Principle Centered Leadership - A Book Review

I believe there is a trilogy of leadership books from the Covey family. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Speed of Trust and Principle Centered Leadership - each citing excerpts from the other with 7 Habits being the core. Of course there are other books from them which again must be derived from these 3.

Principle Centered Leadership is more of a collection of essays written by a few people. As in any book there are a few sections that I just skimmed through, but there were a few which stands out as something each person who has been or intending to be responsible for 1 or more person other than themselves. Have noted below a few sections which I found to be the most interesting.

Characteristics of Principle Centered Leaders

1. Continually learning.
2. Service Oriented
3. Radiate Positive Energy
4. Believe in Other People
5. Lead Balanced Lives
6. See Life as an Adventure
7. Synergistic
8. Exercise Self-Renewal

Am sure there will be one or more areas that we would want to improve on the above.

A principle - "Possessing precedes giving". A simple thought...but at times we tend to forget. We try to give without even possessing and get into trouble. :-)

"There are times to teach and train and times not to teach. When relationships are strained and charged with emotion, attempts to teach or train are often perceived as a form of judgement and rejection. "

Three Types of Power

• Coercive Power - Power created by fear utilizing power, authority etc.
• Utility Power - Power created by a particular utility / purpose (because of the benefits that could be derived from the leader)
• Legitimate Power - Knowledgeable, Wholehearted, Uninhibited Commitment. He clearly distinguishes that this is not blind faith, mindless obedience or robotic servitude. "Whatever they (leaders) did they did because they believed in us, and we reciprocate with respect, loyalty, commitment, and a willingness to follow, almost without condition or restriction.

"You only have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power - he's free again.

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn"

Power Tools

• Persuasion
• Patience
• Gentleness
• Teachableness - Operating with the assumption that you do not have all the answers, all the insights and valuing different viewpoints, judgement and experiences followers may have.
• Acceptance - withholding judgement
• Kindness
• Openness
• Compassionate Confrontation
• Consistency
• Integrity

Three Big Mistakes

1. Advise before understand
2. Attempt to build/rebuild relationships without changing conduct or attitude.
3. Assume that good example and relationship are sufficient

"Just as vision without love contains no motivation, so also love without vision contains no goals, no guidelines, no standards, (and hence) no lifting power ."

Approach to Problem Solving

1. Where are we?
2. Where do we want to go?
3. How do we get there?
4. How will we know we have arrived?

I wonder how many times we have asked ourselves these questions!!!

Manager's Attitude - "Where are we going?" or "Where do you want to go?" or "What are your goals?"
 - "and how can I help you?"

Principles of Win-Win Performance (KRA time!!!)

• Specify desired results, but don't supervise methods and means.
• Go heavy on guidelines, light on procedures
• Mention all available resources (within the organization and outside networks)
• Involve people in setting the standards or criteria of acceptable and exceptional performance
• Maintain trust and use discernment, more than so-called objective or quantitative measurements to assess results.
• Reach an understanding of what positive and negative consequences might follow achieving or failing to achieve desired results.
• Make sure the performance agreement is reinforced by organizational structure and systems to stand the test of time.

"Leadership deals with direction - with making sure that the ladder is leaning against the right wall. Management deals with speed. To double one's speed in the wrong direction, however is the very definition of foolishness."

Happy Leading!!

C

Sydney Stories - Week 84(??)

Hello,

Thanks to Janmashtami and Gurgaon taking a day off I could sit down for a few minutes to get to the Sydney Stories. I've lost track of my weeks in Sydney. Should be somewhere around 84. Will go with that even number for now.

After all the ordeal at the Delhi airport with a 5 hour blackout finally made it to my flight to Singapore without too much of a delay. To add to the story I didn't have a printed itinerary in my hand. I must appreciate the customer service desk located in the visitors area at the airport. He very patiently warded off tired customers in their quest to figure out what was happening.

Nevertheless, Delhi airport does look cool gives a good competition to other international airports. The area  on arrival before immigration looks so cool. A decent first impression to first time tourists to India.

