Archive for 'Leadership'
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 24 Nov 2008, 1:07 AM - 1 Comment
Everyone is unique. You are unique. I am unique too. We both know that.
The sad story is that rather than capitalizing on that uniqueness, many will struggle to conform to what’s around them. But with the same vigor, they want to be treated differently too.
That leads to a complex situation, a dilemma actually – there is a need to the same in the eyes of the members of a group but at the same time there is a need to “stand out from the crowd” from members outside the group (and may be even from members within the group)
How do you break out of the stalemate situation?
By remembering that the while the group likes conformity what it requires more is “value” to the group. If you can provide “significant value” to the group, a bit of non-conformity is forgiven. If you bring no value to the group, conformity alone won’t get you extra points.
You “stand out” not just because you want to stand out but because of the “value” you bring to the group. Unfortunately, you can’t wish to “stand out” – you have to act!
Have a great week ahead!
Posted under Leadership.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 14 Oct 2008, 8:40 AM - 4 Comments
I have been following Sramana Mitra’s writings for a long time now. She has a new book called “Entrepreneur Journeys” that was published earlier this month. It is a collection of in-depth interviews with movers and shakers in the technology world.
Quick bio of Sramana Mitra
Sramana Mitra has been an entrepreneur and a strategy consultant in Silicon Valley since 1994. Her fields of experience span from hard core technology disciplines like semiconductors to sophisticated consumer marketing industries including fashion and education. Her current focus, however, is primarily in the realms of Web 3.0 and Enterprise 3.0, and related infrastructure. She has a particular interest in Media and Retail companies and their transition to a Web-centric world.
I had a chance to discuss her new both with Sramana and here are the excerpts:
RS: What is “Entrepreneur Journeys” about? What motivated you to create a series?
SM: I am deeply interested in mentoring entrepreneurs and teaching them how to build companies.
As a self-taught entrepreneur myself, much of my learning came from my own mentors – coffees, conversations, dinners – through which they told me their stories, shared their insights.
Entrepreneur Journeys is my attempt to capture that knowledgebase and institutionalize it, so entrepreneurs all over the world can vicariously experience those conversations, those dinners, lunches, coffees which I have been fortunate to have access to, and through which I built myself up.
Series? There are so many stories, and so much tribal knowledge. I want to capture a great deal of it, and leave it as a resource for those coming after. And for those in all the emerging markets.
RS: The book provides a snapshot of the entrepreneurs at a point in time? What is your plan to keep it “alive”?
SM: I don’t think the “time” is so critical as the “lessons”. I think the lessons are timeless.
RS: If there was a common theme across all the interviews in Volume 1, what is it?
SM: Inspiration. In later volumes, I will be zeroing in on more specific themes like Bootstrapping, Positioning, Innovation, etc. This one is meant to be pure inspiration, which is why it ends with Harish Hande’s story.
RS: What were some things that surprised you from the responses?
SM: Assuming you are asking about the responses from the entrepreneurs whose stories I have told, I think the surprise element is in how deep and detailed they were all willing to get with their stories. Over time, as I started getting more clarity myself on what I want to do with this body of work, I got better at explaining to the entrepreneurs what I want to focus on. That helped create more engaging, meaningful conversations – well beyond the bragging that comes in traditional PR. And now that this volume is out, it is very easy to explain to entrepreneurs exactly what I am trying to accomplish with the series.
RS: I know that people have to buy the book to get everything but would you please give a sneak preview of some of the lessons from these interviews?
SM: As I said in the book, what you will learn from the book is going to be personal and subjective. What I want people to learn is that entrepreneurship – successful entrepreneurship – is a very achievable goal. Not something to be scared of. Not something to put off until next year, and then next year, and then next life. Get going with it, is my advice.
RS: Sramana, the book has great content. Why chose the self-publishing option when you could have easily got a big-name publisher to get this book out?
SM: I have only done the Amazon deal so far. I have not sold the non-Amazon rights, and am in discussions to sell that with other publishers. I wanted a fast-track way to get this book series out ASAP. Traditional publishers take very long to get their acts together, and frankly, I don’t operate with those timelines. Besides, I got a great royalty structure plus lots of other goodies from my “special” deal with Amazon. It gave me an opportunity to be an entrepreneur and disrupt an industry. You can imagine how attractive that is for someone with my profile.
Posted under Leadership.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 22 Jul 2008, 5:38 PM - 4 Comments
Michael Kanazawa and I met almost a year ago at the 800-CEO-Read Pow Wow event in Chicago, a gathering of authors and thought leaders in business and leadership. I joined Mike for his launch party of his new book BIG Ideas to BIG Results in April of this year and more recently had a chance to catch up and talk about his work.
