What's your failure quotient? How many times can you take Nos, rejections before you give up determines your ultimate level of success. To have exponential success, you have to be willing to embrace numerous Nos, rejections, be comfortable with banging your nose & be prone to adapting with failures. Hard to believe but yes, this is the truth! A person's failure quotient determines how far he will go in life; whether he will achieve his/her unimaginable/scary dreams or not. I wish I was aware of this mathematics earlier when I started my journey and career! Probably I would have fulfilled many of my dreams/goals by now. Nevertheless, as it is said, you receive the lesson at the time when you are ready and willing, so I am grateful to be sitting in this awareness and truly accepting the fact that failing and being a failure are two different things. Successful people embrace the act of failing, they are willing to fail; they like to fail; but unsuccessful people stop themselves from failing any further, they avoid failures, they hold themselves back. After few bumps here and there, they quit. That's it! I have always been a topper in my life. And every time I read stories like back-benchers making it to great heights and toppers being seen as someone not being able to make it big in life (statistics says so); I used to wonder why. Honestly, this pinched me too. Not that I didn't appreciate the success of the back-benchers, but pitied myself and my kinds. I used to feel very sad and even worthless for being a topper. I used to question myself as to why did I then put in efforts, burnt the mid-night oil etc., if toppers had to live a life of conformity?! Does it mean that hard-work, efforts didn't have a role to play?! Well, people who do well early in life get used to success and so they become very fearful of failures. They are fearful of rejections and Nos. So, they don't do anything that will sabotage their image of being topper, successful. The achiever's image is dear to them and throughout life, they live maintaining that. They never try out beyond their limits. Once they get what they wanted, they become complacent. One no, and they are doomed! One rejection and they can't handle it. So, they know how to underplay it. I failed to become a Doctor. I couldn't crack the entrance examination and this took a toll on me. The image of being a topper, an achiever; broke. I was under pressure to perform and focused all my energy on cracking it but with fear of failure. What if I didn't crack?! And yes, I didn't crack. It shattered me and I never tried again. I didn't know how to fail gracefully and I gave up. My failure quotient was lowest! One failure led me to give up my childhood dream! See that's why toppers don't become successful! Statistics are right! It has nothing to do with skills, potential; but your ability to embrace failures/rejections/Nos. When you don't take failures personally, you don't give up. You keep trying and trying till you get the yes. More the Nos, more is your validation to your inner commitment to yourself. May be my inner commitment to becoming a Doctor wasn't high and so my failure quotient to that was pretty low. Pick up any successful person and look at their failure quotient. You will be amazed! They have more Nos, rejections, failures than you can even think of. Thomas Alva Edison failed 10,000 times before he discovered bulb, Allen Breed who invented airbags pursued 30 long years before his product was sold and accepted; Sara Blakely failed numerous times before she became the youngest self-made billionaire....The list is endless! We don't see their failures because once you achieve success, all that people remembers is the ultimate level that you are in. Your desire, willingness, eagerness, persistence to fail determines if your 'WHY' to achieve is strong enough or not. I thought success was to avoid failures, being cautious. But this is absolutely a wrong equation to follow. Success is to embrace failures. More the failures, more the chances of your success. To dig out the diamond, you will have to dirty your hands; to succeed, you have to embrace Nos. So, ask yourself how many rejections have you faced in life? If the answer is No, you haven't tried enough to succeed. You are standing in your own way to greatness. Pike Syndrome is something I love. I am a victim of Pike syndrome. Google to know more about it. When you get conditioned and limit your actions/efforts because of past bad experiences, couple of failures/rejections and quit; that's called Pike's syndrome. As leaders also, when you reach a particular level in your career; you become very protective of your image and role. You refrain from failing, embracing Nos; you avoid failures; but you want you teams to try. Do you think they will? Absolutely not! They will eventually figure out that if you are afraid of something, they too will avoid that because they too seek security. Leaders who embrace Nos themselves; not only allow themselves to embrace their greatness but others too. My new learning: Embrace Nos with greater velocity and be happy every time you get it. Let the answers unfold as you do this. I leave you to unravel this secret in your own good time. Do watch this awesome video to figure out yourself what your failure quotient is?! Love & warmth, Priyanka
4 Comments
After leaving my corporate job, I started working independently. There was no time-clock to guide me and nothing to set boundaries for me, except ME. For every entrepreneur, freedom is one of the most important values that they uphold & cherish. They are visionaries and risk-takers too. The reason for them to break-free from the 9 am to 5 pm work cycle is to have freedom, choice, their dream lifestyle and of course their passionate purpose which they want to work upon. Once you move from a structured system to a highly flexible system, where all the time is yours; the idea is both exhilarating and daunting too. Exhilarating because you enjoy the whole time thinking about your dream, planning, articulating, ideating and then acting on those plans. While doing so, you tend to immerse so much into the process that you forget time and finally you land up working more than what you had aspired for. You are left with no control over your time and it just flies. You land up picking more assignments to fill your calendar and generate more business/income because now you are all on your own. There isn't a fixed salary every month, you need to manage your funds, your time, your energy, your being etc. That's when your leadership agility comes to play. The more depth you have in your leadership ability, the more you can lead yourself well during this journey. You know very well that entrepreneurship is not for faint-hearts but for those courageous few who can surf through the occasional tides without losing the very zeal, energy and spirit which propelled them to take this first step towards exceptional self-leadership called entrepreneurship.
