Connection

We all know that how-you’re-perceived is more important than who you are and what you do/what you’ve done. However, the raw pain and sense of betrayal of this injustice really eats at you when you’re again the victim of misperception. Take heart – here’s some advice on how to better align how-you’re-perceived and who-you’d-like-to-come-across!

1. Know the delta between how others see you and how you’d like to be seen. It’s just the way of the world, and blame can’t be assigned on either side. Just work with what you have rather than objecting that it exists!
2. Always focus on understanding the people involved, their motivations and the problem at hand. Knowing the lay-of-the-land will help you better understand the world view of others and how their world view impacts their perception of you.
3. Understand the political landscape so you can build the relationships and messaging needed to better align perception and reality about your capabilities. Be flexible about who you like and whom you can work with. Question your own assumptions and conclusions about the people around you. Assume best intent of others, unless they prove otherwise to you – not just by what others say about them. These people don’t have to enter your inner circle, but it helps to build a broad range of professional connections to help align the perceptions with the facts.
4. Make a proactive and ongoing investment in managing your brand, as that’s how others perceive you. People are going to have their perception about you anyway, so make it easy for them to see you as you’d like to be seen. Communicate proactively, transparently and regularly.
5. Don’t let misalignments in perception slide. Not knowing what’s being said about you or not saying and doing something about it can be interpreted as tacit approval and weakness.
6. Figure out who’s playing what political games and for what purpose. The key players of these games are probably impacting how you are perceived by others.
7. Manage your own emotions and reactions, especially when you are a victim of political games. It’s not that your emotions are illogical or unwarranted, it’s that many people feel uncomfortable and helpless around others who are responding emotionally, and most people think that over-emotives can’t be competent.
8. Do what you can to facilitate a more transparent, more trusting environment and culture one conversation, one leader, one organization at a time.
9. Stuff happens to the best relationships, to the best people. Nurture true and deep relationships with good people and stand behind the people in your close network, even if circumstances are making them act out of character. Try to understand what they are going through and be as gracious and supportive and forgiving as you can be.
10. Regardless of which seat you might have at the table, if you have one at all. In other words, see all problems as opportunities to lead. Turning negative energy and emotions into a positive course forward helps not just you but everyone around you. Are you resilient and courageous enough to see the opportunity in every disaster?

What are your thoughts? What will you do differently the next time?

Why are some companies surprised less often and better able to manage the unexpected? Most leaders can usually handle small surprises such as the bankruptcy of a minor supplier by just winging it. But big surprises, such as regulatory trouble, a big new competitor, a shift in consumer behavior, or a new technology, require a more systematic approach. 

Survey the Landscape

Start by examining your past surprises (both the threats and missed opportunities), since each will tell a different story about where your organization can improve. Each surprise has a silver lining in the form of new lessons about what you missed and why.

Ask whether the issue mushroomed inside your company or outside your walls. External surprises--such as the health of the economy or emerging technologies--typically involve numerous moving parts and may be especially complex to grasp fully for a single company. But many other eyes, including journalists and academics--are likely tracking these as well. Take advantage of their research. 

The intriguing part of surprises is that somebody in your company probably knew about them but failed to tell you. Most surprises foreshadow themselves through weak signals. The issue is not lack of information; it's the people who miss trip wires they should have noticed. Below are four different strategies for preventing surprises better.

Finding the Threats and Opportunities

1. Sniff out the rotten apples (internal threats). From internal trading scandals like Libor, phone hacking by London tabloids, sexual misconduct, or outright fraud, there are usually many warning signals before something goes surprisingly wrong. When retail giant Target got hacked and millions of consumer records were stolen, the retailer actually had an extensive cyber security system in place. But this system had cried wolf so often that IT personnel didn't spot the massive theft until weeks after the fact. To defuse such ticking time bombs, leaders need to develop deep and wide communication channels across the company and foster an internal culture of high integrity. There will always be malware, but those surrounding it can help surface internal dangers. For this strategy to work, leaders need to syndicate the risks--that is, give more people a stake in detecting and fixing any dry rot that might undermine the company.

2. Canvass the neighborhood (external threats). Studies show that most companies get hit by about three major external shocks every five years. Mattel's Barbie doll got a black eye when an edgy doll named Bratz sneaked up and took a third of the market share. Blackberry, IBM, and Nokia were badly blindsided by Apple and Samsung in mobile phones. Although you can't see all external surprises early, you can scan the periphery and amplify weak signals. The warning signs may be right under your nose. Someone in your own company probably knows about a threat but doesn't realize its importance or feels uncomfortable sharing the information. To detect early warning signals, leaders need great curiosity. Ask many questions and develop wide and diverse external networks. Collect all the rumors and paranoia that blow around and then separate the signal from the noise.

