Maximum safety, Minimum existence

Garfield, leaping, Rambo-like, through the open door of a pet-shop, announces himself FREEDOM FIGHTER

He charges through the shop,flinging open the cages of the confined pets, proclaiming YOU'RE FREE! YOUR ARE FREE!

But instead of rejoicing in this sudden gift of liberation, the cats and dogs and birds all remain in their open cages, intimidated by the unknown possibilities that come with freedom.

Seeing this Garfield surmises, HMMM, FOLKS MUST NOT BE HEAVILY INTO FREEDOM THESE DAYS

Ever flexible, he whirls back through the pet shop, slamming the cage doors and cheering YOU'RE SECURE! YOU'RE SECURE

The pets, reconfined, look relived.

Same thing happens in the world of people. Many of us choose security over freedom to such an extreme that we confine ourselves and profoundly limit our experience of life. I might surrender to a craving to be secure by electing to live my life in a closet. Maximum safety, minimum existence.

(Taken from Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace)

Your aspiration and company's need are different

This morning I met an ex-colleague who sought my help in furthering his career. I usually have such talks over long, early morning walks in Lalbagh as it helps me see things objectively (For the same reasons, I meet my Bangalore based mentors too in Lalbagh luring them with a treat at the famous MTR post the walk). This person, lets call him John, is an individual contributor with 20+ years in the industry. John in very articulate, sincere and grounded. He is well aware of his own strengths, limitations and options. A great character any manager would love to have in the team. 

I was surprised when he sought my help. But quickly understood his problem. He is in the current organization now for 10+ years and gotten into some kind of a comfort zone. He still is highly rated and enjoys his work. The problem is that he feels his influence is declining after he moved to a different vertical by choice, though he still is their senior most and best architect. Moving to this vertical (automotive) is his personal choice. However, he is unable to engage his customers in meaningful discussion. He said he has read everything on automotive domain from internet and played around with tools available easily. Everything appeared fine and I asked him to contrast his new experience with his previous domain (wireless). He said he never had such issues in his previous domain. It then suddenly stuck to me that in the wireless domain he literally grew with the technology - starting with 2G, all the way upto LTE-A. Naturally then the connect was easy. Whereas for automotive his knowledge is bookish and his customers sense it quickly, no matter howsoever his skills are transferable, he is not able to connect. After brainstorming on several options we both decided it is best for him to move to an automotive hub like Detroit and work with one of the big names there for atleast an year to improve the odds. We both felt good and were able to enjoy our breakfast at NMH, an old, but charming restaurant near Lalbagh. 

This was easy. John is so open to feedback and always looking at increasing his value-add to the system. I was quickly able to convince him that while he aspires to be an architect in Automotive, the company really needs someone that is extremely well versed. Atleast here the needs were matching, he had built his credibility and the company therefore was patient on him, and above all he was willing to do whatever it takes to get there. Not even once did he blame his management, or customer or economy or anything (he is one of best folks I've ever worked) and throughout the conversation his focus clearly remained on "what he could do". Infact, when he called he explained his situation and said "Prasad, I want your help to identify few areas that I can work on to get where I want to go". 

It was so refreshing. Natural tendency of most of us is to blame someone/something, for it becomes easy to not take any action to move forward. People even with modest ambitions would not be willing to pay the price (I met a senior leader who told me how throughout his career he has taken odd/tough/jobs-no-one wants to do, to become valuable and therefore increased his influence and also got what he wanted - more on it in a separate post). Invariably it is our manager's fault that we are stuck!! Responsibility is lying all over the place waiting to be picked up. 

Take Action - Wanting is not enough. Act on your goals; An inch of movement brings closer to your goals than a mile of intention - Steve Maraboli.

Top 10 Tips to Advance Your Career at NI

Chanced upon this excellent article in NI-Talk on top 10 tips to advance your career at NI. Here's the summary:

1. Drive your own career
2. Build a reputation of excellence
3. See great challenges as great opportunities for growth
4. Do the job you want before you get it
5. Help others
6. Prepare your replacement
7. Prioritize high-value projects
8. Improve yourself
9. Understand the business
10. Enjoy your job

Want to know more? Read the full article here.

