On Leadership: Go for the Moon

I had the opportunity to interact with some students last week. The conversation post class got onto goal settings. A young one remarked as his argument towards setting high goals ‘One should aim for the stars; you may not get them but you will atleast not come down with handful of sand’ An often heard statement so I was least prepared when I heard a vociferous counter to this. Another student vehemently said this statement was one that reflected a very sub average goal setting mindset.

Surprised we listened on as he explained:  ‘The statement is asking you to reach out for some stars from the millions available. So once you manage to stretch your hand; your options are actually limitless; but the goal statement limits it to just a handful. Also the second half of the statement makes it look like you have already built in a certain acceptable level for failure. The reason for setting this goal does not seem to be to encourage the doer to grab the stars – but to tell him it is okay if he fail!!’ In a normal situation I would have dismissed this as a typical cynical reaction by a Gen-Y to something that is so established. But on my way back to office; I could not help being bothered by this. Do we have leadership lessons here?

How do we set our goals? Whenever we start something new, what is our approach? Does it define success and achievement in Boolean or does it allow a permissible error? How often do we make statements similar to ‘Let us attempt for 120 so at least we will achieve 100’..Very often our goals have certain negotiable factor to success. Then is this the right way? When you set goals like this could you be countering your own intent?

Instead of aiming for just a handful of stars from the millions that are available – should we not aim for the singular Moon? Then like the archer who is focused not on the parrot as a whole but its ‘eye’ – all our efforts would then be on the single success criteria. In today’s highly competitive environment apart from redefining our outlook; we may even need to reframe the existing sayings and quotes to be more aligned to our current context!

How we set our goals for ourselves and our team, how we communicate them and how we lead to achieve these are important. As leaders it is important that are thoughts, actions and attitude align themselves without any margin of mis-interpretation or error. Tough task – but who said being a leader is easy?

On Entrepreneurship: What Is Your Startup’s Singular Goal?

Every startup is created with a specific goal which often gets buried pretty soon into the venture’s operation.

The goal to do that one thing that its founders want to do, which is of value to both the receiver (customer) and giver (firm). With regards to this there is one key consideration: Will the entrepreneur / founding team enjoy doing it consistently and sustainably over time?

While an emphatic ‘Yes’ should lead one to check the viability of enterprise from other angles, even a slightly doubtful ‘Yes’ should make the team stop and take stock.  Otherwise even if the venture is economically viable, it is going to make the journey extremely stressful.

Very often we overlook in our excitement the difference between our interest and creation of a venture around our interest. The difference between the two is as stark as love for singing and founding of a Music school.   And many entrepreneurs have lost steam midway because they failed to realise in the beginning that running a Music School  is very different from singing.

Hence when we were researching on the concept of Idea to Opportunity Maps – we brought in the entrepreneur’s perspective.  Because creating a venture around your passion may really not quench your thirst.  It will give you many other thrills but you may not be seeking them. Unless your aspirations as an individual can be satisfied by the goal of your startup, you may not have a good enough case to begin with!

Lofty Resolutions And The Smaller Resolve!

Its another first day of another new year. Time for a fresh set of resolutions and goal setting. While setting goals that too ambitious ones are important, what makes the real difference are the concrete steps that one takes towards them.

More important than having a list of lofty goals on the first day of the new year, is the small step that we take towards them. The best goal is one where the destination gets defined along with the determination that everyday we will take one step towards achieving it. No mountain was climbed through inconsistent leaps. They were all scaled by taking consistent steps throughout the climb. This resolve to keep moving forward each day is what makes a resolution of ours a reality. The resolve to plough through with a little action every day, towards the pre-set goal is the proven way to realizing results.

So here’s wishing all of you a great 2013 filled with lofty resolutions and the smaller resolve to act on them everyday!

You don’t need a purpose to live!