3. Look for treasure in your attic (internal opportunities). Most companies house a wealth of new ideas that never make it into plans and budgets. When leaders conduct internal innovation tournaments, they are often surprised by the many ways to improve their organization, products and services, or their strategy. Successful bottom-up innovations include 3M's famous Post-It notes, faster luggage off-loading in London for British Airways, and even Viagra. To tap into rich but dormant veins of creativity, leaders must be open to suggestions from below, incentivize teams to take appropriate risks, encourage fast and cheap learning, and create cultures where well-intentioned mistakes are celebrated, not punished. Don't let your suggestion box turn into a black hole where bright ideas go in but nothing useful ever comes out. Be an idea-driven organization that values fresh thinking inside the company. Energize your employees and emphasize that not all insight or wisdom resides at the top.

4. Walk in your customer's shoes (external opportunities). Often companies miss opportunities right in their own backyard. Entrepreneurs like Richard Branson or Elon Musk see sooner and farther because they think outside-in. They explore the outside world as P&G does through its "connect and develop" strategy where employees search for new product ideas beyond P&G's core markets. The majority of P&G's innovations now come from external sources. Open innovation is a welcome antidote to the prevailing "not invented here" syndrome. To see the world through your customers' eyes, staple yourself to a purchase order. Follow it throughout your company to experience what the customer experiences. Practice what anthropologists do so well: observe without filters or prejudice and let the data speak.

Know Where Your Strengths and Weakness Lie

To get better at seeing around corners, list examples when your company anticipated threats and opportunities--and when it missed them. Look for examples in each of the four areas. from your own company. These will show you where your vigilance is strong and where you are vulnerable. Once you've identified these strengths and addressed your weaknesses, create mechanisms to leverage your vigilance in other parts of the company or through your extended network of partners. Although you won't prevent all problems or catch every opportunity, you should be able to increase your vigilance and reduce unwelcome surprises.    

This column was co-authored with George S. Day, marketing professor at Wharton, and Kirsten D. Sandberg, writer, editor, and publishing consultant. 

“All the money in the world, all the research and development resources in the world aren’t really worth a hoot, without innovative leadership.  Money does not follow ideas; it follows leaders,” said Forbes Contributor Henry Doss in his recent post about innovation. Many organizations would like to create more innovative teams or to have a more innovative culture permeate the organization. However, the reality is that innovation starts with leadership.

In a recent Harvard Business Review article, the Zenger Folkman organization described what we believe is a somewhat unique study to answer the question of what successful leaders do to create more innovative teams. We began by collaborating with a highly respected organization in the telecommunications industry whose leaders scored well above average on most managerial competencies. We identified more than 30 of their leaders who scored at or above the 99th percentile on innovation, as measured by a comprehensive 360 degree feedback instrument. In other words, these were the best of the best, as seen by their closest working colleagues (peers, subordinates and boss).

We arranged for a telephone call that simultaneously brought together a number of their direct reports, peers, boss and the leader who had been selected. An interviewer then asked questions that probed for examples of what this leader did that caused them to be perceived as highly innovative. The interviewer also asked about the differences between this leader and others the people had worked with..

Here’s what we found. There were 10 distinctive behaviors of this group, as follows:

1. Excellent strategic vision. They could vividly describe their vision of the future, and as one respondent noted about his boss: “She excelled at painting a clear picture of the destination, while we worked to figure out how to get there.”
2. Strong customer focus. What was interesting to the customer became fascinating to these individuals. They sought to get inside the customer’s mind. They networked with clients and asked incessant questions about their needs and wants.
3. A climate of reciprocal trust. Innovation often requires some level of risk. Not all innovative ideas are successful. These highly innovative leaders initiated warm, collaborative relationships within their group. They made themselves highly accessible. Colleagues knew that their leader would cover their back versus throwing them under the bus. People were never punished for honest, well-intended mistakes.
4. Fearless loyalty to doing what’s right for the organization and customer. Pleasing the boss or some other higher level executive always took a back seat to doing the right thing for the project or the company.
5. Culture that magnifies upward communication. These leaders believed that the best and most innovative ideas bubbled up from underneath. They strived to create a culture that uncorked good ideas from the first level of the organization. They were often described as projecting optimism, being full of energy and always receptive to new ideas. Grimness was replaced with kidding and laughter.
6. Persuasive. These individuals were highly effective in getting others to accept good ideas. They did not push or force ideas onto their team. Instead, they presented ideas with enthusiasm and conviction and the team willingly followed.
7. Excelling via stretch goals. These goals required people to go far beyond working harder, and also required them to find new methods in order to achieve a high goal. The challenge of meeting the goal was often framed as “getting to the next level.”
8. Emphasis on speed. Innovative leaders consistently brought a sense of urgency. They believed that speed scraped the barnacles off the hull of the boat. Experiments and rapid prototypes were preferred to lengthy studies by large committees.
9. Candid communication. These leaders were described as providing honest, and at times even sometimes blunt, communication. Subordinates felt they could always count on straight answers from their leader.
10. Inspiring and motivating actions. One respondent said, “For innovation to exist you have to feel inspired.” This comes from a clear sense of purpose and meaning to their work. While these leaders used different methods to inspire, this quality accounted for much of their success.

