For all those kings with kingdoms

India, probably the one country where kings continue to outlive the kingdoms. Any sphere of life, be it business or politics or even charitable work, the kings are in control of their self made empires with many waiting to make their own.

While it would be great to see the leaders empowering the work they are assigned to do, it would be difficult to digest when the leaders try to become powerful because of the position they are given.

There are innumerable examples one can read in newspapers and experience in corporate kingdoms about the leadership cult being cultivated that even goes to the extent of changing the organisational culture.

These kind of practices erode the organisational values. Encourage people to be acolytes, forbid the candor in day today business and lead to an avalanche of financial losses in the long term.

One of the best antidote that Indian culture prescribes for this condition is to "work with detachment".

There are three simple yet powerful parts in this philosophy.

1. "what you are"

You are Mr XXXXXX not by your nature or birth but because of a position that you are given. You have occupied a particular position and never allow the position to occupy yourself.

2. You are not permanent here

Each position, title, job, work, organisation that you work are not going to employ you forever. Everything comes with a number affixed on it.

3. Your purpose

You are hired to do the work nothing else... period.

When you master these three simple principles by reminding yourself everyday and each time Mr King tries to step out of your brain, you will get cured of this condition.

What benefits you will get:

1. You can focus more on work rather than on individuals and their feelings towards you (majority of a manager's time is wasted in this)

2. Organisational culture improves when people realize that it is their work that brings them laurels than paying obeisance to the king. 

3. Helps the organisations reduce cost of leadership show off (everyone knows how much money is wasted in this area.)

Organisations exist to make profit. Positions exist to make organisations achieve their bottom lines. If people are clear about these two lines, then organisations will be always in the headlines for good reasons.

WANT TO PLAY SAFE?

When I was a kid, independence day is all about flag, salute, chocolates, holiday and fun.

Now it's no more such simple affair.

"Freedom sale" declares the full page advertisement in the news paper. Hundreds of offers to choose from each ranging from 30% to 70% off from Amazon.

Two days pass by, yet another full page advertisement, with even more attractive offers appear.

The times have changed so much, from being retailing platforms the e sellers have become avenues for offers.

Even many of the local shops seem to be forced to go with the flow and are offering many such unbelievable schemes.

Though these purchases may not create a dent in your finances, it would be disastrous to be offer minded when it comes to financial products.

Be it real estate or insurance or stock trading products or mutual funds and innumerable investment schemes that grace the hoardings across the cities.

Each scheme seems to be made for you and for your family. Each sales presentation looks as if the company understood your precise needs even before they met you.

Many of the companies use complex yet attractive software that creates solutions to all your future needs with just a click.

And majority of the schemes, plans and associated benefits astonishingly seem to have a very short life, and force you to take a decision at that moment else they seem to vanish into thin air.

In a country where literacy is seen as a tool to earn, seldom people spend time on financial literacy.

This is not an effort to OFFER FINANCIAL LITERACY IN ONE PAGE.

But there are two simple rules that one can follow to play safe.

There are two well known basic tendencies that dominate the decision making process of any individual.

THE GREED & FEAR

Most of the corporate marketing strategies revolve around these two factors while designing their marketing campaigns.

Each time a product is presented to you, check if looks too attractive to believe or it looks as if "can't live without this"

Though there will be certain degree of hype in any product, but a product that is too attractive needs more time and research for you to buy

Also understand there are no lightning deals in financial world that you may miss adding to the cart before it is hundred percent claimed.

"Bought by your neighbor" offers no guarantee for it's suitability to your needs.

If you can remember these simple rules probably you will play safe.

Kabali Vs Corporate Strategy (this is not a movie review)

Huge expectations....
So much of curiosity...
Excitement...
So much of waiting while the making is happening
Anxiety for the stakeholders...

If these are the things that you witnessed before release of a movie then this is so similar to events that take place before a new strategy of a corporate is unveiled too.

Each time a strategy takes off from the board rooms of corporates and lands in the meeting rooms of local branches it is like KABALI being released.

The amount of secrecy with which it is kept makes even the defense personnel awestruck.

Strategies are made in heaven to be executed on earth. Nothing to wonder as most of the so called data backed, consultant baked, highly spoken about strategies bite the dust in the markets only to give yet another chance to one more consultant make more money.

A review of the strategy when it fades in sheen and color always points at bad execution and indicates the heads to roll, nevertheless the heads are always safe while you can imagine whose heads are going to roll.

Strategy after strategy is made and tried at the cost of shareholders as if the management is inspired by the lines of thomas alwa edison.

It is tough to imagine a strategist to ask himself some tough questions.