Michael is a leading authority on the topics of corporate transformation and strategy execution. He serves as chief executive of Dissero Partners, a consulting firm focused on helping companies more quickly and predictably turn their BIG Ideas into BIG Results. He has worked with numerous high growth companies and global corporations including AT&T, Anadigics, Intel, PG&E, Schlumberger and Symantec. He has been quoted and featured in major media, including Fox Business News, the Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. He also blogs at www.bigideastobigresults.com.
ChangeThis.com recently published his manifesto titled, “People Don’t Hate Change, They Hate How You’re Trying to Change Them.” It has created a good buzz and I wanted to ask him a few more questions about it.
Here is our discussion…
RS: Why do so many leaders find it difficult to lead change and transformations in their organizations?
MK: First, many of us are promoted into management and leadership jobs with no experience or knowledge of how to effectively lead major change efforts. We don’t learn these skills through school or in most leadership development programs at corporations. And with an overall success rate of change programs at 33%, based on over 40 studies on effectiveness, chances are we’ve all lived through a lot more botched efforts than successful ones in our careers. Many people go into these efforts underestimating the time and care required to get it right.
RS: I’ve heard you talk about doing “more on less.” Can you explain more about that and how it relates to driving change and success?
MK: In many organizations there is little time for strategic thinking, prioritization of work or thinking through effective resource allocation. Every group is running fast against their own goals and often out of alignment with other divisions. Organizations end up in tactical overload. As resources get spread thin or cost cutting is done, leaders fall back on the old rallying cry, “we just need to do more with less!” In the end, these organizations get stuck in gridlock and progress comes to a grinding halt.
One of the big impediments to change is that people are so overloaded with firefighting on a daily basis that they can’t get out in front of things to do fire prevention work or to create strategic change. Shifting your mindset to doing “more on less” can help you and your team to get your work under control and deliver results more quickly on the few initiatives with the greatest business impact.
RS: For an IT leader, what is the best way to help the company change to adopt a new technology solution?
MK: First, if the IT department is implementing technology projects that are not clearly focused on delivering on the top strategic goals of the business, this is tough. Often IT and other departments are working to implement against their own priorities. In companies with weak strategic alignment, departments end up working at odds with each other. In this case, IT leaders need to work with the senior executive team to generate proper alignment between operations and technology goals.
Now, assuming that the company is aligned to a single focus, then the challenge is in engaging end-users to build their ownership and accountability from the beginning. Generating a high-engagement approach to needs assessments, user requirements documents and prototype testing can be a key to success up front.
RS: I know you have said that people should eliminate “buy-in” as a step in change management processes. Can you explain that further?
MK: Many companies put a “buy-in” step between a planning and execution phase. It is viewed as the trigger to get the troops involved in the effort. The problem with this approach is that it is typically too little, too late, to have a real impact on ownership and accountability. People do not like to have change inflicted on them and have no input to things that will impact their daily lives.
As I explain in the eBook, “People Don’t Hate Change, They Hate How You’re Trying To Change Them,” we need to eliminate the concept of “buy-in” as a late step in a change effort. The best way to ensure that people will be ready to implement a change is to engage them in the process of planning the things that will impact them. Clearly there are times when this can’t happen, like when acquisitions of public companies are happening, but those are exceptions to the rule.
RS: Is there one manager you remember working for who left a lasting impression on how you do things today?
MK: Michael Jimenez was my first boss as I left college and went to work for a financial services company as a credit manager (trainee). I went to him with my first loan package and was waiting to fill out the “Approved or Not-Approved” field on the form. He looked at it and said, “fill in your answer first and then we’ll talk about your decision.” I had questions and wanted to get his input to help make the decision, but he sent me back to make my own decision. I filled in “Approved” and he started asking me questions about why that was my decision and did I look at various analyses in making the decision. I had missed a couple and went back to do those. I came back and stood by my decision with him. He said, “Yeah, that looks right. Good decision.” That made my day. My confidence went way up and I was learning how to exercise judgment and having to live by my decisions.
There were other loans where I didn’t make the right call, but he never told me to change my answer. He would simply ask questions until I stumbled upon the same data or perspective that he was looking at and could true up my decision. He had me engaged and taking ownership of the decisions from day one. I was engaged and accountable. If he just had me filling out forms and stacking paperwork for him to make decisions on, the way other branch managers treated trainees, my experience would have been totally different. That was a great lesson.
Again, you can find out more about Michael at:
1. Company: www.disseropartners.com
2. Book: www.bigideastobigresults.com
3. Manifesto: People Don’t Hate Change, They Hate How You’re Trying to Change Them
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By Rajesh Setty on Mon 11 Jun 2007, 9:50 PM - 5 Comments
When people owe me things (examples: status of a project, document that they promised to send) but I don’t hear back from them on the due date, I get a bit confused.
Here is my dilemma.