Dare to create magic

Ravi Venkatesan is a well known name in Indian IT industry in his role as Chairman of Microsoft India. What is little known though is how he constantly reinvents himself by repeatedly and deliberately coming out of comfort zone. Yet another example that its only mavericks and revolutionaries (and not the "well rounded professionals") that truly accomplish great things. In this beautiful article, Ravi shares what propels him to continuously self-destruct and persevere. Some highlights if you are short of time to read the entire/original article.

• Aim high, and then do what it takes
• No risk, no reward
• No matter where you go, credibility must be earned
• You are what you measure
• Great teams make great companies
• Start at the top if you want to make a mindset change
• Never underestimate the contribution of luck
• Become risk averse and you stagnate
• Introspect often to know your strengths
• India will change if Bright people create opportunities for themselves

I could relate the most to this statement “I asked myself, ‘When I turn 50, what will I regret more – that I have tried and failed or that I had the opportunity and I was too scared and gave it a pass? I decided that I’ll go and do my best.” 

(Read the full article here)

25 things strong leaders tell their team members

From Liz Ryan's Forbes article. Managers who have attended MDS can relate to these easily.

Here are 25 things awesome managers say to their teammates all the time. Which of these can you try right away?

1. Thanks for having that incredible idea!

2. You know, you are really good at this. I’m so glad you are working on this project.

3. How can I help you with anything that’s in your way?

4. Let me know if you run into any snags. Your success here is a big priority for me.

5. I don’t know the answer. What’s your opinion?

6. I do have a strong opinion about that, but I want to hear your thoughts. I’m sure they will inform my viewpoint, too.

7. Listen, I trust you to do this project the way you think best. Put together a plan, please, and show it to me. Then we can confirm it and you’ll be off and running.

8. I have a favor to ask you about switching priorities. Is now a good time to talk about that?

9. Thanks again for the amazing effort you put into that assignment.

10. I noticed that you showed Terry how to work the inventory adjustment report, and I appreciate it a lot.

11. What did I say in the staff meeting that set you back? Your face changed and I could see I surprised or upset you. Can you please tell me what it was?

12. I know you were disappointed that we organized the project differently from what you recommended, and I wanted to tell you that I appreciated your suggestions. I can walk you through the reasons I decided to schedule the project differently. I don’t want you to feel that I’m ignoring your views, and I want you to keep sharing your opinions.

13. What can I do to be a stronger manager for you and help you more?

14. I wanted to tell you that I’ve learned a lot from you — so thanks!

15. What are you waiting for from me, that I haven’t gotten back to you on yet?

16. It seems like there may be confusion between your role and Sarah’s, and the intersection between your two job descriptions. Is that a topic we should talk about?

17. How are you holding up? How’s your workload?

18. I wanted to tell you right away that everyone at the Managers Meeting loved your presentation — tremendous job!

19. What do you want to learn in the company that I can help you learn? Who do you want to meet on the executive team? Let me introduce you.

20. I want to support and promote your ideas, and I need your help. Can you lay out your argument on paper so we can walk through it?

21. Listen, you are a very important person on this team. I want to make sure you get the information, support and tools you need. Let me know if I’m not doing that.

22. Do you understand how our company makes money and how the organization works? I want to hear your questions and answer them because the more you know, the more effective you’ll be at your job and the more great ideas you’ll be able to come up with.

23. I heard that you had a tough day yesterday with the rescheduled customer demo. I’m sorry to hear about. Do you want to talk about it?

24. How can I help you reach your goals — your goals in this job and your career goals going forward?

25. Have I told you recently how grateful I am that you work here? Let me tell you again!

Decide, Commit, Resolve

Decide, commit and resolve to gain momentum and become a leader that ignites and impacts everything and everybody. Nice little (2.5 min) video by Tony Robbins.