This is the general content of a talk on leadership skills that I gave at SMILDA for their officers. Dr. Srinivasa Rao was kind enough to give me the opportunity which came my way thanks to my friend Achyut Menon who recommended my name to him. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 ...
Friday, 30 November 2012
Thursday, 29 November 2012
Now this is a slightly complicated concept that I always find difficult to explain. That perhaps we are at our best when we operate slightly within our 100% (perhaps at 80% I think, so we are in control). But while kicking some balls today Anjali explained the same concept back to me a bit more lucidly.'Don't kick too hard Nanna,' she said after seeing the ball balloon off my foot. 'Kick only as hard as you need.'I found that interesting and asked her why.She said -'When we kick too hard, the ball will go somewhere or the other. So you kick only...
Good leadership is about many things. But mostly it is about holding and harnessing the energy of the team together. How does one do it? Normally by the leader's intent and desire, clarity of goal, beliefs and conviction, and the process he believes in. That is the framework really for the rest of the team. But that is a subtle matter and must experience it really.But on the other hand, leadership is also about certain basics that can and must be done. These areHaving a clear goal Having clear plans for the team and resources to achieve the goalCommunicating...
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
There are some - a rare few - cricketers who bring a sense of awe into the room when their name is mentioned. They command a respect - unconditionally, unequivocally and spontaneously - from everyone around. Their talent shines so bright that no one can ever question their genius, and their personalities are so large that even when they stay within themselves, they occupy a large space outside. People travel long distances to see such players play and pray that these players perform more and more so that we mortals are raised from a platform of...
Monday, 26 November 2012
Giving 100% is not about rushing in haphazardly and going like a crazed fool and expending all your energy. It is about a planned, deliberate, application of pressure that starts from a strong, secure, confident place and does not let go.For example, let's say you have been asked to help with opening a jam bottle's cover (or to unscrew a rather unwieldy and tough screw). 100% is not about rushing in and trying hard to open it instantly. That is a sure way of hurting yourself and not getting the result you want. Instead you first take a good look...
A question to ask when things don't go our way and before we start blaming all else is this - was this the best I could have done? Was there something else I could have done? If I could have, why did I not do it? Ask yourself this question honestly and you will find the answer in a moment.If you had been truthful to yourself, the answer is evident even before you ask the question. But if you are looking to blame and say I have done my best, thee is still some dishonesty somewhere. Accept that perhaps there could have been room for improvement (else...
And then we were playing a bit of 'catch-catch' with a ball and I was playacting with Anajli and whining - that she was winning more than I.Pat comes the reply -'Nanna, winning is not about being sad. Winning is about trying.'I asked her who told her that. She suddenly became all shy, said she did not remember, and ran off. And so it is. Life is all about celebration. It is about winning. And winning is all about trying.Celebrate we must - our lives...
Yashodhara Lal's 'Just Married, Please Excuse' (Rs. 199, 255 p) is a breezy, funny account of her love, marriage, children, in laws and other such happenings in her life. The book picks up sometime when she falls in love with Vijay, her husband, and takes us through a nice, fun ride of all that happens in her life. There are no pretensions about the book being otherwise (serious or any such stuff) as one can guess form the cover and the...
Sunday, 25 November 2012
I love this paradox of expectations.Pic courtesy Satish NargundkarThere are those leaders who weigh us down with their unreasonable expectations. These people literally weigh us down with the burden of expectations they place on us and effect our performances.And then there are those who make us want to perform better and better for them, make us want to do better and reach their expectations, said or unsaid. We feel obliged to perform for them....
Friday, 23 November 2012
One reason why things we want seem out of reach could be that we do not even get to the first stage - of 'accepting' that we want them. Instead we 'hope' that something will happen and that what we want will somehow fall into our lap. But that 'hoping' does not give enough energy to our wanting anything. The least we are expected to do is to honestly 'accept' that we want that. It is like wanting a girl but not wanting to tell or show it and hoping...
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
The case of the two facebook girls Shaheen and Renu is one among the many such 'cyber crimes' that our politicians and police are unravelling every other day and punishing under sections of the IPC that are getting more and more complex to understand. In the recent past we've seen cartoonists being jailed, email jokes being treated as some serious anti-national business and other such stuff. Why should a comment on an event, a fairly harmless viewpoint which is perhaps voiced by many, be targeted and the girls be arrested against all logic, all...
Huma Kidwai writes beautifully. And she brings alive a part of Hyderabad that I never have been to but one that I want to visit as soon as I can now - Hussaini Alam in the Old City - and she evokes a time which I can never visit but which I dearly want to. The 'Hussaini Alam House' is set in the Old City of Hyderabad, sometime in the late sixties and creeps into the twenty first century. It is a story that continues for about thirty years or so,...
Sunday, 18 November 2012
I did like the ad campaign for one of the colas 'Yeh dil maange more' for various reasons. Not so much that aspect of greed or of indulging oneself mindlessly through the 'maange more' slogan but more in terms of not being satisfied easily. The difference between the two can be clearly seen when we apply it to ourselves as opposed to what the world is giving us.Pic courtesy: Satish NargundkarWhen we apply it to ourselves, we can see how easily we...
These are ten things that a medium pacer can hold in his head before a game.1. Visualise: Before the game visualise yourself bowling in a good rhythm. Videos, pictures help.2. Understand the conditions:Take a ball or two to understand the conditions - climate, pitch behavior and bowl accordingly.3. Work up a rhythm first: Work on getting into a rhythm when you start bowling. Start at perhaps 80% of your fullest and focus on keeping the ball there in the right places.4. Bowl up:Pitch it up (does not mean overpitch) so the batsman is caught...
Lessons that one can learn and imbibe from the late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.That it is never about your size, but about your courage and your conviction, even in taking on the biggest institutions. Fight tooth and nail for your convictions and the world notices and gives you the power.That if you say what you feel and express yourselves without holding back, the world listens to every word and takes it seriously. Say it as it is, loud and clear, and the world listens.That you can live life exactly on your terms and never on someone...
I had been meaning to blog about this book launch for more reasons than one. Raja had told me in advance that his classmate from Osmania University Engineering College in the late seventies, Huma Kidwai had written a book and there was a launch. He sent me the details by mail and I made up my mind to attend for several reasons. One, the timing was perfect, at 530 in the evening. Second, Huma becomes my senior from Osmania Engineering too and we Osmanians always support one another. Third, it was at La Makaan which is always a pleasure to visit....
Saturday, 17 November 2012
Watched Sacha Baron's 'Borat'. The real name of the movie actually is rather long - "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan". The movie revolves around Borat Sagdiyev, who is a television presenter in Kazakhstan. He has been sent to the USA to interact with Americans and make a documentary for the Kazakh Ministry of Information. He travels with Azamat, the producer and his pet chicken. Clearly there is...
This is a slim Bantam classic and a must read for anyone who is into power and politics. Machiavelli wrote down this practical treatise on 'seizing and holding power' in 1512 as an offering to Lorenzo de Medici, the reigning King. Incidentally the same Medici kings threw Machiavelli in jail and tortured him, before he was set free, upon being exonerated of the crimes he was accused of.I found it difficult to read it initially as Machiavelli describes...
Friday, 16 November 2012
Here are 10 things a medium pacer can try on a flat wicket. For the uninitiated, a flat wicket is one where one gets no assistance at all for the wicket and the bowler has to use his imagination, intelligence, guile and skill to get batsmen out. Most medium pacers are short in this department hence the advise.1) Stick to the basics: Bowl on one side of the wicket i.e. bowl on or outside the off stump if you have an off side field. The line is important....
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