Few years back, I would have dreaded even thinking about myself as an entrepreneur. I never thought on those lines because I was a person who adjusted in the default systems unwillingly ofcourse. But, when I took plunge, I just took it because there lay a vision that is much more powerful than my fears, inhibitions; there lay a purpose much bigger than my small goals; there lay an inner commitment that is much inspiring than external curbing forces. Yes, I am a Coach Entrepreneur! Only when you see yourself this way, you actually move ahead in your path towards becoming a Master Coach and a successful entrepreneur. I guess I am digressing a bit here. So, let's get back on track. It's all about leading yourself than you lead others. As entrepreneurs, you are majorly alone in this journey, at least in the initial phase. So, it is very important to be able to lead yourself effectively. Everything you do will be reflected and so will your energy. If you move ahead with fear, you will attract more fear. If you are feeling insecure, you will attract insecurity. If you walk the path without being mindful, you will attract distractions, stress and other negativity along the line. Undoubtedly you have a lofty dream, a lofty purpose; you are a master in what you do and hence you have chosen to move forward alone. But, what will determine your success eventually is your ability to lead yourself every time you fall, every time you feel low, every time you want to give up, every time you doubt yourself, every time you loose focus.....the list is endless. Here are few areas for you to ponder & lead yourself well.This is from my personal experience. If I can do it, you too can. This isn't a destination but a journey of self-discovery and mastery. A journey to connect with your essence. 1. Lead yourself towards cultivating an effective entrepreneurship mindset. You are playing the game for the long haul and not just for couple of years. There are times when you will forget your "WHY" for doing what you are doing specially during challenging and low times. That's when your entrepreneurship mindset will come to play. Lead yourself towards mastering that. 2. Lead yourself towards managing your energy and not time. Time is a limited resource but energy is limitless. Be mindful of your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy. Be mindful of what fills you up and what drains you. Lead yourself towards putting focus on those things that fills you and dropping things that drain you. 3. Lead yourself from a scare mindset to an abundance mindset. There is high possibility for an entrepreneur to develop the scare mindset. What you think and belief, you create. If you think of scarcity, your actions will show up and obviously the results will follow the pattern. 4. Lead yourself towards becoming a profound giver. The very reason for starting was to solve a pain point that is prevalent in your community and you are set out to solve it to add value to it. Never forget this while you create abundance for yourself. In giving you receive. Receiving is a by-product. 5. Lead yourself from becoming a workaholic to creating your dream lifestyle where you not only have a thriving business but loving relationships, happy & joyous family, your nurturing time. No point in becoming successful sans joy, love and happiness in your life. Integration is the key. Have real happy life and not just a virtual social life. 6. Lead yourself from being an individualist high performer to an inspiring leader seeking & harnessing support along the way. 7. Lead yourself from being a safe player to a risk-taker. When you feel uncomfortable, remember you are growing. 8. Lead yourself from being used to certainty to appreciating uncertainty. You might think that now everything is set, but the truth is, higher you go, you will have different challenges to overcome. So, the key is to develop your depth to be able to take on challenges as it come. 9. Lead yourself from being excited to being joyful. Excitement dies down quickly, but the state of joyfulness is the state of being that you must cultivate and be. Be joyful always. Last but not the least, hire a good coach who will be able to support you during this transition. During our difficult times, we tend to lose our ability to decide and think. We get stuck in our habitual patterns and blind spots. That's when we hold ourselves back. It's important that we challenge ourselves during these times and keep going. Undoubtedly you will reach your destination, but with external support, you will reach it much faster, joyously and have an exponential growth. Love, Priyanka As a young HR professional it was one of my dreams to work with one of the top HR leaders whom I admired to the core. Today I got an opportunity to interview him face to face as a part of my personal project and it's like my dream come true. After the interview, my admiration for him has increased all the more. When you connect with a person on a deeper level and can see through the person underneath, the authentic individual that he is, his uncut story and the person beyond his professional aura, you feel good from within. I had an awesome experience today and I feel so much joy doing what I did. I would reveal the name later when my project gets completed but today I will just share with you some of the insights from the interview. And the insight on leadership essence is Passion, Empathy, Courage & Grit.
