Start-ups demand leaders and not just bosses

Posted on May 18, 2015 by IBS India

Every successful company was once a start-up and behind the growth and success of each, there were pillars called leaders. There is no place in the world where a strong leadership is not required to achieve substantial growth. When it comes to a start-up, a strong and positive leadership is needed to help the company to sustain the hectic environment where the odds are most stacked upon you. If you are leading a team in a start-up and really want to see your employees contributing to the growth of the firm, then you have to act like a leader and ward off all the qualities of a horrible boss. The distinction between being a leader or a boss may seem small to you, but it really means a whole world to your subordinates.

Are you a leader or a boss?

A leader always learns while a boss knows it all
A good leader listens more than talks while a boss talks lot and listens less
A leader encourages while a boss criticizes or blames
A leader recognizes your natural talents while a boss identifies the weaknesses
A leader finds solutions while a boss gives just answers
A leader takes the accountability while a boss passes the blame
A leader reveals his vulnerability while a boss protects his ego
A leader demands performance while a boss demands results
A leader trains while a boss directs

Every team has a boss but what they look for is a leader. So start leading today and win the hearts!

When a company is getting off the ground, there is no room for the bosses, it demands leaders. Here are the qualities which are demanded in the leaders to be successful in start-ups.

Quality to set the path and get everyone in the right direction

A good visionary can well set a path for the start-up and a strict boss can execute it but only a true leader can perform both the activities right. There is a huge scope of setting a long term strategy and day to day tasks based on that. A visionary leader has to do both the things well and should recognize each and every opportunity coming on the way and should well execute the plans based on that.

A leader knows how to generate resources, not just allocate them

A boss can organize an army. He takes the given set of resources and allocates them wherever required. But a smart leader leverages the given set of resources. In the environment of a start-up company, the most important thing is to hire the best people and then train them in the most efficient manner, so that they help in the faster growth of the start-up. A leader knows it all and works with the long term prospects in order to build a great foundation of the firm and not just focusing on small term achievements.

Passion for work

Passion for work is the most desired thing for a leader. It is not just 8 hours of your office schedule, what matters is the amount of dedication towards your work. Even after leaving the office, leaders find some time to think about new innovative ideas for innovation for their work and management. This gives a positive impact on the minds of the employees that their leader is the person who is actually leading everyone in all aspects and is the ideal for the job. As said ‘Work is worship’ and this thing is followed by the leader in every dimension of his job, whether it is managing the core job or managing employees and other resources. Start-ups demand leaders and not just bosses

Knowledge is Power

It is rightly said that one who has stopped learning has stopped growing and this is what done by the bosses who think that they know everything. ‘Knowledge is Power’ and a 360 degree thirst for knowledge is what desired by the leaders in a start-up. When a company is growing, it is important to understand the workflow, business scenarios and profit making initiatives. Having a sound knowledge is desired but learning in parallel is more needed by the leaders. One who wants to be the boss only will avoid listening to the employees but the real leaders keep their eyes and ears open when the staff or client provides feedbacks or suggestions. A good learner is a good listener and that applies to a good leader.

Identifying the real talents and attract them

The key to success of a start-up is to identify the real talents of the employees and use them in the positive growth of the company. A pool of talented employees can change the scenario and they can lead to a sharp rise in the growth trajectory. While a leader should identify the talented people, he should also become a powerful magnet for them. History has shown that people choose leaders and then follow them up to hell and that should be the quality of a start-up leader. If a boss can’t create a talented team of his own, then there is no way by which he can lead a team well.

So the success mantra for a successful start up is “Not Bosses but Leaders”. In today’s world of fast growing competition, it is the effective leadership only which can help companies to grow and succeed in the competition. Whichever services you provide or whichever products you create an effective leadership of your employees and production is vital for stepping up. The productivity of your organization can only reach the expected levels when there is leadership and not just rules and regulations. It is better to be your own boss but not to be a ruling boss of others! Anyone can start a business but only those succeed who have effective leadership in the center. So, the bottom line is “As a startup leader you need to make things happen by acting as a leader and not just a boss”!

Ashish Singh Parihar ( Class of 2008, IBS PUNE )

MANAGEMENT AND THE DIGITAL NATIVE

Posted on May 15, 2015 by IBS India

Management and the digital native

Today everything around us has gone tech. The need to have everything in place while being “on the move” is something that every person looks forward to. Apparel, furnishings, FMCG, food, housing, you name it and the internet provides you with a solution to bring it within your reach. This tsunami of digitization is being readily lapped up by a generation that drives the future. And it is this generation about whom the world is talking and taking notice of their activities.

The beginning of it all:

Digital natives, also expressed by some as Generation Me, are now entering or planning to come into the job market. This generation’s private activities, fashioned by growing up on a digital planet, will show strong effects on the future of business and the relations between employers and employees.

Older generations had an outlook of management which could be considered close to having a demigod status. Contemporary graduates have a different understanding of leadership and management. Previously managers had the powers because of their title. Digital natives on the other hand, follow the right individual who will lead them to eventual success. So, in case of ineffective managers, who do not seem to be equipped to lead the team; the digital natives will identify the most effective person and will tag along with him or her regardless of their title, or lack of it. This is not rebelliousness but somewhat a fresh, more valuable manner of running inter-team dynamics.

Graduates in their late-20s can be viewed as being superficial or casual as they experience the recently popular, “quarter-life crisis”. They question after years of study, whether the current job profile is what they would identify with, and many change careers before they’ve even started. On the face of their career, many of them don’t really recognize what it is that they covet. As a result, the aspiration for a dream job is not always in line by the facility to express what that job is.

Digital Natives are an exceedingly networked generation which is further facilitated by growing technology. Social networking is a primary element of the manner that they function. Expecting them to leave this way of being linked with the wider network when they arrive into the workplace will swiftly take them out to look for another place to work.

They carry technology with them and make use of social and tech tools for everything. Such an attitude is clearly seen in cases when they are provided with old hand-me-down tech, or expect them to perform with shoddy hardware or software; their dissatisfaction will be expressed in the substandard work that they will deliver. Their caliber is such that they will be managing their own world with new technology that they bring themselves at the same time, while the employer’s substandard tech lies on their desks.

B- Schools bringing a change:

B-school’s have a lot of smart populace. This is a fact no matter which way you look at it. Most institutes nowadays are also packed with people the internet likes to call digital natives. The type – whose understanding of pop culture is better than their knowledge of finance, for whom NSFW (not safe for work) means categorically open everywhere and who keep one eye on their Facebook feeds regardless of posting modestly.

