Learn Confidence from Google

Do you believe you have confidence? Do you believe in yourself? Are you ready to go out there in the open and question your identity and authority? Are you ready to be criticized? Are you are ready to look yourself into the mirror and say that this is who I am? Are you ready for change – the only universal truth of life? Are you ready to transform? At first go, all these questions look scary. Isn’t it?

Lets be honest with ourselves. These questions are scary and most of us, including me, try not to answer them. But look at it closely, isn’t this the other definition of life? I believe it is. I have accepted it and in the process of accepting the one and only truth of life: CHANGE. But to accept the eternal truth, one needs to have confidence and confidence in plenty. The confidence should be of it utmost purest form, which even when challenged will never kneel down. The confidence will be the armor against all odds, making way to our dreams.

So, where is this confidence? How can I find it? Will it remain with me? There are lot of questions that immediately pop up the heads. Lets try to look into these questions bit colsely.

Where is this Confidence? Confidence is not in the head. Its within you. The mantra is not about finding confidence from thinkings rather from inner self. Its within our hearts. Its within our beliefs. There is a thin difference between confidence and arrogance. Confidence gives positive energy and spreads the same around us. In other words, confidence is the way to prosperity and happiness. On the other hand, arrogance is exactly the opposite. Arrogance brings sadness, frustration and more frustration. Confidence makes the world around you feel proud of what you are doing but arrogance makes only you proud.

How can I find it? Find confidence in what you love to do. It may not be easy because in reality, the world behaves in such a way that makes a vicious cycle that revolves in 360-degree without  any clue. It may be very hard. But there is definitely a way and as I mentioned earlier, the only way to find confidence is to look within and follow your love.

Will it remain with me? I believe Confidence can remain always with you. Confidence is like a farmland. You need to sow right seeds, give enough nutrients, water, sunlight and keep watching it from weeds and other plant pollutants. The more one looks within and tries to cultivates it, the more it grows and keeps you to step the right foot forward.

To illustrate all of the above, let me bring forward an example of an amazing Black Swan: The Google. Google recently announced a cash prize of $20 grands in cash anyone breaks the Google Chrome browser on the first day. Last year, Google Chrome browser was the only browser that left unhacked in the conference. For people who do not know about PWN2OWN, it is one of the biggest platform for the hackers where participants try to hack various browser and mobiles. Last year, we saw how Apple released a lot of patches for the bugs unveiled for its Safari. This year, when Google Chrome was not included in the browsers’ list to be hacked by  hackers, Google came forward and announced it bounty.

So, is it arrogance or confidence? I believe it is confidence and this is exactly I am talking about. First of all, let me be very clear. People may be arrogant when they are either very stupid or useless and low standard. Good reputable people are confident. And that is what I would like all of us to have.

Most importantly, it is your confidence that tells your true worth no matter where you are and what you might be doing. Confidence is treasure which boost the morale of an individual and helps in keep chasing his dream despite all odds. Learn to cultivate this farm and I am sure all of you will find the individual you are looking for inside you.

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Power Learnings from Steve Jobs

As I read this article, I lost myself with Steve Jobs. I, still, remember when I first read about Steve Jobs in iCon. I had heard about Steve earlier but the book made me fall in live with his leadership style. I always hoped that someday I could have made to one Apple Conference and meet this iconic personality, who has so much to offer with his individual presence: management, presentation, leadership, perseverance and many more. As Steve Jobs announced his second indefinite medical leave, Apple shares were bound to take a beating and I feel it should not have surprised many other like me. This post is about analyzing few points that the article tries to address about Steve Jobs and the POWER. As I have consistently mentioned in my earlier posts, we, Indians, are little bad with powers and History has proved it again and again. Most of us have a bad notion of POWER and for us, POWER is just another way to utter sentences like ” Do you know who I am or I am your —————- (You fill in the blanks and bang you are that) and mark your presence without any personal significance. Individuals find ways to stamp their authority everytime.

But lets come back to the article, I am referring to. The first power lesson the article points to is :

“power can result from sheer drive, persistence, resilience, and the ability to tolerate conflict”

Steve Jobs is definitely an inspirational figure for the above lesson. I agree with the author when he mentions that Jobs persisted, sticking with his same focus on the user interface, his fundamental vision of ease of use and cool design, but also learned from the setbacks. People who would have seen “Pirates of Silicon Valley” would know the history that Apple was once written off the radar and so does Jobs. But he held on to his dream and vision only to come back strongly later. Remember his last turnaround, he was sick. The whole world wrote him off, media said Jobs is gone but he again came back only to introduce another killer product – iPad. So hold on and hold tight to your dreams.

The second power lesson the article points to is:

“power can come through the projection of an image of strength that may not yet be the reality”

Remember, what apple store has done to various software developers. It has given a platform for enthusiastic software developers to pursue tehir passion yet not only make money but also become famous. Stanford did not think at all to introduce a course in its computer science curriculum that promotes students to develop apple software application as part of its course. Pulse, an iPad application, is the recent success and latest sensation resulting from it. Android and Nokia followed the store concept of success with their own stores. But Apple did it first. So, powerful people project an image of strength and sustainability.

