Do we understand enough? In people/team management – practice to perfection.

Yes in a situation do we understand enough? And most importantly is our understanding right? There is a huge difference between both as we will discuss further in this post. This aspect does have a great impact in our day to day situations and without any doubt is imperative in our toughest situations with people. I cannot emphasize enough on this ‘Deal maker or breaker’ ability. We often encounter simple problems escalate to a mess, as either due to a lack of understanding or failure in understand it right. Either ways it spells disaster in relationships with people when handled incorrectly.

Just the other day, I was facing a difficult situation with a person. We had to arrive at a resolution for this ongoing issue. I just did not know how to come out of the situation. The other person’s opinion and solution seemed so unfair. I did not understand why his decision in this situation was so different from an exact similar situation that he was involved in the past. I was getting extremely frustrated as to why the other person is so unreasonable. The situation was so intense probably one of the biggest turmoil of my life, involving sensitive decision making. I wanted to be doubly sure on my decision hence I thought would discuss this with my friend (sort of taking a second opinion).

I discussed this with a nice friend of mine explaining him the facts of the situation, references of the other person’s judgment in a similar situation in the past and his total unreasonable behavior in the current situation. I narrated the entire episode to my friend and asked him for his opinion and support in arriving at a fair resolution to this issue. Following are the pointers that he suggested in resolving complicated issues, especially when things are sensitive.

·         We need to understand the basic thing that when the other person is at loggerheads and arguing in a situation they feel they are right in their thinking and have their own reasons in thinking so; irrespective of how you or others feel.

– Reason being they lack the general understanding, or could be under wrong influence of others, or are obsessed with their thought and hence simply not willing to understand.

·         When discussing a particular situation we should not refer to any past experiences involving either person; (however similar situation it may seem).

– Reason being both parties would stress upon their favorable outcome of the past situation and imply it on the current situation; an aspect which will not be acceptable to the other person. 

·         While discussing in a situation we always need to leave the emotional baggage out and be as practical as possible (I am aware that this is most difficult part in relationships as our emotions bound to jump in at all times).

– Reason being our emotions act as a catalyst and quickly escalate a problem into a mess. We are bound to take fair and strong decisions only if take care of this aspect.

For further impacts of emotions such as anger, frustration and hate please refer to my previous post:

“Dealing with'Emotional warfare in mind'.

I will add to the above, sensitive discussions like these are best resolved on an open, face to face conversation rather than over the phone. These one to one conversations done in person tend to be more fruitful and binding rather than other means of communication.

Normally we tend to resolve most of the situations by ourselves; even complicated and sensitive ones. There is no harm in taking a second opinion from a trusted friend or an expert. Things would be much simpler if we take good advice from friends and well wishers; especially when we are unsure or have a slightest doubt. I am glad that I approached a right person for advice. I really appreciate my friend’s maturity of thinking. His suggestion to approach an issue devoid of emotions has seen me out of what otherwise was a really complicated situation.

The learning out of this entire episode will emerge as an important experience in life and guide us take “Quality Decisions” whenever and wherever similar situations arise.

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your time reading this post. I hope you enjoy reading the posts and find it helpful. I request you to share the learning as much as possible so that many more benefit from it. I would be glad to know your inputs both For or Against. Please feel free to post, share or like if you find it useful.

Happy Learning! and Happy Sharing!

"Value addition" a perfect formula in both professional and personal life...in team/people management - Discovery vs Invention.

Discovery vs Invention

The term "value addition" refers to a specific skill, ability or benefit that comes in addition to the standard features of a product or a service. When we buy a good or a service we judge by the "value for money" aspect that it comes along with the specifications. Similarly, we need to understand that our job is also evaluated with the value addition that we bring along to our existing role. The person who offers value addition in terms of knowledge, skills and abilities stands a better chance to a person who does not. For a better understanding in KSA's (Knowledge skills and abilities) please refer to me previous post:

Knowing the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA's) Well.

