tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245328302024-03-14T02:44:46.330+05:30Learner's MusingsSharing what I am learningMadhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-87952010404162199952014-08-03T15:04:00.000+05:302014-08-03T15:04:34.755+05:30HR Lessons from India's defeat in 3rd test at Southampton<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HR Lessons from India's defeat in 3rd test at Southampton </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Man Management is all about keeping the flock together & getting best of them always. Historically Indian Teams have the tendency of revelling in short term success & faltering at series subsequently. The recent loss at Ageas Bowl is shocking as the team was expected to steamroll Poms, instead we were beaten in our own game of spin by lesser known Moin Ali </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are my 12 lessons for all of us.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. The thin line between Confidence & Over Confidence which the leader has to carefully tread was breached by the Captain while choosing the personnel, this did affect the final result </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. When you loose your best performer, the ideal thing to do is to go to your next best or senior player ( in this case it wad Ashwin, who for mysterious reason gets dropped), instead India handed the 282nd Cap to Pankaj, who bowled well in patches</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Some of the players are struggling to produce results, as a leader one has to spend time with performers like Kohli, Dhawan & Shami, making them feel important & ensuring they play out of their skins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. A happy dressing room is a performing dressing room, similar to settled work teams who produce better results, it is leader's job to keep them cheered. I see the players jaded & under pressure</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. When the team comes together, it follows TUCKMANN's 4 quadrant of FORMING, STORMING, NORMING, PERFORMING, this is an ever evolving process, the Leader has to understand where each player fits into it, to bring the best as mentioned in earlier point</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. I feel Kohli has reached a stage where he needs to be reminded of his NEED FOR ACHIEVEMENT (NAch) as in the Achievement Motivation Theory, a Champion & Legend in the Making like him is too precious to be left on his own, Can THE WALL help him please</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. As I had mentioned in my previous post, Jadeja's previous success is only harming the team now, than doing good, he is neither a wicket taking bowling option or stable no 7 batsman to be carrying, Leader has to let go his ego to play a team for winning than going with lotteries like Sir Jadeja</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. I remember speaking to one of the India's greatest fast bowlers, Srinath about how the 2003 WC Team had multiple off field captains in Sachin, Anil, Sri, Rahul & Viru to help Sourav in the decision making, the empowerment showed in India's show then, who are Dhoni's men in the current team, I don't see much of his interactions with Kohli, Gambhir & Ashwin on field at least</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9. The Shared Leadership will not only help the Captain but also team in general on such a long tour. The Leader should Trust & feel Confident to have such a core team</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10. The Captain's Merry Men's ( Dhawan, Rohit & Jadeja) contribution in bowling & batting are 45.5 & 24 respectively not including Dhoni's. This clearly shows backing the wrong set of personnel, having played the game, I can only tell such prolonged supports sends wrong signal to others & discontent brews within the team</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">11.The post match comment about justifying horrible shot by Rohit Sharma was no different from the shot by Stuart Binny in the Lord's match, yet one man was penalised by way of getting dropped & the other was defended, this again proves that if you are in the good books of the captain, you can get away with such crime. The leader has to show impartial judgement with the team for the better dressing room atmosphere</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">12. I feel the off field happenings had certain bearings on the mindset of some players, it's important for the leader to keep them focused on immediate goal as well as long term goal ( winning the match & the series in that order).</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-16860334213087540392014-07-23T01:13:00.004+05:302014-07-23T01:13:54.959+05:30HR Lessons from Team Sports<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Team Sports teaches us lot of HR lessons, one has to look at it with great deal of interest & prism to decipher the goods & deltas, I shall be writing about Indian Team starting with India's Tour of England, the series of writing will have good things as well as deltas analysed with my experience as Cricketer & a HR Person</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HR Lessons from India's famous win at Lord's</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">POSITIVES: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. As a leader go for the kill with your best man, give him all the right tools do so, as was evident in field placings for Ishanth Sharma's bowling</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Let the team know who is the LEADER during the crunch times like asking Sharma to bowl short right at the stroke of lunch when most batsmen tend to switch off & back them</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Winning is a habit, great leaders have gambled small losses for big gains, so giving extra runs to buy wickets was a clever thought</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Clever understanding of the rules of the game & Desi Jugaad which ensued he had 3 fielders behind legs by standing back to spinner was a new thing in cricket history, it clearly shows Leader's out the box thinking ability</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Backing your known set of personnel will yield the desired results, ask Jadeja, Ishant & Vijay. This is what famous Steve Waugh did with all conquering OZ side</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. As a leader, one should learn from the past ( Jo'berg & Basin Reserves) & try to live in the present situation to not to make same mistakes, which resulted in a win</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. Having Plan B & executing it to perfection like Bouncing the Batsmen worked wonders in conditions known for Pitch it Up plan. As a leader to come up with that plan spontaneously was a masterstroke</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DELTAS: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. When you pick a player, you have to give him the confidence, this is also so true when we hire a new employee in the team, Dhoni's whatever reason for not using Binny to full extent is inexplicable & defies the logic of picking him. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Making a player unwanted can dent his confidence for long, how captain & think tank handles Binny fiasco will be keenly watched by me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. When you are producing results people may not see through your lack of personal contribution, but moment the results reverses, the Leader will be put under a microscope. Dhoni's glove work has never been a sight to behold, in the match today, he looked horrible for pacers, standing back to a spinner was the last thing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. The innings by Jadeja in fact may do more harm to team & himself than good, the individual has come good after 13 innings with the bat & with ball he was efficient & not effective, the Leader should know when to let go the personnel for his as well as team's good. He is actually blocking the place for an effective wicket taking bowler as well consistent batsman in Ashwin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Couple of players like Kohli, Dhawan & Shami look jaded for whatever reasons, as a leader one has to spend time with such performers to bring a sense of purpose in them, the best man who did it with players is sitting the commentary box, The Prince of Calcutta can be tapped to know more of it </span><br />
<br /></div>
Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-54673096981393204122013-04-23T23:55:00.002+05:302013-04-23T23:55:48.516+05:30How to reduce Subjective Rating in Performance Evaluations<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Most
companies use Feedback and Ratings from their employee performance appraisals
to drive decisions around compensation, promotions and training, then ensuring
consistency in their employee reviews is critical. Even if they’re not using
performance evaluation data to make these decisions, employees need to perceive
a sense of fairness in their reviews. A perceived lack of fairness quickly
translates into employee dissatisfaction and disengagement.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Many
companies use subjective performance appraisal systems due to lack of objective
performance measures. In these cases, supervisors usually have to rate the
performance of their subordinates, using such systems, it is a well established
fact that many supervisors tend to assess the employees too good (leniency
bias) and that the appraisals hardly vary across employees of a certain
supervisor (centrality bias). We explain these two biases in a model with a
supervisor, who has preferences for the utility of her inequality averse
subordinates, and discuss determinants of the size of the biases. Extensions of
the basic model include the role of supervisor’s favoritism of one particular
agent and the endogenous effort choice of agents. Whether inequality averse
agents exert higher efforts then purely self-oriented ones, depends on the size
of effort costs and inequality aversion.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">But how do
you achieve fairness across the board, or even within a particular role, when
so much of the evaluation is subjective?.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Since
managers are individuals, and bring different experience and expectations to
their role, it’s important to give them some guidance, and a framework to work
within to eliminate some of their subjectivity from the equation. Here are some
techniques we use with Clients, which has helped in reducing the Subjective
Feedback from the PMS. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Providing
<b>ongoing trainings</b> to both Appraisee & Appraiser about the PMS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Multi-rater feedback</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> for if possible for all roles or at
least critical roles in the company<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Secondary manager</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> or third-party <b>reviews</b> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Detailed
<b>behavioral descriptions</b> of <b>competency</b> demonstration<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Creating
a <b>Dictionary of Subjective Ratings</b> to choose from as part of the PMS
tool<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Have
<b>Even Number Scale</b> to reduce the Central Tendency Error <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">It’s also
a great idea to have your HR team compare ratings between departments,
especially for individuals performing the same function. It’s not hard to spot
trends in ratings when you look at the bigger picture. In the same way you
could tell how “tough” a teacher was by looking at their class average, you can
get an idea of how consistent and fair your appraisals are by comparing scores
between departments, and year over year. Your HR team can then intervene to
ensure greater consistency and fairness.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div>
Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-23480149486087990722013-02-05T23:31:00.000+05:302013-02-05T23:31:47.742+05:30Process Vs Results <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Few days ago a cricketer who was worth a place in state
junior team and hailed as one of the replacement for the Great Wall of Indian
Cricket in Karnataka Cricket; was not able to make good scores off late came to
me to talk about what’s going wrong with him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The conversation is as follows.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Cricketer:</b> While I am playing the way I have always
done, but not being able to score more runs consistently. Do get to score 50s,
70s once in few months but not so much that I get to play 1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> class
cricket for the state.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Me:</b> Hmm.. Sounds so familiar, tell me more about it,
when was the last time you scored big, what all you did right and what you did
a day before and after that.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Cricketer:</b> Last time it was a 75 against a team which
had good first class cricketers. Coming to think of it, I had good 2 days of
nets and just before the match, it was good mental frame I was in. Post the
match I thought I should do the same more often.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Me:</b> It set me thinking, which I always believe in,
that it is more of process and process which will result in better quality
results. I call this: ‘IF YOU HAVE THE “RIGHT” PROCESS, “DESIRED” RESULTS ARE
JUST A MATTER OF TIME.’</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The more we started speaking, I was convinced that the guy
realized more of his mistakes and talents (which to be fair with him was the
right thing to do) and insights on “practice” and “smart work”.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This brings me to the topic ‘is result alone matters or the
process also has a role to play in getting the desired results time after time’</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Taking cricket analogy as discussed with my international
cricketer friend, The difference between 1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> class cricketer to that
of an average Joe on the road is the “repeatability of the process of shot
making or bowling a line consistently over a period of time, of course coupled
with talent and hard work..</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If someone like Bret Lee is thundering at 150KMPH ball after
ball and the batsmen is coming down the line and driving the ball towards
“covers” or “extra covers” it’s not because of the talent alone but also
because of the time spent at the nets making the whole process repeat ball
after ball, day after day and year after year.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">An organization where I consult, have a very good business
which is showing double digit growth year on year while the markets struggle to
do it. By their own admission, the product sells itself with very little or no
marketing effort. (For USD 400 Million turnover their marketing budget is USD
2, 00,000 per annum).</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However the organization has no process or any repeatable
work culture. Since we have started putting process in place, what we found was
with the same resources and effort, they could go to next levels of sales
(Projected for this year in USD 600 Million), with proper process in place.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">While not dwelling much in to the details of the
case, I would like to bring in to perspective the thought while what matters
are “results”, equally important is “Process” which produces the results </span></div>
Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-24227484378825053672013-01-29T10:37:00.000+05:302013-01-29T10:37:16.095+05:30Talent Management Trends in 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The two challenges Organizations are
facing today are the combination of </span></em><em><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">growing markets</span></b></em><em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> (a need to expand globally or into new products and
services) coupled with a </span></em><em><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">need to hold back costs</span></b></em><em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN;">. While the economy is expanding, business executives remain
afraid of committing large sums of cash to growth - a problem well documented
in the business press. What this has done is create a </span></em><em><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">talent
squeeze</span></b></em><em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN;">. Organizations are finding skills
gaps, headcount gaps, and leadership gaps in their workforce which they must
fill to grow - yet they do not have the resources to dramatically increase
salaries to compete for labor. As a result, we are seeing a tremendous focus on
sourcing and recruiting strategies, internal career development, and leadership
development. <o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN;">These problems are very business and
organization-specific. In some cases the challenges involve a shortage of
critical skills which create shortages in particular job roles. This takes the
form of shortages of production engineers in the oil and gas industry, regional
managers in the retail industry, nurses in the healthcare and insurance
industries , or mid-level managers in manufacturing and most industries. <o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Human Capital is becoming increasingly
important for organizations of all sizes and shapes across the world. The
workforce is made of Gen Y and Gen Millennium at the entry& mid levels, who
are more adept at technology than any others, who will be more than happy to
spend time on internet learning new things than spend time in class rooms. The
learnability is attaining different and new meanings. T<span style="color: black;">he
retention of high potentials, increasing engagement, gender balance and
equality, and age diversity will continue to dominate the happenings as it has
always been, </span>I feel 2013 will be marked by this increased phenomenon of
people management, where technology plays a vital role.<span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></em><em><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Employee- Led & Manager- Supported Career Planning:</span></b></em><em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Organizations can explore deploying organic (viral)
strategies which assess both the employees’ “needs” & their personal
“offer” (skills, abilities, intangibles) against the “offer” & “needs” from
their organization. While this assessment allows for an evaluation of
employee-organization alignment and/or gaps, it serves a few more purposes,
including increased communication, enhanced development planning, assessment of
cultural and performance fit for achieving shared success.<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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<em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></em><em><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Increased Engagement Initiatives: </span></b></em><em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The initiation of mindfulness at work to let managers deal
with stress and anxiety more effectively. In other words, more attention to
well-being at work; The growing focus on intercultural awareness and leveraging
diversity to achieve individual, team and organizational goals. Companies are
starting to recognize and harness diverse leadership approaches and
perspectives.<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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<em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></em><em><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Talent Acquisition:</span></b></em><em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN;">
The ability to search companies’ career pages and apply through smart phone
will be a one to look out for. I also think more companies will be investing in
their employee value proposition for 2013, followed by making sure they are
working through internal barriers for hiring top talent. Customer relationship
management tools to build future talent pipelines will still remain hot. But I
believe more companies will start to invest in SEO strategies to attract top
talent.</span></em></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b><span style="color: black;">Talent Management is a Business Problem, not an HR Problem</span></b><span style="color: black;"> :</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> </span><em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I feel there is a critical need to
understand that talent management is not an "HR process " but rather
a "business process" which must be implemented through line of
business executive leadership. Talent management strategies, should be
developed in the context of your particular business strategy. </span></em></div>
</div>
Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-79492016874302563992012-03-09T12:32:00.000+05:302013-02-12T23:16:05.495+05:30There won’t be any other honest cricketer like Rahul Dravid any more.. End of an Era<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So aptly said on CRICINFO website by a fan “Indian bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down.. Indian bridge was falling down in olden days!! DRAVID-Build it up with iron and steel, Iron and steel, iron and steel, Build it up with iron and steel, THE WALL OF CRICKET!!</span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The last of the few gentleman left in cricket. I doubt if there'll ever be another like him. World cricket will be poorer with his exit, good luck to him and thanks for the memories. Game with its increasing penchant for entertainment and gimmickry will be hard pressed to produce cricketers of his immense quality.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"> </span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">RSD symbolized greatness with simplicity which is tough to see today. He is not just an idol for cricket fans but for anyone who wants to aspire higher things keeping firm feet on the ground . He epitomized Indian middleclass better than anybody in any profession. His work ethic showed us what it was like to be the consummate professional, his selfless choice to open or keep wickets just to help the team out, taught us about humility and sacrificial giving, his adaptability to the shorter forms showed how an old dog can indeed excel at new tricks and finally his tender portrayal of our great nation in delivering the Bradman oration revealed the depth of his love towards the country.</span></div>
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"There is no more comforting sight in test cricket than Rahul walking to the crease to take guard". When McGrath-Lee, Donald-Pollock, Akram-Akhtar were rewriting the bowler-batsman equation in cricket, many batsmen have played spin bowling better then Rahul, but the last 30 years has not seen a better batsman to the fast, swinging ball. In 1999, when India was summarized by Australia, a commentator saw the sweat on Dravid's brows when facing Mcgrath and quipped that 'it seems hotter out there for the batsmen'. That sight was testament to all that Dravid is about - mental concentration and visibly painful but breathtaking adherence to technique. It is easy to throw your bat and ride a lucky streak a la Hyden, Sehwag & <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>many others to become great by being aggressive. But that’s not test cricket. Kudos to the Dravid family for this colossus, this unique servant of the game who bows out serving as a master class in mental toughness</div>