The third power lesson the article points to is:

“likeability is not a prerequisite to power”

Great and the one thing that I personally love the most. It is not necessary that all powerful people are likeable but as a matter of fact, very few are. It is a very well known fact that Steve Jobs is sometimes heavily criticized for his attitude and actions. One of the example that the article cites is a prime example: “Being Steved”. Being Steved is the official term for Apple employees getting fired by Steve Jobs. In the incident mentioned in the article, when the employee was packing up his things after getting fired by Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs comes by and inquires. And says, you are re-hired. I have personally heard of stories about people who were fired by Steve Jobs only to leverage on the opportunity of getting fired by Steve Jobs to make it big in their life.

Bottom line is: Apple is a success and a lot of its credit goes to Steve Jobs. He is a visionary person, may not be liked by all but he is a successful figure who knew how to make his own ways. Not to forget, his charismatic presence only puts the tagline that we see on Apple products. Personally, I feel this time the medical leave might last a little bit longer and may be a good strategy for Apple to prepare its successor while the market accepts the change and accepts the new Apple as we love today.

Source Article: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/01/steve_jobs_a_study_in_power.html

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Forget NBA, NFL: IPL is Future?

For people who don’t know IPL, IPL is today’s money making machine in the sports arena. IPL aka Indian Premier League is the largest sports (cricket) entertainment in terms of money and entertainment. Now, the idea of IPL is not new. It exists in various forms of other games like basketball (NBA), soccer, football (NFA) and many more. So, what makes IPL the most popular game.

• Cricket: Cricket is one of the craziest games of many countries especially in Asia. Go to any nook and corner of the countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and you will find kids and people playing cricket with a bat and ball. Very few them make it to the playing 11 of the team but to be 11, is like a dream come true for anyone. In India, cricketers and film stars are like demi-gods. If one legend dies, the whole country goes down in no time. If India gives one bad performance in a cricket match, the effigies are burnt. One would be surprise to know that we have temples to worship cricketers and film stars. Moreover, IPL paved the way for shortest version of cricket games: 20-over bringing the excitement right onto the audience
• Entertainment: Cheer-leading has never been a profession earlier in India but it is one now. How can someone forget the Knight Riders’ team Cheer-leading Reality Show. Additionally, not to forget the eminent filmstars associated with IPL: Preity Zinta, Shilpa Shetty and many more. Not to forget how dozens more flock around during the matches to promote themselves and their movies.

The marriage of above two fields. Cricket and Entertainment was deadly and that drove the whole nation crazy. Of course, one might say the business model is not new. There is nothing innovative. Of course, yes. I do agree but then no one introduced the concept better than IPL. And let us accept the fact: almost all our business models are the borrowed concepts from abroad: well tested and proven because we, Indians,  (most of us) are not risk-takers by nature.

Today, IPL has emerged as the biggest and largest money spinner in its genre in the sports domain surpassing all NBA and NFL. Last year, its brand value was estimated to be $4.13 Bn and with the addition of two new franchisees, it is going to be more this year. Let us look at the some of the auction highlights of this year:

• A total of 127 players were sold in the two-day auction at the ITC Gardenia hotel in Bangalore, while 12 players were originally retained by the franchises ahead of the auction.
• Deccan Chargers have 14 players, spending $6,875,000 and keeping $2,125,000 still to spend. Dale Steyn ($1.2 mn) and Cameron White ($1.1 mn) were the costliest players for the team.
• Kolkata Knight Riders have 12 players, spending $8,575,000 and keeping $425, 000 still to spend. Gautam Gambhir ($2.4 mn) and Yusuf Pathan ($2.1 mn) were star cricketers.
• Royal Challengers Bangalore have 16 players, spending $8,640, 000 and keeping $360,000 still to spend. Saurabh Tiwary ($1.6 mn) and AB de Villiers ($1.1 mn) were top fetchers.
• Mumbai Indians have 12 players, spending $8,520,000 and keeping $480,000 still to spend. Rohit Sharma ($2 mn) and Andrew Symonds ($850,000) rocked the table for Mumbai Indians.
• Sahara Pune Warriors, the new franchise, have 14 players, spending $8,070,000 and keeping $930,000 still to spend. Robin Utthappa ($2.1 mn) and Yuvraj Singh ($1.8 mn) were their prized possessions.
• Team Kochi, another new franchise, have 17 players, spending $8,640,000 and keeping $360,000 still to spend. Mahela Jayawardhane ($1.5 mn) and Muttiah Muralitharan ($1.1 mn) were the costliest players.
• Delhi Daredevils have 17 players, spending $8,250,000 and keeping $750,00 still to spend. Irphan Pathan ($1.9 mn), David Warner ($750,000) and Umesh Yadav ($750,000) were star cricketers bought.
• Chennai Super Kings have 18 players, spending $8,615,000 and keeping $385,000 in pocket. R Ashwin ($850,000) and S Badrinath ($800,000) were top fetchers.
• Rajasthan Royals have 8 players, spending $6,195,000 and keeping $805,000 in pocket. Ross Taylor ($ 1 mn) and Johan Botha ($950,000) emptied their suitcase.
• Kings XI Punjab have 11 players, spending $6, 945, 000 and keeping $2,005,000 in pocket. David Hussey ($1.4 mn), Adam Gilchrist ($900,000), Piyush Chawla ($900,000), Dinesh Karthik ($900,000) were their prized possessions.
• Rajasthan Royals were allotted budget of $7 million because of Bombay High court order.
• Koklkata Knight Riders were constantly on the news: for picking up Gautam Gambhir for a record money and then not taking the star player of the region and former Indian Cricket team Captain, Saurav Ganguly.
• Saurav Ganguly, Brian Lara and Chris Gayle went unsold. More than Brian Lara, this IPL auction put a BIG DOT on the cricketing career of one of the most successful Indian Cricket team Captain, Saurav Ganguly. Media left no time to make a fuss about the situation and broke hell on Dada. Most surprisingly, can Kolkata Knight Rider play without Saurav Ganguly in the player’s hometown itself? I guess yes, because this is India and lets be honest, we take few seconds to make a star and few seconds to bring someone to ashes.
• The another aspect of auction side of KKR is: If I am not wrong, they are the only team to have broke even and into the profits. Don’t forget that they have never qualified for the semi-finals and have been one of the worst performers in the league. The credit goes to the King Khan of Bollywood, their franchise owner, Shahrukh Khan. Personally, I don’t like him or his acting but I love his presence of mind and his sheer attitude and marketing skills inspire me a lot. Remember, those xxx energy drink or the cheer-leading Reality show, SRK rocked the IPL with his own presence. SO, why KKR needs to play when both franchise owners and players are happy earning money without winning matches.
• Personally, I feel Team Kochi made intelligent buys and did not put in money anywhere where the stake was too high. A lesson well learned from the Deccan Chargers from the past.
• Anil Kimble made a smart move by opting himself out of the auction at the right time. Prestige and honor kept intact and he also got to mentor the Bangalore Royal Challengers.
• Rahul Dravid, another star player of Indian Cricket team, just escaped the fate of Saurav Ganguly when he was picked up but it is a YELLOW light for Dravid. Be careful for the next auction.
• Youngsters from India and abroad made the most out of this auction. A lot of unknown names got picked up over well known names: a very good positive sign. I am a strong believer in the power of fresh blood and Ia m sure some of them are going to make their dream run this IPL. Best of Luck to all of them!!!
• Last year, IPL debuted on youtube, live streaming all matches. I expect this year they should live tweet also 🙂
• IPL3 also debuted on movie theaters, showing the IPL matches live in the multiplexes. So, I guess you can grab your popcorn this year too.