Same goes with our personal relations as well. Only here the "value for money" is replaced with "quality time" that we spend with our loved ones. The more quality time we spend translates to better and meaningful relationships. In a constant endeavor to achieve value addition we strive to better ourselves with new inventions and discoveries acquiring new skills and abilities. We need not invent new methods each time we are challenged with a situation. There are few tips through this continuous betterment process.

Inventions and discoveries are a vital part of the human evolution, one cannot imagine today's world without them. Let us understand the difference between an invention and a discovery. An invention is a unique thing found out or made, that did not exsist previously. Whereas discover is finding or learning something for the first time. For example :

Thomas Edison 'invented' the electric bulb as against Christopher Columbus 'discovered' America.

Now coming back to our topic, relating it to a real life situation, we strive towards finding new outcome to a problem or an unique solution to a situation, than to explore the existing means by which it can be attempted to resolve. 

"In our quest for an invention we let so many valuable discoveries pass by".

In our day to day roles, both in career and personal life, we look at problems in a different angle. We strive to arrive at a unique and permanent solution for a problem. We often do not explore research alternate solutions, or to arrive at results with the readily available skill sets. In order to explain this better, I will share with you an incident. 

Like any parent, I was determined to coach my son with his school subjects, science social and maths; And like any other kid he was not very keen to learn them unless forced upon. Now I was pursing this task since a long time without any tangible results (I tried different methods explaining him with patience, sometimes warning him stern action, even bribing, etc but all in vain). I simply did not understand why he was not understanding the lesson. I was hell bent on ways and means of inventing new methods to make him learn. This was going on for quite sometime. 

Recently, I tried out a different method. I started teaching him the entire lesson as a story, explaining him the practical implication of the lesson and how it fits the big picture, made notes relating one thing to the other (basically the way I learnt the lesson even before explaining to him). He understood the lesson better this way. This got registered in his mind and he remembered the notes even long after it was taught. Together, we discovered that reading the lesson by making simple notes of key points was much easier. Better still, he started making notes on his own. Initially he used to make exhaustive notes but eventually he got better at it. He fine tuned the process and now he makes excellent notes of any given lesson and is quite successful at it now. The point is the ability to learn by making notes was always in him, it was just a matter of discovering the ability. The discovery of course was a life saver to me. I realized such a simple thing took so long for me to discover.

It is just a matter of exploring, discovering and tapping our hidden talents to find a solution to a problem in our career or personal relationships. We do not have to reinvent the wheel, we just need to discover how to use it for our situation. 

I really appreciate your time reading this post. I hope you enjoy reading the post and find it helpful. I request you to share the learning as much as possible so that many more benefit from it. I would be glad to know your inputs both For or Against. Please feel free to post,share or like if you find it useful.

Happy Learning! and Happy Sharing!

People Management a culture, not a course...in team/people management. - Live it.

A Big Thank You

PS: Before I start writing this post, I want to convey my heartfelt thanks and congratulations to all readers. The reason I am congratulating you all is that  I consider this blog as "Our blog" as you all are equally responsible and an integral part of the success. I really appreciate one and all for your inputs, continued support and success of this blog. Words can't express my feelings. 

It all started with my SEO training that I had got enrolled to. As a part of the training, I got to know that I could write articles on topics (that I know a thing or two about) one that i wanted to do since a long time. And ...It was the beginning of it, what started as a hobby quickly became a passion! The blog that started as a single post is today a collection of 50 posts and has clocked 12000+ views worldwide on the home site and affiliated sites. A small milestone crossed (I know it is a small number nevertheless a great beginning). 

Thanks to one and all...family, friends and especially to the readers for their continued support without which this was not possible.

I would be happy if the articles is helpful at least to a few people and they are able to use the learning and create a happy and successful work environment for themselves and others. Having said so, I am always eager to learn, should you find objection/difference of opinion to any part of the article/s, or think otherwise please feel free to let me know.

Looking forward to your continued support!!!

People Management a culture, not a course...Live it

That is right people management is a culture and not a course. As with a course, it cannot be taught over a specific duration of time. It needs to be learnt only by practicing and living it. It can be witnessed only by the development in people's life that you are associated with; the personal satisfaction that you derive out of it. 