It is not fairly close to the digital native Marc Prensky had thought whilst he wrote his influential study in 2001. As per Prensky, the main barrier this digital generation runs into is education, in particular the digital students being educated by analogue faculty. Having sat through classes in different domains and multiple locations, I have somewhat diverse outlook on this.

Today’s trial with the group of digital natives old enough to attend b-school is that we are the generation who tailored ourselves to the digital universe during the path of our lives. We were not born into it, we did not have access to tablets and mobiles at the age of five and we had to acclimatize to live our lives on Orkut, Facebook and Twitter. Now this adaptation has moved to such a height that we have become gripped to the digiverse in a way very similar to addictions seen with teens and other drugs related issues. It is a new side of the world we know which is exposed to agile minds at a time when learning latest skills is easy. With this logic, we are not the exact digital natives. The ‘originals’ are the ones who are being born today, yesterday or anytime after the iPod became a commodity.

B-schools have had to settle themselves to this imminent tide. Everyone identifies the fact that learning is on the rise and will one day be wholly digital. That gamification will puff out through the education system and future MBA scholars will be trained on negotiation from playing a hostage game or value capture from counter strike. However the challenge is that schools have tried to push “digitization” to an audience that does not necessarily use the plethora of resources aptly. How many of us in fact use more than one digital source to get real work done? What percentage of the bandwidth consumed across professional institutes, is Facebook and YouTube and why is no one alarmed that it is so high that it would call for tough actions?

I’m no special, every time I gazed about in class, I always saw a few scholars (ok more than a few) fiddling with devices for various motives. Institutes have to outline a system to keep students suitably focused as this generation of naturalized digital natives, will by no means be truly native.

Addressing the unknown:

So, who are digital natives and what makes them unusual? Are they an opportunity, a threat or both? How can business use their explicit behaviors and mindsets to function productively? We explore some of these key characteristics to help counter these questions.

Digital revolution in the industry is generating new revenue streams for businesses but it is the generation of “digital natives” that is set to bring good yield. Nearly all international brands are trying to reinvent their industries by providing new digital services, crafting new sales channels and developing technology to get in touch with new global customers. In the path of doing so, they are opening up career prospects for tech-savvy business managers in departments and services areas that did not exist years ago.

As per a study by Capgemini, 77% businesses regard lack of digital proficiency an obstacle to their digital makeover. The quest to extract digital understanding is driving a requirement for highly trained graduates. Financial services group American Express (Amex), for example, plans to hire 250 MBAs in 2015 as part of its “digital renovation”. Technological change is one major reason for the sheer pace of this growth. Tech has renovated the face of how commercial businesses were run, from retail to banking to media. Cities like Bengaluru, Pune, NCR and Mumbai are home to more digitally-led organizations than other urban areas in most of Europe and the UK. Biz schools say there are prospects for MBAs to create their mark across the globe, particularly in management consulting.

MBA graduates bring a fresh approach and understanding of digital perspective into consulting companies. The understanding of digital services will be a key prerequisite for all consulting posts. A gush in hiring at the tech wings of big strategic quarters like Accenture and Deloitte is determined by the revenues of new service channels. Digital and tech services amplified their allocation of consulting profits by 6% last year, accounting for a quarter of income.

Digitization of media sector is one such trade area which is in dire want of managers. Managements talk about skill shortage on the rise, and biz schools have established professional MBA programs for various industries, including the much hyped media industry. An MBA with awareness of the trade will certainly be a valuable asset. Cable companies are moving content online. HBO in recent times stated about a new separate digital service, while online distributors such as YouTube are on the rise.

International advertising and marketing corporations have also been increasing their hiring to match with the pace of digital growth. Businesses say they value MBAs skilled in data analytics. As per Maurice Lévy, CEO a key French conglomerate, Publicis Groupe: To break new ground in today’s world of advertising, citizens need to have a high “technology quotient”.

Microsoft runs an internship program which takes in 75 MBAs per year, and they also are into recruiting about 300 students into full-time roles. The online retailer Amazon has also been the leading recruiter at various b-schools over the past two years. This upsurge owes to the fact that MBAs are strong problem solvers and analytical thinkers, thereby making them become a part of the potential leadership pipeline. MBAs blossom at strategic spots as they can take the ownership of big projects and work out hard problems for clients. Amex has opened up its employment process, and is targeting b-schools at the US, UK and India. In actuality, American Express is in the center of an exhilarating digital transformation and this presents infinite breaks for MBA grads.

The outlook of digital natives for the world is very different, even to those who are perhaps less than a decade older to them. Today’s university grads have most likely spent at least 50% more time using their digital toys than reading. In India, China and Japan, this figure is considered to be even more. Does this make them less intelligent or less educated than the previous generation? No it doesn’t. It only means that their learning patterns are different and they bring this divergence into the workplace. Digital natives live and work in a world where information moves at the speed of lightening. Pictographics play a significant role; milennials like to multi-task and they perform their best when networked. It all begins from within and how the leadership deals with their young digital native employees.

To conclude, it is highly likely that the future will hold a challenge for digital natives: if they are inclined to develop an aptitude for leadership, they must hone some emotional intelligence, or else the control will be possessed by a handful of senior web savvy folks who are more able to internalize information (since they are supported by technology) and with superior social skills (they learnt during their life).

Contributed by Deeba, (Class of 2013, IBS Gurgaon)

How to effectively manage your family business?

Posted on May 15, 2015 by IBS India

America is the biggest economy in the world and you will be surprised to know that the biggest part of America’s wealth is from family owned businesses only! Nearly 80-90 % of all business firms in North America are actually family enterprises. About 50 percent of the gross domestic product of US comes from family businesses; nearly 60 percent of the country’s employment and 78 percent of all new job creation comes from family owned businesses in US.

Recent surveys have shown that family businesses have longevity and continue for generations to come. The mean age of the family control businesses is 60.2 years and more than 35 percent survive to the next generations. The driving factor is sense of connection and the sense of identity which owners and other members perceive with the business. There is a long term perspective and the firm has high values which affect the resource inventory positively. However the day to day work of a family business owner can be compromised and affected by different factors such as relatives and through an effective management all the issues coming on the way can be solved positively. The challenges are big and lots of things like emotions etc. can cause interference to rational business decisions. If you run a family business then here are some useful tips for you to effectively manage the challenges you face in your business and excel at all steps.

Business comes first

Always work on the rule that in business, business comes first and the success of the business is very important whatever may be the politics or ties in the family. The business relationship should be accepted and understood by all the family members. The boss and employee relationship must be followed with full sincerity. The issues and problems of the work or home should never overlap or conflict with one another. For making this point effective you should do the following things:

A clear business plan, mission and strategy must be developed and communicated to each and every member of the family.
The structure and chain of command of the business should be well communicated to all. Line of authority for decision making should be clear and communicated to all.
Avoid confusion and blame making by communicating everything with each and every family member.