This is a continuation of what started as a talk on Saturday evening, went online as a blog ( http://rajshankar.wordpress.com/2012/12/09/when-should-an-entrepreneur-think-of-purpose/ ) on Sunday and led me through a day of extremely spirited discussions for & against on Monday. While some agree that purpose can make a difference to the startup, many have questioned its authenticity. They feel its just a flashy statement created to look interesting in front of the customer. Its contribution to the firm’s evolution, growth and sustenance has been questioned strongly. Voices are stating that one does not need a purpose to live.

I AGREE COMPLETELY! You don’t need a purpose to live life! Why do you?

You need it only if you intend to give meaning to your everyday actions!

You need it only if you intend to have at least one man / one woman (not family) miss you!

You need it only if you want to live a life of service!

You need it only if you want to derive joy in enabling another live better!

You need it only if you want to be self-driven!

You need it only if you want to sustain your passion & energy!

And many more… BUT why do you need a purpose to live? To live like any other plant, animal and so many human beings who live their lives in a pre-programmed way – you don’t need a purpose. You only need it if you want to wake up every morning to get back to what you love doing irrespective of the outcome. You need it if you want to thrive not survive! You need it if you want to give not take!

So don’t worry about not having a purpose – if all you want to do is just live! AND the same holds true for firms too!

Vedantic Wednesday: Discipline and Growth

What strikes you when you look at most business owners / entrepreneurs – especially the aspiring ones, the first gen and the youth? The first thing that would strike you is the immense impatience to grow. The energy and zest is almost infectious. On a closer look you may find similarities between them and a person trying to Sprint in a Marathon!

In most organizations – words like delivery, speed, productivity, turn-around, more orders, more work and more… all seem to refer to various aspects and attributes of growth. However on the contrary – process, routine, checklists, tollgates, SOPs are all seen as deterrents to speed – and hence anti-growth.  In the rush to grow – the ingredients required to sustain that growth is often forgotten.

This is what came to my mind as I was reading through some reference on Upanishads. It is said that once a group of six boys in their eagerness to realize the supreme knowledge  – went to a venerable sage asking him to initiate them into the higher echelons of truth, knowledge and realization. The wise sage smiled and told them, to first discipline themselves with simple acts and to demonstrate sustenance in the practice of that discipline. After many years of having mastered the discipline of living the life of an ascetic, was when the six boys were allowed to raise questions on various topics. The sage then patiently answered them and these answers are what is presented in the Prasna Upanishad. It was the rigor of the discipline that prepared the boys to scale their understanding thereby grow manifold in knowledge.

Unfortunately in many instance of entrepreneurial journey, any form of disciplining process is considered to slow down the progress. This is also not the place where most attention of senior leadership is directed. The attention is more on the outcome and not on the sustainability or consistency. The thrust is on one-time results, while expectations are always on repeat performance.

This leads to dilution in effort of arriving at any framework that can assure performance and consistency.  This is because while progress is viewed as interesting – preparing for progress is not.

Organizations who opt for such shortsightedness, resemble a group of actors – who are keen on acting but forget to prepare the stage!!

It is important for organizations to first discipline themselves especially during periods of growth. Sacrificing discipline at the altar of progress is not only short-lived but often detrimental. It is only through practice of discipline that the organization can actually be ready to sustain and hasten their progress. It is only through conscious organizational disciplining that one prepares for the next leap.

Look at it! Even learned ones when they want to go further into the higher levels of learning and realization have to exhibit high levels of discipline at their current stage. This discipline of mind and body is both a test and a necessity for taking on the next step in the path of self-realization. It is also then important to know acts that need to be disciplined are different at different stages.

It is very important for entrepreneurs to think and know that without preparation, progress is not possible! Yes, there may be exceptions, but they may also not last long. Because, there are some laws of nature that cannot be won against!

Happy Thinking!

