What is your reputation?

How often do you bother thinking about the reputation you've built? Reputation can make or break a career. You many enjoy reading the following things on reputation I had learnt from Seth Godin:

1. Your reputation has as much as impact as you what you actually do

2. Early assumptions about you is really sticky

3. You cannot "game" your reputation. Even if you did, it doesn't last.

4. The best way to maintain reputation is to keep doing things that you are proud of.

5. Good work is of maximum value only if the people get your reputation right

6. Many people do not bother building a reputation at all!

7. Be prepared to live with your reputation for long, because you need to

8. Most important: Because not everyone can talk to you, your reputation is built by others.

Be your reputation, early and often, and you're more likely to have a reputation you're glad to own.

Are you hampering your own growth?

Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours - Richard Bach, Illusions

Why anyone would want to do it? Because of the many things we see as ourselves, beliefs that we are many things we are not. If we see ourselves as something that we are not, we try to do everything to protect the story we are telling ourselves. We get so caught up in self-preservation that we close all the avenues of possibilities. "But, I'm a LabVIEW guy, I can't learn C" or "I'm a DSP guy, I don't seem to have a knack for understanding APIs" - sounds familiar? While self-preservation is essential, if it crosses a limit, we start protecting things which might not be required. 

As a first step in moving towards growth, start watching out where you've started identifying with your limitations and arguing for them. 

Whether you think you can or think you can't - you're right - Henry Ford

Not my job

It is so painful when I come across people that say its "not my job" - a sure way to not get ahead in any organization. Well, there are job descriptions, existing work load which is seemingly takes away all the work hours, too much pressure already to deliver and you don't want to get distracted etc., Still, sending out a message "its not my job" is bound to deplete your good will. If you catch yourself wanting to say so, pause a moment and explore options:

• if your plate is already full, let your manager know about it and ask how you should prioritize,
• if a job is given on something that you are not competent on, ask for help.
• immediately offer to work on things that you can surely do, but seek help on things you do not know

There always are options. Telling "not my job" is usually a sign of disengagement.

Tyranny of Competence

I first came to know about the concept of "Tyranny of Competence" in Bob Quinn's powerful book Deep Change: Discover the Leader Within. This is a person that is so good at the skills of their job, managers will tend to overlook their other flaws in character. They assume the character flaws are offset by the positive impact such people create in their jobs OR worse, many a times managers would not have the guts to confront as the fear the world will come to an end if such a person leaves the organization. 

Unfortunately, in the long run, destruction caused by lack of character is always greater than the competency provided.

Steven Covey gave us the image of leadership, being equal parts character and competency. You can be the most competent person ever, but without good character, you’ll never become a great leader. (Conversely, you can be a person of utmost integrity and character, but without being competent at what you do, you’re no longer trustworthy and therefore will never make a trusted leader.)

You can spot such folks easily as they exhibit some of the following:

• They believe several work place rules that appear to most, won't apply to them (I'm  not talking of folks that talk to their manager and get a formal exemption. I'm just talking about folks that come from a sense of "entitlement" or "I don't care" kind of an attitude).
• They believe the first-right-of-refusal for anything lies with them
• They are overly critical (many times in public and/or in front of juniors) of few folks around them, without trying to help the organization or the individual about the issue they are critical about. At times such criticism crosses what is "reasonable" and in the worst case it can even be seen as harassment at work.
• This is my favourite. They take immense pleasure in chewing down their manager (or management in general) without really ever trying to understand the constraints and other ground realities in which the business (and hence the manager) operates.
• There is an air of superiority about them and they feel they can treat others like dirt with their technical competence providing the license to do so
• They use "high-bar" as a stick to beat others, while completely being oblivious to their own character flaws
• While they bemoan that they hardly get "constructive feedback", they normally do not agree when such a thing is given because of the sheer arrogance that they know better (on the technical side that is)

You can easily add more.

How to deal with them? If you are a manager, you ought to be telling them almost immediately when you see such a behavior and make them aware of the negative impact it is having on the team (I strongly recommend STAR-AR approach, for it gives how they could have acted in a different way, while still making their point). They should be made to realise that the most cherished and valued people are the ones with both great competencies and the same time exhibit the greatest of character. Such people are respectful and treat others with great dignity. Look no further, just point them to our founders Dr. T and Jeff K. 

Live, Love, Laugh

Sometimes we get overwhelmed and think everything is out of control so it’s helpful to read or listen to some inspirational words to help refocus on what’s important. Live, Love, Laugh. Here's a short video from the best selling author Wayne Dyer.

Questions

• Why waste time proving over and over how great you are, when you could be getting better?
• Why hide deficiencies instead of overcoming them?
• Why look for friends or partners who will just shore up your self-esteem instead of ones who will also challenge you to grow?
• And why seek out the tried and true, instead of experiences that will stretch you?

(Source: Mindset by Carlos Dweck)

Best form of motivation

Couldn't agree more

What RamP's reading (Aug'16)

Timeless Leadership: 18 Leadership Sutras from Bhagawad Gita

Although it was written well over two thousand years ago, the Bhagavad Gita ("Song of God"), a revered Hindu religious text, contains an immense wealth of ageless wisdom that speaks directly to the needs of today′s business leaders. Timeless Leadership takes this unlikely resource and teases out important lessons on 18 aspects of leadership, from commercial vision to motivation, decision–making, and planning. I have read a few different interpretations of Bhagwad Gita, but this one promises to be very different.

Mindset: Changing The Way You Think To Fulfil Your Potential

In this book, Stanford University Psychologist Carlos Dweck explains why it's not just our abilities and talent that bring us success-but whether we approach them with a fixed or growth mindset. She makes clear why praising intelligence and ability doesn't foster self-esteem and lead to accomplishment, but may actually jeopardize success. With the right mindset, we can motivate our kids and help them to raise their grades, as well as reach our own goals-personal and professional. Dweck reveals what all great parents, teachers, CEOs, and athletes already know: how a simple idea about the brain can create a love of learning and a resilience that is the basis of great accomplishment in every area.