Let us first understand what is culture in general and why its important to embrace valuable and beneficial practices as a part of a culture. Culture is defined as a way of life of a group of people--their behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication  and teaching from one generation to the next. Over a period of time, the culture that people adopt becomes their identity. It forms a sole purpose of their existence; so much so that they defend it with their life, should there be a need. A misrepresented culture can have a disastrous outcome. Unfortunately, frequently it results is creating bias, injustice, discrimination and fanaticism. Now for the advantages of a good culture: 

• always promotes the good in a group or society. 

• it preserves the best practices and passes on to the next generation (so that they do not have to re invent the wheel). 

• always provides the desired good outcome from time tested methods.

Having discussed about the need to adopt treasured practices as part of a culture, we will now focus on advantages of people management as a culture. People in general always require a leader who can teach them by practical behavior. The various roles that we are part of in our day to day life, like a good friend, father, mother, brother, sister, teacher etc are all to be considered as natural leaders in general. All such natural leaders have a great responsibility towards their dependents to lead them towards progress. Remember, a leader is not born; a leader evolves of training, education, learning and a never-ending passion to work with people. Starting from an early stage in our life, we knowingly or unknowingly display leadership traits throughout our life. It is only a matter of realization of our capabilities and a constant effort to fine tune it. Generally, in the above mentioned roles, it is usually a single person's development that we are centered on. Whereas in the modern day work environment, it is a group of individuals that we need to focus on. The dynamics may be different as you are working with different individuals simultaneously, yet have to deliver results of the group as a "single entity". However, the fundamentals remain the same, which are:

• Genuine interest in the betterment of each individual and the group.

• Guiding the group with strong principle based leadership.

• Providing guidance devoid of perception towards any individual or entity.

• Encouraging the participation of the individuals for a common cause and also their own development in the process.

For a detailed explanation and an in depth understanding of the process involved, please refer to my previous posts below:

Key aspects of being a leader.

You and I…Together We Make a Great Team.

Breaking our perception barrier to work with people effectively.

As we practice, the leadership culture in our professional and personal life, we convert each task to success and every relationship into a meaningful one. Great leaders like Mother Teresa, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and so many others have inspired us going a step ahead, dedicating their lives for the betterment of  others. It takes great courage, sacrifice and challenges, to dedicate life for others. Such people are remembered for a real long time. They live even after their time and are remembered through their work. 

"Anyone can live life for their own self; the challenge and the beauty however, is living it for others."

I really appreciate your time reading this post. I hope you enjoy reading the post and find it helpful. I request you to share the learning as much as possible so that many more benefit from it. I would be glad to know your inputs both For or Against. Please feel free to post,share or like if you find it useful.

Happy Learning! and Happy Sharing!

Mind your mind...in team/people management. - Train the trainer.

Mind you mind

PS : The purpose of this article is to understand our mind a little better than that we are currently aware of. The posts from various renowned Authors included in this article talk about much more advanced concepts such as mindfulness - meaning and how to practice it. It is difficult to understand and practice these concepts unless we understand the basics. In this post we will discuss and focus on the basics of relation between mind and body, understand them, explore ways and means to benefit out of it.  

To begin with our mind can be better understood as a trainer of our body, a natural guidance system to see us through situations of threat, an information processor, a decision maker. It is a vital part of our body that guides the rest of the body, from simple day to day functions to much more complex things that we encounter. So what does it take to train this trainer? How can we get the best out of an excellent tool that is readily available to us? The answer to this is very simple, let us first understand what our brain wants and when will it function at its best. We will now look at a couple of scenarios to get an idea of what our brain wants and how does it influence our body. 

Scenario 1 : Now most of us can recollect the painful times of our childhood when we were told to get up early in the morning to study and prepare for the exams that are fast approaching. Imagine the plight of the body, when it had to wake up very early in the morning to study, with very little sleep, especially after a tiring day. How many times do we snooze the alarm? We literally force ourselves to get out of the bed and probably curse ourselves and hate the studies maybe our life too. 