Leaders don't just do the job but they do it because that's their calling. They love what they do without any hidden agenda. They do it because they find joy in the process and the journey. They are least interested in name, fame, achievement. And interestingly, they do become famous not because they wanted to, but because of the work they do. Mind it, when I say achievement; it's not that they don't want to achieve the goals, they want to but they work not to achieve for personal gains but for what is right and for the betterment of people they serve. Sometimes, the Universe plays a massive role in steering the wheel towards our destiny without us knowing anything about the next step. Only if we choose to listen to the subtle messages that we land up being in the path of our true calling. That's how many notable people landed in what they did and excelled in that. And once on that path, no matter what, they chose to move forward till they arrived at the highest destination that one could think of. The curious & inquisitive person inside me always wanted to know such leaders and so I dived in to know more about what made them who they are, how they handled challenges, how they grew and the like. Sharing some of the insights. 1. High level of passion: They have a high level of emotional investment in what they do. They don't do for the sake of doing it, but they do it because they are passionate about what they do. Passion is nothing but intense emotion. They feel for it, they love it and they just dive into it without if's and but's. As they proceed in the journey, they learn, unlearn many things and this level of engagement gives them more clarity of thought, hone their skills and help them become who they are. They have a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for what they do and this enables them to think out of the box, do out of the box and act extra-ordinarily. Passion is from within, it's their driving force. It keeps them going. This makes them fearless risk-takers. This makes them great learners and passion invokes humility because they become masters in what they do. There's nothing to show, to hide but an open book to be read and absorbed the way you want to. 2. High level of empathy: I thought I was an empathetic person. But today I came to know of a high level of empathy that leaders possess. Leaders don't just empathize, but they act on it to help the person they empathize with. Along with empathy, they provide doable solutions and they stand by it. They choose to disagree with top authorities too when they empathize for the right thing and when they truly believe in what they do. Empathy is beyond just feeling for the person but genuinely helping the person and enabling his/her well-being. They risk their stake for others. They ignite the leader in others and help them shine. 3. High level of courage: Courage is the inner strength, the belief in one's power within. Leaders par excellence have the courage to accept who they are, connect with their authentic self and are fearless of showing their dark side too. They embrace criticisms as an opportunity to grow, learn and lead themselves from naivety to experts. They don't stop when things starts unfolding not as per their terms but they have the courage to embrace embarrassment. Every criticism is a trigger for them to do better and be the best in what they do. That's the courage that I am talking about. It takes real courage to see past the triviality of the ego and actually dive into the real issue at hand. This enables them to be courageous enough to disagree with what is not right and thus paves the way for fearless leadership. Because they are courageous in owning the wholesomeness of their being, they inspire that in others by challenging their thinking, their thoughts and rigid views. This may seem to be daunting, but when you do from a space of authenticity, people are bound to buy in your ideas and views. 4. High level of grit: They have a high sense of character and ethical ways of doing things. They know to set the tone and because of their grit, they ensure high level of excellence in their work. Passion combined with grit becomes an awesome combination towards excellent results. They ensure completion of what they set their mind to. No excuses, no missing of deadlines but just delivery. Great leaders carve out their path. And along this path, they build deep connections with people, form authentic relationships, embrace both sides of their gifts and what makes them all the more appealing is their ability to learn despite of all the learning that they are full of. Learning and curiosity is something that goes hand in hand and doesn't make them obsolete. Learning makes them humble and wise. We all give excuses for what's not happening in our lives. But when you meet leaders like this, you feel that excuses are nothing but just cover ups for our own inabilities and blind spots. The day we chose to accept that and acknowledge it, we too can embrace the essence of leadership in everything that we do. A leader is one who inspires us to be a leader. That's all I can say from today's interaction. I am inspired and fulfilled. Love, Priyanka There is no shortcut to success. In fact, some virtues must be practiced without fail if you want to go far in your life and career. At the end of the day, we are the some total of these virtues and how we exercise these virtues not just consciously but also unconsciously manifests our true nature, our true character. Success attained with conflicting integrity is no success at all. Practiced virtues becomes our habits and habits form our reality. Virtue is nothing but a beneficial quality, feature or trait leading to excellence.