I don’t know if
* They have completed the task but forgot to send me a note OR
* They had a problem completing the task OR
* They forgot about the task OR
* They are waiting for more information from me OR
* They didn’t know that THEY were supposed to do the task OR
* There is something else that I don’t know.
I checked with a few other CEOs to see if they face this problem. Their answer - “Many times”!
Having been in leadership positions for more than a decade, I know that when I don’t get the “progress” report on time, the reason is mostly because there was no “progress” to report. I guess I would like to know even when there is no “progress”. May be a “No Progress” report?
Action Item:
How about taking an inventory of all your projects today. If people are expecting a progress report but you have no progress report, how about sending them a “No Progress” report and remove their stress a bit. They can deal with the situation better if they at least know that there was “no progress”.
Posted under Leadership, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 31 Oct 2006, 9:22 PM - 1 Comment
What has a Haiku got to do with the need for us to have great teachers throughout our life?
Consider the following Haiku:
When I look carefully,
I see the nazumia bloomingby the hedge!
- Basho, Zen mystic and master
Nazunia is a common flower – grows by itself by the side of the road.
What did you understand from the above? If you were like me, it wouldn’t be much. It is so simple that we may read it once and move on.
I was reading Osho’s book “Intuition” where he disects a bit deeper into this poem of three lines. Here is what I got from that analysis:
The last syllable – kana in Japanese – is translated by an exclamation mark as there is no easy translation for kana. Kana really means “I am amazed!”
So, what is the Haiku hinting? That when you look at something attentively or with caring even a nazunia can transform itself into a lotus. Remember the old saying – “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” The point is that if someone can see something fascinating in a nazunia, the whole world can look better for him or her.
Now, isn’t it clear without a doubt that we need great teachers throughout our life? Anybody can identify the extraordinary. Great teachers discover extraordinaty from within the ordinary.
Posted under Leadership, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Wed 25 Oct 2006, 2:50 PM - 1 Comment
There are lot of VERY rich people in this world. Most of these people have the power to make a difference to the world in general. Very few have the desire to do so. Bill and Melinda Gates foundation is a shining star in this respect setting an example on “what could be” possible.
An example of how the foundation works can be seen below:
As an example, our Global Development Program
works with an organization called Opportunity International on a
relatively simple technology that is helping women in Malawi save their
children from destitution. In Malawi, life expectancy is about 37
years. When a man dies, his parents and siblings often seize his
possessions and his money, leaving his wife and children with nothing.
Opportunity International helps by distributing “smart cards.” These
cards are similar to our ATM cards, and they let women keep money in
super-secure savings accounts that are protected by a thumbprint
scanner. Only the cardholder herself can access the account, using her
unique thumbprint. Smart cards have become so popular in Malawi that
they’re now regularly given as gifts at wedding showers.
Please read and be inspired by this letter over there on their site
Our Values: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
It almost feels like GOD’s work!
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By Rajesh Setty on Sat 23 Sep 2006, 8:59 AM - 2 Comments
I have always been fascinated by good questions. Three of my mentors most of the time just do that – ask great questions and make me THINK. I think I am smart enough to find good answers (or get help) but I miss asking great questions to myself.
For the many things that I thank GOD everyday – one of them is the opportunity to meet with a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs. It is fascinating to watch those ideas at their budding stage and then bloom into full life. Coming back to the point, I collected ten questions from the field and suggested a better versions of the same for your consideration.
1. Typical question: What is the business idea we should execute on?
Better question: Who should I build the business with?
My $0.02: Your idea is important but more important is your team. Teams have to transcend ideas and hence the right team is the #1 requirement.
2. Typical question: How can I find a great VC to fund this?
Better question: How can a great VC find me to build “a” company?
My $.02: Like many things in life, you will get money when you least need it. When is a good time to get a line of credit? When everything is going well. When is a good time to raise money? Way before you need it. A few entrepreneurs (very few) have standing commitments from investors about investments in their new ventures. Aiming to become one such entrepreneur is more fun than hunting for capital going door-to-door.
3. Typical question: When should we be profitable?
Better question: When should we be cashflow positive?
My $.02: We have known of companies that are profitable but crash and burn. The key reason is that the leaders took their eye off the cashflow required. Without cash, the company has no oxygen to survive.
4. Typical question: How can we build cool stuff into this product?
Better question: How can we build useful stuff into this product?
My $.02: You should not build cool stuff just because it’s cool.
5. Typical question: What can we do to eliminate competition?
Better question: How can we execute better than our competition?
My $.02: Ideas are just that – ideas. Once an idea is out in open, all it matters is execution. If you can execute better than your competition, you win!
6. Typical question: When should I start building good relatinoships that will help this project?
Betterquestion: When should I start building good relationships?
My $.02: You can’t build good relationships because you can “use” them. You have to build good relationships. Period. In fact, a better way to build good relationships is to see how you can help them with their goals.