Scenario 2 : Now imagine that it is your vacation and you have to get up early to go to a picnic or meet up someone that you are longing to meet. Even in this case you had an equally tiring day before and had very little sleep. But yet you get up in a jiffy. I am sure you can relate to this incident.

So whats the difference between these two instances? The answer is your mind's influence over your body. Mind prepares the body well in advance for things that it is interested in. It influences the body to act and react to different situations differently, as it perceives. The brain records all the conditions present at the time of the experience. It re enacts and influences the body when similar situation arises in future. Probably, that is the reason that you enjoy a movie or an outing with a group of friends, and you won't enjoy doing the same with a group of people that you are not so keen on bonding. 

The mind and body work closely together. They regularly influence each other. Understanding this process can be very helpful in improving our day to day activities and also in influencing our mental and physical health. Many medical professionals, scientists and researchers are now devoting much more attention to the mind and body connection with relation to restoration of health. If our mind can cause our brain to instruct our bodies to get sick, then it can also help us to get well. 

In order to understand in depth, we need to know a more advanced concept known as mindfulness. Please refer to the posts below to get a clear understanding of the same:

The Amazing abilities of the Human mind - Jayaram V

Health and the Mind and Body Connection - by Dr Deryck D. Pattron

Using Mind mapping for Creativity - by Dr Vijai Mariaraj

The meaning and practice of Mindfulness - by Jayaram V

The meaning of mindfulness : It means to be now and here and perceive with clarity what is going on in your mind, body and environment. Mindfulness is whole body awareness. The practice of mindfulness, although sounds easy, is rather difficult, because the restless mind does not confirm to a pattern of behavior without adequate preparation and strong commitment. However, at the most basic level, mindfulness can be practiced anywhere and everywhere by anyone with some discipline, guidance and preparation. Right mindfulness as an excellent tool on hand has many applications in the sphere of everyday activities.

I really appreciate your time reading this post. I hope you enjoy reading the post and find it helpful. I request you to share the learning as much as possible so that many more benefit from it. I would be glad to know your inputs both For or Against. Please feel free to post,share or like if you find it useful.

Happy Learning! and Happy Sharing!

The power of constant learning...in team/people management. - Discover it.

Nourishing the learning habit

We are all aware how education and learning are synonymous with our development, career and growth. Education of a certain level has long become a fundamental requirement for a position or a job. In the modern day societies, a clear distinction is set between people who are learned and those who aren't. This purely translates to success and growth in a career. However the learning that we are discussing here is a little different. It is the learning that we acquire in our free time while we are already on a job. It may or may not provide a direct value addition to your current role. Adding skills to your personality should be viewed as a mind nourishment process; just as vital as food nourishing the body for smooth functioning. It could be as simple as reading a book or getting enrolled to a course or anything that you are comfortable with to begin. 

However, nowadays, unfortunately due to constraints of time or stress, we have stopped the process of active learning once for all. Little do we realize that the learning that we pick up never goes waste. Even if it does not bring about visible results in the beginning, it transforms you remarkably within. It is no doubt an investment in your time and energy, but is definitely worth it. The key however, is to learn and add new skills with a willingness to do it. We need to be passionate pursuing it; just as we do with our hobbies. Remember the equation:

"Constant Learning  = Results
Willingness + Constant Learning = Outstanding Results"

There are more than few benefits that you derive out of constant learning process. Following are just a few of them:

• It brings about discipline in life.

• It keeps your mind open and receptive.

• Helps you become more observant, sensitive and understanding.

• New knowledge bring in new awareness.

• Ability to adapt to situation and deal with difficult problems increases phenomenally.

I would like to share a few more inspiring articles from renowned Authors, on the benefits of constant learning and value addition to our skills, to our personality:

• The Importance of Learning and Growing - by Jayaram V

• Sharpen the Saw - by Stephen R Covey

The fact that you are reading this post itself is proof enough that you already possess this remarkable habit of acquiring new learning. All that is required now is to provide structure to this great habit of yours and nourish it with perseverance.

The post below may serve as a guide to prioritize your learning, what and where you want to begin with :

Knowing the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA's) Well in People/Team Management - A Key Requirement. 