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As a man himself many times in the past has said, he is OK to be the second best in an era when GOD played alongside. If he were to be born at any other time he could have been the best of that time (not that he is not now).</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You deserved to retire at home to a standing ovation, but knowing you nothing matters more than Team’s cause. THANK YOU LEGEND</span></span></span><br /></div>
Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-4838567456396896422012-01-27T12:40:00.000+05:302012-01-27T12:40:08.829+05:30How can HR Lead Change<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">During my interactions with many HR Leaders, I found out that seldom they involve in major organization wide changes, the lack of participation can be attributed to varieties of reasons like inclination to change, business knowledge, being in the comfort and not willing to take things head on. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Though it's rare, here's an indicator of what is possible. One of the HR Leaders working in Health Care sector whom I spoke to : learned that the senior team was wanting to launch "relationship-based care," a comprehensive cultural change program to focus doctors' and nurses' attention on patients and their families. He offered to have HR involved to address the people aspects. He showed them how HR could weave relationship-based care and continuous improvement into the fabric of this community hospital in central New York, for example by hiring and promoting the right people. He was at the table with them as they planned training and communications, and as they decided how to reward people who took on improvement projects.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When I talk with leaders of process improvement activities about the role of HR in change, however, I generally hear that HR is bureaucratic and a brake on innovation. Others say that HR is under-utilized. In most organizations talent management is left to direct supervisors.<br />
<br />
</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Ulrich"><span style="color: #b20022; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dave Ulrich</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, a professor at the University of Michigan, has identified three human resource processes that are critical for embedding a culture such as continuous improvement: (1) talent flow, (2) rewards, and (3) training and development. Changing any of these to support continuous improvement presents challenges to HR:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Talent Flow</span></b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">: By recruiting & career advancing the people based on their fitment with the organizations vision of growth (mindset & behaviors)— and letting go those who don't —People see what is happening and adapt their behaviors accordingly. The problem for continuous improvement is that managers tend to hire for expertise, not for behaviors such as improvement. One of the HR Leader, told me, "We hire what the manager wants. We hire a Solutions Architect, who is great at working with Technology. We have seldom challenge managers to look more broadly. We introduced HR business partners twelve months ago and asked them to advocate HR policies. They struggled. They kept getting mired down in minute details, e.g., manpower request forms."</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Rewards</span></b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">: Reward systems can change and reinforce behavior. The aim of a reward system is to turn goals into measures of behavior and outcomes, then allocate rewards based how employees perform against the measures. Continuous improvement demands that people not only carry out their jobs, but improve their work too. HR people typically don't have the operational experience, expectation, or permission to engage line managers in changing rewards to encourage operational improvement. For example, One of the Leader tells me that his hospital needs to reward process improvement to accommodate healthcare reform, but that HR can't initiate the changes from its position; modifications to rewards have to be made by senior leaders.</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Training and Development</span></b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">: Training courses and development investments send messages about what matters. At the same time, they offer leaders skills and tools to act on those messages. To support continuous improvement, these investments have to focus on making work better. Few HR organizations will promote improvement training unless it's driven by senior leadership, even though they may recognize it as what the organization needs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What are the root causes which one needs to overcome for HR leading change? I see three:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Politics</span></b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">: To sustain improvement activities, HR should use its power and influence to help leaders focus on customers, long-term business results, and building capabilities in their people — not a personal or HR agenda. Yet if HR gets out in front of improvement activities.</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">A Support Relationship</span></b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">: As described above HR should be at the table with senior leaders to weave HR into improvement programs. Before HR can offer advice to the organization, it needs to be a partner — not just support. The CEO and executive team often view HR as an expense with a transaction focus, rather than adding value with a strategic focus. HR has to operate as a partner that adds value to make the case for their role as a partner.</span></span></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: left;"> <b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Look beyond ‘Being Inbred’</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">: HR hires HR experience, and HR has historically been mainly engaged in personnel, compliance, and transactions. HR professionals without operational experience have less credibility and aren't comfortable giving operational advice. "HR doesn't think like the business. HR professionals don't know which knife, fork, or spoon to use when they're at the table."</span></div></div>Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-76388696974266299742011-09-03T00:09:00.000+05:302011-09-03T00:09:20.001+05:30Aligning Learning with Corporate Strategy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="194" style="text-align: justify;"><span closure_uid_4sdwzz="212" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Business has experienced an evolution from the agricultural age to the Industrial Revolution to the information age. Now, the talent age has arrived. Companies realize that in a world where every other aspect of doing business has been commoditized, talent is the only real competitive advantage they have. Currently, the competitive battlefront is for the best people, the true creators of value</span></div><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="194" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="214" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of the key challenges which if addressed by organizations will enable to align training program to corporate strategy. Best vehicle for sustainable organization development is to engage training participants in real work with live strategic issues. Today’s corporate training organizations must be highly aligned with their business’ immediate and urgent corporate priorities, while also building long term capabilities for the future.</span></div><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="214" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="192" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By incorporating the “3way”hit formula will be like </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Increase the participants understanding and commitment to corporate strategy</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Help them produce innovative ideas and solutions and create a strategies to meet business needs</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="215" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Help in development and achievement of goals </span></div><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="215" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adelsberg and Trolley in their book “Running Training like Business” talk about the following as challenges that needs to be changed in order to evolve ‘’training’’ as HR function</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• Training has remained Tactical</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• “Drivers’’ to the strategic goals are obvious but the challenge is how to move them</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• Typically Organizations have Ad hoc or disjointed Training Functions</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• Investment in Trainings needs better management</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="216" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• The change towards making training business function is taking place, the rate at which it is happening may not be as per requirements</span></div><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="216" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The key questions to be asked by L&D Professionals in order to get Training aligned to Corporate Strategy are</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• Garnering Support and Sponsorship for Learning Solutions</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• Training Delivery Check </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• Innovative Training Solutions in L&D for Strategy Alignment</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• Involvement of Line Managers in Training Development and Deployment</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These don’t come as surprise to many of the L&D professionals who have been, since 2008 are driving trainings as mostly customized/canned programs; which has lead many a companies take the most beaten path of genuine and menu-driven trainings in nature.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="218" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many industry leaders I have spoken to are of the opinion that this is a short sighted and knee jerk reaction.</span></div><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="218" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="217" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The more “Central Built” model of leaders’ development and talent programs (like Global Model with local way with functional managers) are immediate and urgent need.</span></div><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="217" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am penning down some thoughts about how one can answer these questions with my experience</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• Garnering Support</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- While the most sought after position or respect L&D person seeks is a place on the Board, but what one don’t realize yet is- it is always the role of influencer than decision maker</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Instead of seeking executive sponsorship, strive towards ownership. Meaning make the Sr.Mgt team go thru the actual program in capsules, so that it gets their ownership and then take with rest of the participants</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In one of my previous assignments, by doing this we could penetrate the difficult closely held functional group of leaders and managers who were averse to the idea of trainings in first place (the country, the culture and the organizational dynamics were the greatest myth we did break thru this approach)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Engaging the “Participating Leaders” in a dialogue with Sr. Mgt Team as part of the program progress</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Make Program Content directing into strategy alignment by asking CEO to select the most appropriate strategic value ideas into implementation.