7. Typical question: How much ownership should I retain so that I am in full control?
Better question: How much should I share so that everyone in the team feels that they are an owner too?
My $.02: You can have a small piece of something big or a big piece of nothing. The choice is yours.
8. Typical question: How can I package this company to sell it?
Better question: How can I build an asset that is so attractive that buyers will come looking for it?
My $.02: Many times – someone wanting to “buy” you will fetch you a higher value than when you want to “sell” to someone.
9. Typical question: How can we convince our customers to pay higher price for our products?
Better question: How can we demonstrate to our customers that our products provide higher value?
My $.02: Simply put, customers will pay a higher price for your product if they find a higher value in it. No scheming required.
10. Typical question: How can I learn to eliminate the risk in this business?
Better question: How can I learn to be comfortable with the unknown?
My $.02: Entrepreneurism and risk go hand-in-hand. Rather than wishing away that “risk” will go away, try to see how you can learn to handle risk and be comfortable with it.
For my lens on “Questions” please visit
Squidoo Lens: The Power of Questions
Posted under Leadership, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Wed 20 Sep 2006, 10:30 PM - 1 Comment
Being originally from India, I had to talk someday about Cricket. It is almost my duty 
Just kidding – I am using something from cricket to make a point.
This was a comment made about a player in the recently concluded match in Kuala Lumpur
“If he scores runs, it is attractive, a sight to
behold. I want my players to learn from a guy like that, he’s an exceptional talent.”
“Seeing him bat, there’s not much you can do sometimes. He is such a
perfect batsman that on occasions, you see guys struggle and he does
not. I’m happy that he has come back and is scoring runs because such a
great player needs to come to the fore.”
What was interesting was that this comment was made by Brian Lara (Captain of the West Indies team) on Sachin Tendulkar (star player from India)
When was the last time you showed this kind of respect to someone from your competition?
Hats off to Lara! There is a lesson for the rest of us there.
PS – some related reading:
Ways to distinguish yourself – #77 Treat your competition with respect
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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 Mon 12 Jun 2006, 12:00 AM - 4 Comments
I read about one business book a week. I get to about 80-100 in an year. Not all are good but I get my fair share of good business books every year. I have been doing this for more than ten years now and it has served me well. People ask me why I am obsessed with books. I am providing my reasons with a sincere hope that some of you will identify them as your reasons too:
1. Saving time:
My first company was the fastest company on earth. It started and crashed in a matter of months. I experienced the value of experience first hand. I don’t have time to learn all the lessons through my own experience. It might be costly.
2. Saving money:
The first thing to know is we may not be able to afford bringing in the thought leader to consult for us. Second, the thought leader may not have the time to consult with us. Reading their books may be the simplest way to get inside the mind of the thought leader. Thinking about this, you will see that its a steal to pay a $20 or $30 for a book.
3. Research for a song:
Good business books are well researched. I know of several authors having reasonably sized research times that spend months or years before they have enough material for the book. Two great books that come to mind immediately are:
4. Deal with change:
Change is the only thing that is constant they say. The time has now come to upgrade the saying. We have to now say “Change at breathtaking speed is the only thing that is constant.” You need (lots of) help to deal with that change. Business books can be great resources to start preparing yourself for the change.
5. De-commoditization Insurance:
Knowledge workers are getting commoditized at a rapid rate. If you are a knowledge worker, your competition is now global. If you are doing commodity work, there will be someone else in the globe that can do for a fraction of your cost. You HAVE to do something special to NOT be displaced. You can try to invent what you should do differently on your own or you can learn from thought leaders.
6. High ROII:
The return on investment for an interaction (ROII) for a good business book is very high. For a few dollars and a few hours in total, the kind of education that I can get is just awesome.
7. Keeping my mind sharp:
A good business book makes me think. Just like the body needs exercise, the brain needs exercise too. Reading a goob business book or two per week is like taking your mind to a gym.
8. Relationship Building:
There is a saying that all great leaders are readers. While there is no research to prove that conclusively, in my experience I have found that this is true. Since I want to build relationships with great leaders, reading helps me start an intellectual conversation and continuing to read helps me keep the conversation going.
9. Insights on current business concerns.
Business books become famous for several reasons. One of the reasons is the topic of the book. People buy a book because they have concerns in that area and they think that reading that business book will take care of those concerns. By looking at the themes of business books that are getting “hot” I can get an insight into what topics are of prime interest to business people. Being an entrepreneur, these insights helps my own ventures.
Hopefully I have made you think about investing a few more hours of your time to read business books
PS:
—
Now, how much returns you will get from a non-fiction and/or business book will depend on how much you put into this exercise. A while ago, I wrote a note on my thoughts about reading a non fiction book. Here is the link:
For a list of books that have inspired me recently, you can take a look at my squidoo lens
Posted under Leadership, Main Page.
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