Mentoring – Food for thought

Mentors are those guiding stars who lead us to see things that are hidden in plain sight.  However mentoring is very different from dishing out common-sense grounded advice. Here are few thoughts on what could make the mentor-mentee equation work on HBR blogs:

http://blogs.hbr.org/johnson/2011/10/get-the-mentoring-equation-rig.html

 You can also read some earlier thoughts on “ what mentoring means for an entrepreneur” – and “what it takes to be a mentor”:

http://ichibanthoughts.wordpress.com/tag/mentoring-entrepreneurs/

 Would love to know what you think..

Did voting defeat competition?

It is rather surprising that I spent an evening watching the ‘Grand Finale’ of this popular reality show on Vijay TV called “Airtel Super Singer”. After waiting for almost three hours and listening to soulful singing from emerging stars – the prize distribution ceremony was not enjoyable! Surprised! Please read on…

This program has been on for over a year. Young adults have been fighting for this title and awards through this period. And if any of what these people tell during interviews is to be believed, each of them have spent much of the year or two just aiming for this. A competition in the true spirit!

With many stalwarts of music as judges and number of celebrated artists evaluating the contestants at every stage – only the very best make it to the next level at every stage. So when we reached the pre-final stage only two contestants were short-listed for the finals. Both truly deserving and a class apart from the rest!

Then something strange was introduced – public choice of finalists. Yes, even I was intrigued by what was happening. The public could vote on the performances of the contestants and two people would be allowed to move into the finals as a ‘wild card entry’. They would be allowed to compete for the title again (after being eliminated by the judges). Yes! Luck sometimes showers itself on some people, but it must have stopped with that.

In the final as the contestants were rendering their performances, it was constantly being announced that the winner would be decided based on votes polled by the public. With a number of stalwarts and experts sitting in front of the podium – no one was asked for evaluation, choice, comments, etc All that would decide the winner was “number of votes” – by the viewers!

So it was natural that the winner need not be the person who put in the effort and remained consistent over the entire period. It could be the person who can garner the maximum votes, rather than render the absolutely right ragas, talas, or the technicalities of the music.

After having had an entire season of near stiff evaluation by top class judges and strong elimination criteria, people are allowed to come back into the game after having lost and then again been awarded a prize for receiving the largest votes – rather than been selected or evaluated by judges.

It was sad to see the two contestants who sang (rather fought) their way to the finals rank three and four and the two wild card entrants be decided as first and second.

It seemed a little unfair to me. I have never heard of a competition where a person who loses in the quaterfinal / semifinal game be given a chance to come directly to the final and then be honored as winner by polling the audience.

It was definitely a let down to an event which provided such a fantastic platform to showcase talent spread across India and the world, a program that consistently ensured only the best and consistent singers progressed to the next level, with judges who were truly objective in their evaluation – suddenly change into a gambling ring. I definitely think we need to re-think the way we create standards for competitions in India and especially in these reality shows.

“Voting” is enough of an issue with politics – let it not spoil the healthy competition that encourages young minds to develop and hone their talents and turn it into a vote-buying game. Let a game of singing be judged by experts and let fair play decide who the winner should be – not number of votes from the audience who in all probability as actor Dhanush rightly pointed out at the function – may not know the intricacies involved in making soulful music.

I hope this opinion of mine will be taken in the right spirits! I believe that competition is good, but the competition should be healthy in the best interests of society. I hope such programs continue and create platforms for the immense talent that is across our lovely country and our beautiful world to be identified, showcased and create livelihoods for number of young artists to come, and not turn into mere game of chance and luck!

Milestone Fascination

Crossed 15,000 kms in my new Car! Crossed 500 friends on FB! Sending the 100^th tweet on twitter! Ticked of all items in my to-do list for the day!

Milestones are important to us. They give us something for aspiring to achieve and something to feel proud; acknowledging and celebrating. The moment we realize we have crossed a milestone, a special feeling comes from inside us; a surge of adrenaline rush follows making us ready as we set upon the next set of milestones.

Even though sometimes milestones can be seen as limitation of sight; reduces foresight by making you concentrate on task at hand; increases stress of needing to complete – but their positive effects simply cannot be removed or sidelined.