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="189" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We did this in our Future Leaders’ Program at an organization, which not only ensured the program success but also created a new business avenue which has become a revenue stream in less than 20 months time.</span></div><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="189" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• Check on L&D delivery is alignment with Business Strategy</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Use of Steering Groups for the learning delivery</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> By creating group of line managers as a training facilitators, this can be achieved for better success as well as more business strategy relevant</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- With the moving business targets, the L&D programs needs to be designed “Just in time” learning solutions</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Business Partnering like HR Business Partners in one such way</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Letting internal L&D professionals do bit of business consulting in order to let them gain perspective</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> One of the India’s largest software exporters used this model to good effect where I was working. The L&D professionals were asked to do business consulting internally as well as externally. This again opened a revenue stream for the organization</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• Methodologies of L&D</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- To maximize 3 way approach of “action learning”, “interactive games”, “face to face trainings” is a way forward.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Moving away from classical model of case studies/ simulations/ theories and arcane models, it should be towards current and actual business strategy for better “skills building”, “Knowledge Inputs” and “Personal Development”.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In our Leadership Development Program for Mid Level Managers at a major distributors of automobiles, we used the technique of “Fly on the wall”” to create Case studies, examples which ensured when the trainers used them in the session, the content was more relevant and had a future strategy alignment to it</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Custom designed line leadership challenge to Sr. Leadership Team about the next few days will be one of the good idea </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> As shared earlier, this method was used as one of the means for programs during a Leadership Program which helped in solving a problem which existed for some years in the organization. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- A new or emerging market case scenario can be discussed in such leadership programs or live business challenges to be discussed to ensure the strategy is linked to trainings</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="190" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Peer Coaching</span></div><div closure_uid_4sdwzz="190" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• Involving line managers in Pre/Post L&D Delivery, the key success factor is L&D programs are the involvement of line managers</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Making senior leaders performance criteria as support to L&D Initiatives</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> As a L&D Professional, I have been insisting on this in all my assignments at organizations to ensure success.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Making participants to identify development goals with line managers and coaches and derive strategy based learning</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Making participants “debrief” to their managers and teams as a mandatory part of the program learning</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conclusions</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leveraging the business strategy as the framework for people development – in terms of program objectives, solution design and content – organizations will deliver powerful and practical development of their leaders and key talent that is directly aligned with key business goals and imperatives. A strategy-based program design delivered via engaging experiential learning methodologies, such as live, interactive leadership simulations and action learning business projects involving real business issues, enables participants to readily connect the dots between ‘training’ and their real lives at work. </span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-31681272461485225622011-02-02T18:56:00.000+05:302011-02-02T18:56:43.121+05:30Value Based Leadership- My Thoughts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Should Leadership be defined solely by the success achieved by the individual in his chosen field? …Most of the leadership literature makes that assumption. Leaders get things done. They win wars, championships, fortune, and fame. They cure sick teams, organizations and whole countries. Not by themselves, of course – we followers have a limited role, as foot soldiers, employees, and voters. Charismatic individual is someone, who somehow is able to motivate or drive or carry his/her team to achieve an (often) unlikely goal. Conversely, the absence of significant achievement generally signifies a leadership-free environment.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As luck would have it, many of the leaders whose achievements capture the popular imagination are pretty tough cookies, so focused on winning that they are often willing to bend the social and organizational rules that bind us lesser mortals. Nevertheless, in a results-focused world, their achievements qualify them as leadership role models. Their successes explain the staying power of anti-social leadership mantras like “nice guys finish last” and “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Just-the-results” leadership may achieve goals, but it has limited transformational power. It produces more and more of the same old stuff, and that’s fine, if the same old stuff is what the organization needs. The problematic outcome of this brand of leadership is often an admirably efficient vehicle with steering problems; the defects are rarely visible, but are liable to produce with distressing frequency an Enron, a General Motors, or a Satyam. When such disasters occur, we are always amazed in hindsight at the damage wrought by once-respected “leaders.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The values-based leadership insists on examining the messy details implied by “how?” and “why?” It may be less efficient than the “no questions asked” variety, and it takes time to reach critical mass; but the need of the hour is to develop hundreds of leaders with the ability not only to get things done, but to go beyond the numbers to change lives for the better, it has a unique competitive advantage with limitless potential. It is not enough to win a leader job security, let alone praise and honor. A result that is achieved the wrong way – in a way that violates the letter or spirit of the Dynamic Organization – does not count. Leaders would do better to fall short of a goal than to reach it unethically, or by taking advantage of a customer, or by treating peers, employees, vendors, or even competitors with disrespect.</span></div>Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-23836215903641346102010-07-28T19:00:00.000+05:302010-07-28T19:00:12.654+05:30Take a bow Sachin Tendulkar- Tribute from an unabashed fan<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For those of you who have not read “Jonathan Livingston the Sea Gull” by Richard Bach, its a story of a Sea Gull who always wanted excellence in what he does best- “ flying” , always wanting to scale a new peak when rest of the flock thought it cannot be done, always at competition with himself to achieve the greatness ,ever so obedient student of flying and always at hand to teach a protégé a thing or two. As I saw Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar bat today against Sri Lanka on a marble floor of pitch at Colombo, I felt if Richard Bach were to witness his remarkable career would rename the book as “Sachin Tendulkar the Sea Gull”. What a player, what a maverick. 94 hundreds (48 Test and 46 ODIs) in an International Cricket, 21yrs of play and he still carries the charm of 20yr old out of an academy side. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What’s more striking was the fact that he made Suresh Raina, playing his 1st test match concentrate hard and score runs at the same time. I am sure Suresh would be thanking his stars tonight when he goes to bed that he has an University of Cricket with him at the other end of the crease. Sachin today wasn’t battling the bowlers, he wasn’t bothered by the scores, he had another battle to be won that of saving the match for the country and a small matter of fact record to be set right (hasn’t scored a test 100 in Sri Lanka for 11yrs, that’s quite an absurd stat). The relief was all to be seen when he scored that 4 behind the square of Suraj Randhiv (another debutant, probably thinking what makes him so special when the shot was completed)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">For all the joy you have given to millions and millions of fans and connoisseurs of the game of cricket and making us feel proud Indian, Take a bow Mr. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, perhaps the greatest batsman and a true sportsman of this century…</span> </span>Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-8129079340864618142010-07-18T12:53:00.000+05:302010-07-18T13:38:41.151+05:30Conversation on Managerial EffectivenessOne of my friend recently sent me a mail asking my thoughts on "how to calcuate Managerial Effectiveness", I have tried summerising my conversation with him thru this post.<br />
<br />
Hi Madhu<br />
Needed your help in one of the initiatives that we intend to launch - basically a mechanism to measure people orientation of managers. While it is a very subjective area, we are trying to create some tangible measures to create an Index that can be measured and tracked. Easiest would have been a 360 degree feedback, but that is not feasible given the culture right now.<br />
<br />
A few measures that come up immediately could cover<br />
<br />
- Number of training programs nominated / attended by team members<br />
- Attrition (but how to discount factors beyond manager's control)<br />
- Emp Satisfaction Index<br />
- Succession planning for key positions<br />
- Performance evaluation as per plan - Completion % of KRA setting, Perf Evalaution compliance etc<br />
- Number of suggestions by team into Employee Suggestion Scheme<br />
<br />
But the trouble is that these are all "input" measures and the initiative could just end up driving compliance.<br />
<br />
What I am looking for are some "output" measure like say Team Feedback Score for a Manager etc.<br />
<br />
<strong>My Reply to him:</strong> <br />
<br />
Dear Nandish<br />
<br />
Good to hear from you.. it’s not always dirty out there in Behavioral Science, its more than challenging and fun to be in this quandary than applied science<br />
<br />
a. As you rightly said, most of the below mentioned measurements (if I may call so) are inputs measurements and can be used as a compliance measurements, however if you go beyond the normal, you can look at the bottom line additions thru them. For example: you can see the obvious as “how many ideas a “A” manager’s team has given”, the abnormal stuff is to see “how many of these ideas have contributed to real time impact on the team or the organisation” (Engagement, Innovation Culture, Out of the box thinking, Team Work are the measurable competencies)<br />
<br />
<br />