Made it back to Sydney after a short stop over in Singapore. Met Mamai and Lavan for a quick get together at an Irish pub. Uma had come to the airport with the kids to pick me up.

Life back in Sydney has been pretty hectic so far. Had to prepare for a presentation I had to submit for the a  conference in Sydney. That will be my first public appearance coming up next week.

=============

A short break of about just 2 weeks happened before I could continue on this. Somewhere between a 4 hour airport power outage, to a 2 hour train to a 30 minute car outage life is still going on in crazy speed. 

The 2 hour train outage was crazy. Some poor woman got killed on the train tracks on the way home (http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-nsw/train-delays-after-woman-killed-on-tracks/story-e6freuzi-1226122458460). The train I got on kept shuttling between 2 stations so I could either decide to get off or not. Eventually I slept through for about 1.5 hours to wake up at the same station. Finally got a cab and reached home at around 1 AM.

I had my first public appearance earlier this week in Sydney. This was part of a free quarterly conference conducted by the local testing body. It was an interesting experience. It seemed to have went on well. Yet to receive formal feedback. 

Our Vinayagar Chaturthi was interesting too. After a long time we decided to go to the nearby temple to say Happy B'day to Pillaiyar. Uma and kids picked me up from the station. Luck would have it that we had to go back home for something. I was waiting outside with the kids in the car while Uma went home. Just as she was coming back the car wouldn't start. Had to call NRMA (equivalent of AAA in US) to get the batteries replaced. Thankfully I got the membership a few months ago.

The Australian Father's day is this Sunday. There was a Fathers' event happening at Nandhitha's pre-school that the dads (and grand dads) could go and spend time with the kids. I planned for a visit today. At the end of the visit I was gifted with a "surprise" coffee mug designed by Nandhitha.

I guess I shouldn't wait for the weekend to write a post going forward. Weekends have been the busiest time of the week !!!

Have A Great Weekend!!

C

Presentation Tips

It has been a terrific few weeks preparing for the presentation with the grand finale being the last few days in US. It was an interesting experience the last month or so working on this presentation. There were a few lessons learned during this time, that I thought might be of some help - probably just to myself. :-)

1) Begin with a theme. This will be the foundation for your presentation. Make sure your theme will be of interest to your audience. Try to identify a challenge that your audience will be facing currently to form your theme. Establish a reason why they need to be listening to you for the next 1 hour (or so). If you lose your audience here, whatever else you do later in the presentation will be of little or no use.

2) Build a story line around your theme. Start with a challenge / problem that would be relevant to the audience and go about solving them with a coherent and logical flow. 

3) Do not have your entire script on your presentation. Keep it crisp. We have an habit of pouring our mind in PPT as if it is some legal document. NO. A PPT file is just that - a PPT file supposed to help you and your audience to stay in course with the story. Not to be used as reading material.

4) Remove bullets as much as possible. Bullets are for documents - not for presentations. Have more meaningful images instead. Try not to have more 3-4 points in a single slide. This will help maintain their attention throughout. Cluttered information will easily put people to sleep.

5) Use animations effectively. Got to watch out for those unwanted and out of order boxes appearing out of no where.

6) Rehearse the script. Especially if you are co-presenting, co-ordinate transition points with your co-presenter.

7) Know the geography of where you are presenting. Do sufficient research on which room you are going to be presenting. Make sure it has all the infrastructure necessary. The last thing you want is a room with no projector and you have exotic animations all through your presentation.Have your backup or Plan B available if in case you do not have the expected infrastucture.

8) Time your presentation. Prepare cue cards in advance to notify you of available time. Be prepared to adapt your presentation when you don't have sufficient time.

9) Have Fun!! A presentation will be more effective if you can be casual and collected.

Enjoy...

Trip to India - USA - July-August 2011 - Part 2

This last week has been the most craziest week in a long long time. Starting the day in Australian time zone and ending the day in IST is definitely not fun. However it has been a very interesting week as well. Got to meet all my team members and colleagues in Gurgaon. Some of them for the first time. We had a great team party at a club called Jolly Rogers. This time in Gurgaon there was the "Kavarias" (SIC) (pronounce kavadias) yatra going on. It's about Shiva devotees carrying the Kawar - which we call as Kavadi in Tamil Nadu. 