Here are a few virtues that leaders, inspiring people and people walking the path of holistic transformation practices. These are accumulated from good reads, workshops that I had attended & excerpts from real-time experiences with people while in the corporate & generally. The list is not exhaustive. 1. Curiosity: Instead of having the "know it all" attitude, these people have the childlike curiosity that enables them to see a situation or people from different perspective, thus widening their spectrum of understanding & awareness of self & others. 2. Vulnerability: They create trust and courage by being vulnerable and allowing themselves to be judged and seen by others. Vulnerability to them is strength & not weakness. 3. Deep Honesty: They serve from a place of deep honesty and hence they show up very powerfully in what they say, do & agree. 4. Authenticity: They are true to themselves and so thus inspire others to be so. 5. Fearlessness: They jump out of their comfort zones to challenge their thoughts and beliefs. They are comfortable not being good & not knowing everything. They are OK to let their guards down & deeply connect with self & others. 6. Integrity: When you are in integrity with yourself, there is nothing to fear because you are in sync with what you say, do and act. They walk the talk in every aspect. 7. Compassion: They are responsive to other's needs & feelings. 8. Justice: They respect the rights of all persons. 9. Humility: They know their gifts and use them to serve others to make a difference to their lives. People come first than self. 10. Wisdom: Wisdom enables us to discern correctly, to see what is truly important in life, and to set priorities. They make the right choices to maximize potential. 11. Patience: They enjoy & trust the process rather than the destination. They are patient enough not to adopt quick ways towards success. 12. Self-control: They are able to govern themselves, acknowledge & process their emotions with self-reflection & effective responses. 13. Love: Their actions are love-sourced & not fear based. 14. Gratitude: They choose to be thankful for everything in life: good, bad, bitter, joyous because that defines their journey & makes it more wondrous. Questions that I would like to leave you with are: 1. Of all the virtues stated above, which ones do you practice & relate to most? 2. Which ones are challenging for you or you are out of integrity with & why? 3. What are you losing out in your life because of the absence of any of these virtues? 4. What can you do to practice all of these from today? "The final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands." - Anne Frank. So, you decide what is right for you. Love, Priyanka "Take care of the soul that takes care of others." - Mary Davis
Well, it's been a while that I really took time off from my work. Travelling to new places is a great source of rejuvenation for me. I love to travel to different places, learn about their lifestyle, their uniqueness, their culture and bring that learning back to my work & life. For a hands on person like me, travelling has a soothing effect because it allows me to sense and experience the place in person. It allows me to nurture my creativity & absorb the goodness of that place in my own subtle ways. Thus, the recent short trip to Singapore was a wonderful experience for me. And as I sat down to blog after a few days of gap, I thought of sharing few insights from my visit. I have actually fallen in love with the place. For a person with high aesthetic sense, the beauty & artistic portrayal along with scientific application is indeed hard to resist. So, here it goes: 1. Focus on your uniqueness and not on limitations: This is one of the biggest insights that Singapore very well manifests. They do not have much natural resources, they majorly import. Size-wise it is a very small country. Not even as big as any one of our states. But, that limitation didn't stop them from thriving and creating abundance. They owned that uniqueness and allowed the limitation to downplay by focusing more on their strengths. 2. Masterpieces are created by diligent planning & visionary strategy: The beauty, abundance & success of Singapore can be attributed to the proper planning & visionary strategy of their leaders. They had a vision, they planned and then executed it without fail. Malaysia received independence at the same time as Singapore did, but today Singapore is a developed country and Malaysia is a developing nation. 3. Leveraging technology for economic development: Singapore adopted technological advancement much earlier than any of it's counterparts. They used high-tech machines in their factories which led to lot of jobs being replaced by machines. But, they made sure that the units are made so big and large that they would need people to operate those machines. Thus, there's no unemployment scenario in Singapore. It was never people vs. technology but people enabled technology. 4. Art and Science can be blended together to experience abundance & fun: They know how to use scientific knowledge to create and add art to make it more joyous and fun. Learning can definitely be fun this way! Besides, the creation will display not only scientific expertise but also aesthetic expertise too. Look at their design structures anywhere. They used a small island, Sentosa to make a tourist hub with all the latest technologies and recreation facilities. 