A blind man, wandering lost in a jungle, tripped and fell over a cripple. The blind man said, “I have been wandering since long in this jungle and cannot find my way out!” The cripple replied, “I have been lying here since long and cannot get up to walk.” Suddenly, the cripple cried out, “I’ve […]
Here’s a story from Sir Ken Robinson. A little girl was sitting at the back of the classroom and drawing something. When teacher asked, “What are you drawing?” the girl replied, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” The teacher said, “But nobody knows what God looks like.” And the girl promptly replied, “They will in […]
The dawn breaks, alarm buzzes, eyes open and a bright new day is waiting to be seized; to be lived. The air is fresh and mind, clear. Life seems to be catching its pace again. Yes, there are challenges to be met, agendas to be drawn, priorities to be completed, and lessons to be learned. […]
In a competitive world obsessed with goals, people recommend that we should periodically review our performance. Performance appraisals in organizations are almost a necessary evil. The problem with focusing excessively on our ‘performance’ is that performance is always judged by others, by some external entity. When you constantly try to align yourself to external expectations, […]
Excessive use of positional power: I was interacting with a leadership expert recently when he said, “If you have to use your position to exert your power, you are not powerful.” Being at a certain position within organization means that you have a higher visibility which needs to be extended to others. Your position is […]
In quest of excellence, an organization that grows has to deal with chaos. I recently read Karen Martin’s new book “The Outstanding Organization” that offers a simple yet effective model to create organizational conditions to combat this chaos and ensure better results out of improvement efforts. What Problem Does This Book Address? The book starts […]
How often do we, as professionals and managers, get sucked into the whirlwind of status reports, new-initiatives-everyday, number crunching, endless meetings and presentations? Sometimes, the best management is to do simple and obvious things more effectively. In this context, I enjoyed reading an insightful post titled “Finding more time for real management” at Business Strategy […]
When you take up a new passion, it is so amazing to see how things unfold. Since last few years, I have turned into a photography enthusiast, an avid learner of the art. No, I am not taking any formal photography classes but am learning it by doing in my spare time. You can view […]
Thought leadership is important for building careers and for building organizations. It is the most important tool we have as professionals to build our personal brand and establish credibility. What is thought leadership? How does one build thought leadership in his/her area of work? Let’s find out from Dr. Liz Alexander who recently co-authored a […]