It is the capability of collective thinking of the team that decides its performance and success in the long run. It is the job of the manager/leader to strive to achieve a positive atmosphere, free from rigidity and envy, personal aggrandizement, in which people compete with ideas — not egos. The manager needs to instil camaraderie in the team, where it is clear that the group and its goals take precedence over the prominence of any member.
Here’s what Henry Ford,an American industrialist and the founder of the Ford Motor Company, has to say:
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Let me know in the comments section.
In this ongoing series #GreatMinds on my blog, I am shining a spotlight on the important ideas that some very successful people keep talking about in their public life.
As a professor of management, I have quite often been preaching my students on the importance of Emotional Intelligence (EI) in their communications and acts of behaviour with others in the family and at the workplace. To reiterate the importance of EI for the people in general walk of life as also for people working in commercial and other organizations, I have included an excerpt about the concept here. Read the importance of EI in the Exhibit-1 below:
EXHIBIT 1:
“Emotional Intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to identify and regulate our own emotions, to recognize the emotions of other people and feel empathy toward them, and to use these abilities to communicate effectively and build healthy, productive relationships with others. EI is most often understood as the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions.
People with high emotional intelligence can identify their own emotions and those of others, use emotional information to guide thinking and behaviour, differentiate between different feelings and label them appropriately, and adjust emotions to adapt to situations. There are three components of emotional intelligence – first: perceiving emotions accurately; second: reasoning with emotions (means using emotions to promote thinking and cognitive activity), and the third: understanding emotions (the emotions that we perceive can carry a wide variety of meanings).
Although the term first appeared in 1964, it gained popularity in the 1995 best-selling book Emotional Intelligence, written by science journalist Daniel Goleman. Goleman defined EI as the array of skills and characteristics that drive leadership performance. In this book, Goleman posits that emotional intelligence is as important as IQ for success, including in academic, professional, social, and interpersonal aspects of one’s life. Goleman says that emotional intelligence is a skill that can be taught and cultivated.”
Regulating one’s emotions is a skill that can be learned.
The other day, I received a WhatsApp forward from a close friend, colleague and professor – Sudarshan Srinivasan. This forwarded message narrated an impactful story on the importance of EI in dealing with people in our day-to-day life. Please read the story in Exhibit-2 below, and then decide for yourself as to how can you improve upon your reactions, responses, and behaviour with others in your day-to-day life – be it your home, workplace, or somewhere else.
EXHIBIT 2:
“Do we need stickers on people to be kind to them?“
A car ahead was moving like a turtle and not giving me the way despite my continuous honking! I was on brink of losing my cool when I noticed the small sticker on the car’s rear!
“Physically challenged; Please be patient.”
Reading that label changed everything. I immediately went calm & slowed down! I even got a little protective of the car & the driver!
I reached home a few minutes late, but it was ok! And then it struck me.
Would I have been patient if there was no sticker? Why do we need stickers to be patient with people!? Will we be more patient & kind with others if people had labels pasted on their foreheads?
Labels like —
“Lost my job” ,
“Fighting cancer”,
“Going through a bad divorce”,
“Suffering Emotional abuse”,
“Lost a loved one”,
“Feeling worthless”,
“Financially broken”,
….and more like these!!
Everyone is fighting a battle we know nothing about. The least we can do is to be patient, kind & compassionate.
We know that every one of us is carrying multiple ones and powering through our day. So, let us respect these “Invisible Labels”!
After reading this, reflect on your actions and their impact on people around you. EI is not just important for your interactions in the workplace, but also your relationships in your personal life. I would go as far as to say that Emotional Intelligence and Empathy play a bigger factor in your success than IQ.
When we cannot attain or reach a desired outcome or situation – we are encountered with an emotion – called frustration. We get frustrated when we are blocked (or prevented) from reaching a desired goal or ambition. Whenever we accomplish a goal, we feel happy or enjoy that feeling of achieving something. On the contrary, when we miss a target or are prevented from reaching the desired end – we may surrender to frustration and thus, feel annoyed or depressed.