For stronger management hire a non family member

To make decisions and stick to them firmly, consider hiring a non family member for a position of authority. By doing this you will be free to make effective strategies, plans and developments and the non family member will incorporate it well in the day to day operations. By doing this you may be a bit thick skinned but the strategy will really work for smother operation of the business.

Resolve all family discords and conflicts

Dealing with discord or conflict among the family members in a business scenario is really difficult. But it can be handled well by remaining objective about the situation. Do not take side of any particular member of the family but on the same time tell everyone that you will not let disagreements hamper the business and its objectives. If you find that you are not able to solve the disagreements among the family members then consider moving the disagreed member to new line in the work or to other branches of the work.

The conflicts in the family businesses are easily resolved when there is a proper planning in advance for dealing with the future problems that may arise. A good thing is to develop the business plan which recognizes the impact that relationships can have on the business operation. The plan should discuss that how the business operation and family relationships can be managed. The plan may have a detailed procedure for resolving the disputes between the family members. The use of an outside advisory board with non family members nominated by shareholders can solve the disputes in a better way. There are qualified family counselors and family business mediators too who perform the job of resolving discord and conflicts in the family owned businesses.

Give importance to family relationships too

It is really important to understand the importance of relationships too. Everyone wants to be a successful businessman and earn a lot of money but giving importance to family relationship is also important and needful. It is really heartbreaking when we hear that families ripped apart due to business disputes. One thing should always be there in mind- “You can build a business again but not the relations”. You have got only one family for life, so give importance to it.

There should be family fun time too!

All business and no fun time should be avoided. You may have fun during the business with the family but you should really set aside a “family only” time. Talking about the business all the time will make your relationships suffer as well as other members may feel frustrated. Spend time away from the business with your family. Enjoy with the feeling that you are not business partners. Go out for lunch and do everything which makes fun. This will not only give you and your family relaxation but will also help in strengthening the bonds within the family. Ultimately your working relationships will improve.

Do not create two classes within the family

This is one very important rule in a family owned business. Never try to create 2 classes of employees which are family and non family. Never give special treatment to your family members and be impartial towards all the employees. Giving special favors to family members in a company sets a bad example to everyone and can be a cause of de-motivation to the non family members. This feeling should never come in the mind of non family members in your company that promotion or salary increment is out of their reach because they are not family members.

Family business gives you a sense of pride, loyalty, fellowship and continuity apart from a financial stability for everyone in the family. The legacy continues for generations and provides a sense of uniqueness and recognition for every member of the family. With proper planning and management you can always avoid the pitfalls and effectively manage your family business. By using the strength of the knowledge passed down the generations to you and blending it with your management skills you can surely reach the new levels of success in your family business.

Contributed by Ashish Singh Parihar ( Class of 2008, IBS PUNE )

HOW TO INCREASE PERFORMANCE THROUGH STRATEGIC THINKING

Posted on May 14, 2015 by IBS India

Strategic thinking, the term means taking time to imagine, dream and think futuristically. A ‘would-be manager’ must not just depend on subconscious thoughts keeping in mind the requirement of exceptional performance at work and him. It has to do with your mission, vision, values and strategy. Strategic thinking is important because it leads to options that enable strategic decision making that result to decisions. These decisions lead to strategic planning and actions.

Strategic thinking is also a process that involves letting go of assumptions and postulates such as ‘it is impossible’; ‘it’s irrelevant’ and ‘I am too busy’ etc. You must remember that the job of assumptions is to block progress and hence they must be done away with.

Coming to the attributes of strategic thinking, I personally feel that strategic thinking must be big to understand the macro and micro environment; deep to ensure depth in questioning and testing validity of your assumptions as well as long to understand how far you are looking.

But, the question is, how to think strategically? You need to scan for your macro and micro environment; think and selections through brainstorming; relate options to reality and uncertainty; keep trends in mind and alongside imagine and innovate. Now let us correlate strategic thinking with productivity:

Raise Doubts and Questions

Question and answers rub against each other like stones that product sparks which ignite the fire of imagination. Ask yourself ‘where am I today?’ to increase your presence in the moment; note where you stand in your pursuit and what you need to add to reach the zenith.

Question yourself ‘where would I want to be in near future’ to determine prior and new objectives that lure you. You will be able to get your priority list and hence will be able to think of actions.

Enlist all impediments in the way of your strategic goals by re-asking and analyzing ‘what obstacles stand in my way’. All these will initiate action and better performance!

Imagine your Future

Your performance is crucially linked to your inspiration and motivation. You really need to put aside all distractions to identify new challenges and opportunities for the future.

Think about what you want to be as well as what you want in the next 5 years and be clear about it so that your internal self guides you along bringing in motivation. This process makes everything exciting and raises the level of performance.

Adapt Happiness in your Choices

Understand and acknowledge the thoughts, feelings, values and meaningfulness about your professional life. Remember you choose what to think and when to think but what you really have to account for is whether these thoughts make you happy. People who are content and happy are immensely productive than those who dislike or disrespect their work.

Embrace Creativity

Your life is not just all about reasons, logic and rationality. Hence to boost your strategic performance and thinking you must delve in being creative with your thoughts and actions.

Along creativity, you open all doors to novelty, innovation, being out of the box; improved vision, imagination; accepting emotions and foreseeing by thinking ahead. You will end up being intuitive and understand the failures to improve upon. Being creative rewards you with greater productivity; out of the box achievement and greater freedom.

Invest in Innovation

New products, ideas, concepts always tend to pull the masses towards themselves and hence you must invest in innovation by remaining inspired. Understand and imbibe the excitement of an entrepreneur who converts his ideas into reality and this very factor boosts not only responsibility but also his performance.

Don’t Stick to Failures

Delving on the past or failures stifles your process of strategic thinking. Hence, you could shift your focus away from symptoms of failures to the solution. Failures if not corrected cause stagnation but solution thinking improves performance and the overall person.

Be Alert and Pro-Active

If you are alert and aware through your 5 senses, you are to additional information around you that will invoke your thinking and thus enhance your performance and productivity. Being pro-active makes you able to think and respond faster. ROLE OF INFORMATION AND PRO-ACTIVENESS

Build and Evaluate Options

Just like you fill theory papers with new ideas; flood the sheet of solutions with options to a particular problem. Frankly, this is what advertising agencies also practice. Brainstorm and build a plethora of ideas so that each idea pushes you to perform and keep removing the impractical ones. Once the best idea is selected by you; you become more confident and your performance increases.

