up close and personal to your customer. A sales person starts to understanding customer’s likes, dislikes and idiosyncrasies. They get to know the precise reason why a product or company clicks or why it ticks.
And as the salesperson grows in the organization to increased responsibilities, they start shaping products, teams and organization structures to address their customer’s need. They have first-hand experience and the conviction required to fix things that generates revenue for the company. Over time and not surprisingly, the successful salesman becomes a star within the company. He is well recognized, for the sales man knows their customers the best.
When management wants to hire for a position on the management team, whom do you think would be on their A-list – A star salesman?
Secondly, since organizations exist because of their customers, management would prefer someone who has been with the customers for senior positions.
Thirdly, in all probability the current CEO and the executive team were salespersons themselves in the career. It is only natural for biases towards star salespersons.
Whatever is the case if you are a salesman you are in good hands? You have the inherent advantage to get to the top. If not, get a role in sales to fill up that gaping hole in your otherwise impeccable record.
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DO NOT BE A PAPER PUSHER, PUSH IDEAS.
As modern corporations grow to become global businesses, there is an increasing need for ‘replicable models’ and ‘standardized processes’.
While, practically every organization and every job description demands the need for qualities like entrepreneurship, innovative and risk taking – that precise quality that is being killed every day in most organizations. Pangs of growth, they would say!
Corporations are afraid of internal entrepreneurs. They cannot handle personalities that build businesses. Most managers cannot deal with informal, anti-policy, anti-procedure style, idea people and business builders. They want monthly reports, detailed expense accounts, and personal reviews on paper, quarterly reports, year-end reports, stock reports, one hundred page business plans and many more. Do not get paper-strapped. Papers are means to an end.
Do not get paper trapped. Do not accept those handcuffs. The zillion reports, if they do not help in decision making – do not prepare them. If some report has to be done and you know no one looks at it, avoid it at all costs. If it is unavoidable, delegate it to the junior-most level staff. Just do not do anything that does not improve your company’s performance.
PS: At the same time please do document the statutory things that are important for your company existence.
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GIVE ZEST TO YOUR HELLO
Always answer the phone with
enthusiasm in your voice and show your appreciation for the caller.
In today’s times where telephonic conversation is over mobile
phones and VOIPs are a norm, this aspect has become even more crucial
in creating the first impression.
We all are very perceptive
when the person at the other end is just not listening to us in the
conference call or he is just bored.
How many times have you
got disappointed with the apathetic approach with a call centre? How
would you react when you call 900 and the person at the other end
answers with lethargy and disinterest?
Yes, these are extreme
examples. Good phone manners are essential.
To convey authority on the line, stand up. This will instil further confidence in your voice.
To convey empathy, get closer to the phone – switch off the speaker phone - and pick up the receiver.
To convey friendliness, smile. The other party can sure hear your smile.
Practice this for a week and you will see the difference in the way people react to you.
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ONE NASTY EMAIL CAN SEAL YOUR CAREER.
Well, wise men said it in the past and it is true even today – “before you utter something, count to 10, take a deep breath and then speak”. “What you have not said, you can always say later. What you have said, you can never take it back”
Never write a note that criticises, hurts or belittles or humiliates a colleague.
Do not write a condescending note or a note that is unkind, sexist or does not respect the individual.
Never send out an email that is written in anger or frustration.
We live in a small world. People get promoted, change companies, jobs, roles.
They have influential friends. Companies merge, acquired or get acquired.
Your self-made enemy may show up anywhere. Never give a company rival a smoking gun.
Spend your energy in positive things.
Makes sense? Common sense?
Suggesting Reading: Try “Manipulative Memos” by Arthur D. Rosenberg
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LEARN EMAIL BASICS FIRST: PASS THE TEST
Why would we want to focus on writing an email, something as simple and common?
Because, the US economy loses over $900 billion annually in lost productivity and up to 28 present of workers' time due to information overload because of email. The impact is severe - not enough strategic thinking time, lack of work/life balance, and workflow breakdowns.
The common problems are usually - compulsively checking e-mail, loosely constructing e-mails, holding thousands of e-mail messages in the inbox
If you want to get control of e-mail, you must first re-examine these approaches, recognize that they may not be working, and replace them with behaviours to manage e-mail more effectively, as individuals first, then as teams and organizations.
Ask yourself these four questions while composing e-mails that are lengthy and take more than two minutes to write.
