Power of FUSION...

FUSION creates fun,creates magic,creates richness,creates a new flavour of amalgamation... be it MUSIC,LOVE or our RELATIONSHIPS,its al abt fusions...

This concept hit me last Sunday on the World Music Day. We were at G.D.Birla Sabhaghar in Kolkata attending a fusion musical concert organized by You and I (http://youandi.in/index.html). It was one of the first such gatherings ever attended by me. Being in the city of culture and music, listening to jhumri to baul songs, from opera music to rabindrasangeet, from lokgeeti to ghazals was a splendor... the show had it all, well blended and presented under the bouquet of fusion music.

Tats how this concept caught me... must say fusion has power... really looking forward to some wonderful FUSIONS in my life ;)

Leadership Challenges - Learnings @ CII,Delhi

Sharing some thoughts on Leadership Challenges after attending one of the CII meets at Delhi with Rajeev Sir on 02/06/10

The first discussion point was the impact of IT/Digitization on organizations and the challenges the leaders faced.
People have always been an intrinsic part of the fabric of any organization. PEOPLE are where the touch points exist. Digitization will never be able to replace human issues. Aspiration of individuals, creating a vision for individual will always be areas of emotional interest. Some quicker points which Mr.Vijay K Thadani, CEO NIIT Ltd stated for creating a path ahead for motivating people in their way of life are as follows:

1. Create Inspiration (Eg: The idea of a Free India)
2. Create Aspiration (What is my share?)
3. Create Perspiration (Provide with measurement tools)

Digitization has its bad effects as it has reduced patience span. (Eg: A ‘Reply All’ syndrome – an issue which might just lessen the impact for a subject or idea or land us up in trouble). Individual connectivity is perhaps getting lost. The top management has not grown with the new technology called digitalization. If they don’t know what the latest market needs are, where will competiveness come in? One should be open to learning – Don’t stop the learning curve!

You need not know everything what your company does. Also nobody expects you to know everything. But the challenge is of being “RELEVANT”. Make yourself accessible to people. Overcome this fear and say 'I will run the technology and not vice versa”. Mr. Rajeev Karwal, CEO, Milagrow says, ‘Whenever I notice a trend, I try it! Become a sustainable success’
(Eg: Facebook – It has become an amazing marketing platform, its here where segmentation is happening – Birds of the same feather flock together! He also suggests taking technology as a Business Solution. Reverse mentoring process helps.

Leaders will make people uncomfortable in order to bring the BEST out of them. They would try to unruffle them, create uneasiness so that they have the capacity to come out as emerge as winners. I totally agree on this thought because I have actually experienced such leadership style during my MBA days at SCMLD with Prof.M.S.Pillai.

It’s all about people – Motivate and show them how to dream... Let them live their dreams! There is a difference between managing people and leading people. Rajeev Sir shares that he was an extreme task master (a complete 9 by 9 matrix person) in his early years, but now he had to change his style of leadership according to the current circumstances. Similarly great leaders need to adapt to changing environments and act accordingly. Leader is a leader of hope they should make you feel wanted. Don’t push your people without endearing them. That’s perhaps the essence to create an environment of ‘high performing team’.

Leaders have to make themselves vulnerable to different situations. They should realise that they can also make mistakes. They are not God. Leaders with such style will only make people listen to them and not communicate. Don’t be a God! To you if PEOPLE come first, then automatically to your people the CUSTOMERS will come first. The question is how do you keep the personal vulnerabilities aside? People communicate with people who are like them.

If you want to be No.1, you have to make sacrifices. Out of the 25*25*25*25 years in total, in order to create a sustainable success one needs to try to do so in all fronts.

Love your work, enjoy what you do... and above all have a sincerity of purpose!!!

Travelling was never so HORRIBLE…

Have you ever travelled in the DTC buses? It indeed is experience of a lifetime, but a bad one for sure!
Unruly and badmouthed conductors, stuffed buses with people and bad quality buses, barring the few new ones of course… The buses which travel to Gurgaon and Noida are more class apart. They are just horrible. They have old conductors who will occupy one seat like kings and distribute tickets, leaving two less seats for travellers. They will not come to the passengers, but the latter have to go to the rear end of the bus, even though how much there may be rush, and get the tickets. Here you’ll find the demand-supply equation a little different. The conductors are not worried about getting hold of passengers to get tickets but the people have to make sure that they buy their tickets for good reasons. Otherwise there are ticket checkers (their authenticity doubted by me) will suddenly land up doing surprise checks and if found ticketless (even though how genuine you may give an excuse not to have a ticket) and would fine you a whooping Rs200! I have never seen such dirty, lazy and unruly conductors than I have seen in Delhi and NCR. The conductors will never pay back the extra rupee that is extra. Majority of male passengers have no decency and civic sense, they would make sure they sit on seats allocated to ladies or senior citizen and would not give them up for the allotted ones. I am still to learn the rough mannerisms and ask one to stand up when one sitting on a ladies seat.

The good old saying goes “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”… Now do I need to learn the indecency too, staying in Delhi?

We shall overcome… someday!!!

‘Repairing the world with love’ is the subtle undercurrent of the film ‘My Name is Khan' which opened with a huge box office earning globally than in India. Thanks to the crazy politics of our country!

Being an ardent fan of SRK I can go gaga about his performance in the film and Kajol for being the perfect screen match for him. The first half of the film has some good capturing moments and songs. Second half is a little overboard with the Mamma Jenny episode. SRK might remind one of Tom Hanks of Forest Gump but nevertheless the messaging on the ever popular Hindu-Muslim subject is clear and bluntly put across in a balanced way through the mouth of an autistic person.

Truly there are only two kinds of people – good and the bad. There’s absolutely no harm in treating every human with dignity and grace. Bad people need to be penalized and good ones need to be treasured. Good and bad can come in the form of a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jain, Buddhist, Jew or any name that we assign. The killings in Pune, Mumbai or distant Kabul kill just the innocent and no one. There is no victory of a religion by killing innocents and individuals. I am sure no religion preaches bad and hatred towards mankind. Then why do we have to take to such violent measures to prove our strengths? It’s been long that we have heard of a divided and occupied Kashmir, of violence and terrorism, of killings and hatred… of a different race called Muslims or an African…

All who have so much of hatred within I suggest please meditate, seek spiritual help or go for a laughter therapy. Let us spent time and brains on the important social problems of mankind like hunger, poverty or literacy which are much bigger in nature and long ailing. There is no way out better than the path of love. I truly wish there would be ‘Aman ki Asha’ soon and we shall overcome someday and understand the concept of ‘WE’ as in the verse of ‘WE ARE THE WORLD’…