Take Risks and let go Fear

Fear always plays with your productivity and if you choose to stick with it, your performance gradually declines. Hence along thinking differently, accepting risks and preparing to face all failures in the process of growth; you must accept calculated risk and delve in innovation. Steve Jobs became immortal in the history of technology and marketing for his different thinking patterns; honor for creativity and embracing change.

Learn from your Mistakes and Leaders

A failure is actually someone who doesn’t learn from his mistakes and keeps repeating them. By employing strategic thinking in your life you invite immense learning progress and increase performance by a corrected thinking, behavioral or habitual pattern that comes to you with it. Also it is advisable to critically think and analyze other’s mistakes to learn from them else the world would not use case studies.

Leaders serve 2 purposes i.e. being examples of success and invoking inspiration in you. One must notice that most of the popular leaders took the road less travelled; believed in their thoughts and dreams more than other’s doubts while remaining perseverant and enduring. Strategic thinking process didn’t make them only productive but also brought them personal and professional growth.

To enhance your strategic thinking process you would require some or all of the following tools:

Balance between logical and creative sides of the brain
Ability to develop clearly defined professional and personal vision
Define objectives and strategic plans.
Adopt flexibility to allow strategic drifts
Awareness and use of 5 senses.
Willingness to learn and improve
Ability to devote time to oneself
Seeking other’s advise and feedback
Matching creativity with reality: Realistic Thinking
Being non-judgmental
Patience and perseverance

Strategic thinking sounds like a huge and heavy term however, you can try and make it a habit to not only improve your life but also enhance your overall performance.

Contributed by Chayan Jain (Class of 2011-2013, IBS HYDERABAD)

4D FRAMEWORK FOR A LUCRATIVE CAREER

Posted on May 13, 2015 by IBS India

Hey you! Yes…I meant you. Eyeballing this article and thinking what’s in this for me! I’d like to share an anecdote with you to give a gist of what I intend to write about today. During my early childhood, my teacher gifted me a famous book by Stephen Covey. For a long time, it did not make sense of what he meant by “7 habits of highly effective people” but eventually it became the words of mighty power. So in keeping those words in mind I would like to start my interaction with you.

While planning out our career, we constantly want to think with the end in mind. This implies being aware of how the present will affect our eventual goals. Every action we take and each association we form impacts our potential self. Though it’s vital to look forward in cases of career development, it’s equally important to reflect on how living in the moment will aid in accomplishment of our career goals.

Sometimes during the daily discourse of our career plans, we can easily get lost and forget about living in the moment. Whether you’re apprehensive about achieving a goal or getting your dream job, you must seize the moment to proficiently sketch out your career. The individuals you meet and the events taking place everyday can change your career in a bat of an eyelid. When you become too focused on looking ahead into the future, you can miss out on valuable breaks taking place in the present. Before you know it, you would have missed a big opportunity that could have been a significant change for your career!

Career advice isn’t one size fits all – what works for someone can be the cause of failure for others – but you can derive an overview on how to protect your professional self at different junctures of life. People in some occupations are able to respond perfectly; for instance: “I did well in school, got into a big college, did my internship, received a top scholarship, continued to work partly and study, eventually I became the most sought-after consultant in the state.”

But many others will have a rather different purview like, “There was no majestic preparation. I just took it one step at a time and tried to make wise choices.” That’s how it is for a good number of CEOs for large businesses, and it’s how it is for writers. There’s no definite pathway to victory—there’s not even an accord on the meaning of success. But I think most victorious individuals “planned” their careers by cultivating a few detailed behaviors in themselves as the time went by. So whether you are in your 20’s or nearing your retirement, we should always aim high and never stop in shaping and fine tuning our career, it’s important for us to know what “career-planning” means, and how to accomplish it.

For every internship and full-time job prospect, there are a slew of technical skills, experience, and competencies that a candidate needs to possess and highlight during the job search process. In case of MBA graduates, this becomes even more vital. Yet, there are also a set of high-level, general qualities that an apprentice has to exhibit in order to be the one to obtain the job offer, given that there are always more contenders who meet the criteria required to do a job well than there are candidates hired to do that job. I think it’s a process of developing the four dimensions shared below and using them as a framework to guide your day-to-day decisions.

In science, “Four Dimensions” are identified by, typically the three dimensions of space (length, height, width) and time. The fourth dimension, the dimension we live in, is rarely spoken of, because most people don’t know time is dimension as well. Taking a rough cue from this concept I have taken the liberty to redefine 4D into: Performance, Behavior, Competencies, and Intellect.

The Four Dimensions exist and are exhibited in all types of professions and conditions. They are defined for a broader level because they cover different context and forms of work, they can be used as a common framework and as a standard of measure across businesses, roles, levels of hierarchy, company objectives, and so on. They cover a wider, more holistic set of traits possessed by prospective aspirant or employee- most organizations mainly focus on diverse stages and characteristics of “performance”- as well as try to capture not only present skills and potential, but future prospects and the capability to discover and develop as a professional.

The Four Dimensions are like the four planes, each an independent entity and yet connected to the other. For example, we can link Performance and Behavior as one set of planes and the other ones linking Capability and Intellect, as shown below.

Concept is that at these are four areas where an employee or job aspirant can display skills and actions that are valuable to the business. He or she is capitalizing on performance (carrying out tasks, meeting objectives, delivering results), demonstrate ideal behavior (engaging peers, stakeholders, and clients with charm, maturity, and concern), applying a set of competencies (performing fiscal, budgetary or cost analyses, forming strategic and/or marketing campaigns, defining contracts, etc.), and showing intellect (an aptitude for fresh thoughts, problem-solving, and novelty, an knack of quick adaptation to new circumstances, acquiring new expertise and develop as a manager and organizational lead).

The rationale behind the Four Dimensions emerging on two sliding scales is that it’s very alluring to focus a good deal of one dimension at the cost of another. For instance, some professionals mostly worry about performance and fall short of fine standards of behavior – their solitary aim is to get results, achieve targets, form deals, etc., and they find their sense of worth and set their value to the firm in context of how they’ve performed, even if that meant they’ve been unsuccessful to acknowledge their peers, ill-treated their reportees, failed to guide and develop less skilled colleagues, and/or dealt wrongly with suppliers, partners, and customers, etc.

So we see that Performance and Behavior are what an individual does, whereas Competencies and Intellect is who or what a job applicant is.

The Competencies category describes the sum set of abilities that a person currently has – his or her capability to do some work of with technical precision or expertise (everything from building a training module to making a PowerPoint presentation, coding a new piece of software, or managing a project).

Intellect, in this comparison, is a person’s aptitude to learn, make critical assessment, take in fresh approaches, and transform, develop, and adapt to new circumstances. Thus, it can be defined as one’s capacity to attain new capabilities, and it includes all the things we consider when we refer to someone’s intelligence, curiosity, and even wisdom.

