Archive for August, 2006
By Rajesh Setty on Sat 19 Aug 2006, 5:32 PM - 4 Comments
Early part of my career, I lived in India, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. I had heard of Niagara Falls and seen it in movies but never had a chance to see it until about seven years ago. I knew what to expect – something spectacular. Friends who had visited Niagara had told me that it was an out of the world experience. There were some of them who had been there about once a year for the last five years or so and they were planning to go there again next year. So the expectation from Niagara was very high. When I went there though – what I experienced was more than spectacular. It exceeded the “already high” expectation that was set in my mind. There was that magic and wonder that you can’t really explain in words. I knew I would be amazed but I could never imagine the level of amazement. It was way beyond my wildest imagination.
With that as the background, let us imagine that one of your friends (let’s call him John) is talking “something” VERY positive about you to his friend (let’s call him Chris.) Chris is now intrigued and he wants to meet with you. Remember that, right now Chris has a high expectation about that “positive thing” that John told him about you. John arranges a meeting between you and Chris. So here comes the day of the meeting. Chris comes in with a high expectation and as he starts talking to you about that subject, he is blown away by your brilliance on that particular topic (whatever it is.) In other words, he just experienced your “Niagara Factor”
Niagara factor is your something that is hard for people to explain or describe in its full intensity. They can tell nice things about it but they still can’t do full justice to what you bring forth. It is something that will amaze people that you know for a long time.
Sadly, many people don’t know what their “Niagara Factor” is. For these people, their success is their enemy. They are already successful without taking full advantage of their “Niagara Factor” so they may not even know that they have a problem. People who come in contact with them see that there is something “special” but it is too obvious for them to mention.
In the next few days, think whether you have been ignorant of your “Niagara Factor.” If you are, it is not too late to fix it. By being conscious of this, you can channelize some of your energies to make it even better.
Good luck!
Note 1: Here is a Squidoo lens that links to most of the previous articles in this series:
Squidoo: Distinguish Yourself
Note 2: The first 25 entries in the series have been packaged in a ChangeThis manifesto that was published on September 07, 2005. You can download that manifesto here:
ChangeThis Manifesto: 25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself (PDF, Free)
Note 3: My latest manifesto on ChangeThis was published on August 6, 2008. This is a photographic manifesto featuring 15 of my mini sagas (stories in exactly 50 words). Here is the link:
ChangeThis Manifesto: Mini Sagas – Bite Sized Lessons for Life and Business (PDF, Free)
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Fri 18 Aug 2006, 7:20 AM - Leave Comment
Finally, I had a chance to get the Squidoo lens on “Distinguish Yourself” up to date. For those of you who sent me emails alerting that it was out of date, thank you. Here is the link:
Squidoo Lens: Distinguish yourself!
There are 160 of them so far. There is also a guestbook over there at the end. Any comments or feedback is appreciated.
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 15 Aug 2006, 8:08 PM - 1 Comment
Carlos Padilla has an abridged version of “25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself” in Spanish. I only know about 80 words in Spanish (whatever my son Sumukh says at home) so I don’t understand what Carlos has written. Those who know Spanish may want to check it out. Here is the link:
Link: 25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself in Spanish (Translation Courtesy: Carlos Padilla)
Enjoy!
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 14 Aug 2006, 9:16 PM - 1 Comment
At a basic level, we are all social beings – meaning we need each other to survive and thrive.
The way it typically works is that you sign up for some projects on your own and there are several of your friends that will sign you up for some projects automatically. I call these automatic subscriptions. You can’t escape from these and most important, you should not try to escape from these. They are part of life. People include you in their projects because of the kind of relationship that they have developed with you over a long period of time. They know that you won’t refuse to help – since it’s only a couple of hours of involvement per month. On your side, it seems like a deal too. Only a couple of hours per month. For a good cause, why not?
The problem comes up when you don’t actively manage these automatic subscriptions. When you need to stretch on your other projects and you really can’t take those “two hours” in a month out of your busy schedule.
Here are some reasons why this might be a problem:
(a) Volume of automatic subscriptions:One reason will be just the sheer number of automatic subscriptions that you are part of. They can run out of control.
