Monday, September 21, 2009

Real Life Leadership Situations..Tire but not Retire


I once heard Arun Shourie saying "I change my career every five years".

A journalist,an economist,a writer, a politician ....

How many hats do you wear?

I have seen many successful people wearing more than one.

Multifaceted personalities are more prone to success and accessible to name and fame than a lessor mortal like us who started their career in Sales and Marketing and retire like with only one hat on.

Who stops us from being multifaceted personality?

Nobody else but "we".

If you to stick to one career you will be stuck in the rut and will get tired and start cursing yourself.Choose at least two career which you can enjoy and will reap results in the second half of your career.

Its easier said than done...its not easy to pull yourself in the mid career for a new career...but think had it been easy it would not have been for you!!!

An alternative career which is more future proof can make you "tire" but not "retire".

Start it today.

Real Life Leadership Situations ...Employee Engagement


Did you feel sometimes that a particular team member is on the verge of changing his job?

And when he actually did it you felt "yes I knew it".

At that juncture you felt that you could have done some thing to avoid the situation.

Could you have stopped the team member from jumping the ship?

Could you have motivated him to look for future in the present organization?

Could you have showed him a growth path?

Yes you could have done it!!

Its simple you need to communicate with the team and when I say communication its means real heart to heart communication.

It is possible when you switch off from your office talks and switch on to more personal level communications.

Any employee loves you and also his job when you become a freind ,a mentor and help him in opening up,when you help him to fly high ,when you help him in realizing his dreams.


When was the last time you had a communication with your team?

Real Life Leadership Situation..Think before you speak


Boss:Why the hell the things did not happen?You#@%*..You are a bloody nincompoop,good for nothing,%$#@*.You put in your papers#@$&*

We are many a times at the giving end of such communications...

One of the important principles of management is communication.Many a times the leadership never think before using the vitriolic tongue towards his team which most of the time hurt people and the situation becomes a bane for them.

In these times when the situation have more roller coaster than Disney world and everybody is working in "pressure cooker" environment to get the deliverance we use many unparliamentary languages and most of the time is in "jest".

For a leader these spoken words are normal lingo used by every second person.

However the reactions of these words on a person who is green horn in corporate world can cause serious heartaches and these small utterances like "put in papers,etc" can be have lasting impressions on his psyche and motivates him for taking a plunge.A good asset in making can be lost in this way.

What looks like a Leadership roar for a Corporate Tiger can a cause of loosing an employee.

The more you mature the more responsible should be our words.
Specially when we are angry we must take a deep breathe and choose the rights words which will motivate a team member to bounce back instead of start searching for a new job.

As they say "you don't leave a organization you leave your boss".

Saturday, September 12, 2009

One Gaint step in a Life or a Small step everyday?


Most of the less mortal like us wait for giant step to be taken in future to make our presence felt in the world.Also most of us fail in our effort to deliver.The prime reason is of it is neither cost us nor makes us more tired to think for that one giant step contrary to the fact of actual step being taken when the D day arrives for delivery.We do not realize the magnanimity of our step when we have thought about it.This step actually looks like a mountain on that day.

And we fail in our commitment!! Be that be inculcating a new habit to Creation of wealth or taking up a new course.At the end of this sweet thought we gain nothing but cipher.Back to square one with more dejected.

Instead of taking one giant step if we take a small beginning and a continuous improvement everyday is always more fruit full.
The chances of success are higher and motivation becomes more permanent and we are self driven.Remember the story of hare and the tortoise which we have learnt but have never assimilated in our lifestyle.

This is true for simpleton like us or a huge corporate like Verizon Communications whose tagline was "Make Progress Every Day " for its telecom products.

As they say “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” the key to success is taking Definite Positive Steps.

The secret to making progress is getting started…today with a baby step like a small step for a man but a big step for mankind!!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Customer buys in his Mind first....


The process of selling anything starts in the customers mind first.

If you probe further you will find that in 90% of the cases it is not that we sell to a customer but the customer buys from us.

However the process of buying starts in customers mind.

As a Marketing professional we must create a need and germinate a liking for the need satisfier.Also if you are a market leader we must take a lead to create a genuine thirst in the customer's psyche.

Many a time the germination of the need flowers after many days.
When the customer is actually ready for a physical buy the role of Sales professional comes into play with proper placement of products,making the customers aware of the exact place where he can quench his thirst.

Many good brands cannot take off as the customers are unaware of the exact place of availability of the products or services.

This should be immediately followed by a feedback and customer loyalty program for a long term customer engagement.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Real Life Leadership Situations...We are the fathers of corruption


The Tata Tea "Jagore" campaign is an apt example showcasing our apathy towards the corrupt officials.

"Woh Khate hai kyun ki ham khilate hai"...well said.

In this corrupt India you can't find a person who has not facilitated the corruption process.

We Indians keep our homes clean but never think twice before throwing "katchra" on the society compound.

We never bat our eyelid before shoving the Rs 50/- note in the hands of the traffic cop.

We never shy away from criticizing our nation and country and giving "bada bada gyan" in social gettogether.

We corporates never stop from greasing the palms of the government official before getting those payments or "C" forms.

We hardly think that by not paying the "octroi" on our small goods we encourage the sharks of corruption.

Charity begins at home...The kingpin of corruption is "WE".

Lets nip it at the bud...

Lets put an end to it today ..no not today but.....NOW!!!

Long Live India!!!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Real Life Leadership Situation...Go to the Basics


What do you do when you are feel getting stagnated ?

What do you do when you feel are directionless?

What do you do when you are lost?

If any of the conditions mentioned above is applicable to you then you are fortunate.

At least you are not ignorant of your situation in life.

These feelings do not occur just when you are not doing well but can also perturb your mind when you are doing extremely well in life.

The best thing to do in such situations is "to take stock of your life".

1)Rewrite your goals in life.

2)Take a view of the stage at which you are in your way towards your goals.

3)Take corrective actions and do necessary course correction where ever applicable.

4)Make new goals if you want to fly like an eagle.

5)Go for it.

However if any time you feel actions are not yielding results,your plans are going haywire,nothing is in right direction....Just Do One Thing.

Go to the Basics...

Build it Brick by Brick....

You will get your answer.....

All the Best!!