Every airline check-in brings in a bit of a twist. This time I was carrying a whole bunch of boxes as mementos to be given to customers. I was expecting to be charged for overweight. At the counter the lady offered 2 options - one cheaper and one more expensive. That was a pleasant surprise. Checked in my hand luggage as well for a charge. Worked out just fine because I could just carry along my laptop bag. Met with Anand (my VP) post immigration and had a good time chatting with him. 

I flew Lufthansa for the first time - clearly they are ages behind Singapore airlines even with a Boeing 747 aircraft. Boarding was done like a herd of sheep getting into the aircraft - no seat number wise boarding. There was no individual monitors available in the aircraft. Guess I got too spoilt by the A380 in SQ. Frankfurt - wow - what an airport!!!! For the first time I saw people had to queue up to go to the restroom. It was so small and cramped. Germany - you disappointed me.

This seems to be the longest week as well spanning multiple time zones, so I get 1 extra day. :-) The hotel in Denver was quite comfortable. It was the Embassy Suites part of the Hilton group. Had a decent spread for the morning breakfast buffet. The few days in Denver zoomed past pretty quick as well. We had a team bowling party. Did a few strikes in 2 games. Not bad for bowling every other year or so. Jetlag was awful. I was confused between Aussie, Indian and Denver time zones. Caught up with whatever sleep I could. Managed to eat most of my american favourites which I've been missing in Sydney. The highlight being - Clam Chowder. I had been to Red Lobster with a client. He was a food lover as well so we had a lot in common to talk about other than work. Caught up with a old friend of mine (Naveen) whom I probably met after almost 12 years - Thanks to Facebook.

The Denver airport had a cool feature in the underground train shuttle which takes passengers between terminals. They had installed tiny fans along the tunnel which rotates as the train passes by in full speed. I am guessing that it could be to generate some wind energy. The flight to Atlanta was quite uneventful. Met up with the rest of the team at Atlanta airport. It was good timing since one group flew from Kansas City and we were able to pile up together on the trip to the hotel.

The hotel in Atlanta was quite spacious probably the same size as our apartment or maybe even larger. However it was not as nice as in Embassy suites. They had worn down sofas that went in completely as you plomp in. Even worse I had plumbing problems with the toilet. Being used to "manage" such issues before I was able to use it - didn't expect this in a hotel. I had an habit of not dressing up until after breakfast during this stay. It turned out to be a disaster when I did the same on the day of the presentation. Everybody else were suited and booted at the breakfast table and I was there in my t-shirts and shorts. Everybody asked if I was actually presenting that day. What an embarassment!!! My first impression with a senior management person in the company would've gone down the drain. Oh well...

The presentation went on well (I suppose!!). Of course there were some lessons learnt along the way. More on that in a separate post. It was more than a month of preparation with at least 10 versions before we could get to the final version. So much for talking for 15 minutes!! :-)  Atlanta - it was about 90% populated by people who had originated from the African continent. I had a tough time communicating with some of them when I had to ask for directions to take the right bus or train. You mix up the African American with the Southern (US) accent - you've got a killer there. ;-) Caught up with Murali in the evening. He was staying downtown Atlanta. Had to take a bus and a train to get there. Had great Chinese food at one of his regular spots. They even remembered his favourite table. The weather was just like in Chennai. 90 deg+ and as humid as it can be. 

Left back for Delhi on Friday afternoon. Good Bye America - for now!!. USA - it was interesting to observe as a visitor. Every suburb is like a template. It had to have the same elements in the type of shops. Everything looked the same including the structure within the office  even the cafeteria. Everything looked so similar to how it used to be in Phoenix. The flight back from Atlanta was a very pleasant surprise. It was a A340 aircraft and seems like Lufthansa has some decent aircrafts too. ;-) It was very much like A380 in terms of the entertainment features available. Finally I travelled without ordering for "special" meals and ate like a "commoner" in the flight. We had an interesting announcement to shut down the window on night fall. The captain said it will be a very short night tonight, so please close the window before you sleep so you don't disturb other passengers. I just had dinner but it is breakfast in Australia. To sleep or not to sleep has been the biggest question.