I hope you enjoy reading the post and find it helpful. I request you to share the learning as much as possible so that many more benefit from it. 


Happy Learning! and Happy Sharing!

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your time reading this post. I would be glad to know your inputs both For or Against. Please feel free to post,share or like if you find it useful.

Self talk...the best self help...in team/people management. - Practice it.

Self talk..the best self help.

In the previous posts we have learnt about various emotions such as anger, fear, happiness and other such emotions. We have also understood their impact on our behavior that eventually contributes towards our character. The methods and techniques we have learnt in the earlier posts, will help us gain control over our negative thoughts. It also improves the quality of our life as it directly depends on our thoughts and actions. In this article, we will discuss what can we do to improve the quality of communication within ourselves. For further insight into positive communication, please refer to my previous post on : 

Positive communication and a powerful mind ...wonderful tools 

Self Talk is a natural process that develops with us since our childhood and we do not need any external help to attain it. We possess certain instincts that guide us differentiating right from wrong, good from bad and so on. We only need to practice and train ourselves on how and when to listen to our inner voice. These effort go a long way in keeping you motivated, taking responsibility of your life, will also help you live life with an open mind and appreciation. Once trained in self talk, you will experience a significant difference in the quality of your decisions. In fact it will help achieve a meaningful approach towards life. 

Let us first understand, the science involved in a situation that you are faced with; and the subsequent decision making process to counter the situation. 

'Your thoughts play a major role here'. It is through our thoughts that we shape our lives, aim to realize our dreams, implement our decisions and indulge in actions. Thoughts are controlled by various desires, emotions, beliefs, education  and experience. These are the drivers that impact your decision and propel you towards a solution. They influence your actions, decisions, attitude, responses, relationships and behavior. 

In any situation, we indulge in a lot of "Self Talk" knowingly or sub consciously. It is in this phase that we start processing our thoughts. We need to understand the need to possess a strong "guideline or a standardization process" while these thoughts are being processed. You can define your own guidelines. The better guidelines you set and ensure strict adherence to it, the better will be your decisions. Following are some general pointers to have a fair idea of the process:  

• In any situation do only what is right - Never make any exception to this.

• Think positive always - A positive thinker reacts positively to all the events in life.

• There is a limit to criticism - Do not to crush yourselves with self-criticism.

• Always be in good company - Surround yourselves with positive thoughts and company.

• Trust the person that who has made the decision which is "You" - It may be a good decision or a bad decision, but it will always be a right one, better still than being indecisive. 

• Have the courage to face the principle based decisions you have made - To communicate and implement them.

The self talk process will be more fruitful if it is conducted before an event or a situation occurs. After an incident, there are a lot of factors that influence this process, such as anger, fear, ego and defensive mode etc. 

The quality of communication with your own self determines your happiness, once you practice and master the art, it will guide you to adopt happiness as a way of life.

Remember, happiness is an invention of mind. So invent your happiness through positive thinking.  - by Jayaram V

I hope you enjoy reading the post and find it helpful. I request you to share the learning as much as possible so that many more benefit from it. 

Happy Learning! and Happy Sharing!

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your time reading this post. I would be glad to know your inputs both For or Against. Please feel free to post,share or like if you find it useful.

Fear a never-ending battle...in team/people management. - Conquer it.

Fighting Fear

Fear has been and will continue to be our constant haunting emotion at all different stages through out our life. At an early stage, it could be fear of completing assignments and at a later stage it could be fear of competition, securing good education, choosing a career. Further down the line it could mean fear of losing a job, reputation, fear of change, fear of failure etc. Fear has many forms in different stages of life. 

It is the most dominant emotion of the human mind. In fact, it is so dominant that in worst case scenarios it will threaten a person's mind and convince it to commit suicide, as the only solution to a problem at hand. At that stage, a person cannot reason and foolishly thinks that death is the only solution to that problem. He fails to understand even the simplest fact that death has never been and can never be a solution to any problem in life.  If it were there would be so many people waiting in a line with such solutions (there would be no problems at all, only solutions).

