Excerpts from 'Effective CEO' published by ICFAI press. Price INR 95.00
Emotional Intelligence is an imperative behaviourial attribute expected in great leaders. Great leaders invariably score high on emotional intelligence.
Without Emotional Intelligence, a person can have the best training in the world, an incisive, analytical mind and an endless supply of smart ideas but he still won't make a great leader.
Emotional Intelligence has a genetic component but it can definitely be learnt.
The five components of Emotional Intelligence are: (1) Self-awareness, (2) Self-regulation, (3) Motivation, (4) Empathy and (5) Social Skills.
(1) Self-awareness means having a deep understanding of one's emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and drives. People with strong self-awareness are neither unduly critical nor unrealistically optimistic. They are honest with themselves and with others. They have the ability to assess themselves realistically. They speak accurately and openly about their emotions and the impact they have on their work. They are comfortable talking about their limitations and strengths, and they are receptive to constructive criticism. Self-aware people also tend to be self-confident. But they do not overstretch themselves. They know when to ask for help.
(2) Self-regulation helps a leader to control his feelings. When exposed to bad moods, they find ways to control them and even to channel them in useful ways. Self-regulated people are able to create an environment of trust and fairness where politics and infighting are sharply reduced and productivity is high. It helps to attract Talented people and to retain them. Self-regulation also improves organisation climate. When the boss is calm, staff below him also control their tempers.
Leaders regularly review their personal SWOT and plan corrective actions.
People in control of their emotions tend to cope with change better. When a change program is announced, they do not panic; instead they postpone judgement, seek out information with an open mind, listen to executives and understand the new program.
(3) Motivation. Emotionally Intelligent leaders are great motivators. They seek out creative challenges, love to learn, take pride in a job well done, are restless with status quo, ….
Such people have very high levels of commitment to the organisation due to their love for the job.
(4) Empathy means thoughtfully considering the feelings of employees along with other factors in the process of making intelligent decisions.
The increasing use of teams by organisations has made empathy a valuable attribute. For a team to be effective, the leader must be able to understand the viewpoints of the members.
Retaining and developing talented people also needs empathy.
(5) Social skills. Leaders must score high on social skills. Prentice has put it, "The leader's unique achievement is a human and social one which stems from his understanding of his fellow workers and the relationship of their individual goals to the group goal that he must carry out."
The essence of social skills is friendliness with a purpose. It is about moving people in the desired direction.
Socially skilled people build a wide circle of acquaintances, and have the ability to find common ground with people of all kinds. They have a knack for building rapport. They understand that nothing important gets done alone, and they have a network in place when the time for action comes.
Goleman, Boyatziz, and McKee recommend a five-step process to cultivate emotionally intelligent behaviours.
(1) Who do I want to be?
That is about imaging the "ideal self" and coming to terms with the "real self".
(2) Who am I now?
How people see us compared to the desired 'ideal self'.
(3) How do I get from here to there?
Once we know who we want to be and have compared it with how people see us, we need to devise an action plan.
(4) How do I make change stick?
That is, to break the old neural habits, we need to practise change (new behaviour) until it becomes automatic.
(5) Who can help me?
To identify who can be counted upon to give a honest feedback (about us).
xxx --- Emotional Intelligence --- xxx
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Book Review : “THE 59 MINUTE GUIDE TO SUCCESS”
by Arindam Chaudhuri of Indian Institute of Planning Management (IIPM).
(2009 Edition. www.vikaspublishing.com Price: INR 150.00)
This is a book for everybody. The author deals with the principles of success without any management theories. The written content in the book runs into just 59 small pages with 1.5 line-spacing, and each page could be completed in one minute. That’s the reasoning behind the book’s title.
The author used ‘DIAMOND’ as a metaphor for ‘HUMAN BEINGS’. A diamond is graded on four parameters viz. its Carat, its Cut, its Colour and its Clarity. He drew an analogy between these parameters and the qualities of a successful person, as follows:
Carat:
Passion (P1)
Positive Energy (P2)
Cut:
Performance (P3)
Perseverence (P4)
Colour:
Personality (P5)
People Skills (P6)
Clarity:
Perspective (P7)
Principles (P8)
Patriotism (P9)
When a person acquires these nine principles and applies it in his life, he can discover the DIAMOND in him. That’s the gist of the book.