b. Since it’s a knowledge driven industry, I guess having ES Survey, with specific questions around Output from the Managers, will help in measuring, this is the most sought after and easiest way to do it. <br />
<br />
c. Also look at TEAM TRUST INDEX, this not only measures Trust Levels in the team, but also helps in knowing what is the kind of trust reposed in the managers by team. <br />
<br />
d. You can also look at BELBIN TEAM EFFECTIVENESS (you need to be certified to conduct this)<br />
<br />
e. You will also have to decide on the focus of your Index, will it be “Team Centric”, “Individual Centric” or “Organizational Centric”, based on which you can use different tools like (a) Team Trust Index or Belbin for Team (b) 360* Feedback or simple NMA (if people are ok to give feedback) or (c) Employee Satisfaction Survey with specific thrust on Output<br />
<br />
Summary of my work around the same I am giving you, it might help you… <br />
<br />
If you are measuring <strong>“Team Leadership”</strong> then look at<br />
<br />
a. Measurement of Change in Team Effectiveness<br />
<br />
b. Measurement of Change in Team Outputs- if you can correlate these two and measure the effectiveness it will be a good Team Measurement<br />
<br />
If you are measuring<strong> “Individual Leadership"</strong> then look at<br />
<br />
a. Measurement of Change in Competencies thru 360*<br />
<br />
b. Measurement of Change in Individual Results- If you can correlate these two and measure the effectiveness it will be a good “Individual Measurement” as well as “Program Effectiveness Measurement”<br />
<br />
If you are measuring <strong>“Organizational Leadership”</strong> then look at <br />
<br />
a. Measurement of Change in Team Outputs <br />
<br />
b. Measurement of Change in Individual Results- these can give organizational level measurement.Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-83246352943800308192010-07-18T12:41:00.000+05:302010-07-18T12:41:25.155+05:30Topographical ModelFreud believed that the majority of what we experience in our lives, the underlying emotions, beliefs, feelings, and impulses are not available to us at a conscious level. He believed that most of what drives us is buried in our unconscious. While buried there, however, they continue to impact us dramatically according to Freud. <br />
<br />
The role of the unconscious is only one part of the model. Freud also believed that everything we are aware of is stored in our conscious. Our conscious makes up a very small part of who we are. In other words, at any given time, we are only aware of a very small part of what makes up our personality; most of what we are is buried and inaccessible. <br />
<br />
The final part is the preconscious or subconscious. This is the part of us that we can access if prompted, but is not in our active conscious. Its right below the surface, but still buried somewhat unless we search for it. Information such as our telephone number, some childhood memories, or the name of your best childhood friend is stored in the preconscious. <br />
<br />
Because the unconscious is so large, and because we are only aware of the very small conscious at any given time, this theory has been likened to an iceberg, where the vast majority is buried beneath the water's surface. The water, by the way, would represent everything that we are not aware of, have not experienced, and that has not been integrated into our personalities, referred to as the nonconscious.<br />
<br />
<strong>My Take on the Model:</strong><br />
<br />
The above description of Human Psyche according to Segmud Freud opens up a Pandora Box of doubts in my mind with respect to psychoanalysis or use of psychometric tools in knowing one’s personality, if the Conscious is so little and lot remains in Preconscious or Nonconscious minds, how and what is the best way to increase the Conscious self of human beings. I assume if one were to know even 20% more about ‘self’ than what he or she already knows, it will not only help in self development but also help the organisations in many aspects of human development.Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-6462693019620453912010-02-06T19:38:00.000+05:302010-02-06T19:40:05.354+05:30Leadership Dissecting……???<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Anyone given the task of dissecting leadership is at a serious disadvantage before they even start. The word itself defies any attempt at accurate or precise definition. It also comes with other complications - it is not a constant; can only really be judged within a unique, historical context; and this usually means we have to judge leadership with the benefit of hindsight. Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership being one of the most obvious examples. His potential only really found its outlet during the Train Journey in South Africa and even then he had plenty of critics and detractors. Nevertheless, we all still tend to believe we can recognise true leadership when we see it even if we realise that, as with beauty, any assessment of leadership remains firmly in the eye of the beholder. Yet the fact that there is no universal measure of leadership does not stop us trying to search out, nurture and develop leadership. The potential rewards for getting it right and the risk of getting it wrong are both just too huge to ignore.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So if we do manage to put leadership under the ‘microscope’ would even the most powerful magnification be able to identify the defining and distinguishing features and characteristics behind the leadership abilities of a Lal Bahadhur Shastri (Freedom Fighter from India) or a Nelson Mandela? More worryingly, would a detailed look at their DNA only conclude that there is not much difference between the famous and the infamous? Perhaps there is only an infinitesimal, biological quirk that distinguishes them from a Hitler or a Stalin. Leaders come in all shapes, sizes and hues so do we just hope that we get the ones who share our own views? Do we ever know what value they might bring to society or can we actually do something to make that happen? Maybe this whole subject needs a really different perspective if we are to gain any fresh insights.</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The value of leadership</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>The purpose of leadership is to realise the maximum value of human potential</em> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This is quite a handy definition. It rules out Hitler and Stalin straight away and fits very nicely with Swami Vivekananda’s call “Arise, Awake and Stop Not till the Goal is Reached”. It is a very tough standard. Why would we want anything less from our leaders? It is also a ‘societal value’ view of leadership. It subscribes to the game theory concept of win-win. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">‘Leadership’ that can only produce gains for some at the expense of others is of no interest to society as a whole. The only problem with this definition is that the key word in it, ‘value’, is itself notoriously difficult to define. So what exactly does value mean? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As the Leadership Trust version refers to “business performance” let us start by asking what value means in a business context. Should we look at market value as a gauge of leadership? On that measure Jack Welch would score very highly on the leadership scale because GE has a huge market value ($382 billion in April 2005) although he earned his nickname of ‘neutron Jack’ because of his obsession of getting rid of people and leaving the buildings standing. Bill Gates could be another candidate, not only in view of the enormous market value of Microsoft ($272 billion) but also because of his philanthropic foundation which gives billions of dollars to good causes and his clear aim of trying to eradicate diseases such as malaria.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The other perspective that might aid our thinking is the world of sport. What better environment to discuss leadership and human endeavor: pushing people to the absolute limit of their potential in the pursuit of excellence? So who is a better leader Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain- Chennai Super Kings), Adam Gilchrist (Deccan Chargers) or Anil Kumble (Bangalore Royal Challengers)? Or is that just another trick question played on us by this elusive thing we call leadership? Are Cricket Captains just that - managers? Surely leaders have to unite people who may have interests that are not that easy to reconcile. Cricket boards do not seem to involve any real debate anymore about what its board, its players and its supporters’ value. No one seems to be too interested in cricketers becoming role models of teamsmanship or sportsmanship. Their goal is as clear as a goal is ever going to be - to win the Championships. The supporters of these teams must be willing ‘followers’ and self-selecting. There is no sense here of the real, fundamental challenge of leadership, which is actually to try and get maximum value out of people when some of them do not really want to play ball. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It looks like every attempt to answer a leadership question results in just another more complicated question being posed. So, in a determined effort to produce a better way forward let us take a step back and begin right back at the beginning. What is the purpose of leadership and, more importantly from a practical perspective, what is the basic proposition that drives our interest in leadership development? Then we can ask how better definition and measurement might help.</span>Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-92146662202645512172010-01-19T19:45:00.000+05:302010-01-19T20:12:06.024+05:30Changing world order in Talent Management- 2010<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen, Six Sigma, PCMM, CMMi, COPC, LEAN Management what next? Post the recession, what will be the value differentiator in the new world order? Will it be the same old certificates in quality which will differentiate the good companies to not so good ones, or will there be new Economic Monopolies be defined. I feel the new world order will be more on who has the best talent and who has the maximum return customers will be the leader.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">To substantiate this further, I think if we look at the recession history, the companies with more robust people processes, development and continued patronage from customers are the ones who thrived and survived. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Jim Clifton’s (CEO and Chairman of Gallup Organisation) recently at a MBA Degree Ceremony in my company said, “The world post economic downturn will be ruled by the country with maximum return customers or Economic Monopolies” I think this is true even to the corporate world.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal">What one has to do to keep the house in order for any further eventualities will be governed by the TALENT MANAGEMENT principles of the organization as well as retaining the CUSTOMER BASE which has been created. We will see war for Customers intensify more than war for religion, land or water in years to come.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b>What HR Can Do</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The forces of the war for talent add up to a fundamental shift in the business environment, requiring companies to radically adjust the way they manage people. </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom: 0in;margin-left:.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent: -.25in;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;font-family:Calibri;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">1.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span dir="LTR"></span>HR can be in the forefront of instilling a talent mindset at all levels of the organization beginning with senior management – A talent mindset is the deeply held belief that building a strong management talent pool is critical to achieving the aspirations of the company. Leaders with a talent mindset roll up their sleeves and make talent their job; they continuously create, champion, and drive new ways to bolster talent. They ensure that the link between business strategy and talent requirements is forged. </p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;font-family:Calibri;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">2.