5. You can choose to grow old and call yourself weak or choose to challenge yourself & be fit no matter what: Almost all people that I had seen are super fit. You will see people running, jogging, cycling, walking anytime of the day. What struck me was the fact that the senior citizens were much fitter than you can even imagine. There's a service called Grab like Uber in Singapore. Most of the drivers are senior people and they are so active, energetic & lively. Even the room service personnel were active senior people of Singapore. Grey hairs didn't deter them from being fit, active & energetic! 6. Transcendent leadership: Transcendent leadership is to rise above or go beyond the limits & to triumph over negative or restrictive aspects. Do check out this Forbes link to understand more on transcendent leadership :www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/05/11/six-keys-to-transcendent-leadership/#60513a6a7e2d. As I took an early morning flight back to India, I was driven back to the airport by the owner of one of the renowned cab companies in Singapore. I was surprised when he introduced himself to me. According to him, one of his fellow drivers wasn't available and hence he chose to drive because customer commitment & convenience is the key. And I feel I am lucky because that 20-25 minutes drive to the airport was full of learning, wisdom sharing from the owner himself. I was awestruck to witness such humility, care & leadership. Worth emulating! Last but not the least, check out this latest news on how they prepare the younger generation for a promising future: www.educationworld.in/singapore-abolishes-school-exam-rankings/. It emphasizes on the fact that learning is not a competition, but a self-discipline that needs to be mastered for life. I can go on and on. From a small rejuvenating trip to a didactic experience, what more could I have asked for! Yes, this is the way I fill my cup to serve my clients and empower myself. The soul that takes care of others need to take care too. That's all for now till I hit another place and share my travel insights with you all. Love, Priyanka "Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple, and it is also that difficult." - Warren Bennis
Many a times I wondered as to what exactly is that specific thing, attribute or quality that holds a person back despite of having decent amount of craft mastery and business acumen. Something or the other happens because of which, the person is unable to move forward with greater velocity & depth as anticipated, keeping in mind the knowledge, wisdom, experience and even the lofty purpose of the business. I have read about many start-ups collapsing, many successful people breaking down after a certain point. Many a times I too gave up and succumbed to pressures beyond my seeming control. The ingredient that keeps you going was somehow missing, rather dormant which needs to be developed with conscious practice. Craft mastery alone with business purpose do not guarantee long lasting success. After a self-reflection & studying few leadership patterns, I have arrived at this conclusion and that is: the more the leadership depth in a person, the more his/her success and fulfillment in his/her chosen area. Leadership depth is directly proportional to fulfillment of higher intentions and goals. What is leadership depth then? To describe it in metaphorical way, it is like the base of the ring that holds the diamond. And the diamond can't be held if the base is weak. At some point it is going to crack or fall apart. Leadership depth is the work done across all the bodies: emotional, physical, mental & spiritual. None is a substitute of another and can't be overlooked. A weak link will distort the entire dynamics and dis-empower the depth to lead oneself from one level to another. Ability to lead oneself and always being consistent in efforts across all the bodies is true leadership. Unless you are able to lead yourself from what should be absorbed/dropped, accepted/rejected, put focus on/ignored, right/wrong etc.; we can never lead others. In a world full of commonness, if you can be the change that you are seeking, then rest assured that you are on your way to developing leadership depth. Now I understand why despite of external influence, opinions, bad economy, difficult situations, challenges etc. some people come out successful and some don't. Giving up your intentions is not at all the trait of great leaders. When no one believes in your dreams, when no one understands your perspective, when no one approves of your ideas, when no one is by your side, how you respond and what actions you take determines your leadership depth. That's the reason probably why we have many successful leaders not having a pedigree to match to that counterparts. Because what matters is leadership depth to move forward and not just accumulation of certifications & purpose alone as validation to our increase in depth. When you can overcome all your fears (of not being good enough, not being important, not being loved) and viscerally feel the need to make a shift from fear based orientation to freedom from all fears, your breakthrough as a leader happens. The only thing that you need to do is to keep walking this path