Maximise Potential

So this year's Time Person of the Year is none other than Elon Musk. TIME says the following in the cover story revealing the magazine's 2021 Person of the Year: "This is the man who aspires to save our planet and get us a new one to inhabit: clown, genius, edge lord, visionary, industrialist, showman, cad; a madcap hybrid of Thomas Edison, P.T. Barnum, Andrew Carnegie and Watchmen’s Doctor Manhattan, the brooding, blue-skinned man-god who invents electric cars and moves to Mars." Elon Musk is one of the greatest business icons of the 21st century. With the passing of Steve Jobs he has rightly taken the pole position in the realm of business leaders who are considered visionaries. I read the book on Elon Musk some years back by Ashlee Vance and it is a wonderful inspiring read. I think the lessons I learned from that read and other research still holds good. Here are the lessons I gleaned.  Be in it for the long haul – Irrespective of what our aim is unless we have de...

 As it is often said time is an equal opportunity employer. There are so many time management books and with the advent of technology we thought we will get more control which may not be the case. Here is my A - Z of time management which can help you towards getting the most out of the 24 hours we get every day. I think Peter Drucker said we should teach leaders what to stop than what to get done.  Attention – You get in life what you pay attention to. It is important to pay attention only to the important things to you and ignore everything else. The more attention you pay to the things that matter to you the better control you have over your time. Focus on the wildly important and ignore the rest. Be focused – We all have 100 things pending. We have books we want to read, articles we want to write and multiple hobbies that we want to pursue. However with limited time we need to be focused only on the things that matter. This point does get repeated often but it is the one t...

  The future is exciting for many people but for others it is also a cause for anxiety. With so much talk about Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Internet of Things and Robots who may take over our jobs this is not an easy time. The future irrespective of which era we lived in is uncertain. It is important to remember that in times like these there have always been times like these. I still think the opportunities available to all of us are enormous provided we ride successfully in this era of uncertainty. I have identified the following 16 keys to thrive in the future of uncertainty and take charge of your career. Be abreast of the trends – With the explosion in data, information, technology, change and competition it is absolutely imperative that you ride this wave of change by being well informed on what the future looks like. What you are doing today may not work in another 5 years. One skill which will never become obsolete is the ability to move others and increasing your sa...

 I wanted to take the opportunity to share the books I liked reading this year across various topics like technology, business, success and leadership among others. Most of them are business books which is my preferred genre. Here are the 13 books I liked reading in 2021. At the end of the article I share the books I liked right from 2015 till now. Hot Seat by Jeff Immelt – This is an insider peek into what led to GE's downturn in his tenure. We shouldn't forget he took over GE from the legendary Jack Welch and the day after he took over the unfortunate 09/11 events took place. While history may be very harsh on him I feel we also need to give him credit for the time he led. He gives some solid leadership advice like leaders showing up, persevering in a crisis, solving problems, managing complexity, and doing systems thinking among others. It is worth a read. Think Again by Adam Grant – I have read all of Adam Grant's books and this was an interesting addition to his accomp...

Being a leader also involves being grateful for your team, your peers and also the opportunity to make an impact with your presence and skill. Nov 25th 2021 is Thanksgiving in the United States and it is a wonderful time to give thanks for everything we have in our lives. We can give thanks daily of course. All of us have reasons to be unhappy with certain events in our lives but as a lot of science has proven gratitude promotes happiness instantly. Gratitude is the cornerstone of a healthy personality. If we make this a daily practice, we will have lesser stress in our lives. Here are some simple ways to develop our gratitude muscles daily which is the key to Thanksgiving. Practice generosity: This is a simple suggestion but not easy. We can show our generosity in the way we treat our colleagues or anyone else we meet. If we are waiting in line for example, we can do it without trying to rush it. We can also be generous in our appreciation of others in our team. Especially as leaders ...

Leadership is the most important need in our society and organizations alike. In my opinion everyone should define what leadership means to them and it is for the individual to decide if they are successful in meeting that definition or not. I would suggest identify the leaders who have impacted you and find out how they led their teams. In my opinion leadership is ability to be stay inspired and inspire others to action. Leaders help others perform even when they don’t feel like doing it. My leadership philosophy consists of 3 elements it is about having a vision, ability to inspire others and leading by example. I believe the recipe of leadership can be baked with the following ingredients. Here is my A - Z of Leadership. A for Attitude: Attitude is the first requirement to be a great leader. A leader’s attitude is contagious and spreads like wild fire across the organization. Jack Welch has a 4E formula which is having high energy, ability to energize, execute and having the edge. A...

In times of crisis like this we look to leaders for inspiration, hope and direction. The last word is the key as the first thing to suffer in a crisis is direction. Leaders have a guiding vision for the future and turn to hope when others can only see mud. Lets hope in this time of enormous crisis it also unearths true leaders who can navigate the turbulent times and move us into a greater future however distant that may seem at this time. Everyone has their own definition of leadership. Mine is simple it is about dreaming big, inspiring others and leading by example. Leaders really do dream big dreams think of Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Roosevelt, Churchill among others. The current business landscape requires more leaders who are willing to chart new seas and deal with change in a world that has not only flattened but also eliminated geographical boundaries. The 21st Century leader needs to pack the following traits in their repertoire. Leaders are made and of course they are born a...

I wanted to take the opportunity to share the books I liked reading this year across various topics like technology, business, success and leadership among others. Most of them are business books which is my preferred genre. Here are the books I liked reading in 2021. At the end of the article I share the books I liked right from 2015 till now. Hot Seat by Jeff Immelt – This is an insider peek into what led to GE's downturn in his tenure. We shouldn't forget he took over GE from the legendary Jack Welch and the day after he took over the unfortunate 09/11 events took place. While history may be very harsh on him I feel we also need to give him credit for the time he led. He gives some solid leadership advice like leaders showing up, persevering in a crisis, solving problems, managing complexity, and doing systems thinking among others. It is worth a read. Think Again by Adam Grant – I have read all of Adam Grant's books and this was an interesting addition to his accomplish...