In case intellect appears less functional for most MBA job aspirants, it’s worth recalling that the reason employers care about the academic achievements of students (from school percentages to CAT scores) is not essentially that those particular skills and knowledge are vital to carry out a certain job, but that success in the academic arena is an indicator of a person’s capacity to learn on the job, grasp new information, and arrive at new insights and ideas that assist an organization to develop and compete.

As with Performance and Behavior, in the context of the scale between Competencies and Intellect; it’s possible to have too much of one and too little of the other. One can be highly skilled and be able to multitask – very talented, by virtue of previous training and work experiences – yet lacking in capacity to adapt and learn, transform and grow in new directions (and emerge as a true leader in one’s organization).

It’s also a very hazardous spot for MBAs who rely too much on upholding their future potential rather than current proficiency, depending a lot on one’s general power for critical thinking and wisdom lacking the ability to spot to the fundamental, ready-to-use expertise and competencies that are needed on day one of a new job.

Wholly, the Four Dimensions are a useful framework for accentuating the complete set of traits that are required for MBA-level “awareness.” As a job candidate, you may face interviews that are restricted in subject (e.g., consulting case study that requires basic market understanding, or finance interviews that involve the candidates ability to analyze stocks), but a “behavioral” interview (about candidate’s past experiences, track record, existing skills, personality, and future potential) is a platform to use the Four Dimensions.

I feel, the finest interviews are those in where a candidate has the chance to emphasize on instances from all four dimensions – presenting a high result oriented track record and a winning streak (Performance), sharing instances of supporting peers, serving clients, care for all stakeholders (Behavior), recognize skill sets and expertise that is relevant to technical tasks or business-building endeavors (Competencies), and stressing on experiences and expertise developed till date, and also the capability to learn new things, be creative, and widen personal and professional horizons (Intellect).

If you’re ever at a loss for a narrative framework to depict your capabilities in an interview (outside the chronological sequence recommended by the question, “Walk me through your résumé”), I advise re-reading your résumé and identifying pointers which highlight your Performance, Behavior, Competencies, or Intellect. Select the most convincing examples of each of the Four Dimensions (from professional, academic, and extracurricular activities), and throw light on your persona of being a well-balanced and aptly able professional who can engage others and eventually take on a senior role the business as it develops and evolves to face new challenges.

Contributed by Deeba, (Class of 2013, IBS Gurgaon)

The Artful Dodgers

Posted on May 13, 2015 by IBS India

Why Salman Khan Ran for 13 years and How Rahul Yadav Had a Tantrum

May heralded more than the scorching heat of summer. Two significant events ruled the headlines in the first fortnight of the month. One was the conviction of actor Salman Khan for a hit-and-run case that took place in 2002, In the second incident, a relatively unknown Chief Executive of a me-too start-up property portal, had a tantrum, resigned and then withdrew his resignation,throwing the world of venture funds into a tizzy.

Khan’s case is still sub-judice (in fact it is building up into a fine case of whodunit) so we shall not really get into discussing the merits of the case as such but let us rather draw on it as an example for our case study – based largely on the limited and speculative knowledge of the ubiquitous media. For those of you who are aspiring to join a business school and thoseof you are in the midst of it and on the verge of graduating – be warned. There is a lesson in this – and I am not talking about drunken driving (though of course, there is that too).

Thou shalt commit mistakes; it’s part of living, you can’t escape it. (That is however not the lesson). All of us are guilty of having committed some mistakes – some grave and some not so grave. Some mistakes however do harm to other people and then that creates an added dimension to the problem. However, mistakes are never intentional, they just happen.

What happens next is more important and that is where the lesson is. How do you deal with it? Do you own up to it? Do you pretend it hasn’t happened? Do you ignore the problem, thinking that it will go away? Or do you build up a fantastic case of alibis and witnesses all swearing that you did not have anything to do with it?

If we take the last alternative, it requires quite a bit of planning, money-power and you have to rely on somebody else’s integrity not to give you away. Which, seems rather a contradiction in terms because their integrity has already been bought by you; and once bought, it is always up for auction to the next highest bidder. You can truly hide your misdemeanours only if you are the only person in the knowledge of that and even then, circumstantial evidence can always point your way.

Making a real-life comparison, we will assume that there were witnesses to your transgressions. If shutting them up is not a solution – you have the choice of owning up or not. If you do not own up, the people whom you have harmed are sure to take action against you – because you have compounded your error: doing it and not owning up.

Let’s take the hit and run case. We shall assume for the sake of argument, that Salman was guilty as the sessions court has held., What if he had admitted guilty in 2002? Remember, those days there were very few television channels; media activism was not as hysterical as it is today; celebrity bashing was not a popular pastime. He would have probably got a year or two for manslaughter (accidental killing without wilful intent)., He could have spent half of the time out on bail. He could have got off very lightly. Instead of which, for the last 13 years the case has been hanging over his head and continues to do so, along with all the ugly publicity.

Now what happens if you own up? There is no guarantee that the legal system will deal with you leniently because you have admitted your guilt. Let’s look at the positives though. Since you had no wilful intention to harm, this is one factor in your favour. If you are prepared to make amends to those who suffered due to your actions, it is quite possible (again there are no guarantees) that they may not take action against you. You are in a stronger position (morally speaking) to negotiate. Most of all, you have the satisfaction of knowing that you have stood your ground and had the courage to face a crisis. .

Running away is never a solution; it is, in fact, an admission of guilt. Never run away from a difficult situation. That’s lesson number one.

Rahul Yadav, the reinstated CEO of Housing.com (his financial backers persuaded him to stay on), told his employees on the day that he withdrew his resignation, “I’m still your CEO. Have fun.” Seriously? Would you like to continue to work for such a man, who has such a high-handed attitude?

Just to fill you in on the details, Rahul Yadav is one of the dozen-odd co-founders of the property search web portal and the CEO of the company, which was set up in 2010. It has been in the news recently for the large amount of funding it got from venture firms including Japan’s Softbank. Yadav, an IIT dropout, seems to have a volatile temper. He also has a disposition that makes him have frequent run-ins not only with his co-founders but also with the investor community. He acts the part of the typical arrogant super brat entrepreneur-in-a-hurry, who is out to change the rules and make it big.

Arrogance is acceptable in an established genius who has proved his or her superior talent again and again..But, rude and crass behaviour is never – and I repeat, NEVER – acceptable. I know that there is a certain glamorous appeal associated with the image of a haughty, swaggering, self-opinionated, and aggressive go-getting entrepreneur but you have to draw the line at being abusive, insulting and throwing tantrums.