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span dir="LTR"></span>Create a winning Value Proposition that brings scarce talent through the doors, and keeps them there – Just as a company carefully shapes its value proposition to customers, it should also deliberately craft the value proposition to its people. They should ask questions like, “Why would a talented person want to work here?” (Perhaps for a Great Company, Wealth and Individual Value Creation and Growth and Development).</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom: 0in;margin-left:.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent: -.25in;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;font-family:Calibri;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">3.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span dir="LTR"></span>Grow great leaders – Most companies leave a tremendous amount of human potential unrealized because their people are inadequately developed. Talented people crave the opportunity to grow, and without it they’ll leave. Growing great leaders means deliberately giving them job challenges that push the bounds of what they thought themselves capable of. At the same time, it means providing the life preservers for succeeding at “stretch” opportunities. It means giving people the candid feedback they need to grow, without the sweaty palms that often characterize these infrequent exchanges. It means weaving mentoring into the fabric of the organization – so that it is in the institution, not an appendage.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom: 0in;margin-left:.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent: -.25in;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;font-family:Calibri;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">4.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span dir="LTR"></span>Differentiate and affirm – HR too often give in to the temptation to treat all their people the same. The leading companies conduct clear-eyed assessments of their talent; they differentiate in how they invest in their top performers and low performers. They shower top performers with job opportunities that excite and challenge them, and pay them for the value they create.</p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom: 0in;margin-left:.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent: -.25in;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom: 0in;margin-left:.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent: -.25in;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">Finally, HR can build employer brand and reputation by embodying the identity of the company as an employer of choice. Communicate overarching goals, connect people and share expertise. In essence, the HR function now must have the ability to make a company spin in a new direction quicker.</p><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom: 0in;margin-left:.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent: -.25in;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom: 0in;margin-left:.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent: -.25in;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><br /></p><p></p><p></p>Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-59759781277924174032009-09-07T15:27:00.001+05:302009-09-07T15:29:29.259+05:30The whys of life….* Why don’t we feel excited when we learn something new?<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br />* Why don’t we admit in front of colleagues, friends, family that we don’t know something and wish to learn it?<br /><br />* Why have we stopped asking questions, remember when we were young, we had so many questions to ask, as we grew older and older, we tend to ask fewer and fewer questions. Are we ashamed of being ridiculed or just that we know too much?<br /><br />* Why don’t we appreciate others for their good and celebrate with them in their joy more often.<br /><br />* Why don’t we go to friends’ house, without calling beforehand?<br /><br />* Why do we send text messages to our spouses telling “I LOVE YOU”, when we can say it in as many words.<br /><br />* Why don’t we appreciate our kids’ low marks as a sign of learning rather than being left out of the competition?<br /><br />* Why do we wear mask in front of others, when we know that they know it’s a mask (a mask interacting to a mask).Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-39322412784248391052009-06-29T15:14:00.000+05:302009-06-29T15:15:54.941+05:30Leadership development is going nowhere fast<span style="font-family:verdana;">It has not been hard over the past few weeks to pick out the negative or critical of the HR function, especially when it comes to leadership development. The 2008/9 DDI Global Leadership Forecast1, which surveyed over 13,000 HR professionals and business leaders throughout the world, found that “leadership development is going nowhere fast.” This is compounded by further observations that include decreasing confidence in senior leaders who lack basic skills from 47% in 99 to 35% in 07 for senior leaders and from 42% to 25% for front line leaders.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The survey also finds that organizations are poor at leadership selection, have ineffective talent identification programmes and poor succession planning. A further alarming tendency highlighted in this survey is that HR and managers are locked in a spiraling circle of blame as each blames the other for failures in leadership development. Where development programmes do exist there is a lack of effective measurement of their impact. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">This focus on quantifying the HR impact is a common theme these days; however the difficulty in linking or measuring the impact of strategy on performance is highlighted by Kim Warren 2, who hits the nail on the head by stating that this will not be possible until the influence of intangibles on performance is fully understood.</span>Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-1917935428241363492009-06-29T15:04:00.000+05:302009-06-29T15:12:13.828+05:30Reflections 08-09<span style="font-family:verdana;">I am completing one year in Saudi Arabia next month, thought I shall share my thoughts and my success with all my friends and family members who have made this transition possible. More importantly, how did I fare on my Intellectual Capital, Financial Capital & Happiness Capital is described below. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Intellectual Capital (IC): One the biggest gain for me this year has been going thru Strengths’ Finder test from Gallup series. This has enlightened me about my strengths (while I knew of some of them) and how do I put them in real use (thanks to Naveen, for being my coach). Working on Managers’ Development Process (designing, developing and implementing the competency based leadership development initiatives, development centers etc.,) has been a fulfilling effort for me. Also meeting people from different parts of the world in ALJ has opened my mind to different cultures and styles of working. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Financial Capital (FC): Well generally I tend to ignore the FC whenever I take up a new role for the meat of the role. I ended up clearing all my backlogs with the job in hand and that made my mind lighter and pocket heavier. I will be saving for my son’s education and our winter days this year onwards (my wife and parents will be happy to know that).</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Happiness Capital (HC): I have always been happy in each and every job assignment that I have done. The joy of seeing work being appreciated by one and all after all the hard work is something I cherish during my Managers’ Development Process Development Centers execution. I have seen my son grow older and naughtier by 1year. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">While I miss my Bangalore, my family, friends I am happy to have spent more time with my Wife and Son, being here, than back home where I would have had to spend time in office and trainings.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">What about things not gone right? Well when I landed in this country, the initial 3 months were very crucial for me get settled down fast. While I didn’t get to do what I was hired far, but the work I am doing so far has been like a blessing in disguise. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I also had plans of setting up some sort of charitable institution to build guest houses for poor in a Ganesha Temple near Mangalore, couldn’t progress much in that direction. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">On a concluding note, I have grown as a matured individual, as a doting father, as a loving husband and a dutiful son in this last one year. I will cherish this and will have to be really thankful to all the support, guidance, wishes I have received by one and all in this journey. </span>Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-66161049050295230162009-04-06T14:24:00.000+05:302009-04-06T14:28:37.533+05:30HR TRADITIONALLY FOCUSES ON COSTS BUT INCREASING REVENUE IS MORE STRATEGIC<span style="font-family:verdana;">One area that is important to address when defining the strategic role of HR is HR’s historic emphasis on cutting costs. While cutting costs are important there are several reasons why it is essential that HR shift its focus away from cost cutting and towards increasing output and revenues.<br /><br />Every major corporation strives to increase its profits; however in striving to meet that goal it is important to realize that there are two distinct parts of any profit loss equation, revenue and costs. A business can increase profits into basic ways: first, by reducing costs and second, by increasing revenue (either by charging more or selling more). HR has traditionally focused almost exclusively on the cost cutting portion of the equation, quite possibly because cutting people cost is relatively easy.<br /><br />Unfortunately, cutting people costs can have some disastrous consequences. HR’s long-standing practice of “undercounting costs” is one of the prime reasons that HR fails to increase worker productivity. “Undercounting” is the process of omitting the additional costs caused by a bad practice or process because these “unintended consequences” are not directly connected to the initial action by HR. Some obvious examples of dubious cost cutting and the “undercounting” might include:<br /><br />1. Hiring workers with fewer skills in critical positions is certainly cheaper than hiring individuals with superior skills but it may negatively impact product quality and innovation<br />2. When top performing workers demand more money, they can be replaced with cheaper, albeit less effective workers that in the long run creates the need to hire significantly more workers just to maintain the same level of production<br />3. Ignoring market compensation rates and underpaying in salary and benefits that ultimately hinders the ability to hire and retain top people<br />4. The substitution of low cost training for average cost training that results in increases in error and safety rates<br /><br />As you can see, there are some potential negative consequences of arbitrarily cutting costs without simultaneously looking at the impact of cost cutting on revenues and productivity. In fact, any accountant can blindly cut costs but it takes a true productivity expert to understand that cutting costs and “undercounting” can actually have a significant negative impact on the firm.