In addition to the insights gleaned from this series of interviews with this remarkable group of innovative leaders, we also reviewed 360-degree feedback data for this group. Conclusions from analyzing that data were remarkably consistent with our interview results. Our 360-degree feedback data from this group is also consistent with our analysis of highly innovative leaders in hundreds of other organizations we follow, from varied industries and from all parts of the globe. This gives us confidence that these conclusions describe highly innovative individuals in all industries as well as from different cultures throughout the world.

Which of these characteristics reflect your own current leadership style? And which of these characteristics could you work to improve?

It is not well known, but William Shakespeare, in addition to being one of the greatest writers of all time, was also a successful entrepreneur.

He was part owner of an acting company, helped build the largest open-air theater in London, England and purchased a great deal of real estate which doubled in value. Shakespeare also understood what his audiences wanted in his plays - providing comedy, drama and a combination of both.

Over 400 years has passed, but this genius has much to teach us today about how we can lead our own lives to improve our careers and businesses.

In this post, I study 8 texts and beliefs of Shakespeare and apply them to self-leadership in this modern age.

1. Believe it or not, you are in total control

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”
Forget fate. We are in control of what happens to us every moment of every day. God gave us free will, we need only to use it in the best way we know how.

Far too many people are expecting money to fall from the sky or a miracle to take over their lives. Your destiny is indeed in your hands. You are the miracle. Take back your power.

2. It's all about how we see things

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
There are, of course, bad things that happen in this world. But in our daily lives, how we view things will determine whether we act and what actions we will take.

A manager who is demanding may appear to some as a bully, but to others he or she may be just what is needed - a person who will challenge us so we can become the better for it.

Things can be seen as positive or negative. It's our choice. Much of what happens in a daily work environment, while seemingly "bad" may in fact be "good." Think first about potential benefits before condemning a thing or a person.

3. Effective self-leadership is admitting we don't know everything

A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
It's about humility. Arrogance is a fast track to disloyalty. Be humble. Be appreciative.

Admit when you don't know something, rather than pretending you do. People will respect you more and be attracted to you as a result.

4. Be known for action, not words

Talking isn't doing. It is a kind of good deed to say well; and yet words are not deeds. ”
There are people who "say well" as Shakespeare would put it. They are good talkers, and they believe their talk will win them points.

But far too many people make promises they have no intention of keeping. Desperate to get others to support and like them, they say what they feel others want to hear. But their failure to follow up results in discouragement and disbelief.

Actions always speak louder than words. People will judge us, not on what we say, but on what we do. Become a person of action, not a talker.

5. Adhere to your values and you can't go wrong

This above all; to thine own self be true.”
Have you thought about what principles you adhere to in business and in life? What are your values? Do you, for example, value honesty above all else? Do you believe in helping others?

Whatever your core values, you must make every decision in your career and life according to them. Let your values guide you. Decisions then become much easier and natural.

When applying for a job, find out if the company shares your values. When selecting a friend or partner, find out if they have the same values as you.

Shakespeare believed that being true to yourself was the most important thing. He was right.

6. Doubt is the enemy

Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”
Doubt. It stops so many of us from even trying new things.

There are countless inventions, new products and services, and new ways of doing things - that have yet to see the light of day because their creators experienced doubt.

Act in spite of your doubts because along the journey, you will uncover the answers.

7. Be brave

Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.”
Each time we decide not to follow a dream, we experience death. That part of us dies.

Years ago, I opted not to follow my ambition to be an artist. I was told that I was quite good and just needed some practice. But I didn't have enough faith in myself so I gave up.

The artist in me died many years ago but I still wonder today what would have happened had I decided to at least try.

8. Be brief

Brevity is the soul of wit.”
I am always amazed how impressed people are of me when I say nothing and just listen to them.

At social functions, I ask the odd question and let people talk about their favorite subject: themselves. Later, they say, "It was so great talking with you" (but I didn't say anything!).

When it comes to conversation, less is more. We live in a world where everyone wants to talk and few are willing to listen. Be among the few and you will stand out from the crowd.

Take back your power, follow your values, and forge a reputation for action. Let the wisdom of Shakespeare lead you to success.

When emotional intelligence first appeared to the masses, it served as the missing link in a peculiar finding: people with average IQs outperform those with the highest IQs 70% of the time. This anomaly threw a massive wrench into what many people had always assumed was the sole source of success—IQ. Decades of research now point to emotional intelligence as the critical factor that sets star performers apart from the rest of the pack.

Emotional intelligence is the “something” in each of us that is a bit intangible. It affects how we manage behavior, navigate social complexities, and make personal decisions that achieve positive results. Emotional intelligence is made up of four core skills that pair up under two primary competencies: personal competence and social competence.

Personal competence comprises your self-awareness and self-management skills, which focus more on you individually than on your interactions with other people. Personal competence is your ability to stay aware of your emotions and manage your behavior and tendencies.

• Self-Awareness is your ability to accurately perceive your emotions and stay aware of them as they happen.
• Self-Management is your ability to use awareness of your emotions to stay flexible and positively direct your behavior.

Social competence is made up of your social awareness and relationship management skills; social competence is your ability to understand other people’s moods, behavior, and motives in order to respond effectively and improve the quality of your relationships.