Which is what Yadav did.Since he couldn’t get the board members to agree with him about certain decisions regarding the company he quit, telling the board (and investors) that they did not have the intellectual ability to have ‘sensible discussions’. That behaviour is like that of a child refusing to play with his mates, because they don’t listen to what he says.

This is another form of running away.

What do you want to be known for? For your achievements in the company or that you are having frequent arguments with your co-workers? Or that you would rather quit than face the opposition? Let’s face it – nobody likes to work for or with a person who has an uncertain temper and is likely to fly off the handle at the least provocation. You have to be a person of extraordinary talents and abilities for people to tolerate that kind of behaviour.

And anyway, why do you need to be unnecessarily aggressive with people? Evidence shows that many overtly aggressive personalities have an inferiority complex or are insecure about their abilities and position. They often use that aggression to hide their perceived shortcomings.

You can achieve more with a softer approach and being polite than shouting at people and ordering them around. So every time you feel the urge to hammer down the opposition by raising your voice and making personal remarks – stop, think and reflect.

And never quit because you feel unable to convince others of your beliefs and convictions. Being a quitter is as bad as running away. That’s lesson number two.

Meanwhile Housing.com is looking around for CEOs. Care to apply?

Contributed by Janaki Krishnan, an entrepreneur in the education and skills sector. Prior to this she was a business journalist. Writing continues to be her abiding passion

Tangible Branding

Posted on May 12, 2015 by IBS India

MORE SUBSTANCE, MORE SHINE

‘Seeing is believing.’ The idiom above, which first came on the scene in the early 17th century, intends that “only physical or concrete evidence is convincing”. In other words, it is the substantial that is perceived and readily accepted as real. To distinguish the physical from the spiritual, the palpable from the impalpable, the form from the formless, the human mind heavily relies on the senses. What is definite to the faculties exists and is tangible.
Lairesse’s Allegory of the Five Senses
However, it is not an impossible task to capture the obscure outline of a shadow on the wall and transform it into an expressive graffiti. That is to say- what is intangible can be made tangible.

Tangibility as an induced characteristic manages to lend substance to an otherwise elusive entity, bringing it into clearer existence. Brand is one such entity.

With so many rival brands offering competitive products, providing similar and frequently superfluous experience in a market, it is all too easy for a brand to get lost in the noise of commonness.
I do not admire greatness that has no substance. ― Mary Balogh
To truly come alive, the brand needs to gain a foothold in the customer’s perception of the physical world. For that it must aim to deliver utility. The brand must become tangible.

Tangible brands cultivate a deep distinctive connection with the consumer. There is a tactile sense to each interaction. The brand comes across as a living, breathing person, ready to help with its unique tools to solve or satisfy.

Such tangibility, when associated with a brand, provides many opportunities to augment customer loyalty. The customers tend to invest more, both emotionally and financially, once they think of the brand as singular.

Brand Tangibility is vital in order for a brand to convey itself as being ‘of this world’. A tangible brand is coupled with a definable feeling which is unique to the company. The more useful and relevant a brand, the more customers are likely to get attached.

TOMS presents shoe-shoppers with a chance to absolve their social conscience by participating in a philanthropic purchase. For each pair of shoes sold, the company donates a pair to someone in need. The details are shared with the buyer on his phone, post purchase. Customers have noted a feeling of accomplishment wash over them when they see the physical proof of the donation in their name.

The presence tangible brands seek to maintain is long-term and personal. Brand leaders chose to provide utility by staying up-to-date with their customers’ needs and attitudes. They embrace technology, acknowledging it as the reshaper of the human experience, and master online and offline marketing strategies.

The need to integrate tangibility is even greater for a service brand. Service brands struggle with brand penetration since their product offering has little or no differentiation. The senses are deprived of things to touch, feel, hear and experience.

Moreover, consumers take notice of the service only when it malfunctions, finds a study conducted by Utility Week. A tangible aspect, when incorporated, allows the service brand to differentiate itself on the basis of an identifiable physical presence and emotional connection. To enhance the brand tangibly, the goal should be to educate, entertain or inspire the consumer.

Tangible Branding can be defined as the art of making the brand seem more tangible to its customers either by way of inciting the utility of the brand or by giving the brand a uniquely interactive voice or face.

Building a tangible brand requires an Industry Analysis, that is, a fair assessment of tangibility of the product/service provided in comparison to one’s competitors in the market-place.

Uber managed to take a tough-to-please service like transportation and give a favorable cost-to-experience ratio by delivering solutions for the common industry headaches like driver unreliability.

Design is another important marketing strategy employed by tangible branding.

Smart-e set up an Energy Conversation Centre in Guilford, giving a brand with previously no tangible value a chance to physically interact with its consumers. The founder, Dave Nugent says they try to provide services that suit customers’ every day usage and that convey an energy ‘harvesting’ or energy generation message. Since no customer likes the hard sell, the centre incorporated tangibly expressive elements (infographics, light-up tiles, see-through heat converter pipes) in the centre’s décor to resonate with the idea of energy consumption and conservation. The centre also boasts of a gym which shows, for instance, how much cycling will power one hot shower. The play area has a conveyor-belt slide which lights up from the kinetic energy of the children’s movement. The company created a place where their customers actually wanted to be! What is more, the centre’s hard work made the real value of the brand visible to the customer. The intangible was made tangible through innovative design which could be felt and seen. Tangible Branding also resorts to Tangible Marketing, which is the use of promotional items (like branded stationary or personalized items) to contribute to brand recognition and customer loyalty. Going above and beyond shows the company’s willingness to put efforts to earn and keep a prospective client.

Creating a memorable marketing piece requires selection of a creative Gift and/or attention-grabbing Tagline. A good example of tangible marketing would be the silicon Livestrong bracelets. The custom statement-on-a-wrist turned out to be very successful as a fundraising tool for the cancer awareness cause.

In order to highlight tangibility, most retail brands nowadays propose loyalty cards to their customers, inviting them into the exclusive club that is their brand.

Furthermore, the Social Media platform has proved very useful for improving tangibility of a brand through customer networking. Brand forums online readily offer help to consumers and deliver speedy solutions. The idea is to expose their target audience to their tangible brand elements and what they stand for.

The literal personification of the brand results in Mascots. Where logos are the tangible elements of a brand, mascots are their tangible representatives. Think of a Ronald McDonald and you inevitably think of McD burger/fries. The mascot and the product by association, both embody the brand value of happy times.

In this way, extending to a physical presence can amplify the commercial and competitive value of your brand. More substance, more shine.
A question arises, however.
How do you know that you, as a brand, are in fact tangible?
People today are bombarded with so much Advertising and in a world where a plethora of brand choices prevail per vertical. It really is hard to get the true picture of tangibility. What makes you real is the tangible of intangibles which, however easy to materialize, is difficult to measure. The real question to ask, therefore, is Will they miss you when you are gone? Answer this and you will know where you are on the brand tangibility scale. Tangibility is not a wishful thinking. It can be brought into the daylight out of the shadows. It is just a matter of filling in the outlines. It is just a matter of showing.