despite of all odds. When you can take responsibility for what happens in your world and shut the blame game completely, you hold immense power to transform your life. Inward focus gives you power and outward focus dis-empowers you. This shift in perspective is the ultimate journey towards increasing leadership depth. Always ask yourself this question when shrouded in doubt: What is your assessment of your leadership depth? Is it 10 on 10 across all the bodies: physical, emotional, mental & spiritual? If not, what do you do to increase it so as to experience exponential growth? Love, Priyanka Corporate is a place where a professional spends much of his/her time. He/she contributes an enormous portion of his/her life in this space. An organization is formed by the employees; it's growth depends on the employees. They sweat and toil to give their best for helping it grow. You can't deny that. Like a family, all members in their own ways contribute towards achieving the bigger vision. But, when days aren't good, when things start falling, the same employees are laid off, terminated? Why? Who will take the responsibility? Is termination the solution? Do you think it is an emotionally responsible decision to terminate employees or even laying them off? Do you really know what do they go through? Have you been in their shoes? Imagine your job is suddenly taken away from you. Your world crushes down. Even if you give them severance package, that won't suffice the contribution that they made while they were a part of your company's growth. The answer that I get is,"This is how the corporate world functions. We are here to do business and not social service." Really? Then why talk of employee progression, engagement, CSR activity, training & development, employee wellness programs, retreats, emotional development etc? Why the band aid, why the reactive reaction and why not be more sensible & proactive to where the slag is? Who will take responsibility and ensure that not any employee have to go through such dilemma?
We only see the numbers, profits. That's all! Why not see the employees as human beings, that they also have a life beyond being a professional. That they are someone's child, someone's spouse, a parent and not meant just to serve you & your intentions. They are the resource through which you get your mission accomplished. They are the means through which your hopes are being fulfilled. With no jobs around, with the market being gloom, unemployment all around, what will these laid off employees do? Where will they go? Whom will they reach out to? Will a wellness program serve them? Will coaching help them then? Will money for few months help? NO. It won't. Why not treat them like human beings and enable them to grow while things are good? Why not prepare for unseen situations beforehand? Why not set their growth path and help them walk it? Why focus only on numbers and not on coaching them while they are growing? If you cannot lead, why not learn how to lead? If you cannot inspire, why not learn to do so? If you cannot hire the right fitment, why not learn to do so? Why crush people's aspirations in the name of ignorance, economic slowdown, profitability etc.? The support that is given during the time an employee is going through a difficult time is what true care & concern is. I don't know what could be the best answer to : What's the alternative to lay offs & termination? But, all I know is if we all sit in inquiry of this question, we will definitely arrive at a much better solution. We will be able to create better ways and not just go with the most easy way: i.e. termination or lay off. If we can find ways to create wealth, generate business, we surely can find ways to this too. But, the question is, are we & the decision makers ready to take the challenging route to finding solutions that not only benefit them but the employees too? A severance package is not an answer to this. What if all the employees stand together and give away their bonus to help retain the laid off employees? What if all employees not get increment but give away that to help these employees under scrutiny? What if a portion of the CSR is utilized to retain them? What if you do away with luxury to help them? This sounds funny or may be ridiculous for some, but trust me you cannot do this with a fear based & self-centered mindset. You need to have depth, maturity & compassion to give from your share to fill another. It's just a suggestion, looking into the bigger picture. The number of cases of depression, anxiety, trauma is on the rise. What if we do something differently? Something graceful, something for others and not just for us. Why not take responsibility for our actions now, at this moment? I read somewhere: Only when you are truly invested in the happiness of the other person, you are actually giving them a gift. Otherwise it is not a gift but your hidden agenda & intention underlying it. So, before you launch a wellness program, an employee scheme, do ask what's the hidden agenda there. Employee development truly or something else? Love, Priyanka "A leader is best when people barely know he exist, when his work is done, aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves." Lao Tzu