IPL4 is going to have more matches and it is going to get bigger and better. I have always been a strong fan of Mumbai Indians and I am going to stick to my team this year too. Who will win IPL4? What do you think?

Just sit back, relax, get your popcorn and enjoy!!! For me, I am more interested in knowing the facts and success of both IPL4 and Cricket World Cup and we will try to bring you a post-tournament report. I am curious to co a sided-by-side analysis of the two biggest cricketing events of the year. Are you anxious? Do check back that time…

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Learnings from Micromax

Ohh yes guys, the IPO of Micromax might hit the Indian market soon. Do you know Micromax? Honestly, I was not aware of this brand unless some of my friends and colleagues bought the mobiles of Micromax. Very few people know and in fact, even I was surprised to know that Micromax is the largest selling mobile handset in India. And the most amazing story of its success is: it has done so in a very short period of 3 years. Today, it is valued at $1 Bn. As far as I have heard about the Micromax from my friends, they say one prefers Micromax because it provided dual SIM support, qwerty interface at an amazingly low cost. Yes, low cost was its selling point and as I have discussed earlier on this blog, no matter what technology you provide and what features you give, we, Indians have just one first question: What is the price? And here is where I feel Micromax is a winner. I was not surprised to know that Micromax has gained its popularity in such a short period of time and captured 5% of the Indian mobile market, as reports suggest.

So, what does it mean to us?

• Don’t stop dreaming and dreaming big. Remember 3 years back Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and few others were household names. Introducing itself at that time and emerging as the leading player is one of the greatest example of living a life of dreams for Micromax. kudos to all the whole team.
• Entrepreneurs don’t fear. The believe in themselves more than anyone does. And Micromax proved it with its valuation.
• Hard work, Focus and Determination are the key to success. Its the combination of all these factors that today Micromax is going for an IPO.
• Ideas with customers in mind matter the most. I believe what clicked for Micromax is their approach to the Indian market. They just combined the idea of iPhone, cost factor plus the Indian attitude of shifting telecom providers to suit to the cheapest calling rates at that instant of time. Apple did not lunch iPhone in India and when it did, the cost was too high that it could even be anywhere near to success. Blackberry was not in market. And Micromax launched itself at just the right time with the correct attitude.

So, guys keep dreaming and believe in them. You never know when your Idea could be the IPO of the Indian Economy!!!

Sources: http://trak.in/tags/business/2011/01/10/micromax-ipo-stock-markets/

http://micromaxinfo.com/

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Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn: The Big IPO Line-up

We are just few days into the new year and we are already seeing some exciting news coming. I read an article today that pointed that LinkedIn might have plans to go public this year. Honestly, I was not surprised. LinkedIn has been one of my favorite and I have gained immensely by staying in the vicinity of some amazing people. LinkedIn gave a new definition of professionalism. Recruitment took a new shape with LinkedIn and I must say that I would not be surprised to find certain job openings coming first on LinkedIn than other recruiting websites like Naukri or Monster. So, what made LinkedIn click? Let us try to understand few things that LinkedIn did great:

• Stay connected with people we meet and interact.
• Online references and of course, authenticity can be more trusted here.
• Great Connectivity because one could find Barack Obama to Hillary Clinton to Bill Gates. It was phenomenal because I believe LinkedIn paved the way on which twitter attracted celebrities and legends.
• Knowledge sharing platform across groups.