For, seeing is believing.

Contributed by Ankita Verma, (Class of 2009, IBS Hyderabad)

5 steps to build your own brand

Posted on May 12, 2015 by IBS India

You are a product. Be wanted!

You may be a star in whatever you do. You could be a great academician, a skilled sportsperson or an artist — but in an MBA college, you are just likeeveryone else. It is easy to get lost. So do not waste yourself — build your brand and be remembered.

Most of us think the world will recognize us for our achievements and everything will be fair in the end. Sometimes, it is too late before we realize that ‘fair’ can be a ‘fairy tale.’

If you want to create your own brand, ask yourselves these five simple questions:

Are you capable of making noise?

If we are capable of doing something or we actually do something, let others know about it. It is of nouse to work in isolation and wait for the world to recognize you. We need to recognize ourselves before that. Telling others what we have achieved and how they can benefit from it is a win-win situation for all. The best way to do this is to spread your achievements through word of mouth. Impact is only a “good-to-have” unless it is communicated to the right people.

Case: Suppose you play guitar and there is an annual festival in your college. There may be 50 others like you.So how do you differentiate yourself? Do not wait for the auditions and competition. Start making people aware of your guitar-playing skills from day 1. By the time your annual festival takes place, people already have your name in mind. This way, you would have already established your brand for a particular skill. And when the time is right, leverage the opportunity and buildyour visibility.

Are you honest and simple?

According to a research, the most effective way to reach consumers is not through detailed and complex websites orflashy advertisements, but rather through simplifying the decision-making process; in other words, presenting exactly what consumers need to know, while leaving out the rest. In fact, this research reveals that companies who simplified and streamlined the decision-making process for their customers were 86% more likely to make a sale. We are like products — if we are simple to use, people will find us more suitable for their purposes. So we need to make sure we do not come across as complex personalities. Be approachable and honest. By honest, I mean never making false promises about our capabilities.

Case: One of my classmates in college appeared for the placement cell interviews, theatre and dance competitions, and commerce fair. People thought he was an all-rounder. He created a great image of himself. Unfortunately, he could not make it anywhere. I remember him quoting – “I should have kept my focus and not rushed for everything.” ’Less is more’ truly applies here. Our capabilities should be simple, effective and true.

Are you generous and considerate?

Do you believe in giving back? When we think of the Tata Group, we do not only talk about its products, we always mention its in-depth approach of giving back to society through CSR activities. People know you more when you make a difference to their lives, rather than taking from them to make a difference to your life. So your brand building is directly proportional to what you do for your classmates, your professors, your flatmates, your maids and even your toughest competitors.

Case:During the selection of our class representative, students voted for a classmate who was not an expert in studies or possessed any significant leadership qualities. He was a people’s person, showed empathy and had created trust in fellow classmates. The opposition contender who had a great rapport with professors and an image of a strong leader lost in this case. I learned then – a leader always takes his people along.

Are you dependable?

Times always tests you when you are least prepared for it. These are the times when you need to be dependable and exhibit commitment to the people who have shown faith in you. You are their role model; they will talk about you in front of others. You should never let them down by taking any hasty decisions. It is not necessary to win for them, but they want you to fight for them till the end. If you find your team member missing from the group presentation day, that person is not dependable.

Case:In 2006, ViratKohli continued to play his batting innings even after hearing the news of losing his father the same day. His deep level of commitment and determination created a great brand for him. This incident may be lost, but the people involved here will remember Virat’s commitment for their lifetime.

Are you the future?

A very important aspect of creating your own brand is to focus on both the present and the future. People’s trust is long-term. We do not want to be a wave, but want to remain and be remembered forever. Consistency is what distinguishes you. Achieving this is very tough. It demands great courage and sacrifice, as we tend to falter when boredom hovers around us. People with great brands remain consistent in their ability to deliver. They also keep innovating with their delivery methods.

Case:The best example of a brand that comes to my mind is the Indian Army. Many in the Indian Army have forgone their family pleasures and sacrificed a civilian’s life to protect our borders.In my opinion, they are the most consistent people and will be remembered forever. Their brand will remain intact.

Your MBA and professional career will provide you various opportunities to build a brand for yourself. Stay simple, consistent, emphatic and dependable to touch other people’s lives. And you shall be a winner everywhere.

Contributed by Virag Jain ( Class of 2010, IBS MUMBAI )

LATERAL THINKING AND CREATIVITY

Posted on May 11, 2015 by IBS India

In today’s competitive market companies not only need skilled people but needs employees who have lateral thinking and are creative so that they can provide creative solutions. Below article will provide you a brief overview of lateral thinking and creativity as it is an important skills which is needed by MBA students to come up with ansolution of a difficult situation.

What is Lateral Thinking?

Think of a railway track; it consists of two parallel lines running alongside each other separated by a narrow gap. A train has to run along that track; if it goes on either side it will derail. Creativity

Our thoughts or the way we react to events can be likened to that railway track. They run along defined boundaries and the reason for that is the conditioning that we receive early in our lives and our experiences.

Most of us go through our lives with more or less similar experiences and incidents. About 90% of us can relate to one other because our lives follow a similar pattern allowing for some individual quirks and differences. These patterns are established very early in life and most of us are unable to break out of it or do not want to break out of it because we find comfort in things that are familiar. To be honest, there is also no particular need for us to move out of that pattern that we have set up for ourselves.

The ‘railway track’ mode of thinking also arises from these circumstances. The predictability of our experiences circumscribes our thoughts and over a period of time, we are incapable of moving out of that parallel track. If we need to think differently, we need to derail our minds so that it jumps out of the track. And that is the crux of lateral thinking or what has come to be known today as ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking.

The Dynamics of Lateral Thinking

When we speak of people being creative or creatively inclined, we are talking about people who do not think along conventional lines because they have jumped off the railway tracks. By some quirk of fate, they perceive things differently from what the majority of the population do. You must understand that there is nothing abnormal about these people – it is nothing more unusual than being left-handed among a largely right-handed world.

What does lateral thinking actually involve? Is it merely being able to think differently and perceive your world differently? Well, that is part of it. Those are just the ingredients, which go into lateral thinking. Lateral thinkers have their brains wired differently from most of us. This enables them to not only have a different world-view, but also have a different perspective on events.

The main objective of lateral thinking or what in corporate circles is called ‘value proposition’ is how it affects the way we solve problems. Are we getting results out of that lateral thinking? Is it making us more efficient at solving problems?