<br /><br />The strategic target for HR should be to increase revenues and productivity while simultaneously maintaining or reducing your relative labor costs. If you give any CEO a choice as to whether they would prefer increasing revenues or cutting costs, they invariably pick the option to increase revenues. This is because whenever you increase revenue in a competitive marketplace it's obvious that you are improving your products and services, which are long-term competitive advantages. Short-term cost cutting might actually improve short-term profits but in the long-term, profits may go down and careless cost cutting may permanently harm our competitive position and image among customers.<br /><br />CONCLUSION<br />Strategic HR presents a new challenge that few HR departments universally accept today, the challenge of managing workforce productivity. For some the reluctance to accept accountability for managing productivity is an issue of control, while for others it is the lack of a clearly defined customer the muddles their existing efforts. Regardless, becoming strategic requires that all HR efforts become coordinated and united under a uniform set of goals and objectives.</span>Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-83769229536318710812009-02-23T18:23:00.000+05:302009-02-23T18:25:48.531+05:30Leadership - What is it?A great deal of work has been done by many authors and researchers in trying to identify and define "leadership". The vast body of research has focused on leadership traits, habits, competencies, behaviors, styles, values, skills and characteristics. Dave Ulrich (Ulrich, D et al, Results Based Leadership, Harvard Business Press, Boston, 1999) categorized much of the research into:<br /><br />· Who leaders are - values, motives, personal traits<br />· What leaders know - knowledge, skills and abilities<br />· What leaders do - behaviors, habits, styles and competencies?<br /><br />However, when one looks at the vast body of research into leadership, it is mostly concerned with the inputs of leadership and leaders, not the outputs - i.e. What leaders achieve.<br />A further point that has led to a great deal of confusion around the issue of "leadership" is the definition of leadership itself. Many authors use "leadership" and "management" interchangeably and a great deal of the research into leadership has been with people who are in formal organizational positions (e.g. supervisors, managers, senior executives) - the inference being that leadership is an integral part of the formal management role (Parry, K.W., Leadership Research: Themes, Implications, and a new Leadership Challenge, Leadership Research and Practice, Warriewood 1996).<br /><br />Let me give my perspective as I understand the differences between the two often interchanged or linked terms<br /><br /><strong>LEADERSHIP Vs MANAGEMENT</strong><br /><strong>Leading:</strong><br />Leadership occurs at all levels of the organisation. The essence of leadership is concerned with creating the conditions that encourage others to follow. Specifically:<br />· A shared understanding of the environment<br />· A shared vision of where we are going<br />· A shared set of organizational values<br />· A shared feeling of power<br /><br /><strong>Managing:</strong><br />While the leadership function is "big picture" the management function has a narrower focus. Leavitt described leadership, as "path finding" while management was path minding". Management is situational and involves:<br />· Getting things done (task focus)<br />· Through people (relationship focus)<br />Best practice in Leadership involves many things, all finely tuned to both the organisation and the environment in which the organisation operates.<br /><br /><strong>Leadership is contextual and is concerned with outputs</strong><br />The Leadership focuses purely on the four outputs achieved in any particular organizational context by the leader as discussed earlierMadhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-13463918977279167332009-02-03T18:03:00.000+05:302009-02-03T18:12:27.014+05:30Values Provide Strong Foundations for TrainingThe values an organisation holds and shares with its people can be instilled and reinforced through its management educations and development efforts.<br /><br />I once worked for an organisation that seemed to embody the epitome of the ideal. If fact, everything the management gurus suggest should be evident in the "excellent" organisation, was there. Employees who were dedicated, management who cared about the staff (and who knew the business!), and customers who were loyal. The organisation even had a marketing department that involved the staff in the latest advertising and promotional schemes before going public!.<br /><br />Although I thoroughly enjoyed working there (and like all the others, would have shed blood, too), I thought the halcyon environment was merely a fluke and it was my good fortune to strike it lucky. With hindsight, I can now see the logic of why this organisation worked so well: it was the solid foundations on which this idyllic structure was built.<br /><br />Those foundations were the corporate values. However, they were not mentioned overtly. Nor were they written up on any brass plaques. But evident they were. How did this organisation succeed in having "everyone singing from the same hymn book"? The answer lies in the nature and extent of the training that all staff experienced. For example, everyone joining the company attended two weeks of induction training before commencing in his or her role. This even applied to senior managers, who might be responsible for managing some of their fellow trainees.<br /><br />It has taken me some years and the study of hundreds of organizations to realize that cementing organisation values into the training fabric of an organisation can have a dramatic impact on collective performance.<br /><br />The Americans have coined a phrase that has become quite faddish in India - "walking the talk". It is intended to mean that management (and particularly top management) must model the behavior they expect of others. But how often does it happen and, more importantly, does it work? "<br /><br />The only thing that really changes behavior is when the proclaimed values are practiced at every level including at the top". The inference can be drawn that not only must managers "do what they say", but there also must be a collective understanding of "what precisely it is that we should all do".<br /><br />Management education and development can be the vehicle that drives the collective understanding and turns the corporate values into practical, day-to-day behavior. My experience suggests that few Indian organizations take the time and effort to base their management training on such solid foundations as corporate values.<br /><br />A senior manager of a very successful Korean organisation put it "Corporate values work in mysterious ways - they can spur performance and satisfaction while instilling a sense of pride in belonging to a unique organisation". All organizations have values, whether they are publicly evident or not.<br /><br />Before deciding to base the organization’s training on the values, it is important to have some understanding of what these values are. Lebow suggests there are two types of values: business values and people values. Business values are directed at the outside world, for example, "high product quality" and "superior customer service".<br /><br />People values are directed to the inside world, for example, "trusting people" and "giving credit where it is due". When the business values and the people values are in harmony, the organisation is healthy. When the two are not in sync, training and education (while being well meaning) will not be effective in the long term.<br /><br />It is the leaders of the organisation who must convert the corporate values into day-to-day behavior at all levels. In their studies of Indian leaders, Evans and Afors (Leaders in India, 1996) found that leaders who are committed and stick to their principles are those who have a personal alignment between their own welfare, the common good, and the organization’s values.<br /><br />To help leaders develop the necessary leadership skills, training should be planned in four phases.<br /><br />1. Identify each leader's personal values. This requires individuals to consider when (in their career to date) they have been most satisfied, motivated, and valued at work. What values did this role satisfy? This enables the leader to enunciate, perhaps for the first time, the values they inherently hold and often use as their basis for decision making.<br />2. Using their personal values as a base, leaders develop a scenario of their ideal organisation. Phase two requires managers, first as individuals and then in teams, to describe the ideal organisation. What does it look like? How does it function? What does it value?<br />3. Assess the leader's organisation against their ideal. In phase three, managers compare their own organisation to their ideal. What is inhibiting my organisation from being more like my ideal? What enables my organisation to be similar to my ideal? Compiling a list of inhibitors and enablers helps managers see how personal values can relate to their organization’s values.<br />4. Develop strategies for moving both personally and organizationally towards the ideal. The final phase involves developing strategies for translating the shared values into day-to-day actions.<br /><br />One of the most effective ways of doing this is to repeat the four-phase leadership training<br />approach with managers and staff throughout the organisation. Each manager leads his/her team to assess the core values and how they can translate them into their field of operation.Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-46333867157886253182009-01-13T18:14:00.000+05:302009-01-13T18:19:43.090+05:30Leadership is about InfluencingLeadership is about Influence, not authority. All the more relevant now, when leaders need to be Inspiring role-models. on how Leaders can acquire charisma to Inspire<br />To make people feel good, feel happy and feel hopeful is an important Leadership responsibility. This power to make people feel positively charged needs to be developed for effective leadership. Please share your thoughts on how this "Positive-energy-movement" can be created by Leaders.<br />A Leader who wishes to lead the people needs to have the following,<br />· Charismatic Power<br />· Referral Power<br />· Assertiveness in Communication<br />· Should use Listening as a power<br />Influencing for leader has 3 different types, a. Retribution b. Reciprocity and c. Reasoning, the most popular method is to use Reasoning as a source of influencing.<br />power is the capacity to produce affects on others, influence is the measurable change in attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors that result from the agent’s application of influence tactics. The nine common influence tactics are separated into two categories: soft tactics and hard tactics<br /><strong>Soft tactics</strong> are those considered friendly or non-coercive and are perceived to be fair. They include:<br />• <strong>Rational Persuasion.</strong> Trying to convince others with reason, logical arguments, or factual evidence.<br />• <strong>Inspirational Appeal.</strong> A request or proposal that attempts to build enthusiasm by appealing to others’ emotions, ideals, or values.<br />•<strong> Consultation.</strong> Inviting others to participate in planning, making decisions, and changes to obtain buy-in with the leader’s initiatives.<br />• <strong>Ingratiation.</strong> The practice of getting others in a good mood before attempting to influence them, often taking the form of flattery.<br />• <strong>Personal Appeal.</strong> Referring to friendship and loyalty when making a request.<br /><strong>Hard tactics</strong> involve more overt pressure, generate resistance, and are perceived as being unfair. They include:<br />• <strong>Exchange.</strong> Making express or implied promises and trading favors to gain compliance from the target.<br />• <strong>Coalition tactics.</strong> The agent enlists the aid of others as a way to influence the target to do something.<br />• <strong>Legitimating tactics.</strong> Basing a request on one’s authority or right, organizational rules or polices, or express or implied support from superiors<br />• <strong>Pressure.</strong> Using demands, threats, frequent checking, or persistent reminders to influence the target to do something.