Fear can be explained as a biological and physiological response to threats created by the mind and body. There is no way to completely avoid or win over it, however there are certainly methods to control and deal with our own fear. 

The following posts from renowned Authors, will provide us with a clear understanding of our strongest emotion, how and why fear is formed, what it does to us and most importantly what can we do to control them. 

• Fear and what can you do about it. - by Jayaram V

• What Fear Does to you. - by Chris Green

• Feel the Fear, but do it Anyway. - by Dale Kurow

• Coping with Fear. - by Jayaram V

• Coping with Failure. - by Jayaram V

• Tips for Conquering Fears. - by Cari Vollmer

• How to build Confidence. - by Steve Brunkhorst

A clear understanding of the causes of this strong emotion and learning to deal with goes a long way. The sooner the better. Once we have understood the science of fear and ways to deal with it, we would be very confident and make better decisions concerning career and life. The learning has a wonderful effect both on our personal and professional life. 

Remember - "Once you understand your fears, make a commitment, challenge yourself and conquer your fear, win over it the feeling would be awesome." 

I hope you enjoy reading the posts and that you will find it helpful. I request you to share the learning as much as possible so that many more benefit from it.

Happy Learning! and Happy Sharing!

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your time reading this post. I would be glad to know your inputs both For or Against. Please feel free to post,share or like if you find it useful.

Dealing with 'Emotional warfare in mind'...in team/people management. - A wonderful self development course.

Understanding and dealing  - Emotions

PS : Even before I start this article, I would like to let my readers know that the majority of the links in my last couple of articles (unlike my previous posts) is sourced from other website/s. However, the intention behind, is sharing valuable learning and best practices with you. My effort through this blog, is to share this learning that has personally benefited me, reach out to many more. This personality development learning will benefit one and all. I am confident that this learning will enrich your knowledge further and benefit you phenomenally - both professionally and personally. I take this opportunity to thank Jayaram V a great Author who has made this personality development essays available to all.


It is very common that we are at a constant warfare with our emotions in our day to day life. The battles I would say are very frequent. They are so frequent that we take them for granted and do not even stop to think about them. Emotions like anger, fear,emotions of lustful thoughts and you name it. Emotions that safe guard us sometimes and emotions that overwhelm us with guilt and shame. Well, that is the reason this post is titled "Emotional warfare in mind". Many people are not comfortable with their emotions. So they try to suppress them, or ignore them or distance themselves from them. But emotions just do not go away, unless you pay them adequate attention and remedy the underlying cause.The articles in this post below, provide a first hand information of how and why 
emotions trigger? and teach us methods to deal with them. 

Emotions are the drama of your life. Life without emotions would be dull and boring like an empty canvass. Emotions are at the heart of both good and bad relationships. They bring people together and also tear them apart. People express opinions about emotions, but know very little about them and much less how to deal with them, live with them and keep them under control. The following posts will provide us with a clear understanding of what emotions are, how they form and most importantly what can we do to control them. 

• Dealing with your Emotions. - by Jayaram V

• How to deal with your emotions effectively. - by Jayaram V

• Understanding and Accepting your Emotions. - by Jayaram V

• How to gain control of your emotions? - by Nicky Vanvalkenburgh

• How to get rid of negative emotions? - by Emmanuel Segui De Carreras

• Using emotions for Change and Growth. - by Sheri Rosenthal

I hope you enjoy reading the posts and find it helpful. I request you to share the learning as much as possible so that many more benefit from it. 

Happy Learning! and Happy Sharing!

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your time reading this post. I would be glad to know your inputs both For or Against. Please feel free to post,share or like if you find it useful.

Good Leaders are made not born...in team/people management. - Practice to perfection.

Effective Leadership

That's right good leaders are made not born. People can choose to become good leaders. People can learn leadership skills just as any other skill.However, they develop through a never ending process of study, training and experience. In order to motivate a group of people of achieve ambitious targets, there are certain things you must be, know and do. The basis of good leadership is honorable character and trust. 