P - What's the Purpose of your communication and does it relate to a Meaningful Objective? (If it doesn't relate back to your Meaningful Objectives consider renegotiating or disengaging.
A - What Action is involved and does it have a due date? (Be clear about what you want the recipient to do: take physical action, respond only, read only, or simply review as an FYI. When using time lines be discerning and make sure they mean something and hold people accountable to your timeliness. )
S - What Supporting documentation do you need to include? (Identifying the supporting information that the recipient needs in order to complete the requested action successfully. This will reduce the likelihood of your message coming back to you with questions. )
S - Have you effectively summarized your communication in the Subject Line? (Follow three elements to a good Subject Line: clarify the meaningful objectives or projects that the e-mail message relates to, clearly indicate the action requested, and identify a due date, if there is one.
So the next time you write an email, let people talk about your ability to ‘pass’ the test.
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WAVE YOUR COMPANY’S FLAG; BE ITS SPOKESPERSON
Let me twist this the other way round –
How would you feel if the President of your company is cynical about your organization, its products, its people and its processes? Would you work for that President?
If you want to head this company someday, would it not be fair that you commit yourself totally to its people, products and services. You must understand the company’s mission and its values. You must live the company culture. You must do this as your second nature. You must at all times be worthy of being a representative of the company that you work for.
Use its products. If possible promote them tirelessly to all, especially family and friends.
Buy your company’s stock, if available (and affordable).
Talk about the great people you work with. Be proud about them as your colleagues and friends.
We have all seen this often times that
Customers do not buy from salesmen who do not believe in their product.
Candidates do not join companies where HR does not believe in their own company’s values
Employees do not want to work for managers who do not believe in the company
prospective employers shun candidates who talk ill of their previous organizations
If you do not believe in your company’s products, values, services or vision – Do not work for that company. There is no point in having you go through the dissonance each day, personally and with people around you. If you do not believe in smoking or explosives or that addictive video game, don’t work for such companies.
Cynicism about one’s own company, its people and products is hallmark of a loser, not its future President.
PS: I am not suggesting that you must blindly advocate the wrong, if the company does one. If something is amiss, critique it constructively, offer to help and share with your superiors on the disconnect and how you plan to fix them. Do all it takes to fix it. Or, maybe there is a reason for the way things are that you may not know. By all means avoid the gossips and cynicism.
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MAKE YOUR BOSS SHINE LIKE A STAR AND YOUR SUPER BOSS A POLE STAR!
Q: How do you rise up in the organization?
A: Take your boss’s job faster than others.
Having said that, your Boss cannot vacate his job, unless he has a better job! So essentially it means two things
1. Make your Boss look good so that he is promotable.
2. Make yourself promotable by making your Boss’s Boss look better.
Why am I talking of your super Boss here – because you must look good to your Boss’s Boss as well. Because in many cases, Boss’s Boss still is influential and is a key player in your growth. He may not proactively push your case. But if he does not see worthy of the job, he will stall your case.
How does one make these happen? I am not talk of sucking up or sycophancy here!
You make people look good by these eight steps. Simple…
Anticipate their needs
Do that extra work to solve their problems
Keep them informed. By far, this is where most people fail.
Always finish work ahead of schedule.
Do a little bit more than expected
See your job and actions through their eyes.
See their job through their eyes
Don’t let them make a mistake.
Hmm… get cracking today!
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PART 2 – ACCELERATE PROGRESS
TREAT ALL PEOPLE AS SPECIAL.
People are people.
They are more than people. They are mothers, fathers, friends, coaches, teachers, volunteers, photographers, charity workers and contributors. They can do a lot of things if they are appreciated and they can do it better if they are motivated and thanked.
Successful managers make people feel special. People who work with excellent mangers feel that they
are needed not used…
are contributors, not costs…
are workers not worked…
are instrumental, not instruments
are sold on what to do, not tell…
are people, not personnel…
are measured, not monitored…
are asked, not questioned. . .
are well paid, not underpaid.
Suggested reading - Whale Done! : The Power of Positive Relationships by Kenneth Blanchard, Thad Lacinak, Chuck Tompkins, and Jim Ballard
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TEMPER YOUR TEMPER
Temper tantrums, sulking, finger-pointing are all signs of panic. More corporate heads have rolled because of the above than any other single display of emotion.
When managers panic, they lose their temper and behave in what would go down in history as the ‘best regrettable moment’. Good CEOs do not panic. Nor lose their temper. They are confident and in-control in adverse situations. That earns them the respect.