(b) Stretching the commitment
Initially the expectation of you may be only 3 hours per month. A couple of hours may get added as time progresses. This should still be OK but imagine the same thing being repeated on almost everyone of your automatic subscription. Things can get out of control very quickly.
(c) Mismatch of expectations
What someone thinks as 2-3 hour commitment may actually be 5-6 hour commitment (add travel, preparation time, post-meeting followups, intermediate phone calls etc.)
(d) Scheduling conflicts
If you engage in too many of these, there may be serious scheduling conflicts leading to broken promises further leading to trust issues
I can go on but the above are sufficient to make my point – be conscious of your automatic subscriptions. Under subscription may mean that you are not available to people that are close to you and over subscription may mean that you are beating yourself to death to please everyone (except you) A balanced approach is what is required.
Note: While there is a need for balance, I have to warn you that you need to keep getting out of balance every now and then to see how far you can stretch and grow.
Good luck!
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Note 1: Here is a Squidoo lens that links to most of the previous articles in this series:
Squidoo: Distinguish Yourself
Note 2: The first 25 entries in the series have been packaged in a ChangeThis manifesto that was published on September 07, 2005. You can download that manifesto here:
ChangeThis Manifesto: 25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself (PDF, Free)
Note 3: My latest manifesto on ChangeThis was published on August 6, 2008. This is a photographic manifesto featuring 15 of my mini sagas (stories in exactly 50 words). Here is the link:
ChangeThis Manifesto: Mini Sagas – Bite Sized Lessons for Life and Business (PDF, Free)
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 14 Aug 2006, 9:19 AM - 1 Comment
This comes to me from Juliann Grant of Sentrepity and WorldWIT. This short quote highlights the importance of treating time with respect that it truly deserves. Here it is.
“Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Posted under Great Quotes, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 13 Aug 2006, 9:46 PM - Leave Comment
The Indian edition of my book “Beyond code” is now shipping. The Hindu Business Line (reputed newspaper in India) published a review of the book. D.Murali, deputy editor of Business Line has some kind words to say. Thanks Murali.
Here is the link:
Hindu Business Line: Adapt with Agility (Beyond Code review)
Have a great week ahead!
Posted under Endorsements, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 13 Aug 2006, 11:12 AM - 1 Comment
Luck has always been a controversial topic. There are people who believe in them and there are people who think that there is nothing like “luck” out there. Then there are people who are in the middle.
My personal stand on luck: I think there is luck but you should not depend on it. You should do whatever it takes. In the process, if you get “lucky” sometimes, it’s a bonus!
People who don’t believe in luck, subscribe to statements like:
1. “Luck is the meeting point of the opportunities that are passing by and your awareness in seeing them”
2. “The harder you work, the luckier you get”
I don’t have a problem with that. I think sometimes you do get “lucky” and those events should be attributed to luck and nothing else. By not believing in luck, you might try to explain what you did to cause this event to happen and take the credit. While that may make you feel good about yourself, that approach has many problems. Here are a few of them:
1. You are taking credit for something that you should not.
2. Trying to recreate those circumstances again may not be possible. So you may get surprised next time.
3. Other powerful people can see what “really” happened – so no point in making up
4. Extend this further and you may live in a fantasy world.
5. This might introduce some “over confidence” in your abilities
In summary, it is important for you to know when you are lucky. Personally, I have been lucky many times in the past and I hope that I will get lucky many more times in the future. When I do get lucky, I just thank GOD and I have no problems with it. Luck is a gift and we should be thankful and accept it with grace when you do get it.
Have fun!
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Note 1: Here is a Squidoo lens that links to most of the previous articles in this series:
Squidoo: Distinguish Yourself
Note 2: The first 25 entries in the series have been packaged in a ChangeThis manifesto that was published on September 07, 2005. You can download that manifesto here:
ChangeThis Manifesto: 25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself (PDF, Free)
Note 3: My latest manifesto on ChangeThis was published on August 6, 2008. This is a photographic manifesto featuring 15 of my mini sagas (stories in exactly 50 words). Here is the link:
ChangeThis Manifesto: Mini Sagas – Bite Sized Lessons for Life and Business (PDF, Free)
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Sat 12 Aug 2006, 9:20 AM - 2 Comments
Steve Farber, the author of “Radical Leap” and “Radical Edge” will be talking about extreme leadership. I am sure it will be a blast. The call is FREE – no strings attached.