1. Did the execution alone to be blamed?
2. Did the strategy has any lacuna?
3. Were we too ambitious about its success?
4. Did we give enough time for the strategy to work out?
5. Did we foresee these situations before strategy was launched?
6. Why the course correction did not happen/failed?

But above all I had the privilege of working with a leader (manager) who had a different way of ensuring the success of strategy and I thought it is worth sharing....

It was a national strategy that was launched, and all the team was called for a meeting. There was nothing unusual as we got habituated to getting new strategies regularly. But unlike earlier versions of such strategy meets we had good amount of discussion on the strategy a week before and the leader himself took the pain in explaining it during the conference call. What surprised us was the strategy document also was mailed to us and we were asked to come prepared with our plans on executing the same. 

Anything new naturally generates a degree of resentment and consequent gossip among colleagues.
While waiting at airport terminals,
While checking in at the hotel lobbies,
In the rooms before the conference to start,
At the coffee shops while gulping down a cup of coffee before it becomes too late to be in the hall

All the time there was only one topic.. THE NEW STRATEGY and IT'S VULNERABLE POINTS

Hundred plus people, who work at the bottom of the managerial chain of command, the people who are going to implement the strategy, with all their experience and sound knowledge about their areas are in work for the last seven days to FIND WHAT CONSULTANTS CAN'T FIND.

When the conference started the leader came up on the stage and with a curt voice declared that this strategy is going to be the writing on the wall and we had no option but to implement.

No one needs to drop a pin to find if it is audible. There was an uproar of emotions silently taking the shape of lava to explode, but none did.

Lunch break had more hot things than food items alone.

Post lunch is the part where everyone becomes a Rajanikanth in action in making others believe that he is the most intent listener.

The leader came on to the stage again and made a statement that took the sleep off the people with a sudden jolt.

"Guys I need to know how this strategy of yours can be improved? "

Its the defining moment where the cloud of doubt melted and started raining positivity.

Everyone has more than one suggestion. And all these suggestions were well thought about, discussed, expressed, correlated with the real life situations pertaining to various parts of India.

Now the strategy team started taking notes.

We had one more day to work on the strategy. The evening party looked like an extension of strategy meet where people talked even more about making the strategy the best. It was not a show to show off or to massage someone else's ego. It was a serious effort by people to show their solidarity with the leader and his strategy.

We got the strategy with those desired possible changes within a week and it also brought a very positive energy and passion to deliver the same.

Most interestingly there was nothing to talk negative about the strategy. NOW IT IS OURS.

AND THIS INTELLIGENT LEADER SOLD THE STRATEGY.

I could witness some more such strategy meets with him. And he was probably the best strategist I had ever seen.

The take home message for me was, never confine the strategy formulation to four walls and a few computers, however amount of  IQ your world class consultant has got or whatever amount of data you have at your disposal.

LOVE... HATRED... AND MORE..

Girl: I like the close up tooth paste
Boy: Oh... Me too like close up..

Girl: I love xyz movie
Boy: Believe me.. I too love that movie

Boy: It seems, we have same kind of tastes
Girl: Yeah...

All the married people know the post marriage scenario.

They will come to find the shocking fact that the similarity of their tastes is limited to close up and xyz movie and nothing else.

Each one is brought up in a different way and had a completely different belief system which starts straining the relationship, until to the extent where even surf xl or vanish can't prove their magical effect.

It results probably in two possible scenarios.

1. Adjust oneself for the sake of social acceptance.

2. Break up (which is less frequent in India)

But this is not limited to just marriage. Imagine the same situation in case of a job interview.

You will never get selected in an interview unless you are on the same page the interviewer expects you to be.

But once you are in the job, you or your employer will sooner or later find that both of you are not in the same page. Some times you may discover that you are not in the same book also.

SITUATIONS may be different but OUTCOMES are the same.

Sorry... I am not getting into topics of relationship management or stress management.

But let us answer the question,, Is it really necessary that people should be on the same page to have relationship?

Yes... IT IS NEEDED IF YOU WISH TO SEE YOUR REPLICA EVERYWHERE.

No... If you just love yourself and your feelings but never expect your clone to be around.

Loving self and expecting others to behave as you wish are two different things.

When you just love yourself and feel good about your own beliefs, habits, but never expect to find someone with the same software, YOU ARE PRACTICAL and never get any disappointment in life because of someone else's behavior.

But when you wish others to be of same standard as that of you, then YOU ARE ENFORCING... and you will continue to have conflicts.

If you happen to be a bird and you love your ability to fly, it's great.
If you got married to a fish (Pl don't imagine your wife, it can be your wife reading and imagining you), then BE PRACTICAL not to expect him/her to climb a tree like you.

When you realize this simple theory, probably you may be much more comfortable in life.(see I am not trying to enforce my theories on you.... :-)  )