A brief note on the nine principles are listed below. But, do read the book for the excellent examples used and to enjoy Arindam’s lucid writing style.
Passion. The most important quality a person must have. All other principles basically support this quality.
Positive Energy is referred to the enthusiasm and the motivation. This has two sources --- external and internal. External is when someone motivates us; that’s easy. It’s the internal energy (read ‘self motivation’) in a person that matters most.
Performance. No plan or dream or … is fruitful unless we ‘ACT’ on it. Here, the author dwells on the ‘DO IT NOW’ quality in successful people.
Perseverance refers to the quality of resilience. Never give up when we fail. The only people who never fail are those who never try, says the author.
Personality is more important than technical expertise in a leader, says the author. The ‘LAW’ of personality building is important to note. Eg: Dr Prannoy Roy, Rajdeep Sardesai, … of NDTV, Amitabh Bachchan, ….
‘LAW’ stands for ‘Looks, Action and Words’ . ‘Looks’ refers to the first impression that we give of ourselves to others. The way we present ourselves.
‘Action’ refers to our body language. The way we gesticulate while speaking. The eye contact, the mannerisms, the walk, the gesture, the poise, … all go into this aspect.
‘Word’ stands for what we speak. The clarity, tone, depth, choice of words, knowledge, content, maturity, … in our conversation or speech.
People skills. To be a team-member as well as a team-leader. ‘The job of the leader is not to create followers. It is to create more leaders. Fearlessly.”, quotes the author. That quality in a person wherein his subordinates, his peers as well as his superiors accept him and are comfortable with him. Indeed, a very important quality that a leader must have.
Perspective. To have a broad Vision. For example, “A PC on every desk in every home” propelled Microsoft in the right direction for many years. Similarly, the reasoning behind the Infosys team’s decision in 1990 (after nine years of toiling hard) to ‘not to sell their company’ (when they got an offer of US$ 1 million to sell Infosys) exemplifies their broad perspective.
Principles and ethics in successful persons. The Karma theory. That, the Journey is the Reward. To be known like J.R.D. TATA; not like the Rajus’ of SATYAM or the ENRON top men.
Patriotism. The final P that makes the human diamond perfect. The number one selling car or mobile or Cola or designer wear in China are manufactured in China; not from the West.
The foreword to ‘The 59 Minute Guide To Success’ is by Shah Rukh Khan, the Superstar (who belonged to a lower-middle class family).
The nine principles stated above are explained lucidly with appropriate examples in the book. It is a good buy.
Few quotes the author used in his book are:
‘Success occurs twice in life: Once in your mind and once in reality.”
‘Sustained Sincerity: The two most important words that make an achiever.”
‘Failure is not when you don’t reach your goals. It is when you don’t have any goal to reach’.
‘The only people who never fail are those who never try.’
‘The result of your journey is not the reward. The journey is the reward.’
‘There has never been a great leader without a great personality’.
‘The job of the leader is not to create followers. It is to create more leaders. Fearlessly.’
‘In trying times, never stop trying.’
References:
Log on to the author’s blog arindamchaudhuri.blogspot.com to read his weekly thoughts.
To interact with him on facebook, log on to www.facebook.com/pages/Arindam-Chaudhuri/76429890015
To invite the author or his team for inspiring sessions in your organization, call +91 9811270918 or e-mail to chanda.mehra@planmanconsulting.com
Other Books of Arindam Chaudhuri:
Planning India
Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch
The Great Indian Dream (Co-Author).
Jaikishan
23rd Jan 2010
(2009 Edition. www.vikaspublishing.com Price: INR 150.00)
This is a book for everybody. The author deals with the principles of success without any management theories. The written content in the book runs into just 59 small pages with 1.5 line-spacing, and each page could be completed in one minute. That’s the reasoning behind the book’s title.