Frustrating situations, that cause resentment, or lead to a feeling of resignation, can have a destructive effect. However, frustration should not always be looked at as a negative emotion. Frustration often can be a motivator too! Since it can draw our attention to problems in our lives and compel us to look at strategies to bring about a change.
Here’s what T F Hodge,an American author, has to say:
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Let me know in the comments section.
In this ongoing series #GreatMinds on my blog, I am shining a spotlight on the important ideas that some very successful people keep talking about in their public life.
This is a new segment on my blog called #StoryoftheMonth. The idea is to bring forward short stories, fables, and anecdotes, that have a moral or insight for the delight of my readers! So, make sure you look out for these stories once every month!
The following story was contributed by my colleague, friend, and a reader of the blog: Professor Sudarshan Srinivasan. It is a thought-provoking one on “Individual Growth”. This is his second contribution to the blog.
This is a widely-shared short story called “Law of Life”.
Once, a newspaper reporter had interviewed a farmer who produced a great yield year after year. He was known for his Award-Winning Maize by the Agriculture Show organized in his province. During the interview, the farmer revealed that he had been sharing his seed with his neighbours too.
Perplexed, the reporter asked, “How can you afford to share your best seed with your neighbours when they are entering their maize in competition with yours each year?”
The farmer smiled knowingly and explained, “The wind picks up pollen from the ripening maize and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbours grow inferior maize, Cross-Pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my maize.
If I am to grow good maize, I must help my neighbours grow a good crop.”
This is such a profound metaphor, isn’t it? This learning can be applied to our lives. Those who want to live meaningfully and well must help enrich the lives of others.
The value of life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others find happiness.
For the welfare of each is bound up in the welfare of all. Call it the power of collectivity. Call it a principle of success. Call it a law of life.
The fact remains — “None of us truly wins until we all win.”
Know this secret as you grow older!
MORAL:
“In life, when you help the people around you to be better, it transforms you too to become the best.”
Did you like the story? Let me know in the comment section.
I am glad to introduce a new segment on my blog called #StoryoftheMonth. The idea is to bring forward short stories, fables, and anecdotes, that have a moral or insight for the delight of my readers! So, make sure you look out for these stories once every month!
The following story was contributed by my colleague, friend, and a reader of the blog: Professor Sudarshan Srinivasan. It is a thought-provoking one on “DECISION MAKING.”
This is one of the many version of the famous “Trolley Problems”. It has been a popular thought experiment in discussions of psychology and ethics. So, which one will you choose?
A group of children are playing near two railway tracks: one still in use while the other, disused.
Only one child plays on the disused track, while the rest are on the operational track.
Now, a train is incoming, and you are just beside controls that guide the track interchange.
This is the decision before you:
You could make the train change its course to the disused track and save most of the kids. However, it would mean the lone child, playing by the disused track, would be sacrificed.
Or would you rather let the train run its usual way?
Let us take a pause here and think about the kind of choices before us.
Most people apply the utilitarian logic: They might choose to divert the course of the train and sacrifice only one child.
You might think similarly, I guess, since I had the same thought initially. It seems rational to save most of the children at the expense of only one child. Most people can maybe justify this to themselves morally and emotionally.
But, if we take pause and deliberate even further, we are forced to consider the perspective of the one child.
Have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had made the right decision to play at a safe place? However, he is the one being sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was.
The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined as a “rational” choice.
For me, my choice would be to not change anything!
Let me justify my reasoning:
If the train was diverted, that lone child would die because he never thought the train could come over to that track! I would like to imagine that the children who used the operational track know better to have run away if they heard the train’s sirens.
Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe If the train was diverted to the track. This could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake!
This kind of dilemma that we encounter often in our daily lives! What choice does one make then? Which is better?
In the office, community, politics, and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority. It seems like it doesn’t matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, or how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority might be.
While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made, we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right ones.
MORAL:
“Remember that what’s right isn’t always popular…and what’s popular isn’t always right.”
