Book Review: Everyone Communicates, Few Connect

A few weeks back, my friend Becky Robinson at Mountain State University gifted me with a copy of John C. Maxwell’s latest book “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect”. The book, as the title suggests, is all about establishing meaningful connections to build great relationships at work and in personal life. The book introduction says,

“Connecting is the ability to identify with people and relate with them in a way that increases your influence with them. And the ability to communicate and connect with others is a major determining factor in reaching your potential. to be successful, you must work with others. To do that at your absolute best, you must learn to connect”

It was interesting to note the difference between “communication” and “connection”. I learned that communication is about content and connection is about relevance of that content and how it is received by others. Connecting with others is more than just transactional communication. It is about seeing others as human beings, understanding them, their energies and establish a deeper connection.

I have observed that all great “performers” are great connectors too. A singer has to understand the taste of audience and sing accordingly. A trainer has to connect with participants. An actor has to truly connect with the character being played. A blogger has to connect with the readers. An organization needs to connect with the customers.

Ability to build meaningful connections is the first step towards engaging others and building an influence. Connecting with others accelerates learning and spreads the ideas.

Maxwell’s book offers useful ideas for connecting with a group, connecting one-on-one and connecting with audience. The book does not offer any ground breaking ideas – we all know that we need to connect effectively. Still, the book does a GREAT job of outlining and reinforcing the fundamentals of connecting through explanations, stories and action points at the end of each chapter.

If you are a leader, an aspiring one or a professional who wants to make a big difference, this is a great book to pick up and read.

Have a GREAT week ahead!

Are You An Artist? A Review of Seth Godin’s LINCHPIN

Seth Godin's Linchpin

Over last couple of weeks, I was reading and re-reading Seth Godin’s remarkable book “Linchpin”. I have been following Seth’s blog and books since last 4 years. This book has brilliant ideas that can change the way you work, how you work and most importantly, why you work.

Linchpin urges us all to be artists – to be the best we can, to take our work to such a level that it is viewed as an art. Seth says that manufacturing world required cogs – people who follow the instructions, were compliant, low-paid and replaceable. New world of work needs people who care, who are original thinkers, risk-takers, provocateurs – Linchpins, who are difficult to replace.

Linchpin is about being remarkable – being different and being original.

On being an artist – Seth says:

‘You can be an artist who works with oil paints or marble, sure. But there are artists who work with numbers, business models, and customer conversations. Art is about intent and communication, not substances.”

This book also introduces us to “Lizard Brain” – a little voice inside our head that prevents us from being different. This voice convinces us to stick to old ways of doing work – because doing it differently is a risk, of failure and embarrassment. Lizard brain thrives on our strongest emotion - fear.

Organizations need more linchpins to deliver more value – and for people, their jobs are a platform to deliver value, to be generous, to express their unique skills and be an artist.

The book also made me realize that doing “emotional labor” is extremely important to be a linchpin. Emotional labor is the task of doing an important work, even when it is not easy. It is about walking that extra mile, when you don’t feel like doing it. A larger part of work involves doing things we don’t particularly love doing. But unless that is done, art cannot happen.

The book is a GREAT read (also a NY Times bestseller), because it drives important points home with brilliant examples and stories along the way. I specially liked the diagrammatic representation of ideas – making it simple and easy.  A blog post is way too short to express the profoundness of messages this book encapsulates.

Most people don’t know about their unique gifts – their art. It sometimes takes a lifetime to discover what their art really is. This prompted me to ask a question to Seth. Here is the question and Seth Godin’s response:

Tanmay: Being a Linchpin is impossible without actualizing with one’s gifts (that we are all born with). How does one discover these gifts and unwrap them for the world?

Seth Godin: To use your analogy, if you want to find gifts, you have to look under the tree. And if you don’t know which tree, look under all of them. Too many people want a promise that the effort will be instantly rewarded. It won’t. Fail frequently. That’s the only way I know.

Tanmay: Thank you so much. “Fail Frequently. Ship Early. Ship Often. Realign” that is my takeaway and probably the only way to discover your gifts.

Seth Godin: Thanks Tanmay! Keep Shipping.

Thanks Seth, for that insightful conversation through your book and your response.