The author used ‘DIAMOND’ as a metaphor for ‘HUMAN BEINGS’. A diamond is graded on four parameters viz. its Carat, its Cut, its Colour and its Clarity. He drew an analogy between these parameters and the qualities of a successful person, as follows:
Carat:
Passion (P1)
Positive Energy (P2)
Cut:
Performance (P3)
Perseverence (P4)
Colour:
Personality (P5)
People Skills (P6)
Clarity:
Perspective (P7)
Principles (P8)
Patriotism (P9)
When a person acquires these nine principles and applies it in his life, he can discover the DIAMOND in him. That’s the gist of the book.
A brief note on the nine principles are listed below. But, do read the book for the excellent examples used and to enjoy Arindam’s lucid writing style.
Passion. The most important quality a person must have. All other principles basically support this quality.
Positive Energy is referred to the enthusiasm and the motivation. This has two sources --- external and internal. External is when someone motivates us; that’s easy. It’s the internal energy (read ‘self motivation’) in a person that matters most.
Performance. No plan or dream or … is fruitful unless we ‘ACT’ on it. Here, the author dwells on the ‘DO IT NOW’ quality in successful people.
Perseverance refers to the quality of resilience. Never give up when we fail. The only people who never fail are those who never try, says the author.
Personality is more important than technical expertise in a leader, says the author. The ‘LAW’ of personality building is important to note. Eg: Dr Prannoy Roy, Rajdeep Sardesai, … of NDTV, Amitabh Bachchan, ….
‘LAW’ stands for ‘Looks, Action and Words’ . ‘Looks’ refers to the first impression that we give of ourselves to others. The way we present ourselves.
‘Action’ refers to our body language. The way we gesticulate while speaking. The eye contact, the mannerisms, the walk, the gesture, the poise, … all go into this aspect.
‘Word’ stands for what we speak. The clarity, tone, depth, choice of words, knowledge, content, maturity, … in our conversation or speech.
People skills. To be a team-member as well as a team-leader. ‘The job of the leader is not to create followers. It is to create more leaders. Fearlessly.”, quotes the author. That quality in a person wherein his subordinates, his peers as well as his superiors accept him and are comfortable with him. Indeed, a very important quality that a leader must have.
Perspective. To have a broad Vision. For example, “A PC on every desk in every home” propelled Microsoft in the right direction for many years. Similarly, the reasoning behind the Infosys team’s decision in 1990 (after nine years of toiling hard) to ‘not to sell their company’ (when they got an offer of US$ 1 million to sell Infosys) exemplifies their broad perspective.
Principles and ethics in successful persons. The Karma theory. That, the Journey is the Reward. To be known like J.R.D. TATA; not like the Rajus’ of SATYAM or the ENRON top men.
Patriotism. The final P that makes the human diamond perfect. The number one selling car or mobile or Cola or designer wear in China are manufactured in China; not from the West.
The foreword to ‘The 59 Minute Guide To Success’ is by Shah Rukh Khan, the Superstar (who belonged to a lower-middle class family).
The nine principles stated above are explained lucidly with appropriate examples in the book. It is a good buy.
Few quotes the author used in his book are:
‘Success occurs twice in life: Once in your mind and once in reality.”
‘Sustained Sincerity: The two most important words that make an achiever.”
‘Failure is not when you don’t reach your goals. It is when you don’t have any goal to reach’.
‘The only people who never fail are those who never try.’
‘The result of your journey is not the reward. The journey is the reward.’
‘There has never been a great leader without a great personality’.
‘The job of the leader is not to create followers. It is to create more leaders. Fearlessly.’
‘In trying times, never stop trying.’
References:
Log on to the author’s blog arindamchaudhuri.blogspot.com to read his weekly thoughts.
To interact with him on facebook, log on to www.facebook.com/pages/Arindam-Chaudhuri/76429890015
To invite the author or his team for inspiring sessions in your organization, call +91 9811270918 or e-mail to chanda.mehra@planmanconsulting.com
Other Books of Arindam Chaudhuri:
Planning India
Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch
The Great Indian Dream (Co-Author).