I am not a premium member at LinkedIn and hence, not the right person to comment on its premium services. But I cannot ignore the fact that it might be really good because LinkedIn generates a considerable amount of revenues from its premium users. Other than premium services, advertising is another source on which LinkedIn relies to generates its revenues.

LinkedIn claims to have more than 85 million members, which is a good number, I must say. So, what could be its value? LinkedIn never commented on its valuation and none close to it too. SharePost gives LinkedIn an implied value of $2.2 Bn. Now, I am not an expert but looking at the popularity of LinkedIn and the kind of platform it has provided to its members, I will not be surprised to see LinkedIn valued anywhere near to $4 – 5 Bn. I hope that I would have the technical know-how to evaluate a company’s profile but unfortunately, I dont’ have it now. Please don’t ignore the investment of Sequoia Capital in LinkedIn. Yes, it is the same company that invested in Google, Yahoo, Cisco, Apple and Oracle to name a few. And we all know what these companies went up to become.

Now, lets come to an interesting aspect. Why all of a sudden buzz of LinkedIn going for its IPO? And trust me when I say that LinkedIn might also be joined by twitter and Zyngya, in particular to go public. The reason is simple: FACEBOOK. The shark is in the sea and even though there are a lot of speculations of when facebook might go public, but all of us know if LinkedIn, Twitter and Zyngya don’t go public before Facebook, it might face the heat later. I completely agree with some of the experts that if Facebook goes public first, others might feel the pinch because it would be difficult to come out of the euphoria of the IPO of facebook. I can safely say that day and year Facebook decides to go public, it would be the FACEBOOK year. So, here was th news that kept everyone thinking:

“Facebook rocked the world when Goldman Sachs bought 1% stake in the company for whooping $500 mn. This makes Facebook valued at $50 Bn and yet to go public.”

Now, Facebook has mentioned of no intention of going public before late 2012 but here is the reason it might not take long. In USA, the definition of a private firm stands good if there are no more than 499 stakeholders and with Glodman Sachs’ investment, SEC has already initiated a thorough look-out into Facebook. Secondly, remember Google also never wanted to go public till Goldman Sachs invested in it and we know the history: with 10 months, Google went public. So, will Facebook follow the same route? Only time will answer the question.

To sum up, I am excited and I am more excited for these small firms, especially Facebook. A software application launched from a dormitory of a school in 2004 has today been estimated to be valued at $50 Bn. As we say the fall of 105-year Great Lehman Brothers, we also say the great Rising of Facebook. We will try to keep a close watch on the exciting developments of the social networking era 🙂

PS: Did you know Goldman Sachs does not allow to use Facebook in office? Now, will they remove the restriction after its investment in Facebook ;-)?

Sources: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-06/facebook-at-50-billion-valuation-is-looking-more-like-tencent-than-google.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7050DC20110106

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GET, SET and GO

How many times have you ever participated in 100m or 50m races during your school days? How many times in your life you have dreamed of getting something – may be an admit into a top-notch program, cracking IIT-JEE, CAT, getting a promotion at office or getting the dream girl of your life? I am sure you would have definitely gone through all or some or at-least one of the above circumstances.

Sometimes, we go into our own cocoon and sit inside like a safe baby just like one of my friends, Roshan, always mentions himself. Some others, in fact a lot including me to some extent, say that why to risk so much. But isn’t life is about taking risks. Let me bring a small analogy.

Compare our upbringing to the upbringing of an animal child, such as a bird. We are always around our parents. As we grow, we always tend to come back. When we fall, they comfort us. When we make mistakes, they us. On the other hand, the first thing a bird learns is how to fly. Once she knows how to fly, she is of her own – to explore the world, to fly high into the sky, touch the sun.

Now, one might we also do that but wait, we used to do so as kids, as small children. We used to try to imagine a lion of may be blue color. I remember that as a small kid, I once asked my mother why the sky is blue or the grass is green. She could not answer. The question haunted me so much that I explored a lot of books in my school library till I found my answer. But to find one answer, I had to go through atleast of 30 books in the General Knowledge section. sometimes when I lie down and think about it, I think am I the same Deepak that I used to be.

The bottom line is we try to hide behind lame excuses and go back to sit behind in the pouch of our own Kangaroo. I vow to break my habit this year and I urge all of you to do the same. Fight for your DREAMS and don’t give them up so easily. If you ever wanted to play cricket, go get up, pad up and hot the ground. If you ever dreamed to be a writer, its time to get your pen and finish your book. If you ever wanted to be an actor, go get up and who knows you might be the next Shahrukh Khan. I am going to fight for my dreams and try all means to make it happen. Come and join me and chase your dream with utmost sincerity.

To be honest, I always wanted to be an Entrepreneur. This year I have taken a major step towards it and making a small move this month. With GOD’s grace and if certain other things work out since I am expecting few things to come through soon, I am going to chase my dream with sincerity. No more safe zones, no more lame excuses, MBA or not MBA does not matter – I just want o to live my dreams.

Let me caution you about the people around you. They will try all means to dampen your spirit. But don’t let them win. Its time for us and our dreams to win. As the source article from which this post is inspired, such people are monkeys who have give up their hope of living their dreams. So, don’t get bugged down ans tighten your seat belts. What are waiting?/ Are you ready to GET, SET and GO….. Trigger has been fired

Inspired from article from my favorite, John Maxwell – http://johnmaxwellonleadership.com/2011/01/03/fight-for-your-dreams-in-2011/

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Winning-Take 2

This post is in continuation to my earlier post on Winning-Take 1. Earlier, I wanted to go one chapter at a time, which I like but now, I am going to pick chapters as I feel about it. So, the chapter of the discussion will be random but at the end of this series, I feel I am going to share a lot of myths and usual working professional style in conjunction with the book.