Linchpin is a wake-up call – to stop being ordinary and compliant and start being remarkable. Life – as Seth says – is too short not to do something that matters!

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P.S: Check out Carnival of Management Improvement at Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog by John Hunter – fantastic collection of posts on leadership, improvement, lean and quality. Carnival includes my post “Building a Culture To Promote Differential Thinking“

Book Review: Agile Excellence For Product Managers - A Guide to Creating Winning Products with Agile Development Teams

The game of software product development is the one of adding value to the businesses and customers.

With rapid changes in business environment, typical waterfall SDLC fails to deliver value, because by the time the scope is developed, business requirements change!

Adoption of Agile Development Methodology by software product managers is steadily increasing because Agile embraces business change into products.

I recently read the book “Agile Excellence For Product Managers” by Greg Cohen. This book is a guide to develop winning products with agile development teams. When most of the books on Agile focus on the process, this book focuses on the product manager’s perspective of how Agile process should be managed. The book also has a small section that touches upon XP and Lead Software Development.

I have been studying Agile for over a couple of years now, and have also implemented Agile in a number of  projects. I still found this book useful because it also deals with issues of organizational agility and importance of leadership in implementing Agile.

Agility is a mindset, more than just a process. For this very reason, adopting Agile means an organizational change in mindset. Agile is a shift from typical command-and-control structure to a trust based, highly accountable model of software development.

Bottom line: If you are a product manager who is keen to explore Agile or is already using Agile, this book will help you dig it little deeper and gain better understanding.

#QUALITYtweet – Interviews, Guest Post and Reviews

I am delighted to share a couple of things that happened this week around my book #QUALITYtweet.

Phil Gerbyshak is a cool friend who also wrote advance praise in the book. Phil is a “Make it Great” guy whose attitude on life is nothing less than contagious. It reflects in the way he writes. Phil interviewed me this week on my book. You can read the full interview here.

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Tom Glover been devoting the last several articles to my book #QUALITYtweet. He reviewed the book in a previous article and shared two-part interview with me. You can read Part - I and Part – II of the interview. Today, Tom features my guest post “Intersection of Reflection Leadership and #QUALITY”. Here is an excerpt:

Leadership creates an environment for people to work. It is therefore very important for leaders to reflect on the environment they are creating. I read somewhere that the only legacy of great leaders is the culture they create. Thoughts and deeds of a leader set examples and precedence for others to follow and emulate. Long after a leader is gone, these examples and precedence stay on.

Culture of a team or organization forms an eco-system for people to deliver great results. Hence, culture is at the very core of a quality oriented culture.

I have been fortunate enough to receive some fantastic reviews of the book so far from the kind folks. You can visit the “#QUALITYtweet Reviews Page” where I have compiled all reviews of  the book so far.

Finally, I would like to Thank You for all your support to this blog so far. If you have any feedbacks or suggestions for improvement, please do not hesitate to contact me or share your feedbacks in the comments section.

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

#QUALITYtweet at Reflection Leadership (Thanks to Tom Glover)

Tom Glover is a “Leadership Friend” who hosts Reflection Leadership Blog. I came to know Tom via our common leadership community over at Twitter. We have been exchanging ideas and thoughts on leadership via Twitter and Tom is also a regular reader of this blog.

My book #QUALITYtweet has a chapter dedicated to ‘Management, Leadership and Quality’ and I thought Tom would enjoy reading the ideas presented in the book. I sent him a copy of #QUALITYtweet for review a few months back. Tom loved the book and decided to devote one full week of his blog posts to #QUALITYtweet which would include his review of the book, my interview in two parts and finally a guest post from me that looks at intersection of Quality and Reflection Leadership. This week, #QUALITYtweet features on Reflection Leadership Blog and here are a few links that you can follow (I will keep updating this post for more links to come in this week):

• Tom’s review of #QUALITYtweet where he says:

I was continually surprised throughout the book when entry after entry continued to reinforce much of what I know about quality management and even gave me some new things to think about.

The beauty of the short “micro” entries is that in many cases they are designed to invoke our own thought processes about the topic instead of just instructing. The format of the book also makes it easy to go back and reread.

• #QUALITYtweet – An Interview with Tanmay Vora – Part 1. An excerpt:

The purpose of any quality management system is to build a quality oriented culture (internal goal) and deliver exceptional value for money to customers (external goal).