If a colleague makes an unkind comment to you, do not respond. It is OK to smile. Your supporters will be as offended as you. Your detractors will sense your control. Anybody else will see you above the fray. Do not get angry. Even when anger is justified, observers are put off by the angry person.
This can be a cultivated habit and its importance cannot be underemphasized. Calm down. Tell yourself to say calm. If you have ten seconds to make a decision, think for nine.
Let me illustrate with a story, I heard not so long ago.
In the course of making fine wine, one of the crucial periods is the crush. The crush is those few weeks when grape is selected for harvest, tested for quality, chosen or rejected and crushed to release the juice that will eventually become wine. Mistakes or misjudgements during the crus can adversely impact the entire vintage resulting in damaged reputation and reduced prices and profits.
Some years ago, in the midst of a crush at a famous winery, the president received a frantic call from his managers. The winemaker has resigned. The president immediately knew the damage potential but he stayed calm and thought for a few moments and then asked, “What would you do if the winemaker died instead of resigned?” The managers said they would make so-and-so the winemaker. “So be it”, said the president and the new winemaker carried the winery tradition for fifteen more years.
Go ahead! Start taking control of your temper before it controls you.
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OVERPAY YOUR PEOPLE
Contrarian? Not really!
If a person needs to be paid $5,000 a month, he will know. You pay him $4750, he will know and he will feel cheated. He will not go that extra mile or work that extra hour. Somehow, he will find a way to punish you – mentally, physically or financially – for paying him unfairly. It is a matter of time till he just jumps sides at the first available option – you lose all your efforts of training them. Worse still, he will go to a competitor.
If someone needs to be paid $5,000 pays him $5,750. You will get much more than what it costs you. This person will now stretch and justify the confidence.
Myopic Managers seldom understand this trick. They are cutting costs and feel proud of having shaved that few hundred dollars. Little do they realise that a motivated and charged up employee contributes 25%-100% more than a normal employee. In fact, the ration may go up in multiples, compared to a morose employee who comes to work each day feeling cheated and spends his mental energies looking for better opportunities.
People are an investment, not costs. I would have a fewer people who work at 120% efficiency than a bunch of blokes working at 70% efficiency.
The old adage – “if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys” – still holds true. In fact if a manager prides about paying the lowest salaries, they better be sacked. After all they are doing disservice to the company and killing the innovation and larger game plan by saving a few bucks.
PS:
A higher pay, does well to a man’s ego and confidence. Anything that does that is a sure shot way to get phenomenally better result.
Better still, they become unemployable as most players in the market cannot afford to pay her that.
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DON’T BUILD EMPIRES AND FIEFDOMS.
Another big myth from practicing managers is that they think that the biggest budget and the most people reporting to them is a guarantee to get them to the top. This probably was true in the days of kings not in today’s flat world. Today, it is all (only) about doing more with less.
Do more – Grow revenue, profits, market share – with less people, money and resources.
A few cardinal rules
never complain that you are expected to do more than what your budget enables
do not be that manager who is constantly hiring people
never use lack of resource as an excuse
Forget the empire. Power and promotions go to people who can do more with less. Efficient producers not resource hungry administrators.
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FOLLOW THE FOOTSTEPS OF YOUR BOSS!
‘Boss bitching’ is a fad. An entertaining one, at that; though not the right one to take you to the top.
All of us have heard people who can just complain and complain about their bosses – just give them an opportunity and they can rattle the worst things about their twenty-seven bosses through career. They share horrifying stories about their tyrannical and incompetent bosses that have reached the top while leaving these people in the lurch. Such sad stories are for losers.
Winners do not have tyrannical bosses. They have fantastic bosses and amazing supervisors.
Just as most people can vividly remember their memorable teachers and their teachings from kindergarten to Graduate school, the same applies to business. Winners do remember learning from their bosses.
They know that most people do not have a choice on hiring their bosses. But they do have a choice of learning the good qualities from them. They know that nobody is perfect, and everybody is good at something. Winners learn, study, emulate the good things from their boss – whoever they are.
Great teachings from superiors are subtle, yet significant—they praise properly, they are fair goal setters, they are honest, they let people grow. There may have their idiosyncrasies and whims – but great bosses are usually hard working, smart and open minded.
Seek those people early in your career. Seek people with those qualities. Work for them. Watch them closely. See how they handle problems and handle criticism. Note how they manage people and get things done.