We are going to concentrate Take 2 on “Leadership”, one of the most confused and badly defined word in today’s corporate world. Well, we will first point out the the different traits the book discusses as the defining characteristics of “Leadership” and then discuss them all putting the present scenario around and break some of the common myths that we see around. Before that, let me be very clear, all managers are not at all “leaders” but all leaders are definitely good managers. This statement makes us ask why there is a question on “managers”. Well, because in the corporate world, unfortunately managers (or sometimes, Leads such as Project Leads, Team Leads) are named as leaders. I am sure one would have encountered a statement like this too often, “we choose to decide Mr. XXX to lead the team. Again, a wrong word all in all. It should be “manage” and sometimes, it just remains to few predetermined guidelines with no power at all. At times, I have heard my friends say to me, I don’t know what’s wrong with Mr. ABC. He was a good guy till he became a manager. Now, he feels as if like he owns us. In other terms, Hitler left his hierarchy as attitude of managers.

According to Jack Welch, the following traits define a leader:

1. Leaders relentlessly upgrade their team, using every encounter as an opportunity to evaluate, coach, and build self-confidence.
2. Leaders make sure people not only see the vision, they live and breathe it.
3. Leaders get into everyone’s skin, exuding positive energy and optimism.
4. Leaders establish trust with candor, transparency, and credit.
5. Leaders have the courage to make unpopular decisions and gut calls.
6. Leaders probe and push with a curiosity that borders on skepticism, making sure their questions are answered with action.
7. Leaders inspire risk taking and learning by setting the example.
8. Leaders celebrate.

Let us consider point 1. Three points become prominent here: Leaders evaluate, coach and finally, build self-confidence. Evaluate what? Evaluate making sure right people are in the right jobs, supporting and advancing those who are. There is an issue here in advancing. In my short career span, I have seen a lot of highly talented people going mediocre because his/her manager does not care about him. The general statement is: one is paid for doing something in the job, no matter it is a routine job. Well, be careful when you hear these words. These are kind of “signals”, signals that convey that you are at the wrong place and with a wrong person. Once evaluated, Leaders Coach, helping people improve in every way possible. And finally but most importantly, Leaders build self-confidence poring out encouragement, caring and recognition. Why point is important is that too many managers limit the people development to annual performance review and sometimes, just in discussions rather than being open in with the comparisons. Many times I have heard that don’t compare yourself, but then I have one question for all those: when one is given 4/10 and 9/10 in performance, then it makes me hard to believe one has not been compared because for simple reason that it is not a Mathematics course test, where you multiply right to get the right answer immaterial of what.

Point 2: Vision. This is one characteristics that will differentiate the leader from usual managers. Leaders possess visions and they don’t fear to communicate it. I feel visions should be loud and loud enough that everyone hears it. But no vision in worth the paper it’s printed on unless it is communicated constantly and reinforced with rewards. Only then will it leap off the page and come to life. Please don’t confuse vision with “deadlines” or “expectations”. We will take about them sometime later. Vision is something a leader visualizes for the benefit of the whole group for a long term. Visions can make a simple manager CEO and its group as the star performing group of the organization. And of course, please don’t confuse it with number of years that one has to stay with the organization. Generally, when an organization grows to a big size, the general rule dictates one has to stay for x years to be at Y position. This is not vision. Vision is something that will break these borders, redefining the rules of the game by setting news standards and if a general rule is x years, then in x-z years, one gets the position, where z is a substantial period.

Point 3: There is an old saying, “The fish rots from the head”. It’s mainly used to refer to how politics and corruption filter down into an organization, but it could just as easily be used to describe the effect of a bad attitude at the top of any team, large or small. Eventually, everyone’s infected. An upbeat manager goes through the day with a positive outlook somehow ends uo running a team or organization filled with…well, upbeat people with positive outlooks. A pessimistic sourpuss somehow ends up with an unhappy tribe all his own. The right attitude makes a manager leader.

Point 4: With Indian attitude, becoming a manager (or so called leader) is a real power trip. Probably, more than an individual, it is our society that has imbibed this attitude but the issue is we resist to change. Such people relish the feeling of control over both people and information. And so, they keep secrets, reveal little of their thinking about people and their performance, and hoard what they know about the business and its future. With this attitude, they forget that leaders are leaders because people feel strongly about their leadership skills and not because someone is a Manager by the tag name. Trust plays a major role here but honestly, you know it when you feel it. It is that simple. Most importantly, leaders take responsibility for what’s gone wrong and generously pass around the praise. To be a good leader, never forget you weren’t give an crown, you were give a responsibility to bring out the best in others. For that, your people need to trust you. And they will, as long as you demonstrate candor, give credit and stay real.

Point 5: Leaders don’t fear to make tough calls because they don’t consider themselves to be in a popularity contest. I feel one’s gut feelings play a very important role here.

Point 6: When you are an individual contributor, you try to have all the answers. That’s your job – to be an expert, the best at what you do, maybe even the smartest person in the room. When you are a loeader, you job is to have all the questions. You have to incredibly confortable looking like the dumbest person in the room. Every conversation you have, must have “What if?” and “Why not?” and “How come?”. Questioning alone, however, is not enough. You have to make sure your questions unleash debate and raise issues that get action. At the same time, what distinguishes a leader from a manager is leaders know that saying something doesn’t mean it will happen.

