Some Wise Ones to Reflect Upon !!!

"The real magic of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."                                                                                                                                                   - Marcel Proust

No wonder we have heard of things like reimagine as a powerful concept in the recent past.   Gareth Morgan talks about Imaginzation.  Wear a different lens and you will see the problem differently.  Isn't this what is taught in most leading B’Schools.

"Anger Is One Letter Away from Danger" 

                                                              -  Elanor Roosevelt 

And so said First Lady Elanor Roosevelt of United States.  Yes it is true that controlling your anger makes life much more simpler, much more calmer and a lot more easier.   Most big fights and misunderstanding are out of snappy thinking, getting angry and reacting.  No wonder they say “The sent arrow, the spoken word and the transmitted email can’t just come back, so think before you send, speak or Click”.   Never respond to mails when angry.

Few more to reflect on as we near the end of one more beautiful year.  Soon we’ll bid good bye to 2014 and usher another year of fine things to come.

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that  counts.                                                                                                                                         - Winston Churchill

"The way to get started is to stop talking and begin doing" 

                                                                              - Walt Disney Inc.

"Kites Rise Highest Against the Wind, Not With It"  

                                                              - Winston Churchill

"A Man is But the Product of His Thoughts.  What he Thinks, He Becomes."                                                                                                                                                    -  Mahatma Gandhi

“Grinding a sword for ten years, but the blade is yet to be tried.”

                                                                            - Jia Dao , Chinese Poet (779 -843 A.D)

"Discovery consists of seeing what everyone has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. "                                                                                                                                                     - Anon

Quote , Unquote !!!

"He who chooses the beginning of a road, also chooses its outcome." -  Unknown

So true, they say well begun is half done.  That's the other way to look at it. You start off on the wrong track and have to reverse the road travelled already.  Also it is good to remember that  the roughest roads make the best drivers, so you need not look at the rough one as the wrong road   

"Keep trying, It's only from the valley that the mountain seems high."  Zig Ziglar

So very true, its all about perspective. Raise your self above the problem and you see it in a different light.  That's the way it looks from the valley... all insurmountable, but once your reach somewhere at the top you feel you have conquered it all.   


"There is no limit to what can be achieved, when no one cares who gets the credit". - John Wooden, Coach

The team is sometimes the enemy of the goal.   So true that you have a goal and everyone understands it but in the quest to get name and credit the goal is side tracked.  You can always identify such people.  They will be playing ball on the sides,  send separate emails without including others who are relevant,  try calling out and dropping names and often the one's who try to take credit for others outputs.  These are missing in action but fully present at reward time. 


"Before we can properly handle a problem we must know all of the problem" - 

Einstein, once said, a problem can't be solved at the same level of understanding as that at which it was created.... he means you need a higher level of understanding.   That's why we say "Experience is the best teacher"  You can get to see various turns (understand the problem better or more in detail when you have experience.   Also it is about being wise with the worldly experiences and therefore able to handle problems as they say with grace and confidence.

Some Great People Quotes !!!

“The HR profession should not be defined by what it does, but by what it delivers” 

                                                                                                              - Dave Ulrich, 1997

"Never hire someone who knows less that you do about what he's hired to do.".  

                                                                                                                    -Malcolm Forbes

"Human resources are like natural resources; they are often buried deep. You have to go looking for them, they're not just lying around on the surface. You have to create the circumstances where they show themselves"
                                                                                                                          -Ken Robinson

Recognition is like a small drop of oil in the machinery of business.  It just makes things run a little smoother. 

                                                                                                                              -Obert Tanner

"There are few, if any, jobs in which ability alone is sufficient.  Needed, also are loyalty, sincerity, enthusiasm and team play"

                                                                                                                 - William B Given, Jr.

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work"

                                                                                                                     -Thomas Alva Edison

"So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work"

                                                                                                                    - Peter Drucker

#Life # Reflections

Life's Car has no automatic version. You will surely need those ABC Controls.  to stay on track......Always Be Calm.

In Life When GPS Signal seems lost or is taking you on wrong track, Don't turn back.... Chart a New Course Towards Your Destination

 Don't fret and burst your emotions when you face a roadblock,..rather...... Let your spirit burst...like a chain reaction in a nuclear reactor.

 Every idea in waiting is like America before Columbus.

 What, you know you know not matters more than what, you know you know.

 Our learning journey would be much better if only we checked back as oftenas we do with our smart phones.

 The mind like the computer needs a recycle bin to junk away the useless thoughts.  And keep purging the bin every now and then !!!

 When true friends meet after years its only the alphabets in their namesthat matter and not those before and after.

OTHER POSTS 

Doing Away With Bell: What to Do?

Now Don't Junk the Degree Please

Problem Solving Versus Problem Elimination

Leadership Perspectives Series: 1 Vision, Leadership & Direction

There are several dozens of theories on leadership.   Understanding them needs deliberate effort and time.   There are also other ways to build perspectives on something like this.  One simple way is to build perspectives through quotes which are powerful in communicating the message and simple elaboration which gives examples of "action" or "grounded understanding"   In the Leadership perspective series we shall try to understand some simple facets of leadership and we have about a dozen such perspectives coming up in next few months.

We shall start with two simple quotes on Vision and Meaning that are critical elements that leaders should focus on.  Having a shared vision is something that we always speak of when it comes to fulfilling objectives as a team.   Then you would have heard about putting your heart and soul into it once you have a clarity on vision, purpose, goal etc.   Here are three simple quotes.

"We are more in need of a vision / destination and a compass rather than a road map." Stephen Covey

This quote really captures the fact that it is more important to have a destination and then chart a course for our selves.  Anyone who has used Google Maps today understands that there are many paths between two points and while Google does it without emotional upheavals involved.  However human beings are different, they have a high need for deciding their own path.  It is highly motivating to involve people in the decisions and let them be part of the core decision process and this is what drives them to perform.  So a good leader should avoid providing the solution but rather help build a perspective and let the people working in the organization decide the way to reach there.    