• Social Awareness is your ability to accurately pick up on emotions in other people and understand what is really going on.
• Relationship Management is your ability to use awareness of your emotions and the others’ emotions to manage interactions successfully.

Emotional Intelligence, IQ, and Personality Are Different

Emotional intelligence taps into a fundamental element of human behavior that is distinct from your intellect. There is no known connection between IQ and emotional intelligence; you simply can’t predict emotional intelligence based on how smart someone is. Intelligence is your ability to learn, and it’s the same at age 15 as it is at age 50. Emotional intelligence, on the other hand, is a flexible set of skills that can be acquired and improved with practice. Although some people are naturally more emotionally intelligent than others, you can develop high emotional intelligence even if you aren’t born with it.

Personality is the final piece of the puzzle. It’s the stable “style” that defines each of us. Personality is the result of hard-wired preferences, such as the inclination toward introversion or extroversion. However, like IQ, personality can’t be used to predict emotional intelligence. Also like IQ, personality is stable over a lifetime and doesn’t change. IQ, emotional intelligence, and personality each cover unique ground and help to explain what makes a person tick.

Emotional Intelligence Predicts Performance

How much of an impact does emotional intelligence have on your professional success? The short answer is: a lot! It’s a powerful way to focus your energy in one direction with a tremendous result. TalentSmart tested emotional intelligence alongside 33 other important workplace skills, and found that emotional intelligence is the strongest predictor of performance, explaining a full 58% of success in all types of jobs.

Your emotional intelligence is the foundation for a host of critical skills—it impacts most everything you do and say each day.

Of all the people we’ve studied at work, we've found that 90% of top performers are also high in emotional intelligence. On the flip side, just 20% of bottom performers are high in emotional intelligence. You can be a top performer without emotional intelligence, but the chances are slim.

Naturally, people with a high degree of emotional intelligence make more money—an average of $29,000 more per year than people with a low degree of emotional intelligence. The link between emotional intelligence and earnings is so direct that every point increase in emotional intelligence adds $1,300 to an annual salary. These findings hold true for people in all industries, at all levels, in every region of the world. We haven’t yet been able to find a job in which performance and pay aren’t tied closely to emotional intelligence.

You Can Increase Your Emotional Intelligence

The communication between your emotional and rational “brains” is the physical source of emotional intelligence. The pathway for emotional intelligence starts in the brain, at the spinal cord. Your primary senses enter here and must travel to the front of your brain before you can think rationally about your experience. However, first they travel through the limbic system, the place where emotions are generated. So, we have an emotional reaction to events before our rational mind is able to engage. Emotional intelligence requires effective communication between the rational and emotional centers of the brain.

Plasticity is the term neurologists use to describe the brain’s ability to change. As you discover and practice new emotional intelligence skills, the billions of microscopic neurons lining the road between the rational and emotional centers of your brain branch off small “arms” (much like a tree) to reach out to the other cells. A single cell can grow 15,000 connections with its neighbors. This chain reaction of growth ensures it’s easier to kick a new behavior into action in the future.

As you train your brain by repeatedly practicing new emotionally intelligent behaviors, your brain builds the pathways needed to make them into habits. Before long, you begin responding to your surroundings with emotional intelligence without even having to think about it. And just as your brain reinforces the use of new behaviors, the connections supporting old, destructive behaviors will die off as you learn to limit your use of them.

None of the below were my resolutions when I began 2014.

Update: After I posted, I noticed the beauty of how each points are connected to each other.

1. Acknowledge the "I"

Problem: I began 2014 with chaos. Our business was recovering from slower growth than 300% Year On Year that we had seen since inception and for reasons that I was the one who contributed to the slow growth.

Action taken: So first thing I did was to acknowledge I was the bottle neck. When I say I was the bottle neck, it was not the complete me. Some of my thoughts, emotions, actions, behavior, and work had become a bottle neck. The same thoughts and ideas that make us grow to one point holds us back from growing and that is why there is a famous quote that "what got you here won't get you there". So, I had to let go couple of mega bytes of myself to help the company move towards growth.

Result: This year we are back to hitting the 300% growth.

2. Emotions

Problem: My decisions were driven by emotions. Nothing wrong, if they were consistent. My decisions weren't consistent. This pissed off my colleagues. They were confused with me if I am speaking from emotion or speaking from the bare minimum intelligence I posses.

Action taken: I had to take a stand and understand that business decisions cannot be emotional. I had to take decisions that are important for business to grow and go peaceful.

Result: I am emotion-less about anything related to work.

3. Caring what others say

Problem: I never cared and was recognized for not caring what others think of me After the initial good growth, I started to care for what people think about me or my company. This held me back from myself. I couldn't be at peace with myself.

Action taken: I decided to return back to my last known good configuration. I speak what I want to and leave others to make their own judgement. If they end up thinking of me as an a-hole, so be it. That is their problem, not mine.

Result: I am at inner peace.

4. Stopped saying sorry

Problem: I was not okay about how many sorry I had began to say in a day. All of us do it a little bit sub consciously. I asked myself if I am sorry for a lot of things I did that I asked sorry for. I was not.