If it is so, then why can’t we use this tool to make life more meaningful? Why can’t we set ourselves new milestones and turn them into everyday to-do items which when done will enable us and give us the confidence to take on the next set of challenges?

If you can define, detail, act and achieve milestones, your confidence and self esteem soars and makes you do more. Sounds absolutely simple – so just do it!

A Gift to my Children by Jim Rogers

Lessons from Dad

Ask many children / teenagers (especially youth) and they will tell you how they detest advice. Repeat the same exercise when they reach past 50 years of age and they will reverse their statement!

Jim Rogers has some advice for his son through his book “A Gift to my Children”. And one special passage he has written stuck me hard. I quote it verbatim:

“While I was driving around the word with your mother, my father’s cancer deteriorated and he eventually passed away. But I did not stop our journey to return to my father’s side. That might sound selfish or coldhearted. And so I want you to know why I made this choice. For me to go on a round-the-world trip was my father’s dream as well as mine. He insisted that I not cut the trip short for his sake. When his condition worsened, it was important to me to tell him how proud of him I was and how much I loved him. I phoned dad frequently and wrote him numerous letters. But I did not return to the United states. I still cry about it when I remember those days and his wishes.

I want you to fulfill your dreams. That is my dream too. As your father, I wish for you a lifetime of happiness and fulfillment. I want you to pursue, without pause, whatever it is that stirs your passion. Keep working toward your dream, not someone else’s and not mine, either. A lot of people try to live for others-their children, their spouses, their parents, their friends-and in doing so twist themselves into knots attempting to meet their often outsized and/or unrealistic expectations. That leaves little space for personal growth and progress, and creates resentment for lost opportunities.”

What a wonderful advice to Entrepreneurs and all those driven by a dream but torn by the self-imposed chains of expectation! How often have we stood at the cross roads – guilt ridden, looking back with remorse at the balance between expectation, reality and aspiration. The above advice is probably the most difficult to practice – but then can there be any other way for someone who is consumed by a dream?

Reading “A Gift to my children” made me feel nostalgic about some of my conversations with my dad during my early years. Of late our (me & dad) periodicity of conversations / discussions have come down, but intensity and depth have increased. I feel today I need to increase the periodicity too! Past experience when superimposed on current challenges has immense take-a-ways!

The aspects covered in Roger’s book can be split into 3 buckets namely: advice on investing, advice on living, and advice on growing. Advice on living is similar to what most other parents wish for their children with some additional nuggets from Roger’s additional exposure. Advice on investing had some cool stuff, especially for long term investors. Advice on growing that too the professional side of it, was in my purview the real value.

Some of these actually triggered my thinking and here are some of the thoughts that I have been able to derive for self:

• Learn the art of recognizing trends
• Read extensively especially history, philosophy & economics
• Learn languages especially Mandarin
• When you have nothing to do, dust the shelves
• When everyone is thinking the same thing, someone is not thinking – Patton
• Future is going to be driven by the BRIC nations
• Learn to be a global or world citizen
• Truth is usually the first casualty of war, so stay away from war / enmity
• Train yourself to think both ways: induction (by observation) & deduction (by logic)
• Accept mistakes gracefully for only this can take you higher
• Re-read, understand and apply the basic theory of demand-supply – No one defied this and survived!
• Acknowledge that women are more active in society Understand and learn to work along with them

He also offers some futuristic guesses that only time can validate:

• 21st century is that of China; don’t ignore!
• In 100 years there will be more than 300 -400 soveriegn nations in the world!

Interesting!!!!

I am sure some of you are wondering if this is a book review. I am not sure if this can be classified as one as I have not touched many of the aspects that one would touch in a book review, and definitely that was not the intent either when I sat down to write these thoughts.

Reading this book had an impact on me as an Entrepreneur  – psychologically and business wise. It got me thinking, got me curious and as always I am here sharing it with you!!