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AVOID OFFICE POLITICS
Another common myth is that people think that the road to the top is by being either ‘at the feet’ or ‘at the Throat’. They make politicking a virtue and an obvious way of life. Such people survive in poor organizations.
Rampant office politics is sign of a weak leader. It stems from incompetence, inefficiency and is fuelled by reward system/ performance metrics that are unclear and unfair. Instead of fighting competition, acquiring new customers and help in improving efficiency these managers fight each other and curry favour. You may even have heard statements like “there are customers, competitors and enemies”, the last one being an internal entity.
Don't waste your time. Avoid politics at all costs. As a professional, spend your time creating and accomplishing. Your actions are your politics. Be irreproachable in your actions and results. Contribution counts in any good company. And if you are not in such a company change the company!
Be the last to know. Don’t get sucked in. Don’t let people tell you something if they say it are ‘confidential’. Don’t ask, don’t answer, and don’t agree. Don't say anything bad about any one. Don’t gossip. Say I don’t know.
Just work!
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AVOID TRAVELLING WITH YOUR BOSSES!
This rule is somewhat counter-intuitive.
Most aspirants to the top jobs usually jump at the opportunity to travel with the superiors. They think that travelling with bosses gives them that extra time to shine. Don’t do it. Good senior executives judge on results, not on clever conversations.
Good top managers are also busy and unless you are working on their projects, in less than ten minutes they get back to what they are working on.
You must spend your travel time working. Airplane time is work time, so you may want to fly by yourself and gain those extra few hours.
If you travel with a top executive and end up working on the flight, they would think you are doing it to impress them. Worse still, they want to read a book, relax, take a nap or may be watch a movie and they will be unsettled by your industriousness. Even if you have to fly the same plane, sit in a different section.
Hotel time is also work time. If you travel with superiors they may be obligated to ask you for dinner. If they don’t you will feel hurt. Either ways your valuable time is wasted.
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ADD FUEL TO THE FIRE!
Making an impact is a good thing. To leave a mark is a good thing.
However in this destructive goal pursuit of ‘leaving a mark’ and ‘making an impact’ managers often reverse their predecessors decision and change things just to ‘leave a mark’ and ‘make an impact’.
Successful CEOs from Jack Welch to Lou Gerstener did change a zillion things. They did make an impact. But they did retain one characteristic – they encouraged good things.
If you find good things – however dull, old or tried – just add fuel to it. Catalyse more of it. Not every success is about solving a problem, or doing a turnaround. The sole financial objective of a company is to give significant returns to its shareholders.
You do this by finding and filling your customer’s needs. If you customers love it – do not change it. Do not change the labels, the ingredients, the name, price, advertising or anything else.
IBM understood the power of its eight bar logo and its brand name. Coke understood the power of its ingredients. The Disney Company understands the value of Mickey Mouse. P&G is never tired of telling people that Ivory soap is “99 and 44/100 per cent pure”. And they did it for fifty, seventy, hundred years.
Don’t change the formula for success – Add fuel to the fire!
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DON’T HIDE THE ELEPHANT.
Big problems will always surface. Even if they are hidden unintentionally, the fall out is disastrous when they surface. The ‘hiders’ are always face a more serious censure than the ‘discoverers’. The discoverers are being safe. The ‘hiders’ were trying to cover up. The fall-out is not always nice.
When you know of a big problem or a goof up, let the bosses know immediately. The delay is only going to worsen things. At least, if you shout early, you can get help.
Turn the problem into opportunity. Give them a potential estimate of loss. Give possible scenarios. Give solutions to come out of the situation. Ask for help, resources, management support. At least they can strengthen your hands. It is also important that you position yourself of independent reporter in control. Describe the problem as if you were not previously involved.
Watergate to Vietnam, bankruptcies to Iraq, all elephants that were hidden and mismanaged. They grew bigger and bigger and beyond control. When they could no more be hidden, the hiders lost everything.
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LEARN DIFFERENTIATED DECISION MAKING.
One of those big myths about business decision making is about the inherent admiration of an aggressive, super-sure, quick decision maker. This strategy may be great in certain situations – not so good in others.
Some decisions in haste can be reversed, altered or has little impact. These haste decisions are necessary if there is a fire in a factory. Decisions made for the sake of speed are a little different from decisions that require swiftness. Understanding the difference is critical.
There are two kinds of decisions – revocable and irrevocable.