Action taken: I decided to use the word sorry, a little bit more wisely.

Result: I have only had to say sorry about 14 times in the past 6 months. Some of those 14 was because of the practice of saying sorry than the actual sorry itself.

5. Cutting the noise

Problem: Life is a combination of signal and noise. What we pay attention to creates the person we become. I had created a lot of noise for myself. I followed too many forums, blogs, social media and thousands of people online. All share so many things that 99% of them is pure noise. I recognized that I amplify the noise when I react to it.

Action taken: De-activated my Facebook, un-followed thousands of people on Twitter, put an end to my Tester-Tested blog, stopped my subscription to tens of forums I had subscribed to, stopped the feeds that I wasn't paying attention to, blocked a few sites on my browsers (so that my OCD doesn't take over)

Result: I spend more time on amplifying the signal of my life than noise. My ability to see the signal has improved so much.

6. Ego, go

Problem: I had ego. The duration the ego lasts makes a huge difference to how I make decisions and how I treat people. When someone treats me bad, if my ego lasts longer, I react longer and the more I react the more my ego is fed. The more my ego is fed the more stronger it grows within me. The more stronger it grows, the more hurt I am with any situation that hurts the strong ego person.

Action taken: I am conscious of my ego. I don't feed it anymore. If someone disrespects me, I pity their ego and move away from there immediately. I get to my car put some songs and listen to good music. I am less hurt by anything.

Result: My ability to move on quickly is something I have started to self admire.

7. No longer as young as I can make myself look

Problem: I was coloring my hair. There was no such problem because of the coloring by itself, the problem was I fooling my eyes and my mind to believe that I look younger when I no longer was as young as I colored myself to be. I had plenty of gray hair. The gray indicates my experience and or wisdom.

Action taken: Stopped coloring my hair.

Result: I look a lot more original to myself. I treat myself like a person with more wisdom and hence react to things different from how the pretending to be young boy used to. I am happy to see myself in mirror for the decision I took.

8. Fast-Slow Thinking

Problem: I was trained to be a fast thinker. I had to answer tough math questions in 3 hours in a so called examination to get my bachelors degree. I had to think fast and answer questions in the interview. I was thinking my life gets better the faster I think. I over ran myself. Whenever I couldn't solve a problem, I thought faster and faster till I realized the faster I think the lesser are the chances I can solve them.

Action taken: I have a check point for my speed of thought. I now want to start from slow and speed when needed.

Result: I have been able to solve more problems faster by slowing down.

9. Stopped working for creating success

Problem: I never did anything for the sake of earning more money. I always saw others quit their jobs for getting more money but I never did that. More money happened as a side effect of my work. Anyway, I thought I was doing better than them. I wasn't. I was working for my own definition of success and they were working on their own definition of success. I landed in as many problems as people who were working for purely money did.

Action taken: I stopped working to create success. Success as I have come to understood has to happen by itself as a side effect.

Result: I was able to think of success like this - "Success is like semen, you can force it out of a system anytime but that is not the way it is supposed to come"

10. The Illusion of Control

Problem: For the Panda I am. I had to go through what Master Shifu in the movie Kung Fu Panda went through. The Illusion of Control. I was under the Illusion of Control. I thought I could control a lot of things and that is the way to keep things going good in the company because I know what good means and others know less of that.

Action taken: I let people around me take the lead. I reduced my time at office for people to make mistakes and not bother that I am around to spot that.

Result: I am more confident that my people are learning (as I see their thoughts and action) from their own failure better than me never letting them fail.

11. It should be mine!

Problem: As a CEO, the topmost ego spot in any company, as funnily as I can put it, I wanted all good ideas to come from me. Not that I did not acknowledge other's good ideas however I was in love with my own ideas. This made me pay more attention to my own ideas.

Action taken: I understood something valuable about what "my ideas" mean. "My ideas" mean - what I have been able to learn from others and think.

Result: I am a sponge now. I absorb every idea around me, make it my own and pay full attention to it. So I pay attention to everybody's idea. That is how any idea become "my idea" in the first place.

12. Waiting to say something is not listening

Problem: I knew answers. I thought so. I couldn't listen to people completely. My attention span (even as per the app Lumosity) was lower than my other abilities. I was waiting like a lion hiding in the bush waiting for an opportunity to pounce and roar.

Action taken: I don't intend to roar. As I don't intend to roar, I just shut up and listen.Once they are done and want a reaction from me, I react.

Result: I listen. Waiting to say something is not listening.

13. People and memories

Problem: We have beautiful good times with some people and then sometimes the relationship sours. Every year, I gain and lose people as a part of doing what I do. However, the memories always seem to take me back to the moment of sour than moment of awesomeness I had with them.

Action taken: Ignore the sour moment and cherish the good ones.

Result: I am at peace within myself about everybody I can think about who were a sour soup of my past. This makes me think about anybody without torturing myself.

14. Preparation is my only focus

Problem: I wanted a lot of things to happen. As modest as being an extremely successful entrepreneur. Till I get there, I may continue to feel less respectful of myself or I always wake up everyday that I haven't got what I wanted to get. That is not the way to live a life. That is a way to spoil the peace within.

