Maximise Potential

Some of the best books that I have read and which have had a profound impact on me are shared below.  1. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey This is one of the best management books of all time. What Stephen teaches is very practical, insightful and more importantly can be followed by anyone from any walk of life. Though I read this book 10 years back when I again came across it recently it offered a lot more material and is always fresh. My favorite habit is Begin with the end in mind. All the habits are based on timeless principles and the book has stood the test of time. 2. Linchpin -Seth Godin This is an incredibly powerful book and it communicates that all of us have genius potential. It really got me thinking out of the box. He also emphasizes that great artists need to ship and not keep trying for perfection. This is surely an uplifting book. His question is "Are you indispensable" and his plea is that everyone is an artist and has ex...

According to a Gallup study the bulk of employees worldwide are not engaged and if this is true then it provides us a great opportunity to understand what factors enable greater employee engagement. From time immemorial we have had motivational theories going the rounds from BF Skinner, Fredrick Herzberg, Sigmund Freud, and Abraham Maslow. I am not going to labor on all these but they do provide a good idea of how motivation has progressed. Of course the need for managers to know what motivates their employees is a key determinant for employee engagement. This is not meant to be a complete list because human emotions are too widespread to have a cookie cutter approach to motivation. However some common needs of all can be used as the starting point towards greater engagement which eventually leads to better performance. Purpose beyond the paycheck  – Lot of studies have been done and concluded that pay is not the most important motivator. Challenging work and responsibility c...