<br />The success of an influence tactic can be distinguished by the target’s commitment, compliance, or resistance to the desired result. Leaders with a relatively large amount of power may successfully employ a wider variety of influence tactics than those with little power. For example, leaders who use referent power have the widest range of influence tactics from which to choose (e.g. consultation, ingratiation, exchanges, inspirational appeals, personal appeals, and coalition tactics) while those who have legitimate power are limited to using only coalition, legitimizing, or pressure tactics.<br />The challenge is in properly assessing the situational environment, the intended outcome, and the appropriate influence tactics to employ based on the leader’s source and magnitude of power.<br />Integrating leadership with power and influence<br />Deck plate leadership is critical to the success of any organization. A firm understanding of the interconnectedness between power, influence tactics, and leadership is instrumental in building and maintaining an effective unit. The best mix of power and influence tactics for optimal leadership is dependent on the leader, the target, the situation, and the intended outcome. Leaders at the deck plate level should make it a priority to appropriately use all sources of power and influence.Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-46851230012736118012009-01-04T20:10:00.000+05:302009-01-04T20:19:06.153+05:30Mistaking functional ability as a sign of leadership potential<p>‘In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence’ says the Peter Principle. Perhaps that’s why recent research has suggested: </p><p><br />Leadership is a skill in short supply and a lack of leadership often leads to *<br />a. Poor succession planning and performance (wiping £2bn a year from the FTSE 350)<br />b. 41% of workers have no confidence in their senior managers<br />c. 85% of large companies run leadership development programmes and cite a lack of good leadership in the UK, with the primary lack being people management ability .<br />(courtesy: personnel today website) </p><p><br />I think we are getting leadership just about as wrong as we can;<br />“Often potential corporate leaders are identified because they excel in a technical area and are then taught leadership skills. Functional excellence seems to magically imply leadership effectiveness. </p><p><br />The RAF (part of Royal Air force) provides a contrast. If you join you probably want to fly a plane. But you have to wait six months to get to that point: for the first six months you are immersed in issues of brand, leadership and follower-ship. This is even truer in the Red Arrows. We assume the 35-40 applicants a year can fly. The week-long selection process focuses on informal judgment of applicants’ behavioural skills. Although the skill bar is high, the team prefers someone who’s only just there but with excellent behavioural ability rather than vice versa *. (Courtesy: personnel today website) </p><p><br />In my view organisational leadership development is the wrong way round: behavioural skills should come first. Waiting to develop all of these skills at a senior level is a harder “nut to crack”. Development must be more evenly invested. </p><p><br />Employers should be putting more emphasis on embedding leadership values and behaviour at junior and middle management levels. It is a fundamental step in identifying potential and making sustainable improvements to organisational performance and leadership effectiveness.” </p>Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-18307486548874978402008-11-23T18:06:00.000+05:302008-11-23T18:36:04.136+05:30Leaders' TO DO listHere are some to do for leaders' as I see it from communication and influence point of view, comments are welcome<br /><p>a. Avoid using jargons when communicating with people, use of simple words and choice of words can make the difference. Simplicity becomes of paramount importance.<br />b. Create and articulate the vision to everyone around you. Bringing ones own Charisma into picture.<br />c. A good leader is someone who continuously seeks feedback for what he is doing from people who matter for his decision and action. He who has penchant for listening will become more aware of the situation around him.<br />d. Preparedness to face any adverse situations or hostility to ones action and anticipating the situation makes the leader effective.<br />e. A leader who responds to his followers or being there to his followers are respected and followed easily.<br />f. One of the biggest strength for leader, is having Passion, that unending energy, zeal that gives him ability to perform what he wishes to do.<br />g. A good leader is some one who can reinvent himself and his mission or goal posts with the changing scenarios.<br />h. Praise lavishly but genuinely<br />i. A little controversy if I may add, a leader should look like a leader in his appearance, since the THOERY of PRIMACY says, 90% of the time we make impression of an individual within the first 5-10 seconds , 70% of the time it comes true. Hence appearing as a leader is also important.</p>Madhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-38296162962821310132008-11-19T17:29:00.000+05:302008-11-19T17:31:00.181+05:30What is leadership?Some of the good qualities of the leaders<br />a. Vision to what they believe<br />b. Articulation of their vision<br />c. Driving people to achieve the vision along with them<br />d. Enabling the vision to achievement<br />e. People Management<br />f. Belief in what he wants to do<br />g. Goal Clarity and Communication<br />h. Feedback seeking<br />i. Business Understanding<br />j. Market realization<br />k. Emotional Intelligence<br />l. Team Building<br />m. Picking right people<br />n. Creating right environment<br /><br />In the current scenario of knowledge workforce where one understands all the above mentioned in detail, what then makes a leader distinct from them,<br />· May be the ability to apply them in practice.<br />· Consistently apply these principles in practice<br />· Not loosing the focus<br />· Courage to take charge of things<br />· Honesty in approach<br /><br />With LMX model, Situational Leadership model, Servant Leadership model, Value based Leadership model, I still wonder there is some thing beyond all this and there is some thing inert to the meaning of the word “Leadership”.<br /><br />At times I get to wonder whether the word “Leadership is not inborn but can be taught”, since I am starting to believe we will be teaching people How to react to certain situations, or anticipate situations, but it falls short of being called as leadership and tends to get moved to the realms of Management.<br /><br />May be if I may add so, there is something of a “Charisma”, “Working with people” ability that makes some people leaders’ than managers. I want to quote some filmy names and some best known Indian sports people like “Munna Bhai from the movie Munna Bhai MBBS”, “Bhuvan from Lagaan”, “Andre Patch Adams from Patch Adams”. People like Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Dhanraj Pillay, Ramakant Achrekar, John Wright. If we dwell into these individuals what I find is that, they were not just some great names but had it in them always to take them where they wanted to go and they did it with hours and hours and some more hours of practice and then believing what they could do. Once the people around them got convinced, towing their line was not difficult.<br /><br />Also I think there is certain degree of TIPPING POINT that triggered their innate quality to come out in public like Saurav’s reading of people and brining them to submission. Killing of Deer in front of Bhuvan to rebel to pay tax or Anil’s handling of Sydney test fiasco.These trigger moments shape the character of the leader and his belief systems. In other words trigger moments awaken the dormant but present talent.<br /><br />I think I am as confused as my readers here and will be working on bringing certain sanity to this vague argument in some time. Any comments and suggestions are always appreciated.<br /> So is it a combination of having the talent and harnessing it (management) for betterMadhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24532830.post-90791182832517339872008-11-10T18:29:00.000+05:302008-11-10T18:31:36.040+05:30Thanks for the memories dada...When I was young, my mother used to tell me and my younger sister a thing in Kannada (our native language) which loosely translates into some thing like this “one should be like a fruit hidden behind the leaves, no one should know you existed”, I am sure this is just not me, many of us who are in our late 20s and early 30s are imbibed in ourselves; to be modest and good. Unending supply of middle class values, as we grew older and older, saw the world with our dreamy eyes and all conquering confidence, we lacked what westerners called “Killer Instinct”, since we were reminded of our mothers’ word, we always fell that one last push short. Circa 1996 came a man who removed his shirt at the sacredest of place “LORDS” and announced that we are here to stay not only in Cricket but in all walks of life. He was Loved and hated; respected and scorned. A fighting strategist at times yet a simple tactician on many occasions. An open book to some yet a curious enigma to others, Sourav Ganguly will be remembered as the winningest Test Captain in Indian cricket as well as its great antihero. Thanks for the memories.<br /><br />If one looks back at his career, one cannot help but say he was lucky to get into the Indian side (well Imran khan had a similar back door entry too) but boy how he took advantage of this... And how!!<br /><br />One of the problems with Ganguly is that many of his gestures have been misunderstood because of cultural differences. At the core, he is fundamentally a gifted but lazy guy. And he is confident that his gifted ability will more than make up for his lack of discipline. The lethargy also means that he doesn’t bother to clear up the misunderstandings and lets it fester, even though he is extremely intelligent and articulate to do it. Of all the Fab Five, he is the best guy to play a part in any future administrative setup as he has the sharp political acumen required to survive and win, while having the credibility and intelligence to make a real difference.<br /><br />There can be little doubt that the story of Sourav Ganguly is the story of blood, sweat and tears. However, all along his wonderful journey he has proved to be a man as hard as granite. He was a captain who always backed his trusted players to the hilt. As a captain, he revived the fortunes of Indian cricket, steering it clear of the mess that was created during the match-fixing controversy and instilling a new fighting spirit in the group. He was a born fighter and a great one at that. And he relished thriving on challenges. Indian captains were supposed to be polite, stoic, decent, not overly, demonstrably ambitious, middle class in sensibility if not lineage. Ganguly changed all that<br /><br />As the career progressed, he found most of shots in the book: a delicate breeze through the covers, a soaring six over long on, delicate flicks, glances and a couple of late cuts too. In the end it was a virtuoso display, nearly reminiscent of the David Gower era.<br /><a name="top"></a><br />Raise a toast Gavaskar’s, Ravi Sastri, Vengsarkar and Mr. More... Dada is much beyond what you thought of him... Don’t ever judge him with just another ordinary player or a human being... He was the king of offside... His long sixes delighted many many fans and inspiring cricketers. He is a true hero and has inspired many a managers in the corporate world... His determination and metal strength is out of a Robin Sharma book... Someone so strong that you cannot help but admire.<br /><br />Dada... I am sure you have lots of cricket left in you... Surely we will miss you as a player... But knowing you... We know you have lots to contribute to Indian cricket....Hats of to you. Be proud of the fine innings you played ... You are a real roll model...keep walking... The sunset is still far awayMadhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119603773708341617noreply@blogger.com1