Action taken: I decided I don't want things in life. I learn't that anything can come on the way of life - Steve Jobs got great success and cancer too. He would have definitely not wanted cancer but life can never be certain. The only way to deal with success or cancer is through preparation. Otherwise, we shall die dealing with either of them. Success can end up becoming mind cancer.

Result: I am focused on preparation. Anything can happen and it will happen even if I desire or not. My preparation is going to be the key. As Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev says "Your karma is not what is happening to you, your karma is how you react to it"

15. The answers exist in spirituality

Problem: I read plenty of books. I am a big fan of Malcom Gladwell and have read everything he has published on printed media till date. I also read a bunch of things that have made me smart and have interacted with people who have made me smarter. Not all answers exist in what I read. I deal with a lot of questions whose answers don't exist in any of the books I read.

Action taken: Follow mystics, yogis and saints like Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev, Swami Sukhabodanda and Jiddu Krishnamoorthy

Result: I connect to life now because all of a sudden I seem to have one

16. Taking vacation is important

Problem: I hated vacations. It kept me away from things I love doing.

Action taken: Took multiple mini vacations this year and will continue to do so over the coming years.

Result: Happy family is a happy home and a happy home is an environment that brings peace.

17. Mobile phone is a necessary evil and I don't answer calls.

Problem: For the job I do, and for my number being public, people think it is okay to call me anytime. No, they are just doing what they want and no harm. It is hard to resist picking someone's call. However, a phone is important for me to reach my loved ones or they reaching out to me., so I can't get rid of it completely.

Action taken: Installed an app that sends me a message instead of a call when someone calls me. If I too see a need to talk to them I call back. I prefer people messaging me.

Result: My phone rings less. I only take incoming calls from my family and numbers in white-list (temporary - context based). For people reaching out to me, I call them back when I see their call and if I also see a need to talk to them. It brings great focus to what I am doing because I am less disturbed.

18. Sleep and its natural good effects

Problem: Sleep is a natural thing to everybody but what we do to ourselves alters the nature. I did get good sleep but not all times. I didn't know how to stop thinking when at bed. At times, my train of thoughts keeps me awake or makes my thoughts translate to dream.

Action taken: I said to myself that I stop thinking when I shut my eyes.

Result: I can fall asleep quickly now. Shut my eyes and I am gone.

19. Water and its good effects

Problem: Knowing and doing are two different things. I always knew drinking enough water is important for the body.

Action taken: Made it a habit to drink 2-3 litres of water everyday

Result: Visit the toilet more often and I feel more fresh throughout the day and please read this http://www.ishafoundation.org/us/blog/the-power-of-water/ on how to consume water effectively.

20. Analysis is only on past data not on real-time or future

Problem: When something bad seems to happen, I seem to think of it as bad. It takes a long time for me to realize what I thought was bad actually turned out to be good. This happens to everybody I guess.

Action taken: When something bad appears to happen, I just want to give a couple months time to see what really happened.

Result: Nothing is bad if I don't immediately react to it. Inner peace.

Plus

A lot more such stuff that is shaping my way to inner peace.

Now, if you read every single line to get here, you have a good attention span and you can listen a lot, absorb a lot and be at peace sooner than it took me.

Wishing you a peaceful 2014 (there are days left of 2014 and not to be discounted) and wishing you a continuum of inner peace in 2015.

Inner peace to you, as much for me! Don't resist. Don't force it upon yourselves. Let it flow.

‘You don’t want to be the best of the best. You want to be the only one who does what you do.’ – Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead.

Some of my best friends are British :) …. And they violently disagree with what I’m about to reveal to you as truth with a capital T. And that’s because in British culture we’re not supposed to show our ego. That’s why we have the Queen’s award. You don’t toot your own horn; you wait until someone toots it for you, and gives you an OBE, CME, MBE etc. It’s Tall Poppy Syndrome – which does exist elsewhere, but it’s a unique British form which says, ‘Who do you think you are – that you have something special to offer the world, or that you are someone special?’

In this context, believing in yourself can be positively subversive. Thinking for yourself as well instead of just passing on the received wisdom that we should at all times be totally self-effacing and say, ‘it’s not me, it wasn’t that good, and who am I?’

But what if you are really good? What if you have something special? What if your soul tells you that you must create or have created something or you are obsessed to bring something to life, or you just know that you have a unique contribution to give?

Can this be positive, or is it just part of a celebrity-doused, reality-show orgy of a lack of culture which exists across the world today?

Entrepreneurs have big egos – to state the obvious. They are driven more by impact and wanting to impose their vision of the world on the world, than necessarily making billions, having fame or exerting power. It is one of the most pleasurable experiences in the world – in the privacy of your own chateau :) - at three o’clock in the morning - :) - to know that you were right and that you shaped the world – influencing its course as an extension of your own personal worldview. As a star to shoot for, it’s worth it, and no one gets hurt.