Point 7: Winning companies embrace risk taking and learning. But in reality, these two concepts often get lip service – and little else. Too many managers urge their people to try new things, and then whack them in the head when they fail. And too many live in not-invented-here wordls of their own making. Leader set examples themselves if they their people to experiment and expand their minds.

Point 8: What is it about celebrating that makes managers so nervous? Maybe throwing a party doesn’t seem professional, or it makes managers worry that they won’t look serious to the powers that be, or that, if things get too happy at the office, people will stop working their tails off. One another eason is as if like they are spending fro their own pocket for the celebration. Whatever be the reason, there is just not enough celebrating going on at work – anywhere. What a lost opportunity. Celebrating makes people feel like winners and creates an atmosphere of recognition and positive energy. Imagine a cricket team winning the World Cup without champagne spraying everywhere. You just can’t! And yet companies win all the time and let it go without so much as a high five. Work is too much part of life not to recognize moments of achievement. Grab as many as you can. Make a big deal out of them. If you don’t no one will.

To summarize, the beat leaders care passionately about their people – about their growth and success. And we can find them comfortable in their own skins. They are real, filled with candor and integrity, optimism and humanity. Please don’t fall into the trap that leadership happens one day when one becomes a boss and gets the power to change the rules.

Disclaimer: In no form, the above perceptions can be related to any particular individual or organization. In case done so, I take no responsibility and the firm/individual will be doing so for its own insecurity, thus, proving the negative effects mentioned being followed by themselves.

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Eximius at IIM Bangalore

Last Sunday, I visited to participate in “The Art of Elevator Pitch” Panel Discussion at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. The discussion was very informative. Honestly speaking, I did not know what is an Elevator Pitch before I decided to participate in the contest when I received an email from my Toastmasters International District. But I knew I am going to participate. So, I immediately replied to the email and got the preliminary round of questions. I am attaching the file with the answers here. Please do feel free to comment whatever you feel like.

DeepakPanigrahy_Oracle

What did I get out of the Contest?

1. Networking: I feel very good to network with some of the amazing people in the industry. Having entrepreneurial pursuits myself, it was just an amazing platform for meeting future business leaders (students of IIM Bangalore), Venture Capitalists such as Griffin David, Balaji and Ian Faria, Private Equity Players such as Samir Inamdar and many more. And of course, not to forget very enthusiastic Toastmasters. In fact, I got an invitation to speak over the IIM Alumni Toastmaster chapter and I plan to do so for some of my Advanced Communicator Bronze level, Speeches by Management Category.
2. Special: The session became special in personal term also. After a very very long time, I had a crush on someone there. Let me tell you that I am not the one who can fall for anyone any time. Someone needs to be very special to match my frequency and vibrancy and I felt the same with someone there. It is a different case that I did not do anything at that moment of time, though I wanted to with all good intentions. Somehow I decided to hold back for some more time and if future will permit, I will do the necessary. No doubt, the girl is special and I could feel that. I call the girl as Miss AC. So, Miss AC, hope to meet you soon but in a different fashion
3. Elevator Pitch: Well, this is the instant take away from the session. And I am going to discuss more in details on this with my version of the elevator pitch with the final case study.

What is an Elevator Pitch?

Elevator Pitch is a short speech of about 2 minutes, generally given by entrepreneurs to the VCs or angel investors. It derives its name from the fact that it takes exactly 2 minutes to go from the lobby to the top level where the VC has his office. And one gets just two minutes to leave the VC with the curiosity and quest. In my view, an elevator pitch is successful if you can get the business card out of the VC.

What kind Elevator Pitches can be?

I feel elevator pitches can be anything. It can be about yourself, a product, a service, a group, an organization and often related to marketing campaigns, branding and public relation activities. Why is it important? Generally, we don’t know with whom am I going to sit next to in my flight. We don’t get any clue with whom I am going to go in an elevator. So, suppose I bump into a potential VC all of a sudden and what I get is just 2 minutes to generate interest into me and my idea. In my view, it generates a lot of interest in the field of consultancy also. What do you feel how much time a CEO has when you are on a consulting project with the that CEO’s firm? Talk to the management consultants and I can bet most of them will say that they get the time to pitch their ideas and solutions exactly equal to the time one takes to walk from CEO office to his car. And trust me when I say that its not only your firm’s reputation that is at stake but also your own reputation and credibility too.

What constitutes a good elevator pitch?