Revocable decisions are changeable decisions that can be made relatively fast and if it is wrong or needs to be altered, can be changed again relatively fast wit comparatively minimal impact. Examples would be - Office layouts, Advertising schedules, Not making a decision, Pricing, Phone service provider, Choosing an insurance company, even hiring a contract staff or a tier 2 reseller.
Irrevocable decisions such as brand name, acquisitions, executive hires, buildings, IT architecture are usually not easily irrevocable. Exercise caution while taking irrevocable decisions. Even if you need to take these decisions under time pressure, then you need to read fast, assimilate information fast, analyse fast, think fast and then decide. The decision may seem fast – but as a manager – you know you have done your due diligence.
Sounds easy! The essence of understanding the difference is the situations under which you operate in a particular mode that will make you successful.
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MANAGE BY MOVING AWAY
Over the weekend my wife posed me an interesting question - "How can we tell leaders to be less intimidating, even when their influence on subordinates is unintentional?"I quipped – “Is it me, you are talking about?”, since both of us work in the same firm and I happen to be its CEO.
On a serious note, I said, “A good question, and my first answer – Just get away from there”. This is sometimes the best thing a superior can do, by physically not being there and stifle the thinking and suggestions in a group of otherwise similar-status peers. I am sure there are many examples each of us can come back with.
What is really happening here?
In many a situation the leader unintentionally imposes his ideas on others, thus hindering free thinking. This may not be the ‘Directive Leadership’ that Social psychologist Clark McCauley describes in his research on factors influencing Groupthink. In fact, in many Asian cultures the hierarchical structure is so deeply ingrained that even the mere presence of the superior, prevents free thinking and free exchange of ideas. It may be out of respect or out of fear – whatever the cause the effect is the same - ‘Death of Free Thinking’
To prevent such situations, I have seen many leaders consciously avoid being present in a group workshop or a brain storming session. They visit only towards the end to listen to the summary. Is that a good idea?
May be, partly. While that solves this problem, it creates another beast. Over time, the superior becomes ignorant and aloof from the ground realities. The leader loses the precious knowledge on how the team thinks and works.
What then is the right answer? I do not have clear answers, except to say you may want to do either of it in moderation.
Story of Cuban Missile Crisis:
In October of 1962 when President John F. Kennedy's advisers were debating about what to do about the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet Union was taking steps to place missiles topped with nuclear weapons just 90 miles from Florida. Kennedy had gathered experts with diverse opinions and knowledge and encouraged them to express their opinion.
As Irving Janis mentions in his article Groupthink, at one point, Kennedy divided the larger group into multiple sub-groups and asked each to develop solutions -- in order to avoid excessive and premature consensus. Kennedy also reduced the potentially stifling effects of his status as president by being deliberately absent from these subgroup meetings,
Although historians and psychologists continue to debate how important such measures to avoid groupthink were for producing the decisions that ultimately defused the crisis, I think that the more general lesson holds: sometimes the best way for a leader to reduce undue influence is to leave the room or avoid going to meetings where his or her presence will hinder frank discussion and deep examination of facts.
Was it then a surprise disaster was in the making.
The golden rule of any successful manager or entrepreneur – he should bet only and only if he can influence and has control. Risk taking is not a great idea if you do not control the risk factors.
* * * * *
PART 3 – STAYING THERE
FOR YOUR LIFE’S SAKE, HAVE A GOAL
In football or hockey you need goals to win. A goal is a result of successful effort - No Goals, No Glory.
Let us look at another example – Even before a pilot takes off from an airport, he needs to know his destination. Without the destination there is no flight path. And without a flight path there is no take-off. You may be the best of the pilots – you still need to know where you are going.
That said, the single most important action in your entire life, is the setting of goals.
The term No Goals, No Glory. Works just as much in your business as your life.
· How will you set directions for your team if you cannot tell them what to chase – sales target, cost savings, zero-defect. Whatever it may be.
· Ho will you set direction for yourself if you do not know where to go – career progress, family needs, money?
Once you have the goals – written down – personal or professional – direct your focus, energies and resources towards achieving them. You would ideally have two sets of goals – one for your business and one for your life.
You can start with a long term goal (vision) and deep dive into fifteen-ten-five-one year time tables. One way of planning it out could be as follows:
Your Dream List – 15, 10, 5 year goals
Your Vision and SWOT
Your Year Plan of Action
Your monthly Plan of Action
Your Monthly self-assessment
If you don’t have goals – you have no reason to get them in the first place.