Did you like the story? Let me know in the comment section.
Customer Value Proposition (CVP) is a well-defined and persuasive marketing statement related to a specific product or service that details the reasons why a consumer would benefit from purchasing it. A business will typically use a customer value proposition as part of its marketing strategy to consumers, rather than using it internally among staff, suppliers, or distributors. A value proposition is a solution to your customer’s problem: “I am a customer, I walk in with a problem, I walk out with a solution.” The solution then is not your product or service, but the solution your product or service provides – the result, the value given to the customer.
Here’s what Don Peppers,an American author and founding partner of Peppers & Rogers Group, a customer-centric management consulting firm, has to say:
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Let me know in the comments section.
In this ongoing series #GreatMinds on my blog, I am shining a spotlight on the important ideas that some very successful people keep talking about in their public life.
The cost for a conflict is not only paid by individuals but also by the organization. Most workplaces try to suppress any friction between people. But if the management fails to handle these conflicts efficiently, they can avalanche later. It is therefore crucial that the immediate leader should intervene in a work-related conflict at an earlier stage. With prolonged conflicts, the organization may have to suffer a bad working environment. Some of its valuable employees may leave the company. It can also generate a feeling of distrust among the employees that eventually could harm productivity.
Here’s what Thomas Crum,an author and presenter in the fields of conflict resolution and stress management., has to say:
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Let me know in the comments section.
In this ongoing series #GreatMinds on my blog, I am shining a spotlight on the important ideas that some very successful people keep talking about in their public life.
I feel proud in telling all my readers that I am an ardent fan of Ratan Tata. I am now in my early seventies enjoying my third inning as a freelance advisor, blogger, business consultant, educator, and mentor. During all my classroom sessions with undergraduate and postgraduate students of management, strategy, and entrepreneurship as also during my professional interactions with young corporate executives and aspiring entrepreneurs – I have always been quoting examples of Tata Group and Ratan Tata. They are good exemplars to illustrate my lessons on best business and management practices. The Tatas have always adhered to excellent business ethics and corporate governance practices, corporate social responsibility. They are not only good at dealing with all stakeholders with earnest and fairness but also at contributing to environmental sustainability, and improving the quality of life of people.
“Once, Nano — one of his pet projects, was mired in controversy about land acquisition for the factory. After the protest of farmers in Singur, West Bengal, his company had to pull out of the state. But after all these happenings, he kept his promise to run this project. Tata’s project was shifted to Gujarat and delivered its promise to build the cheapest car.
A real-life example that demonstrates how serious he has been about keeping his promises.
Today – through this blog post – I am trying to bring about certain business learnings from the business experience of Ratan Tata. There is so much information available about Ratan Sir on the internet and other sources that it was difficult for me to decide as to what I should pick up for this post. I hope what I have finally chosen to include in this post benefits and motivates you.
A few lessons that are worth emulating:
It is great to be a Morning Person:
Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise – Going to bed early, say before 10 PM and starting your day early next morning (say 5 AM) helps you better deal with negativity. It enhances your chances of success and makes you more persistent, cooperative, agreeable, conscientious, and proactive. Ratan Tata always believed in being a morning person – he used to convene his important business meetings at 6 AM in the morning to get the best results from these meetings.
Building an Atmosphere of Trust:
According to Ratan Tata – Trust is the psychological bond between you and your customers, employees, and stakeholders. Without trust, you risk becoming a superficial entrepreneur. It is therefore essential that you develop an environment of love, concern, and trust among all members of your enterprise – ensuring that you understand the aspirations and expectations of all your stakeholders and fulfil them.
Building Great Employee Relationships:
You must have a strong connection and nurture excellent relationships with your employees. Ratan Tata followed this religiously. According to him, you must inspire and motivate your employees to get the job done effectively and efficiently. You should also, through your leadership, strive to ensure that employees and management should adhere to the company vision and values.