1. First and foremost, you must understand that elevator pitch is not your business plan rather it is the door to getting the funding for your plan by getting the business card of the VC or scheduling a meeting with the VC.
2. Try to connect emotionally both at the personal and professional level. What I mean here is you should be able to relate your idea with the person and at the same time, take his curiosity level to such an extent that he makes the next attempt to reach to you. One very good example that I would like to cite here is taken from the real life experience of Griffin David, discussed during the panel discussion at IIMB.  Griffin David is a Venture Capitalist and an Entrepreneur in himself, who has traveled a journey from SemiConductor Chips to Potato Chips today. He is currently the CEO of Bread Basket Pvt Ltd, having founded it. He cited an incident where his team was pitching a business plan in front of potential investors. They somehow manage to connect with them prior to the meeting and went for an excursion to SONA in Europe. SONA seem to be known for a beach but a special beach-nude beach. They all went, enjoyed, in fact went to give a television interview also with only their heads showing up. But the effect of the trip was seen when his team was given 45 minutes for the presentation while others were given only 15 minutes. Did you see the difference what an emotional connect can make? In yet another incident mentioned by one of the panelist (sorry, I don’t remember who was it exactly), he mentioned that once in an attempt to raise money from a bank, he was facing lot of issues. One of his friend’s wife discussed the problem with the wife of the banker. The banker’s wife went and told his husband that the person in question is like a son to her and you must approve his loan. Ultimately, the loan passed. The panelist came to know about the incident much later in one of the parties. Can you guys relate now? Can you guys make what I am thinking? EQ is one of the biggest weapon and i fused properly, can do wonders in your not only personal but professional life also. We are all human beings and an angel investor or a VC is no exception. Our daily lives are full of emotions and almost 90% of the time, our decisions are based on our emotions and feelings.
3. Understand your audience. This hold true in case of any speech. Each person is different. Understanding your audience will help in pitching your idea in the most effective way. How can you do that? Thats where your networking connections are going to work for you.
4. As like an speech, according to me, an elevator pitch also has a certain format and guidelines: Be crisp and ensure brevity because at the day, you only have 2 minutes. Your introduction is your selling point. If you cannot connect with your opening statement, forget it. It is same as the FIRST impression is the LAST impression. So be very careful how are you going to begin. Be prepared with your best 3 points to support your statement. A lot of my management consultant friends tell me that the the RULE OF THREE is an accepted norm of making your points in a business setup. So, these three points should be your best selling points and should generate curiosity in the minds of the VC. At the end, end it with a strong conclusion. I feel the conclusion should not only be persuasive but also leave the VC thinking, thus, prompting him to give away his business card and seeking to get an appointment for a detailed discussion.
5. Of course, do look out for your body language and voice modularity. Nothing can substitute an appropriate body language with good command over the voice modulation. This is where Toastmasters is going to help you the most.

What are the other potential areas where elevator pitches can be useful?

Well, when I sat and thought about it, I never knew I could relate it to so many circumstances. Some of the areas where I feel an elevator pitch can help you are DATING, JOB INTERVIEW, PROMOTIONS in jobs and PROPOSALS (e.g an author pitching his book to the publishers or a story writer pitching his story for a movie to a producer). The most interesting among the list is DATING. Imagine you are standing alongside a beautiful girl (say Katrina Kaif) and you have got one shot at her before she disappears in the world of invisible strangers again. Your 2 min shot can give you the mobile number or a date. On the other side, a bad pitch may land you in prison, labeling you as a stalker. In other words, 2 minutes can decide whether she is going to be your life partner. Similarly, each one of knows, the way one walks and introduces himself is the 75% success of the interview. Imagine yourself in an elevator with CEO of your company and you know your skills are not well utilized by your current boss and you get only 2 minutes to showcase what you got and you can do for the organization if given the right opportunity. Finally, here is my version of the elevator pitch that I wrote for the case-study presented at IIMB for the finalists:

Case Study: ElevatorPitch_Stage2_CaseStudy

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My Elevator Pitch: Would you like your girlfriend/wife to look like Katrina Kaif or Toon Toon? If given a free hand, wouldn’t you wake up early in the morning and go to gym with your wife to keep her in shape more than yourself? One will walk with broad chest and full prestige if your girlfriend/wife is good looking and smart. So, wouldn’t you like her to look good in her office too? I am sure you will.

I am Rita and I propose to bring an exclusive line of garments for women for office wear. From college to an office, from home to a boardroom, I present to you an elegant and exclusive design of apparel for Indian women. I am sure you will agree with me when I say that women spend more than men on looking good and beautiful. The most prominent proofs are endless research on spending habits of men and women and the time a woman spends on dressing up. And of course, not to ignore your own wallet and the savings you barely manage to make at the end of the month. No more sarees or executive shirts and skirts from Allen Solley or so, Rita & Co. will bring a premium line of designs exclusively designed to the taste of Indian women. Recent feedbacks from the students of IIM Bangalore, who have already taken the designs to their summer internships have felt more comfortable and confident filled with positive energy after wearing my designs.

So, what are you waiting for? Tighten your seat belts as we, together, can bring a sea wave of changes with Rita brands flaunting in offices and board rooms and change the image of a working Indian women to a more confident, elegant and stylist business women.

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Hey, please feel free to comment your views on the elevator pitch. I would love to hear from you 🙂

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Winning Take1

Some of you might know, I am currently reading a book titled “Winning” by Jack Welch with Suzy Welch. This is my first attempt to write something about a book, in detailed fashion. As I read, we are going to have more reviews and perceptions.

