Last week, I had a short conversation with one of my colleagues in HR about the all important topic of employee engagement. In an impromptu conversation, we touched upon a very important point: People love (and remember) stories, not facts. We loved it when our grandparents wrapped important life lessons in form of stories. Vivid […]
Many years ago, I had a chance to visit a friend’s farm on a weekend. My friend owned a huge farm on the outskirts of the city where they had employed farmers. A farmer’s outcome was quality of the crop. To ensure this, the farmer worked the soil, got the best seeds from the marketplace, […]
Have you ever experienced the following? You complete a project and then do a small ‘post-mortem / retrospective analysis’ of what went well and what did not. You then document these lessons in a nice looking template and share it with all stakeholders before getting onto the next project. Next project looks exciting in the […]
June 2010 – a brilliant month as far as blogging is concerned. I wrote on a wide variety of topics and a lot of my writing was recognized by the blogosphere. That was satisfying. Recognitions raise the bar and help us to do better. June was also a month of anticipating some respite in heat […]
The rubber meets the road when you, as a business leader… deliver real business results to customers (not just deliver an excellent pitch with an impressive powerpoint) start executing relentlessly (not just define your strategy on paper at an off site planning retreat) implement improvements in your processes (not when you create that good looking […]
Here is a quick question: “Can a leader make a big difference (through a great team, organization or product) operating in a ‘survival’ mindset?” You guessed it right if you said No. They can’t. Here’s why: To make a big difference, a leader has to operate from the zone of “abundance”. Zone of “possibilities”. Leadership, […]
I heard this statement a few years back from one of my colleagues – “Training is a waste of time, people just don’t engage.” This statement sparked some intense debate that shaped my own thoughts on training. (I wrote earlier about taking a holistic view of training). To ensure that employee training is NOT a […]
** Great teachers are invariably great leaders because they: inspire greatness amongst their students. influence them to bring about a positive change in their lives. enable students to define their personal vision. elevate performances of students. see each student as a human being. ‘listen’ to their students’ unique needs. not only teach explicit subjects but […]
The most memorable things in our career are the ones we initiated. People love saying, “I was the one who started the NY office” or “I defined the testing processes here” or “I bought our first consulting assignment” or “I started it from scratch”. During the hiring process, I encounter a number of people who […]