Here are the details:
Link: Let’s talk Monday (Steve Farber Conference call)
Don’t miss it!
Posted under Leadership, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Fri 11 Aug 2006, 1:18 AM - Leave Comment
After my speaking engagement at a recent conference, I met a few people. One of them had an offshore software development company. We talked for a few minutes and exchanged our cards. A day later, I promptly received an email requesting a meeting.
According to the email, the purpose of the meeting was to find out
a) how the person could help one of my companies and
b) explore how I would be able to help his company.
Of course, I didn’t have the time to meet the person with everything going on in my life but I could not NOT observe the way the request was made. At first pass, it appears like there is a fair exchange of value. Upon closer look, you will see that this is a one way street.
Here is the reason:
a) how the person can help one of my companies – typically by getting a deal for his company
b) how I would be able to help his company – typically by getting a deal for his company
So the email was crying out loud – “can you help me or can you help me?”
This might have been an oversight so I don’t want to make any negatie assessments. It just teaches a lesson for all of us.
Take a look at a diagonally opposite approach I learnt from Ashwin Rangan (GM of Walmart Global.) Ashwin was talking about relationships. In his view, relationships are like bank accounts. You can’t withdraw before you make a deposit. It’s a powerful metaphor.
In the above case, the person wanted to communicate that he is trying to make a deposit and a withdrawl but REALLY he was trying to make two withdrawls.
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Wed 09 Aug 2006, 6:00 AM - 7 Comments
During my talks, one of the question I ask is “Can you think of interacting with someone in the recent past, someone who was very nice to you until he wanted to get something out of you and once the work was complete – seems to have disappeared from the planet?”
I usually hear people say – “I can think of more than one person that fits the bill”
I follow on with another question – “What if I pose the same question to all the people that you interacted with in the last six months. Would any of them put you in this category?”
Typically there is a silence. I normally don’t expect an answer for this. It is more for people to think and reflect on how they behave. While expecting someone to behave in some way is easy, it is hard to put that thing into practice in one’s own life. This is one such case.
“Use and go” is a dangerous trap that has a very big “future opportunity cost” associated with it. Let me explain. You establish a relationship with someone with the hope of getting something done. With your charm and finesse, you get that work done and since in the near future you may not have anything to do with this person, you decide to disappear from his or her life. Not intentionally of course. You are busy and you want to invest your time where it makes most sense. From an “efficiency” point of view, it seems like a case can be made for this approach, come to think of it – it can hurt you BIG time in the long run.
Here are the reasons:
a) Any smart person will know the he or she has been “used” for your cause
b) Very rarely will the other person be “as open as before” to fulfill your requests for help. He or she may not say “No” but can come up with a great excuse as to why that may not be the “right” time for them.
c) Getting a “free ride” can become a habit for you and may hurt your other relationships
d) Most important: Any sensible person would want to protect his or her network. If this person feels that someone in their network may be taken for a “free ride” it is in the person’s best interest that he or she not connect you to anyone in their network. You have not only lost an opportunity to make any other request to this person, you ALSO LOST an opportunity to make any request to any member of this person’s network through this person.
I can go on but I think the point is already made. The cost of the “short-term advantage” you will gain by the “Use and go” attitude is not worth it.
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Note 1: Here is a Squidoo lens that links to most of the previous articles in this series:
Squidoo: Distinguish Yourself
Note 2: The first 25 entries in the series have been packaged in a ChangeThis manifesto that was published on September 07, 2005. You can download that manifesto here:
ChangeThis Manifesto: 25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself (PDF, Free)
Note 3: My latest manifesto on ChangeThis was published on August 6, 2008. This is a photographic manifesto featuring 15 of my mini sagas (stories in exactly 50 words). Here is the link:
ChangeThis Manifesto: Mini Sagas – Bite Sized Lessons for Life and Business (PDF, Free)
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Main Page.
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