Leadership isn't about instructing others what to do, but it's all about inspiring & enabling your team to be self-driven & purposeful. A team that is self-driven, always makes a difference. The leader's physical presence doesn't matter much, but how the leader show up do matter. The team mirrors the leader's strengths and weaknesses. If you ever have to have a glimpse of the leader, do look at his/her team. You will get a fair idea about what the leader is in sum total. Ironically, many a times when teams don't perform, becomes unproductive and even operates on instructional mode, the entire blame is put on the team members & their efficiency. But if we can really have an honest reflection, we will see that it actually boils down to the leadership depth, style & overall personality of the leader leading the team. The more matured, agile and receptive the leader is, the more he/she has the ability to lead his/her team from good to great. A peep into the leader's world will reveal a lot about how his/her team functions. It's interesting to note that all excellent leaders have one thing in common and that is: they formed a team that is self-driven. They don't micro-manage their team but, hold in place such structure that enables the team to not only be self-driven but perform at their highest efficiency. There are many good reads on leadership. I am not going to delve into that. I am just going to point out few things that I have realized speaking with many leaders and following top leaders as to how they form self-driven teams. What do they do differently that others miss out?! Here I am not talking about a normal team but a very matured, highly efficient and top-performing team. Based on my understanding, here are the few things that these leaders do, the core ingredients, their 80/20 principle to form a self-driven team: 1. Setting intentions: These leaders set the intentions of the team very clearly. They do this by connecting one on one with their team members, understanding their aspirations, listening to them deeply and trying to make a match between the team's and individual's aspiration. When intentions are clear, then there is no question of expectation mismatch. Expectations lead to communication gaps while agreements lead to setting clear boundaries. Every member of the team is aware of the intention for which the team is created. The purpose of the team i.e. why it is created, what is it that is to be done and how to be done. 2. Accountability: Each team member is held accountable for his/her role. They are given the guidance, the resources and a high amount of trust is laid on them in terms of their abilities and potential. The strength of each team member is leveraged and the growth areas are identified and accordingly coached upon. There is no one out performing or under performing. Every one performs 100% of their 50% & thus responsible & accountable for what they do. 3. Transparency: In order to form a self-driven team, it is important to have a transparent environment where very authentic & emotionally responsible communications happen. There is no blame-game, nothing to prove but just to perform to the best abilities. Nothing is sourced in fear but compassion & understanding. These three core ingredients, help forming a self-driven team that not only performs to it's highest potential but creates a culture of creativity, innovation & excellence. The role of a leader is very crucial. Leadership is not just about the title or the position but it's about the being of the leader that nurtures, inspires and elicits the teams' greatness. A leader who has walked the path of mastery on all the bodies: emotional, physical, intellectual & spiritual will have a better agility to form a self-driven, high performing team. Leaving you with this inquiry: If you are wondering why your team is not self-driven & under performing, then it is high time that you as a leader, have a look at the mirror and be honest with yourself. After all, intention is bigger than the ego, the small mind and the realization is the first step towards any development. Love, Priyanka "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complex." - Confucius We all grew up in a simple world. But as we move on in life, we forget the simplicity of our being which holds the power to move mountains. Websters defines simplicity as the state of being simple, uncomplicated; freedom from pretense or guile, directness of expression. We like simplicity. That's what we all strive for. Yet, we somehow complicate things, thereby making it difficult to attain & achieve simplicity. We keep embracing complexity. It's like moving from simplicity to complexity and then trying to make it simple again. Isn't that ironical?! We complicate our world with complex outlook, perspectives, thought patterns thereby complicating our relationships, our life & everything in it. The funniest part is, we derive pleasure when we find solutions to these self-created complexities. It's like rewiring, unwinding and again rewiring. Complexity in today's world is used as a parameter to sound more smart & credible. The great leader, Steve Job's main mantras were: FOCUS & SIMPLICITY. In fact, simplicity is a great leadership tool. The common belief is that the more complex we are, the more sophisticated we become. Hence, our focus lies in turning simple things to complex words, acronyms, policies, instructions, procedures that no one really