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

Inspiration, Not Control is the Key to Realizing Potential

This is a brief discussion on how and why some of of the most popular quests (phrases) related to individual success often runs into a wall....  and more specifically in organizational contexts.   We hear of catchy phrases  like "Give wings to dreams",   "Realize Your Potential",  "You Can, If You Will",  "Discover your hidden power"    and so on. 

The common belief among line managers and HR fraternity is that achieving this objective is a self driven phenomenon. One has to reflect, understand what he or she can do / cannot do and work deliberately and can achieve much much more than what was possibly thought he / she could achieve.   Maybe put them in front of some achievers who have "been there, done that" kinds and there will be some kind of osmosis of inspiration to the listeners.  

Reality is that in order to enable employees achieve beyond what they think they can,  for them to realize their potential we need a whole lot of inspiration coming from the managers in organizations.   Control freaks who are there to stifle creativity and show their teams how to align with them (the manager) are doing very little to create that environment.   

Instead of showing the team how to align with the mission of the company and drive excellence in the delivery of the services or of the product,  instead of  helping overcome obstacles that impede the successful execution of  organizations goals,  instead of  working along side with them to solve problems,  they are expecting the employees to align with their stifling ways.   Align with me and you'll be successful.   Does this statement ring a bell? Familiar ??  Most often it is not explicitly stated but rather an implicit coming forth as clear message to the team led by such managers.

So the need for managers is to inspire the teams to align with the organization, to inspire them to see how their job is contributing to success,  to inspire them to understand how their job / work is relevant to customers needs,  to inspire them to go beyond and connect the dots and to enable them to work without fear.....only then we can really set an environment where everyone can realize his or her potential.   

Daniel Goleman's New Focus: Focus on Attention

After Emotional Intelligence and Primal Leadership now Dr. Daniel Goleman has shifted his attention to something which is in short supply today...   ATTENTION

In the last few years when I wrote mails to bring a point in focus I generally used a line 

"Kindly give your undivided Attention to this"  Maybe that's what we want people to be doing more especially to achieve something important...Pay More Attention 

In his new Book,  In Focus what was just released recently Daniel Goleman offers some insights to high performance & fulfillment: Attention

Various dimensions of attention are discussed and message is to sharpen your focus to survive in the complex world.  Dr. Goleman discusses inner, outer and other focus.   He has drawn from sports (competition), arts, business and education and discusses how high-achievers need all three kinds of focus dimensions.  

Reading is bit heavy so set aside undivided attention to read this piece.

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