The definition of leadership from the world respected leader, Dr. Stephen R. Covey's words:

 "Through years of study teaching and working with people all over the world, from all walks of life, I have determined that leadership is : Communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves. It is the influence we have with others to help them discover their own voice, to find their own purpose, to make their unique contribution, and to release their potential, that truly defines leadership. Thus, leadership extends to the many personal and professional roles we play - as workers, parents,children, teachers, students, swamis, you name it - and the choice we make to live by principles to help others find their voice."

So simply and wonderfully put, yet we get confused so many times thinking that leadership is all about us. 

I would like to share a few more inspiring articles from renowned Authors, on the dynamics of effective leadership that help leaders of today, lead teams in challenging environments towards difficult goals.

• Effective Leadership - by Lakshman Balasubramanyam

• 25 Leadership Maxims - by Brent Filson

• How to build Confidence - by Steve Brunkhorst

• Stephen Covey on Greatness in leadership - by Sharif Khan

• How to become an expert in any field - Jayaram V

ps : I extend my thanks to the above mentioned authors for laying an excellent path for New Age Leadership. I am confident that the above articles are a treasure of knowledge and effective tools in fine tuning leadership skills. I hope you enjoy reading the above posts too. Further, I encourage you to share as much as possible. If you enjoyed reading and learning from it, others too might!

Happy Learning! and Happy Sharing!

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your time reading this post. I would be glad to know your inputs both For or Against. Please feel free to post,share or like if you find it useful.

Happiness as a key to success...in team/people management. – both personally and professionally.

Happiness as a key to success

I am sure most of you are aware that happiness is synonymous with success. We are happy about our success and we celebrate it. This is a general course of action as we have experienced happiness from an event. It is an expression of happiness on a random occurrence. However, there is another aspect of happiness. Happiness as a state of mind – one that develops as your personality, the way you react and respond to the events and circumstances in your life. The point is if you practice this “state of happiness” always in any relationship or with your team, the result will be phenomenal. The same applies both in your professional and personal life as well. I would like to share with you a wonderful collection of articles related to “state of happiness” by Jayaram V a great author. I am sure the read will provide an insight into the nature and psychology of happiness. Please find below the links to pursue happiness as a key to success.

·         What Makes You Happy?

·         How to Be Happy With Meaning and Purpose.

·         How to Deal With Unpleasant Situations.

·         Finding Happiness In The Simple Pleasures ofLife.

·         A Simple Key to Happiness.

Few remarkable quotes about happiness:

·         If you want to be happy, look at how you make yourself unhappy. – DR. Gail Brenner.

·         Happiness breeds more happiness. – DR. Gail Brenner.

·         Happiness is a word that refers to a state that can’t be defined in words. – DR. Gail Brenner.

·         If you consider happiness is as essential as breathing your each moment would be so much happier.

I hope that you find the above posts and the insights informative and helpful. 

Happy Reading!

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your time reading this post. I would be glad to know your inputs both For or Against. Please feel free to post,share or like if you find it useful.

The A-Z of Anger Management...in team/people management. - An excellent learning.

Anger Management

Anger is one of the most common and frequent emotions we experience. I am sure you are all aware of the damage that it does - sometimes temporary and mostly permanent. It could mean some small time differences with people around us; or some life changing consequences with our relationships. In any case we need to understand that our anger is our own enemy and it usually does us more harm than we can imagine. 

It is important that we understand the causes for this emotion, its signs, the drivers of it  and finally the techniques and solutions to overcome. I think we will be a a great advantage, should we understand this dangerous trait of ours in depth. 

I stumbled upon a great treasure of collection of essays from various renowned Authors, that I wanted to share with you. Please find below the links to different aspects of anger management.

• Anger Causes and Management
• Anger Signs and Anger Management
• Fear the real cause of Anger
• Myths of Anger Management
• A Technique to Control Anger
• Anger Problems and Solutions
• Positive way to deal with your Anger and Frustration
• Stop Blaming Others
• How to Respond to Anger and Angry People
• Dealing with your emotions
• How to get rid of Negative Emotions
• Emotions and Stock Trading

The reason I call this a 'treasure' is that if we take out time and read at least few of the essays and put efforts to practice the techniques mentioned, I think we will make a phenomenal contribution to our own personality and spread happiness among our surroundings. Happy Reading!