In a knowledge-intensive business environment, people deliver services and products, not machines. Hence they are at the core of the quality equation. Great people deliver great services.

Thank you so much Tom!

Book Review: Lead Well and Prosper by Nick McCormick

Being a good manager (self-management and team management) is essential ingredient of success in today’s business environment. Looking at all the bad examples of poor management around, we all know what good management is not.

This week, I read a book titled Lead Well and Prosper: 15 Successful Strategies for Becoming a Good Manager by Nick McCormick. Nick was kind enough to send me a signed copy for review.

This book is a very handy tool for young managers and aspiring leaders to lead well and prosper. This book outlines 15 successful strategies for becoming a good manager. The book focuses on a simple yet profound management truth – When you are managing people, be human and treat your people well to get the most out of them.

The book is broken down into short chapters which start with a situation and a cartoon, which makes it interesting to read. If you are time-challenged, you can also read the concluding part of each chapter which has bulleted list of Do’s, Don’ts and Action Items. It just makes the ideas more practical to apply.

Here are some key ideas from the book:

“Teaching is quite often the precursor to effective delegation.”

“When do you teach? Essentially, you teach all the time. Team members will be constantly observing you. There are also more formal opportunities you should use, such as honest feedback sessions or monthly one-on-one sessions.”

“As a manager, you must maintain positive attitude. That doesn’t mean that you ignore the ugly realities. It does mean that you must work to improve things you can control, and chip away at those you can’t do without allowing them to be all-consuming.”

“When you are among your peer managers, don’t vent. Your energy is much better spent on finding creative solutions to problems”

“Most managers are ‘too busy’ because 1) They are disorganized and 2) They are working on wrong things.”

This is one of those books I would hand over to a young manager, ask him/her to read and review themselves against these key points on a periodic basis. A great tool for the beginners in management.

#QUALITYtweet – Video Review

Simon Young at iJump reviews my book “#QUALITYtweet – 140 bite-sized ideas to deliver quality in every project” and other books in Thinkaha Series. You can also watch this video at iJump TV website.

I resumed my article series on ActiveGarage with my 13th article titled “Reviews Can be Fun (if done right)” published a few days ago. You can read previous 12 articles here.

Here is an excerpt from my latest article at ActiveGarage:

Success of any process depends on 2 E’s – Efficient and Enjoyable. Same holds true for your review processes. Review is a control mechanism, and hence the focus on getting it right the first time is still very important. A good review is just an internal quality gate that ensures that internal customers (reviewers) are happy with the final product. If your internal customers are happy, your external customers will be happy too!

Have a great Wednesday and a wonderful remaining week ahead!

Book Review: The Leadership Test by Timothy R. Clark

Businesses today are plagued by people who are "installed" in leadership positions just because of their prior performance as a "worker". I have seen some excellent technical brains failing miserably as project leaders. Why so?

The answer is simple - they got into a leadership position as a natural progression without any reality check on their aptitude, skills and capability to lead.

When I interview people for technical positions, one question I invariably ask is - "Where do you see yourself two years down the line?". Most of these would answer that they want to be a team lead, manage people and projects. That is a noble aspiration, because business needs good leaders. But why do they want to lead? There are plenty of resources available to address "How to lead?" aspect. But a very few touch upon "Why do you want to be a leader?"

Any one who aspires to be a leader must read "The Leadership Test - Will You Pass?" by Timothy R. Clark, Ph.D. (His Blog) The book is organized in form of conversation between a teacher (named Isadore Kroll, Izzy) and his former student (Marcus), who is now facing a dilemma of whether he should accept a leadership position being offered to him by his company. The teacher takes Marcus through a soul-searching process to address "Why" aspect of leadership. At the end, teacher puts Marcus through a leadership test. Quite a revelation!

Here are a few very important excerpts from the book on spectrum of leadership -

“Leadership is a business of influence, but what kind of influence? Think about it on a spectrum. On one end of the spectrum is manipulation. At the other end is coercion. In the middle is persuasion.”

“All three may be considered to be forms of influence, but only persuasion is leadership. Only persuasion really helps people. The other two hurt people.”

“Leadership is based on influence-through-persuasion at the front end, combined with accountability at the back end.”