Jaikishan
23rd Jan 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tips for Project Managers
The daily routine of a successful Project Manager is listed below. The Project Manager had taken a cue from his senior, in the early years of his career, and followed the routine religiously since then, which helped him in completing the projects in time .
FIRST:
· Used to visit the site about 15-30 minutes in the morning before the workers arrive to assess the progress vis-à-vis the planned progress. Thus, he used to have complete and firsthand information about the project.
· Used to insist his Site Engineers to arrive at the site (at least 10 minutes) before the workers arrive. This helped the Site Engineers in managing the workers better and in maintaining the discipline.
· Site Engineers were insisted to dress well and bathe every day, even if they had worked very late the previous night. Insisted on personal hygiene and to treat the place-of-work like a place-of-worship.
SECOND: (About 2 hours)
· Returns to office from Site.
· Browses through all the correspondence. That used to take about 30 minutes.
· Then, he completes the correspondence for the day.
THIRD: (About one hour)
· Takes his lunch.
· Takes about 30 minutes nap in his cabin.
FOURTH:
· Spends about an hour on administration and HR aspects and issues at Project office.
FIVE:
· Visits the site.
· Meets the client, if required.
· Similarly, meets the consultants, sub-contractors, … if required.
· Returns to office before 6 PM.
SIX: (About one hour)
· Completes pending correspondence, pending calls, pending e-mails, …
· Leaves office by 7 PM.
SEVEN: (For about 30 minutes)
· After dinner, he used to attend to QA/QC aspects. Used to go through the drawings, contract documents, MIS reports, programme-of-work review, …
· Used to plan his next day. Attend to any crisis which needs attention.
By adhering to this routine, the Project Manager was able to successfully complete various projects ahead of schedule, many a time in his career.
Got this information recently from a friend. As usual, thought of sharing this ‘routine checklist’ with our colleagues under the ‘HRD-KISS’ series. (KISS = Knowledge and Information Sharing System).
Good day,
Jaikishan
HR Dept.
22nd Nov 2009
Source: From my colleague, Dr. K.S.Chandra Sekhar (CGM-Projects).
xxx---xxx
FIRST:
· Used to visit the site about 15-30 minutes in the morning before the workers arrive to assess the progress vis-à-vis the planned progress. Thus, he used to have complete and firsthand information about the project.
· Used to insist his Site Engineers to arrive at the site (at least 10 minutes) before the workers arrive. This helped the Site Engineers in managing the workers better and in maintaining the discipline.
· Site Engineers were insisted to dress well and bathe every day, even if they had worked very late the previous night. Insisted on personal hygiene and to treat the place-of-work like a place-of-worship.
SECOND: (About 2 hours)
· Returns to office from Site.
· Browses through all the correspondence. That used to take about 30 minutes.
· Then, he completes the correspondence for the day.
THIRD: (About one hour)
· Takes his lunch.
· Takes about 30 minutes nap in his cabin.
FOURTH:
· Spends about an hour on administration and HR aspects and issues at Project office.
FIVE:
· Visits the site.
· Meets the client, if required.
· Similarly, meets the consultants, sub-contractors, … if required.
· Returns to office before 6 PM.
SIX: (About one hour)
· Completes pending correspondence, pending calls, pending e-mails, …
· Leaves office by 7 PM.
SEVEN: (For about 30 minutes)
· After dinner, he used to attend to QA/QC aspects. Used to go through the drawings, contract documents, MIS reports, programme-of-work review, …
· Used to plan his next day. Attend to any crisis which needs attention.
By adhering to this routine, the Project Manager was able to successfully complete various projects ahead of schedule, many a time in his career.
Got this information recently from a friend. As usual, thought of sharing this ‘routine checklist’ with our colleagues under the ‘HRD-KISS’ series. (KISS = Knowledge and Information Sharing System).
Good day,
Jaikishan
HR Dept.
22nd Nov 2009
Source: From my colleague, Dr. K.S.Chandra Sekhar (CGM-Projects).
xxx---xxx
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