So, wallflowers need not apply to the game of entrepreneurship, but you don’t need to be an annoying, extroverted self-promoter who every one wants to shut up either. This is not about a sense of entitlement. This about expecting success, and believing – against all odds, that you have and are something and someone that has a gift and an obsession.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of our way, why is this important?

Last time I checked, business was about making money. Making money is about profits and cashflow. Yes it is also about providing a great product and service, building a great team and culture – sincerely and difficult as those things are to get right, etc. But the simple fact of the matter is that if you are not profitable and making lots of cash, you’re going out of business – slowly or fast, long or short game. Let’s just be honest.

To make money you have to have a strong sense of what your personal strengths are and what you do as a business that only you can do. If you strip out your ego from that exercise, you’ll have a conversation which goes more or less like, ‘Well sometimes I /we sort do a good job at X, Y or Z, but then it’s really not me/ or us, and we have a lot of great competitors in the market, and we just really got lucky when we did P, D and Q….’

Lazards Freres created the franchise that it did not by being nice, but by doing something that the world perceived it was the only one that could do it that way. Google and Apple – in search and consumer services respectively – have the profits and cashflow that they have because the world perceives that they are the only ones who can do what they do. For many women, myself included, Chanel stands apart. You would no more buy an imitation Chanel suit than try to imitate another woman; it is the only one that does what Chanel does.

Get the point? It’s not about being the best of haute couture or investing banking or search or consumer services. It’s about being the only one who does what you do.

So create your own category. Sing your own song. Dream your own dream. Follow your own heart. Be your own diva.

The European Commission is so obsessed about creating competition by trying to cut off Google at its own knees that it obfuscates the larger issue that we have no such dominant platform companies within Europe that it can obsess over. It’s concerned about monopolistic power, but then that is a feature of the capitalistic system. If you’re really good, and doing something that you do as a firm that only you can do, you do become a monopoly by definition. By it doesn’t last, as monopolies get disrupted eventually by market forces, hubris, shifting norms and consumer preferences. I grew up as a professional in a world where Microsoft was a monopoly; no one reasonable would call it that today.

Larger, non-tech traditional firms which are not sure how to engage with this digital, exponentially expanding marketplace tend to look at their competition rather than to think deeply about their customers. I am a bank, insurance company, airline, oil firm, retailer, what is my unique selling proposition as a firm? What is it that we are the only ones in the market who can do or deliver? If you don’t know, ask your customers as they’ll probably respond with a simple answer not a litany of products.

In 1997 in the amphitheatres of INSEAD in Fontainebleau, I was so privileged to have Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne as my Strategy Professors in Period 3. I had been reading their articles in the Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review in months prior to sitting in on their lectures. I have to admit that I was in awe of their original, fundamental thinking. They were absolutely subversive people. My classmates weren’t ready for them. Chan grew up in an illiterate background in Korea, and used to put his leg around his body in a strange way as I recall. Renee was one of those strong American women that triggers fear in a certain type of person. They did not give one hoot about what people thought of them – least of all INSEAD MBA’s. They were creating their own category, singing their own song, thinking deeply about what they observed, dreaming their own dream, and having conversations with Mike Bloomberg, the Chairman of Samsung, and a host of other giants of industry who sought their advice.

As a result of being the only ones who do what they do, they created ‘blue ocean strategy’ which most educated business people today know about. Don’t compete in a red ocean. Go into an uncontested market space: a blue ocean. Simple, and simply disarming. Devastingly effective.

Marginal improvement is not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about winning, excellence, grandiose visions executed flawlessly in the market. This is not about competing or litigating Google or anyone out of existence. This is about figuring out how to be the only one who does what you do.

Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo are remembered not because they did great work and were better than their competitors. They are known today because they believed in their own souls that they had none.

Compete if you want to wear yourself out. The treadmill gives a shape to life, and for some, that’s really reassuring.

However, if you feel you have a unique contribution to make to the world: Find that blue ocean, build your own chateau, articulate what game you’re playing, as you can only ever win if you write the rules, design the blueprint and have blue waves washing over you as you swim.

The future of work is already here — that is one thing I've realized with great certainty. Whether we meet this form effectively, and with grace, is unfolding as we speak. We'll all play our role to meet that future — whether we are CEOs, recruiters, mentors or managers.

Steven Denning aptly borrowed a quote from Churchill that describes where organizations are at this very moment: It is "the end of the beginning".

Connectivity has changed our view of work and workplaces, thanks to the lightning speed of information sharing and an increasing level of transparency that none of us anticipated. In terms of talent and organizations — this brings us to the edge of a great canyon, looking beyond. Whether we traverse the topography with ease, or with great stress, depends on our commitment to that new world of work. Work environments need to evolve with the times (now multi-generational), and organizations must keep pace.

It's time to roll up our sleeves and make the changes that are truly needed. We can either hold on to the old – and stagnate – or drive ourselves directly into the future feeling empowered. From the metrics we choose, how we learn within organizations, to selecting/supporting the managers that guide us everyday, a change in perspective will help us move forward.