My favourite way of putting it - “If you do not know where you are going, you will never get lost”.
* * * * *
LEARN TO JUGGLE THE THREE BALLS.
Learn this fundamental equation about life. Your life can be broadly classified into three areas
Family
Career
Money
The beautiful interplay of
these three facets is unceasing and perpetual. Needless to say
different aspects require different focus at different times. You may
for example, start off early in life with a focus on career where you
learn new skills and become a subject matter expert. Over time you
may shift your focus towards building financial security. At this
point, you may want to monetize your skill sets and negotiate for
better money.
Or there may also be the situation that you had just got married or you just had a baby and prefer to dedicate the next few years primarily to family while continuing to juggle with money and career to make you a the most amazing husband or a father. This is not to say that one is not important than the other. It is more of to help you prioritize these balls while juggling.
Remember, while you are juggling these balls, there can be additional complexities. These three balls change their form. At different points different rubber balls may turn into glass balls. You cleverness is to recognize on the glass balls and drop the rubber balls if you need to. A classic example would be a situation where a marriage is on the rocks because of your hectic travel (career focus) and you are on the brink of separation. Or you are fast depleting your financial reserves while you continue to stick to a career with a firm that gave you fancy titles but just have been paying you 50% of what the market can pay you for a similar job.
While they may broadly be
connected and seem interchangeable – they are not. For e. g. a good
career broadly would means good money – not necessarily. Good money
would mean good family life – but not necessarily – you may be
chasing money while, all that your daughter wants is to spend that
one hour with you in the evening.
How
do you action this?
Plan:
Sit down and think hard. What is the most important thing in your
life now? What is the goal (measurable timeline) on that front to say
that you have achieved that? What is the second priority and what is
the third. At which point would you want to reprioritize one for the
other - money for career or family and vice-versa. It is important
that you have a broad plan.
Over time, monitor if you are on the
right path. If at any time you feel disgruntled – revisit the
priorities – are you focusing on the right areas?
Are you achieving results on the
order of priority? If not, reprioritize.
- If you already
doing the right thing be
happy – you are on
the right path.
* * * * *
ONLY BET ON YOURSELF!
When my nephew was seven years old, his favourite cricket team Deccan Chargers was clearly winning, with 12 runs needed off 36 balls and two wickets to spare. Convinced of the victory, he offered to bet his grandfather on the outcome of the game. His grandfather laughed and agreed. The stakes were $4. 64, all they money that the seven year old had. In the next five minutes the bowler took two straight wickets and the boy lost.
The kid hated to lose and as he was giving away his life’s earnings his grandfather said, “Only bet on you. Don’t bet on events and people you can't control to influence. Don’t bet on what you don’t know or understand. ”
These golden words hold immense wisdom in business. History is galore with examples from sub-prime crisis to Wall Street crash to the dot-com burst. These events had downed hundreds of companies and rendered millions unemployed. They had one common characteristic. The executives of the failed firms had an appetite for risks. More importantly they were betting on risks beyond their control; on things they did not understand and on things that they did not believe in.
* * * * *
BE AN ACTIVE LISTENER
“How does one talk to people and make a good conversation?”
The answer – “Simple, Just be an active Listener?”
The art of a good conversation centres squarely on one’s ability to ask questions and to listen attentively to the answers. While it might be true that you talk about your views, insights, ideas, and opinions the real art of talking is in listening.
Perfecting the art of listening is by asking relevant, well-worded questions that guides the conversation and gives other people an opportunity to express themselves. They reveal their emotions, illustrate their views and share their opinions. Each of these is super important if you want to build on the conversation.
There are simple four steps that anybody can follow. Practice diligently and you will be the most admired conversationalist in a few weeks.
Ask Open Ended Questions: Ask open-ended questions that cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no. “Open-ended questions encourage the speaker to expand on his thoughts and comments. E. g.: “How are you feeling today?”, “What do you think of . . . . .” And one question will lead to another. You can ask open-ended questions almost endlessly, drawing out of the other person everything that he or she has to say on a particular subject.
Listen Actively: In order to be an excellent conversationalist, you must resist the urge to control the discussion. The very best conversationalists, as any salesman would tell you are low-key, easy-going, cheerful, and genuinely interested in the other person. They seem to be quite content to listen when other people are talking and they make their own contributions to the dialogue rather short and to the point.