“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Leaders are one side of the coin.  Followers make up the other.   For a leader it is most important to understand what each one is good at, what they excel in,  what drives their passion and then ensure they dwell on that.   Realizing ones potential is what every leader would thrive on.    Egg Them on their strengths and they would never have to work a single day.... rather they never feel they are working. At the same time a good leader will surely want to give a chance to people to make mistakes and not get bogged down by failures. 

Sample this...

"A leader is one who climbs the tallest tree, surveys the entire situation and yells "Wrong Tree".  Stephen Covey

It is about owning up and accepting that mistakes can be made... however most importantly it is about not repeating the same mistake.  A good leader surely does not deny the fact that you should learn from your mistakes as well as from that of others and then transfer that learning across situations.   That is why we often hear that the constellation of experiences is what makes a person a leader

Finally from the Holy Bible

When there is no vision, the people perish.  Proverbs, 29:18

It is about not understanding the right word that leads to moral chaos.  Although it may not directly be an attribution to leadership vision it is about having a understanding.


More on leadership perspectives in subsequent posts.  Adieu !!!

Quotes To Think Aloud; Realizing Your Potential

Ten Nice one's to reflect on....  This is a collection of  quotes that you will find are related to concept of "Realizing Your Potential".


"POTENTIAL" means nothing if you don't do anything with it.


“It’s hard to soar with eagles when you hang out with turkeys”


"The obsession with instant gratification blinds us from our long term potential" - Michael Dooley.


"You are only confined by the walls you Build Yourself"


"The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives"  - Albert Schweitzer


"If we did all the things that we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. - Thomas A Edison


"There is no man living who isn't capable of doing more than he thinks he can do" - Henry Ford.


Potential has a shelf life - Margaret Atwood


With realization of one's potential and self-confidence on one's ability one can build a better world.  Dalai Lama


If you limit your choice only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.  - Robert Fritz

Food for Thought...

Here are some real gems life's lessons can teach.  Why wait for life to teach....Might as well read them and learn.

“ If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time. ”

— Edith Wharton

"Sometimes when things are falling apart...they maybe just falling in place"

- Unknown

"Being happy can only mean that you're willing to look beyond imperfections and not that the world is perfect"

Our life is shaped by our minds... we become what we think.  

- Gautam Buddha

If we don't get lost, we'll never find a new route.

- Joan Littlewood

We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit. 

- Aristotle

Imagination without doing means nothing

- Charles Chaplin

Those who are happy never had everything,  rather they were thankful for everything they have.

- Unknown 

Holding on To Anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die

- Buddha

You are never too old to set a new goal or dream a new dream.

- C.S Lewis

Quotes You'll Love, Zig Ziglar & Others

Here are six wonderful quotes to reflect this weekend.  

When you change your attitude about your job, it'll make a dramatic difference about your performance on the job.- Zig Ziglar

If things go wrong, don't go with them. - Roger Babson

Others can stop you temporarily - you are the only one who can do it permanently - Zig Ziglar

If you learn from defeat you haven't really lost - Zig Ziglar

Happiness is not something you find, but rather something you create. - Zig Ziglar


Other links to Quotes

Hello, Hola !!! Blogging World

Five Success Quotes You'll Love

Quotes

Quote

Here is a favorite that I use....

"Field of Managing People has parallels' like driving a car,   You Need to Make Deliberate Attempts to Lead & Manage.  It is not the mountains that are a challenge, rather the small rocks, pebbles and stones on the road traveled."

Five Success Quotes I loved... and Put up on My Wall

There are many but these are real beauties.  

I have couple on my wall and one on my e-mail signature for over five years now.

"Anger Is One Letter Away from Danger" -  Elanor Roosevelt 

"Success is not final,  failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts" - Winston Churchill

"The way to get started is to stop talking and begin doing" - Walt Disney Inc.

"Kites Rise Highest Against the Wind, Not With It"  - Winston Churchill

"A Man is But the Product of His Thoughts.  What he Thinks, He Becomes."

                                                                                       -Mahatma Gandhi

Hello ! Holla ! Blogging World

Finally the Day I decide to start a blog ...whether it ends up surviving is the big question.  Rather to restart a aborted attempt on HR Vitamins that I started in 2009.  However post about a dozen posts I did not get further. So now I have archived the earlier posts of HR Vitamins.  And to relaunch it in a new form barely couple of days after we celebrated the Birth Anniversary of  Mahatma Gandhi means it is just the right thing to remember couple of his quotes that is relevant to us in organizations.

"The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problem.”

how true?  They say that we use very little of our potential and it would take some serious to do much more than we think we can.

Maybe Calvin Coolidge was probably right when he said many decades ago...that... unrealized potential is the most common commodity found in his country. (USA)

In 2009 Tata Consultancy Services drew up a very popular quest for it's associates when the CEO brought these three words as matter of focus for every one in the company "Realize Your Potential".If one need is not met the operant behavior would be manifest to satisfy that need.  This is similar to the Need Hierarchy of Maslow.

The second quote of Mahatma Gandhi that I would like to draw upon is

"Action Expresses Priorities"

People act on things that mean most to them.  They need therefore they do... It is like the proverbial Maslows' hierarchy.  You tend to go after things or prioritize based on what level of needs have been satisfied.

Then the question arises to your mind?....

Why do some people spend so much time finding fault with everything around?  Have you come across this proverbial cribber... They made it their life motto to criticize to curse and to find fault with anything and everything from how the buses run in the city, to how the company conducts its business to how their better halves cook food etc.