In December of 2012, we discussed the evolving social contract that was developing between employees and employers. (That element must be respected in organizations today. See The Alliance, here). That is one step in the right direction. However, we must stop harping about the identified issues that we face (engagement levels, misalignment of work with strengths) and start doing. That means building the programs that address the "nuts and bolts" behind the known issues. This is also about sharing what is working within organizations, and what is not. We can move forward more quickly with that open forum in place.

Here is where we could focus going forward:

Address the psychological contract. Work isn't just work — it is an integral part of who we are as human beings. When we come to work we enter an exchange agreement with our employer, that is often left unexplored. We need to pay more attention to the elements of that exchange. This includes identifying our "mission critical" — what we are to accomplish during our tenure — and what we take away career-wise. This "give and take" dynamic, can provide the energy we need to drive organizations and careers forward. (See the concept of the Tour of Duty here.)
Develop and sustain healthy cultures. If we can learn anything from the missteps of Goliath organizations (consider the recent troubles at General Motors, for example), it is that squelching the truth about our work can be devastating to all involved. Culture needs to support the strengths of its contributors — and trust in their expertise. This includes embracing metrics that emphasize not only shareholder value, but excellence in thought and action.
Prepare the next generation. We are learning there may be a critical gap between what our students are learning — and what they need to become effective contributors in modern organizations. Whether it is developing leadership skills much earlier (including the HERO skills outlined by Luthens) or increased business acumen (see the TED Talk here), we must prepare them for the future.
Respect individual differences. From the assumption that we all thrive in open offices — to the notion that we all aspire to manage others — the workplace mostly ignores the diversity of our character. If we begin with respect toward our individual differences, and build from there, our power base increases infinitely.
Where do you feel we should focus our attention going forward? What is working? What practices should be left behind?

In the 20-plus years I’ve been a consultant, I have seen thousands of new consultants fail miserably because they did not recognize a critical truth about consulting: Consulting is a relationship business, and to succeed as a consultant, you must have an effective and far-reaching network of professional relationships.

In fact, investing your time and energy in deliberately planning, initiating, and cultivating your professional relationships is the most important thing you can do to grow your consulting practice.

Of course, you knew that. Every consultant knows that. But knowing and doing are two completely separate things. If you’re honest with yourself, how many hours did you spend last week on deliberately planning, initiating, and cultivating your professional relationships?

The fact is that when it comes to successful professional relationships, knowledge alone is not enough. You must:

1. Plan for what you need (for example, what type of relationships, with whom, for what purpose)
2. Initiate the relationships in the most effective ways
3. Cultivate the relationships

And all of these actions need to happen before you leverage the relationships to help you succeed.

The truth is that you can get away without deliberately planning, initiating or cultivating your professional relationships. After all, you’re probably doing just fine now and never even gave the topic a second thought. Why waste your time to read the rest of this article?

Let me share a story with you that will answer that question.

Two of my friends ran the San Diego Rock ‘n Roll Marathon this year in June. John was recovering from a back injury and was using this event as a way to motivate himself and overcome his personal limitations. Dave, on the other hand, was healthy by all “normal” standards, worked out regularly, and never had any trouble jogging or running.

Who do you think did better?

The day after the event, I spoke to both of them. Dave was still in bed with a sore ankle and painful knees. He had finished the race in 6:37 hours. John was feeling fine, and was out having brunch with his family. He had finished the race in 4:21 hours. Granted, neither of their times was spectacular by any means. But the 2-hour plus time difference really surprised me. So I decided to find out why.

Dave, having never had any problems running or jogging, decided to just show up for the race after a good night’s rest and following the “carb loading” advice of his neighbor, who was an aspiring street bicycle racer. John, on the other hand, had hired a coach to create a training and recovery plan. He had followed the coach’s advice to improve his performance, increase his endurance over time, and prepare his body for the huge demands he would be placing on it during the marathon.

And the rest is history.

There’s no question about the critical importance your professional relationships play in your success as a consultant. It’s up to you to decide how to prepare for them.

You can follow the advice of your “neighbor”, figure things out as you go along, and make your share of mistakes and possibly damage your career. Or you can learn the best way to build a vast network of effective relationships from other people who have blazed the trail before you.

To get you started on the right foot, let me share with you a valuable concept that has helped me multiply the effectiveness of my professional relationships: The effectiveness of your professional network increases exponentially with its reach.

In other words, with every new person you can reach in your professional network, the effectiveness of your network increases not linearly (one-to-one) but exponentially.

Although the reach of your network on its own doesn’t necessary increase or decrease the effectiveness of your professional relationships, it does make a huge difference in your ability to add value to those relationships (for example by connecting them with others in your professional network that can help them).

Back in 1998 when I started working at EY, there was no easy way to determine the reach of my network. I had 126 people in my Palm Pilot (yes, I’ve been at this for a while), and I estimated that the reach of my network was approximately the square of that, or 15,875 people.

But now, services like LinkedIn can give you a great estimate of your network’s reach with just the click of a mouse. Take a moment right now to check your LinkedIn home page and take note of how many connections you have. It’s listed on the right hand, half way down the page, and looks something like this:

What is the reach of your network?