understands & relates to. But, the truth is the other we round. Simplicity is the key to brilliance. As quoted in Harvard Business Review, over a three-month period, Corporate Executive Board conducted pre- and post-purchase surveys of more than 7,000 consumers in the U.S., the UK, and Australia, covering a wide range of ages, income levels, and ethnicity. And what was discovered post this survey was, what consumers want from marketers is, simply, SIMPLICITY. That's all. Here's a TEDx Talk by cartoonist and writer Ramya Sriram illustrating the power of 'less is more' in visual communication. Click here for the TEDx Talk link www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0uvcM29Crc. Simplicity is complexity resolved. So, there's no reason to complicate but ease down. Using minimalism, purposeful subtraction & consciously choosing what to leave out is the key. Love. Priyanka
"Peace & joy happen neither in the quietness of the forest nor out of the accomplishments of the marketplace, but only from within." - Sadhguru
Deep inner work comes from a lifetime commitment. It doesn't end with few degrees, certifications, titles, positions, accolades and awards. If you are really looking for fulfillment, meaning and purpose; then what is important is an inner commitment to a pursuit beyond self; for the larger cause of the community. I have been interviewing people leaders and have asked them to quote one thing that they think is crucial to be true people leaders. The answer that I commonly get is having empathy & having a strong understanding of human dynamics. Now the question is how will you empathize and have this understanding of human dynamics without yourself doing the deep inner work on self-transformation & continuous development?! Is it even possible?! The deeper you have gone with your self, the more empowered you will be able to take your employees to that depth of transformation, growth & self-discovery which will eventually lead the employees to becoming their best versions. This will automatically contribute to Organizational excellence. As I look back at my own journey as an HR professional, I see so many blind spots in me that now I realize that had I moved into this path of surrendering to deep inner work earlier,I could have contributed massively as a people leader. I had the passion, empathy, knowledge but I lacked in the ability to lead myself to mastery; to deep work within. It's not just about being liked by your employees or being known as the people's person, or being just a good people leader. The real courage lies in taking the responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and having the courage to develop that potential. That's who a true people leader is. To move to this space, you must first travel the journey of self-discovery & transformation. Only when you can spot the potential in you, you can develop it, master it and then use this wisdom to enable the growth for others. Once you move on this path, you don't care about anything else but focus on making a difference to the lives of people that you touch. You may not have all the solutions, answers but that you are ready to walk this path itself speaks of your commitment. And this shift in energy will give you the access to inner creativity and abundance. Travelling the journey of a professional Coach, I understand how important it is to know and belief that every human being is whole, complete & resourceful. Every individual has potential and that the right person can inspire them to move towards their growth path. Likewise, the right people leader will be able to inspire the people he/she leads and not just motivate which is temporary. Organizational excellence shall take place through HR transformation: transformation in the way you think, you show up, the way you lead, the way you express and the way you inspire others & elicit the greatness. Deep inner work involves lot of things like: 1. Knowing your blind spots and your improvement areas. 2. Acceptance of self and commitment to embrace growth. 3. Being open to seeing the mirror and work towards leveraging one's inner strengths. 4. Walking on the transformative journey of developing the four bodies: mind, emotion, body & spirit. 5. Working on improving one's leadership depth and truly understanding the essence of leadership. 6. Mastering the craft for better understanding of our work and the deeper meaning of it. 7. Improving the agility of mind to be able to widen the perspectives. 8. Developing empathy, compassion, limitless belief and dropping the limiting ones that hold us from exponential growth. 9. Understanding and knowing ones' behaviour patterns. 10. Unwinding those things that triggers you to really understand the power behind one's thoughts. 11. Connecting with the highest source to fill self with positive energies. 12. Refueling & replenishing self. 13. Embodying & generating deep inquiry. 14.Skillfully channeling energy, sensation & emotion. 15. Have an access to multiple ways of knowing & understanding. This list is massive and it will continue as we chose to walk the path. My journey is on and I invite you all to take this journey too. You will be transformed for better and will hold the power to create, transform & inspire others. Warmth, Priyanka |
AuthorLife & Organizational Development Coach Archives
February 2023
|