I am going to devote the Part1 to Second Chapter “Candor Effect”.
I am still new to the industry but at the same time I feel that my observations have been very rich. The benefit I have from my observations will be in future. Hopefully, I will have the freedom to speak and act which I see a lot of managers not being able to do and thus, continue to harm the long term growth prospects of a firm. I have been in IT industry for quite some time now. So, let me tell you what I have felt strongly. IT managers are neither MANAGERS nor LEADERS. I feel they don’t fall in either of the categories. According to the industry trends, mergers and acquisitions is the buzzword. Developments and Inventions have been done. They hire nice smart people not to make them smarter but to make them mediocre. A lot of time, we, ourselves, don’t speak our feelings and minds and even if we do, the so-called managers never take it upward. Irrespective of place, I have found this attitude of Indians very disturbing. To some extent, I feel we are socialized from childhood to soften bad news or make nice about awkward subjects. Till date, parents hesitate to talk about sex to their children. Isn’ t it? How can a company justify with “average” hikes to people when it is out making huge acquisitions worth of billions and millions of dollars almost every quarter? Executives are often found to have been speaking on the importance of human knowledge power but very few of them (my experience has been NONE) actually practices them. Everyone knows that showing EPS to an investor quarterly is good but if someone has to show it consistently and for a long period of time, one has to look within and that’s where almost all IT MNC’s are lacking. Currently, I find most of the so-called managers hiding themselves behind the processes and rotting systems and giving various explanations instead of fighting for the right. One question to all: As a father, if something wrong or bad has happened to you, you try your best not to develop the similar circumstances for your son/daughter, then why how do do you justify to your sub-ordinates that your experience of x years has seen the same trend and hence, is justifiable irrespective of the fact that it is WRONG? To all CEOs, Mind you Sir, by having such so-called managers you are actually driving your firms to extinctions rather than growth and prosperity.

Coming back to the candor effect, it is about giving the freedom to the employees and well-wishers to speak and be heard. So, how is it useful?

1. Candor gets more people in the conversation and when you have more people in the conversation, you get ideas rich. More ideas surface, discussed, pulled apart, and improved.
2. Candor generates speed. When ideas are in everyon’e face, they can be debated rapidly, expanded and enhanced, anmd acted upon.
3. Candor cuts costs. Meaningless meetings and reports (IT MNCs are now know for this two qualities) are cut down by candor.

Therefore, no matter which B-School you attended, irrespective of that one must know lack of candor blocks smart ideas. fast action, and good people contributing all the stuff they have got. It’s a killer. Eventually, we realize that people don’t speak their minds because it’s simply easier not to. It is true that candid comments definitely freak people out at first but then if you are an effective manager and leader, it is your responsibility to get candor and to do so, praise it, reward it, and talk about it. Most of all, you yourself has to demonstrate it in an exuberant and even exaggerated way. Personally, I would like to see a firm where a voice of lowest grade employee, provided it is justified and reasonable, reaches to the CEO irrespective of the levels of hierarchy between them.

Disclaimer: In no form, the above perceptions can be related to any particular individual or organization. In case done so, I take no responsibility and the firm/individual will be doing so for its own insecurity, thus, proving the negative effects mentioned being followed by themselves.

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The Law of Garbage Truck

Few days back, I received an amazing article over my newsgroup and I could not resist myself sharing it. The fact is we see so many real life experiences pertaining to this situation that it becomes very very difficult to contain orselves against undesirable people and circumstances. In the below article, David cites one incidence of life that transformed his way of thinking and I feel the same applies to each one of us. Personally, I encounter people such as the ones mentioned in the article in my office, in my social gatherings and all around. I, generally, ignore such people completely but it pisses me off when people act very irresponsibly in the volunteer activities.

I was completely influenced by each and every word of David in the article and when I wrote an email seeking permission to publish the content of the below article on my blog, his response was very very humble and encouraging. In fact, we connected each other on a common platform of Software Industry. David is also publishing his book The Law of the Garbage Truck: How to Respond to People Who Dump on You, and How to Stop Dumping on Others, which will be released on October 5.  I am now looking forward to his book eagerly.

So , here goes the article:

How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you’re the Terminator, you’re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what’s important in your life.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, the car skidded, the tires squealed, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the other car’s back-end.

I couldn’t believe it. But then I couldn’t believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face. And he even threw in a one finger salute! I couldn’t believe it!

But then here’s what really blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that!? This guy could have killed us!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck.” He said: “Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you.

So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.”
So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? It was then that I said, “I don’t want their garbage and I’m not going to spread it anymore.”

I began to see Garbage Trucks. Like in the movie “The Sixth Sense,” the little boy said, “I see Dead People.” Well now “I see Garbage Trucks.” I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to dump it. And like my taxi driver, I don’t take it personally; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time was Walter Payton. Every day on the football field, after being tackled, he would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best. Over the years the best players from around the world in every sport have played this way: Muhammad Ali, Nadia Comaneci, Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, Michael Jordan, Jackie Robinson, and Pele are just some of those players. And the most inspiring leaders have lived this way: Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King.

See, Roy Baumeister, a psychology researcher from Florida State University, found in his extensive research that you remember bad things more often than good things in your life. You store the bad memories more easily, and you recall them more frequently.

So the odds are against you when a Garbage Truck comes your way. But when you follow The Law of the Garbage Truck, you take back control of
your life. You make room for the good by letting go of the bad.

The best leaders know that they have to be ready for their next meeting. The best sales people know that they have to be ready for their next client. And the best parents know that they have to be ready to greet their children with hugs and kisses, no matter how many garbage trucks they might have faced that day. All of us know that we have to be fully present, and at our best for the people we care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their lives.

What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here’s my bet: You’ll be happier.
Source: http://davidjpollay.typepad.com/david_j_pollay/lawofthegarbagetruck.html David J. Pollay is the original author of the Law of Garbage Truck.

Hence, don’t allow anyone to dump his/her garbage on you. You can find hell lot of people around always trying to find a truck to dump their garbage. Don’t you remember when your school teacher would have scolded you of no fault of yours. The same situations can very well be observed from parents at home due to office tensions and the vice versa applies equally well. Beware of your own truck and do inspect what you are carrying and loading onto it. Good Luck and have a meaningful and successful life!!!

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