Share Airtime: In fact, in a good conversation ideas and thoughts both-ways smoothly like a flow of water. Whether it is one-one, one-many, the conversation should shift back and forth, with each person getting an opportunity to talk. Conversation in this sense is like a ball that is tossed from person to person, with no one holding on to it for very long. If you feel that you have been talking for too long, you should stop and ask a question of someone in the group. You will be tossing the conversational ball and giving that individual an opportunity to converse.
Learn to Listen Well: Listening is the most important of all skills for successful conversation. Many people are very poor listeners. Since everyone enjoys talking, it takes a real effort to practice the fundamentals of excellent listening and to make them a habit.
Practice, Practice, Practice.
* * * * *
HAVE FUN@WORK
Business is tough and may is not joy ride. That should not stop you from emanating joy and having fun along the way.
As a manager, you are expected to keep the team focussed towards the goal. You are supposed to lead them through the journey. You can make the journey hard, grumpy and tiring. Or you have a choice to make the joy, fun and lively.
It is a common knowledge that people who enjoy their work can be more creative, more enthusiastic and more productive. Conversely, an environment that is constantly serious and matter-of-fact is stressful and inefficient.
The manager who is able to maintain a sense of humour, lightens the mental load will always have a motivated happy team. A motivated less stressed team is a more productive team. They achieve things faster, better and bigger.
Sense of humour is mark of intelligence and quality sought out for corporate presidents. If you see it as a rare quality – all the more reason you have a better chance of being one if you possess one.
Makefun@work a reality.
* * * * *
BE AN ICON!
Anyone can be someone under the sun; To be a face in the crowd, one must be an icon. Becoming an icon demands more than just flowing with the current. An icon
acts with responsibility and integrity
believes in his cause
can differentiate between unreal and real
cares for people
defies the herd
icon detests mediocrity
does not need to do popularity gimmicks
exposes the fallacies
has passion for his crusade
helps people around him grow
practices innovation as if it were a religion
questions falsehood
stands up what is right
thinks only win-win
unravels the truth
Not everyone is an icon; each one can aspire to be one.
* * * * *
WHAT DO I WANT TO BE?
Ask these five questions constantly!
What do I want to be?
What do I love?
What will I never tire of doing?
What do I want to be in 5 years?
What do I want people to remember me by?
In today’s world, it is important that you aspire to do something that you really love! There are numerous opportunities & if you are one of the real few, who really know what to do, by when, then you are already halfway there.
What are you waiting for?
* * * * *
PRACTICE MULTITASKING
Moving up the ladder requires you to do many tasks at the same time. They may be managing multiple projects, juggling things to do, manage people and expectations to just name a few. This also requires the coordination of efforts of several people, each of whom is responsible for a part of the job, with every part of the job being necessary for successful completion. Your ability to handle these multitask jobs is a critical skill for success.
Multitasking is a must have and no more a ‘nice to have’ quality: It is not surprising that the study by Stanford University of the qualities that companies look for in promoting people into the position of chief executive officer concluded that the ability multitask and put together a team to accomplish a task was the single most important identifiable quality of an executive who was destined for the fast track in his/her career.
Is this an inherited talent or a learnable skill? I have heard often times by people that they just cannot do multiple things at the same time? It is not their DNA. They can read the newspaper and have their morning coffee. They can watch television and brush their teeth. Project management is a learnable skill, like riding a bicycle. Similarly, any project can be divided into a series of steps, each of which you can master, one at a time. You begin by defining the end-game. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? What is the face of success? Start by defining the end.
Where to Start? Start where it matters - at the beginning. What you are going to have to do? Determine the specific outcome and timeline. Make sure that it is realistic and achievable.
Build the troops: Bring together the people who are required to make this project a success. Sometimes you need to assemble a team before you can even decide upon the ideal result and the schedule. People are everything, take ample time and think carefully about the people and what they are going to do.
Create a shared vision: A shared vision is an ideal future picture of success that everyone believes in. How do you do that? You sit down with the people in the team nod work with them to answer the question, "What are we trying to accomplish?" You encourage everyone to contribute, visualize, and to imagine the ideal outcome or desired result of the project. Once this vision is clear and shared by everyone, you move on to the development of "shared plans" to achieve the vision.
Set Schedules and Deadlines: Once you have a shared vision and plans, and everyone knows exactly what is to be done and what the ideal results will look like, the next step is for you to set a deadline for project completion based on the consensus of your team.