The 4+ hour wait in  Frankfurt was a quite boring. Frankfurt airport doesn't have much to offer except for one big BAYER sign revolving. However the terminal I had to board the Delhi flight was definitely much better than where I boarded for the US flight earlier last week. At least this terminal had WIDE toilets and didn't have to queue up outside. Travelled a window seat after a long time. Not by choice but by a request from a fellow traveller whose wife get's sick near the window. Interestingly there was another European traveller who said "Are you travelling alone - my LIFE (wife) is sitting there and I would like to sit next to her." I am pretty sure he didn't mean life but couldn't say wife. :-) Am beginning to hate Boeings. Frankfurt - Delhi was a Boeing 747 and it didn't have the individual TV. :-( Ended up listening to some old hindi songs and a hindi movie in the overhead monitor (without hearing the dialogues).

Trip to India - July 2011 - Part 1

Hi,

This is first of the series of posts around my recent travel to India and then to US.

Had an early start at 4 AM. Got ready just in time for the cab to come at 5. Had an interesting cab ride to the
airport with an Afghani cabbie. In the 30 minute or so ride he gave me the basics of being a cabbie and what it takes to own a "plate". Apparently it costs about 400 thousand dollars to be able to own a license for a taxi (just the license not the car). The revenue potential seemed quite high - probably close to revenues from a medium range apartment in Sydney.

The check-in was a bit funny. The Singapore Airlines carry on luggage limits for economy says 1 piece of baggage upto 7 kilos and a extra allowance for a laptop. My hand luggage excluding the laptop was just over 7 kg. The agent says, "I'll allow you to take it together,but once in the aircraft you need to remove your laptop from the bag.". When I asked her the reason for it, apparently it is due to hazard restrictions in Australia that one should not get hit with a luggage more than 7 kg (if it topples over someone's head from the overhead bin).

The A380 experience - someone claimed that the economy was as good as business class in terms of space or maybe I heard it wrong. It does seem to have just a wee bit of extra legroom and maybe a few centimetres of extra width. Apart from that nothing great about the space. However the inflight entertainment system definitely rocks. For the first time I have seen actually something "informative" apart from the usual movies, music and games. There were book reviews, information about cultural practices in different countries. It was interesting to read about Indian business practices - very frank.

The flight overall was good. Had the entire row of 3 seats for myself. Got to see a Singaporean movie (My Magic)- which was apparently submitted for Oscars. It was truly Singaporean because it was a mix of Tamil, Malay & Chinese. It is a story about a stage performer turned drunkard. Not a movie for those faint at heart. Finally caught up with "Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya". Singapore Airlines continues to impress me with their customer service. There was one "uncle" in the next row who had chosen a vegetarian meal. I guess he changed his mind in the last minute and he wanted the normal meal served to general public. The hostess politely refused his request.The best part was she came back and checked with him if he would like that to be changed in his next segment to Delhi. That is customer service - inspite of the fact that he was quite a "high maintenance" traveler (with frequent requests). The "Uncle" beside me was interesting. After a "few" pegs of whiskey the hostess comes around with the freshening towel and he asks "Hot or cold?". :-)

Had a great time in Singapore. Got picked up by Mamai and Athai from airport around 2.30 PM. Went straight to Mustafa shopping center to finish some shopping. Got a new camera - a Panasonic. The best part of the camera was when the salesman took a photo of a mini table fun running nearby and it captured as if the blades were stationary. Here's a sample of what I took at the hotel of a normal running fan.

After relaxing a bit at Mamai's house went to a nearby seafood restaurant for dinner along with Uma akka and Sanku. Had the Singapore famous - "Pepper Crab".

Tried several other dishes couple of spinach varieties in different sauces. Sambal prawns tasted pretty good here. Now I can compare the Malaysian food in Sydney, yes the taste was quite comparable to what I get in Sambal. Post dinner went to the Sands hotel with an idea to go up to the top.
We spent so much time trying to get a parking spot, that it got too late by then.