Humility is a great Leadership Trait:
Ratan Tata has remained a humble man throughout his career. Staying humble made him a great leader and he always put himself grounded. As a result, he could easily serve his organization and its employees according to their interests. This is a great lesson for our current generation of organizational leaders and corporate managers – something worth emulating.
Always having a Positive Attitude:
As an entrepreneur or corporate executive – you must always carry a positive attitude. Ratan Tata always has a positive attitude, and he puts a smile on his face in every situation. He always possesses a positive outlook towards any difficult situation. He always tries to be a doer, not a criticizer.
Risk-taking is important for Entrepreneurs:
Ratan Tata always believes in taking the risk. He thinks that life is not lived unless one takes chances and learns how to survive the odds of new challenges. Once he said, “I don’t believe in making the right decisions. I take decisions and make them right.”
Need for Collaborating and Working together:
Ratan Tata has suggested that Indian companies need to focus more on collaboration in various areas to propel the country instead of focusing only on individual achievements. He says – “If you want to go fast, walk alone but if you want to go far, walk together.” No doubt – that is great business learning.
Learning from the Life Experiences of Others:
The best way to keep your motivational levels rising is by educating yourself from the life experiences of others. Other people’s struggle and their zeal to fight all odds to reach a pinnacle position in real life can be a great deal of inspirational dosage if you too want to attain your goals in life. Great learning indeed – try to learn from your own mistakes and failures as also from the experience of others.
Being A Man of Values:
Ratan Tata believes that a company should be run on principles, not on personalities. He and his company had some core values which they followed all through their journey. He is also well known for promoting financial transparency and intense vetting for grants for projects which help needy people. Furthermore, public safety and welfare are some of their core values which they always followed. This leadership quality has made them one of the most trusted groups worldwide.
Tata Group: A few laurels it has earned
“The Tata Group is one of India’s most respected business houses founded on ethical values originated by the founding father Jamsethji Nusserwanji Tata. Its five core values are integrity, understanding, excellence, unity, and responsibility. Tata Group’s focus is on social responsibility and ethical business practices. It is committed to giving back to society and improving the quality of life of people and contributing to environmental sustainability. It has a well-established code of conduct and a business excellence model.
Since its inception, the Tata Group had sought to function with ethics, integrity, social consciousness, and fairness. According to Ratan Tata, these values were an integral part of the group. This was intended to serve as a guide to each employee on the values, ethics and business principles expected of him or her in personal and professional conduct.
Tata Power has been named as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for 2016 by the Ethisphere Institute, USA, for the third successive year. Tata Power constantly works towards fostering an ethical environment through senior leadership involvement, training, and communication.
In 2017, Tata Steel had been recognized by Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practice. The steel giant has received the coveted recognition for the fifth time.”
A Visionary Leader/Manager is one – who formulates powerful strategies to outshine in today’s dynamic and volatile markets, responds appropriately to changing socio-economic trends and disruptive innovation practices prevalent in the industry, manages and coordinates various distributed assets, processes, partners, and collaborators, and most importantly manages all strategic alliances, outsourcing contracts, forward and backward integrative linkages with third parties.
Here’s what John Kotter,a Professor of Leadership, Emeritus, at the Harvard Business School, has to say:
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Let me know in the comments section.
In this ongoing series #GreatMinds on my blog, I am shining a spotlight on the important ideas that some very successful people keep talking about in their public life.
Your first business may not give you the success you have been dreaming of. Many entrepreneurs feel that their first idea will give them immediate success. However, this first idea may be naive or overplanned. It is the small failures in your entrepreneurial journey that bring clarity of thought. If you give up on your first attempt, you will not be able to stomach the twists and turns that a business can bring. Name any big businessman; I can assure you that they have been a serial entrepreneur. Their first business was not their final one!
Here’s what Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw,an Indian billionaire entrepreneur and the chairperson of Biocon, has to say:
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Let me know in the comments section.
In this ongoing series #GreatMinds on my blog, I am shining a spotlight on the important ideas that some very successful people keep talking about in their public life.