Most important of all leadership test questions is the fourth question “Take the Oath” – a personal oath to act with honesty and integrity at all times. The organization or society may not need it, but it is up to you to take that oath and enforce it. I find this more important because private virtue is the most important factor that determines growth/health of a team, organization or a society. No point in having leaders who are self-centered or dishonest.

At the end of all this, the book emphasizes the most important fact - “Leadership is about RESULTS”. Leadership is an applied-science. You can think about leadership, but that won’t help until you practice it to execute and deliver.

Reading this book cover to cover took me 30 minutes, but story of Marcus and Izzy still occupies my mind space. The more I think about it, the more it reveals.

That, to me, is a power of well written book. Go, read “The Leadership Test” to kick start some serious soul-searching and self-assessment on leadership.

Have a happy Monday and a great week ahead!

Nicholas Bate’s Book ‘Instant MBA’ and Other Great Resources for 2010

Nicholas Bate is a prolific thinker, blogger and author. More than that, he is a wonderful friend.

He shared some of his best work with me in 2009, in form of his books and innovatively done cards. With his book titled “Instant MBA" – Think, perform and earn like a top business-school graduate” – I can safely say that I have just completed my “Instant Do-It-yourself MBA”!

The thing about a good book is – every time you read it, you learn something new. Instant MBA will do that with some very practical advice on how to inculcate MBA thinking and emotional intelligence to advance your career. Through this book, Nicholas Bate intends to say that more than a degree, MBA is a way of thinking. Whether you have done an MBA or not, whether you are experienced or novice, you got to read Instant MBA. MBA thinking is crucial for success in modern workplace.

Creativity, Effective Presentations, Pricing, Excellence, Vision, Human Resources, Research, Entrepreneurship are just some of the topics covered in the book. Bate’s brevity and style of representation comes out nicely in each chapter – informal and straight-to-the-point. Quotes at the end of chapters add to the reading pleasure.

Here are a few more FREE resources (PDF Downloads) from Nicholas Bate’s kitty -

• “How to be BRILLIANT” – 50 short ideas for personal excellence. I have taken a print-out of this to refer it often.
• “Selling Without Tears” – A fantastic selling guide with practical ideas.
• “How to Write & Publish Your Business Book” – A very recent gem from Prof. Bate.

2010 promises to be exciting and there is no better time than now to read such brilliant resources and go from good to great!

Seth Godin’s “What Matters Now” and a Few More Gems

Seth Godin recently released a free eBook titled “What Matters Now” – it is a collaborative effort of 70 great thinkers who have presented brilliant ideas that will truly shake you up to think deep and wide as we approach 2010.

I read it and found it to be truly REMARKABLE with short and profound insights. Some of the ideas that deeply influenced me:

“Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb” – Hugh McLeod

“You are only as rich as the enrichment you bring to the world around you.” – Rajesh Setty (@upbeatnow on Twitter)

“Here’s the final measure of your success as a speaker: did you change something? Are attendees leaving with a new idea, some new inspiration, perhaps a renewed commitment to their work or to the world?” – Mark Hurst

“Gratefulness is a muscle, not a feeling. You need to work it out daily. Every morning, give thanks to two people that helped you yesterday and one person that will assist you today. This will focus your mind on what you have, and you’ll soon realize you are not alone.” – TimSanders (@sanderssays on Twitter)

Download it now and share the invaluable wisdom from some of the best brains!

A Few More Gems

• Rajesh Setty is known for executing innovative concepts that educate, add value and inspire. This time, he does it with series titled “BLOGTASTIC! Growing and Making a Difference Through Blogging” – if you are a blogger or an aspiring-blogger, this collection is bound to help you a great deal.
• Steve Roesler gives us three simple and powerful ideas to manage conflicts.
• Michael Wade writes about successful strategies for fighting fear. Quite an interesting read.
• Lisa Haneberg emphasizes on Agility as an important leadership skill –  Agility for leaders is an important skill to focus on in 2010.
• Wally Bock says that Leadership might be a bad choice for you if…. (read on)
• Nicholas Bate honored me by including me in his list of Bloggers of The Year 2009 – what an incredible way to encourage others! Thanks Nicholas.

Enjoy reading these gems and have a great weekend ahead!