Walked around the hotel complex and saw some nice laser cum musical fountain shows.

Singapore to Delhi was quite uneventful. Slept through the whole time after being awake for close to 22 hours.

The international airport at Delhi was quite cool. Especially the shower and nap facilities they had was close to what they offer in Singapore. Had a great time with most of my team members today over lunch. Many of them I was meeting for the first time in person.

Jet lag is slowly kicking in right about now at around 9 PM IST. Hope it gets fixed soon.

Guess I've made up for not being able to write earlier. :-)

Have A Great Week!!

C

The Speed Of Trust - A Book Review

Recently finished reading a book on a very simple, age old concept - TRUST. It's "The Speed of Trust" by Stephen M.R. Covey. I must admit that I bought the book thinking it was written by his father - Stephen.R.Covey (author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People). This is one of those books which again make you wonder why you hadn't got hold of earlier in life. The concepts are not new. The stories are not new either. He has essentially given a good mix of "7 Habits..." and "Good to Great" (by Jim Collins). The book has its pages where you turn fast to skip to the next one, but it also has pages that you turn fast eager to see what is coming up next.

One key message or rather new message that I got was Trust is not just soft feeling attributed to good character, but also a combination of competence. Character + Competence = Trust. If only we can remember this, if not all, many of our relationship issues may get better (not solved). He says "Character includes your integrity, motive and intent with people. Competence includes your capabilities, skills, results and track record." Each topic is structured in a manner that the concept or habit has 2 sides to it. He discusses the 2 extremes and how one needs to be in the "sweet spot" - right in the middle for effectiveness.

When I first started with my new job in Sydney, it took a while before I could implement a few changes. At first I did not have any clue why such a time-tested proven methodology takes such a long time to be adopted. Now I realize it has got nothing to do with the methodology. The stakeholders here did not have any clue either about my character nor my competency. That simply slowed down the process. Mr. Covey calls them the "Trust Tax". I was paying them so heavily that I was almost bankrupt. :-)

Talking about capabilities and competencies, he says "The attitude and habit of continually improving is one of the prime differentiators between companies that remain relevant and succeed and those that fall by the wayside in today's global economy". Simply put - Complacency Kills!!

The author was not too convincing (in my mind) though in terms what he tries to say about re-building trust in certain extreme cases. Yes, he definitely does not give a false pretention that anything and everything can be patched up. However his initial arguments of the ability to restore lost trust and how one can go about it is a little weak.

All in all a good book. Definitely worth giving your time for this.

Enjoy

C

Sydney Stories - Week 76 & 77

Hi,

Hope all is well at your end. It has been quite hectic the past few weeks. Way too much happening at work and equally busy (or even more) on  weekends.

Finally got my name sorted out in this country. Yes, now I have an Australian ID which spells my name as it should be. It still didn't happen without a fight. After I got my passport changed it took me a few attempts to the RTA to figure out what I need to do. In my last visit I got pretty hmm...what's the word...mad? I walk up to the counter and the lady behind says..oh no we can't change a name based on your passport. I needed to get a certificate from the registrar of births and deaths. I had to explain that I cannot provide that and I was a temporary visa holder - there you go again!! She took offence when I told her to consult with her supervisors to handle this matter. She went and brought in a fairly elderly looking lady for 2nd opinion. In the first instant she too refused that it could be done. Again I insisted that someone from this very own office told me that this can be done. Luckily there was some soul who understood my situation and resolved the matter.

The other day we visited our famous Malaysian restaurant with a few other families. Normally we stick to the routine of mee goreng and char kway teaw and it never fails. This time 2 of us wanted to experiment something new. I ordered something I've always seen taken to other tables - Chilli Prawn. It used to look too  colourful to miss. What it was...was a bunch of huge jumbo/king prawns complete with the head, shell and even the limbs deep fried and then tossed in a special chilli sauce. The sauce was nice...great in fact...but eating the prawn was such a nightmare. It became a very messy affair and didn't feel like I ate anything...thanks to all the work spent on cleaning it up to eat. Chilli Prawns - Tick (but not again).

So long folks. Have A Great Week!!

C