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your time reading this post. I would be glad to know your inputs both For or Against. Please feel free to post,share or like if you find it useful.

A tribute to a great Leader – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam - ‘The People’s President’

The People's President

This post is a tribute to a great leader, a visionary who through his works earned a name ‘The People’s President’. Rising from humble beginnings, an Indian scientist and administrator, Abdul Kalam served as the 11th President of India from 2002 until 2007. One amongst the most respected people of the country, Abdul Kalam contributed immensely both as a scientist and as a president. He was honored with great laurels and awards for his work by both the Government of India and other countries. After completing his term as President, Abdul Kalam served as a visiting professor in various esteemed institutes and universities of India.

Through this post, I would like to share few of his thoughts concerning the attributes of a leader. Here are few inspiring quotes from the visionary:

 “It is very easy to defeat someone, but it is very hard to win someone.”

“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough”.

“Man needs difficulties in life because they are necessary to enjoy the success.”

“If you want to shine like a sun. First burn like a sun.”

“All of us do not have equal talent. But, all of us have an equal opportunity to develop our talents.”

 “Thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life.”

“Without your involvement you can’t succeed. With your involvement you can’t fail. “

Of the many great words from him, few thoughts that have personally inspired me the most are:

·         You have to dream before your dreams can come true.

·         That a leader should be willing to travel on unexplored paths.

·         A leader should know how to manage success and failure. (When the success came he gave it to the team; and when there was failure he owned the failure)

There is a great meaning and depth to these thoughts, how we relate, apply and practice it in our day to day events define the quality of leadership. In any organization, leaders who explore its potential bring success and cheer to people around them. Organizations that have leaders like this thrive; and a nation that has leaders aligned to these thoughts flourishes.

Making wonderful friends within colleagues...in People/Team management. - Reap the benefits.

Making a great friend out of a colleague is certainly nothing short of a challenge; yet comes with a host of benefits. Most of you must have observed at some point or the other, that a group of people who gel with each other have certain advantage at completing a task when compared to random individuals grouped for the same task. It’s a known preposition, in fact a no brainer. Yet why do we never encourage the practice? Or why don’t we seek to make great friends or become one at our work place.

The fundamental reason may be the choice; we make wonderful friends because we get to choose them from a group of people. We make such choices for various reasons. Colleagues on the other hand are different; we do not get to choose them. We have to invariably work with them. We may have good rapport with some or have to make adjustments or sacrifices with others. It becomes a very delicate situation when we have differences among our colleagues. In some cases, it might get to a point where we cannot work with a particular individual to an extent that we choose to opt for a transfer or even quit the job. The person in question may also be a difficult boss. The worst part is these circumstances are becoming more and more common. It results in an unpleasant and an unhappy work place for us and others. What can we do to ensure such situations do not crop up?

Now let’s understand the process of making wonderful friends outside our work place. Few things that we do in order to establish such great relationships may be:

·         We are honest to them and trust them to be honest too.

·         We communicate a lot; and welcome their feedback and work on it constructively. Also, we explain to them the benefits of implementing and working on our feedback.

·         We gladly make some sacrifices in order to entertain them.

·         We enjoy each others’ company.

·         We establish a strong bond with the other person; signifying that we will be there for the other person when needed no matter what and vice versa.

The list thus is exhaustive and may differ from person to person. However, the above mentioned points are fundamental in establishing amazing relationships for a real long time. These efforts from us go a long way and are certain to yield the following benefits:

·         Bring in more confidence; thereby improving performance and the ability to focus.

·         Better communication with an uninterrupted flow of positive feedback.

·         Proactive approach in providing critical comments in difficult situations.

How would it be to convert your colleagues into your friends? I am sure you will agree that you will provide and be a part of a great fun filled work environment; one that everyone will long to be in. This will help create a perfect workplace, facilitate one and all contribute to work effortlessly and effectively.