Let me give you a very simple example. Most of us take the same route while going to college, university or work. You may be walking or taking a cab to the nearest bus or railway station and then taking the train to your destination. Or, you may be driving/be driven to your college or workplace. Or if you are very lucky, you may just have to walk around the corner to reach your journey’s end.

Whatever the mode, the fact is that we invariably follow the same route. That is because we like safe, predictable things, we like routine and it is also less trouble.

How many of us actually try to find out different routes to go to our institute or place of work? How many of us experiment with different modes of transport to see if we arrive faster or even slower or have a more stress-free journey? How many of us think of varying our routine even slightly just in order to get a different experience?

The answers to these questions will give a glimpse into the way lateral thinking works. As a lateral thinker, your mind will follow different routes to solve a problem compared to a conventional mind.

Your mind will view the problem in a unique way; in all probability, your mind may not even see it as a problem.

Here, I want you to understand that all lateral thinkers are not necessarily problem solvers or are creative, in the sense that we know it. Let me iterate here that it is just a different perception of things.

It is quite likely that a lateral thinker might further complicate an existing situation. But yes, with lateral thinking you can definitely arrive at uncommon conclusions and can learn to tackle problems in other ways than you would normally.

But then do we want to be lateral thinkers? Instead of answering that question, let me ask you something else – do you want to be left handed?

Can we Train our Minds to Think Laterally?

Well, if we can learn to play tennis and swim tolerably well, I guess we can also learn to think laterally. There are certain skills of an exceptional nature that you might not be able to acquire – if you are tone deaf or do not have a good voice then it is quite likely that you will never be a singer or be able to appreciate music or learn the piano. These are some skills, which require inborn talent.

For the rest, certainly you can acquire mastery with practise and training.

Edward de Bono, who pioneered the concept of lateral thinking said in another book, ‘Tactics’ – “The key point about lateral thinking is that concepts, perceptions and structures evolve over time and are a summary of history rather than a blueprint for the future. In the mind, this is due to the self-organising nature of the brain, which is designed as a pattern-making recognition system. So we may have to cut across and break out of patterns before putting things together in a new way. Provocation is an essential part of lateral thinking and there are various specific techniques such as the random word technique.”

To paraphrase what Bono says, we have to create a spark in our brains that will provoke our thought processes to get off the beaten track. We have all heard of brainstorming; brainstorming is a way of provoking our brains to come up with novel and unique ideas. The more bizarre, the better because then you have more and varied ideas to choose from.

We have to learn to brainstorm at every opportunity. You should not let logic or reason colour your thoughts during this process, because you have to break out of the pattern you have set for yourself.

The brain has to be trained to make that shift from the usual to the unusual.

If you are consistent, you will find that thinking up stuff ‘outside the box’ becomes a habit. Keep in mind though that the ideas you have generated should lead to practical use. Some creative people are known to be impractical and some are also known to be severely straitjacketed in their ideas. You don’t want that. But then again while coming up with ideas do not junk the impractical ones. Maybe they will lead you somewhere too.

As a lateral thinker you have to let your mind roam freely; you should be able to astonish yourself with your thoughts. Push and stretch at the limits of your metal boundaries. That railway track I told you about in the beginning should have a width than can be widened at will.

Contributed by Disha Parekh Mohanty

Simple Leadership Steps At The Beginning Of Your Career

Posted on May 11, 2015 by IBS India

Do you have leadership capabilities? Are you a born leader? Are there any instances where you showcased your leadership skills? How good are your team management skills?

These questions will keep coming back to you as you progress in your career and rise up the rungs of the corporate ladder. Have you ever wondered why leadership is so highly valued in the corporate world and beyond?

Good leadership brings a lot of great qualities and skills along with it. Honesty, sincerity, integrity, teamwork, positive attitude, delegation skills and the ability to inspire come along with good leadership.

There has been the timeless argument on whether good leaders are born with inherent qualities or can good leaders be made. Recent studies have indeed shown that leadership trainings can definitely create a change in people and such a change can really create an impact in the work environment.

In this post, we will try to relate to the small but simple leadership steps that will get you started. Once you appreciate the ‘change’ in you, you will start appreciating the benefit of imbibing the qualities of a leader.

Start Owning First and Then Delegate

Most of us shy away from owning things because it carries along with it a responsibility. You must have encountered situations where there are conflicts in a group when individuals do not reach an agreement. This happens mostly when some of the tasks are ugly or difficult to handle and none wants to own it. In such situations, the natural leader resolves the issue by taking up the ugly tasks.

Owning the ugliest task and doing it whole-heartedly not only gives you a sense of accomplishment but also creates followers for you. The next time when the same group has a conflicting situation they will look upto you for the delegation of the task.

Deal With Your Insecurities

People are reluctant to share knowledge or information because they think holding on to it will create a stable position for them. This is very common in the corporate world where employees want to become indispensable to their companies and keep themselves secure.

Good leadership comes with exposure first and experience afterwards. For exposure, one has to move on and create a space for someone else in his or her position. Leaders are extremely confident people and are not bothered by insecurities of transition. They are constantly in lookout for opportunities and do not hesitate to move on from a comfortable position.

To move on and gain exposure you have to deal with your insecurities first. So the next time when you are asked to change your team you should consider it as opportunity rather than a challenge.

Know Your Strengths But Know Your Weaknesses Better

Once we had an annual sales presentation meeting. Every team from different product lines had to do their presentation. Though it has been years now, I still remember one team very well not because their presentation went extremely well but because no one from the audience could be attentive to their presentation. This was because the main presenter, supposedly the leader of the team was extremely bad in his presentation- both verbal and non-verbal. He was constantly shouting and trying to use all kind of body gestures to communicate his message.

In retrospection, I think a better job could have been done by delegating the main part of the presentation to another team member with better public speaking skill.

In order to gain attention and seek opportunities leaders do not resort to doing things, which they are not capable of. They know to play their cards well and know how to leverage the strengths of their followers.

Contributed by Sanjit Das ( Class of 2005, IBS HYDERABAD )

Why Salman Khan Ran for 13 years and How Rahul Yadav Had a Tantrum

MORE SUBSTANCE, MORE SHINE

You are a product. Be wanted!

You may be a star in whatever you do. You could be a great academician, a skilled sportsperson or an artist — but in an MBA college, you are just likeeveryone else. It is easy to get lost. So do not waste yourself — build your brand and be remembered.

Are you capable of making noise?

Are you honest and simple?

Are you generous and considerate?

Are you dependable?

Are you the future?

What is Lateral Thinking?

The Dynamics of Lateral Thinking

Can we Train our Minds to Think Laterally?