Follow through: Follow through to completion
* * * * *
MANUFACTURE THE 25TH HOUR EACH DAY
One wise man said 10 years ago: “They only manufacture watches. Wish they could manufacture time”
Circa 2010, the wise man rephrased his earlier statement: “They still cannot manufacture time, but each individual can”
And here is how the wise man realised how one can manufacture the 25th hour.
Just do one thing - Do the Important Things.
A time-tested tactic if used well would get you that extra hour or may be a couple of hours every day. Slot every activity you do into one of the four quadrants in the picture. Do Quadrant 1, 2, 3, 4 activities in the same priority order. In fact avoid 3 and 4 if you can. Quadrant 2
Urgent and Important: E. g. Deadlines. Your Boss needs it NOW, to make a presentation to his boss in 2 hours. Unfortunate to be in this state but some has to live with it.
Not Urgent and Important: E. g. spending time with family, Business Planning, Strategizing to pre-empt competitors launch plan 6 months down the line. Do this and this by far is the biggest time saver as you would realise. You may just ignore 3 and 4 and nothing will happen to your life.
Urgent and Not Important: E. g. Interruptions and phone calls. They need to be attended to but the reason for interruption may not be all that important. In fact it might be an absolute time waster. Avoid if you can.
Not Urgent and Not Important: E. g. mindless switching of channels. Sleeping more than 8 hours a day. The zillion timewasters that if you reflect on, you will know.
Now go ahead and listen to the Wise Man’s trick – do the important stuff first.
PS: The wise man is the author of this book.
* * * * *
KEEP PHYSICALLY FIT.
Your brain will make you money, but it is your body that carries your brain. The better shape your physical health is better is your mental health – the greater is your capacity to be productive and efficient.
And there is another good reason. Ninety-five present of people trying to climb the corporate ladder are unfit or out of shape. You will be able to start earlier, take fewer breaks and end your day still energetic and with an enthusiastic spirit.
You will even sleep better. You will energy to spend time with family and even play with your kids. You will be energetic and will be noticed as an energetic leader. Your spirits will be up and there are lesser chances of you getting depressed.
You will have more energy and motivation to meet friends, build network, play your favourite sport, socialize, and see your kid’s theatre, volunteer and a lot more.
It is your choice. How you keep fit is up to you.
* * * * *
ALWAYS TAKE VACATIONS.
Remember those braggers, who claim that they have never taken a vacation in years. He or she must be a fool or a very poor manager. You should be able to set people, systems and processes in such a way that they can function without you. How else will you be able to go out to meet customers?
If your department can work when you travel for customer meetings, so can them when you take vacations.
If your department cannot move an inch without you, then it is a shame on your management style - you have not built an organization that is self-sustaining – start building it.
In any case, there are many reasons why you must take vacations.
If you travel and meet more people, the more you learn. The more you learn the wiser you become. It is not with a reason the great philosophers and kings in those days travelled around the world or went on voyages.
When you are away from the rut of routine, new ideas crop up. You can broaden your horizons and out-of-the-box thinking may emerge. Simpler solutions to solve complex issues!
It will be the time to pursue your other interests – writing a book, photography, snorkelling or climbing the Everest.
It is a time to think and plan. Even a planned vacation forces you to work hard before you leave and finish stuff that otherwise would have taken weeks.
When you come back, you are energized and raring to go to take your team and the organization to the next level – the right thing to do.
Always plan your vacation in advance. Pick your dates, let your bosses know. Never cancel, never leave a phone number. It might be hard first – but try it. Soon it will become a norm.
Experiment and go to different places. But always go.
* * * * *
DO SOMETHING HARD AND LONELY
Contrary to popular notion of doing something in group, do something Hard, Do something Lonely?
Practice something very individualistic and something that that most others will be unwilling to do. This will help you feel tough, help you concentrate, boost your ego and make you feel special. It will mentally prepare you for the business battles. Remember, it does get lonelier at the Top.
Something that is hard and lonely is studying for a graduate in film making, especially in winter, when everyone else is snoozing under their sheets. Or running slow over long distances at 4:00am in the morning (versus jogging with a million others at the fitness club in the evening).
Learn carpentry, write a book, read Tolstoy, but do it yourself. Do it alone and solo.
All the great and successful athletes and artists that you admire did have endless hours of toil when the world was sleeping. So do corporate Presidents.
* * * * *
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