School of Inspired Leadership

Theatre Class by Lushin Dubey

2011-03-10T19:01:00.000+05:30

After completing her Masters in History from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi, and a Masters in Science in Continuing Education with emphasis on Special education, from the University of Southern Connecticut, USA, Lushin Dubey taught mentally challenged children for several years in the U.S and India. In 1987, Lushin co-founded KidsWorld, which pioneered youth theatre in India and has staged over 30 productions in English and Hindi. From the 21st to the 25th of March she is conducting Theatre Classes at SOIL

Join us on Monday, March 21 at 10:00am - March 25 at 9:00pm

Peaceful Asia Prosperous Asia-Inspired Leadership Conference 2011

2011-03-10T18:59:00.002+05:30

Peace is more relevant in today’s time of insecurity and interdependence than ever before. And even more relevant is the process through which we tend to acquire peace. We spend most of our working hours at work. Hence organizations play a big role in shaping values of our society. SOIL is privileged to have realized this urgency and is humbly playing its role as the initiator of conversations that bring about peace in Asia. To begin this collective journey towards a peaceful and prosperous Asia, SOIL presents the ‘Inspired Leadership Conference 2011' which will bring together more than 200 inspired citizens from various walks of life including leading Corporate firms, B-schools, Young citizens, Government representatives and the non profit sector to share their perspectives on the nature of peace, the process through which it can be acquired and the reasons we desire peace.

Be a part of the event on: Thursday, March 17 at 9:00am - March 18 at 6:00pm.

For more log onto: http://twurl.nl/6m3t7y

Inspired Leadership Series - Speaker: Deven Arora

2011-03-10T18:57:00.000+05:30

Theme: Principles of growth in Asian Economies

Deven Arora is a Japan based entrepreneur and author who has had rich experience working with GE. Deven Arora, who was a college dropout, proved his persistence and aptitude when he moved to Japan at the age of 27. He has over 31 years of senior management experience working with GE, Medtronic & The Stanley Works. During his tenure with General Electric, he rose through ranks to join The Japanese Board of Directors for GE Yokogawa Medical Systems (GEYMS), becoming the first Indian to have achieved this in the 21-year history of this joint venture.

Deven Arora has particular expertise in addressing the cultural issues of working within Asia-Pacific and a proven history of developing multi-cultural, high performing teams by driving change and achieve demanding business targets. He launched ICONASIA Ltd. in 2003 with offices in Tokyo and Shanghai, bridging European companies with Asian economies through international sourcing, business development and consultancy. His book 'A Yen for Yen: Cashing Big on Dreams' contains wisdom of '36 Years of Learning Leadership in Asia'.

In this leadership session, Deven will share his story and the principles that led to his growth. Hope to see you soon. For more details view: http://twurl.nl/l4ga3r

Understanding Employer Branding

2010-05-20T17:04:00.000+05:30

A “good company tag” is critical to a company’s ability to attract, motivate and retain the best and the brightest, thus gaining competitive advantage in the marketplace. Internationally, those companies that are voted as Best Companies to Work For also yield higher returns for shareholders. In fact, employee attitudes are directly linked with company performance, according to Watson Wyatt’s Human Capital Index. Additionally companies that are considered good employers have a strong identity and image in the marketplace. . Employer branding is the

process of creating an identity and managing the company’s image in its role as an employer.

As organizations are complex, open systems, single interventions are not enough. The employer brand has to be aligned and congruent with what the company delivers to the employee, customer, public and shareholder. The factors that impact the employer brand are:

1.Reputation/ integrity
2.Culture
3.Recruitment / orientation
4.Pay and benefits
5.Work /Life balance
6.Leadership and management
7.Performance management, growth and development

Of these seven factors in the employer branding model, four have proven to be crucial for a large majority of high performing employees. These are:

• Culture

• Pay and benefits

• Leadership and management

• Performance management, growth and development.

Only two of these four factors form a crucial part of the employer brands of majority companies:

• A highly developed culture and outstanding leadership

• Management qualities.

Brand Misalignments

Most employer brands fail to recognize the importance of “performance management, growth and development” and “pay and benefits,” respectively. Delving more deeply into these factors shows where highest misalignments occur. High performers expect:

• Multiple career paths to be open to them

• Supervisors to ask them for feedback

• Regular feedback on their own performance

• A transparent system for determining variable pay.

Most of the employers do not regard these as crucial elements of their employer brand. However, high performers show considerable expectation for their compensation. High performers consider base pay to be the most important part of their compensation package. Interestingly, employees who have high expectations of growth and development opportunities consider variable components of compensation almost as important as base pay, whereas other employees have far greater interest in base pay. High performers believe that their efforts and contributions to the company should be remunerated far above average compensation levels.

Is There a Pattern in Employee Expectations?

As “quality of leadership and management,” “culture,” “pay and benefits” and “growth and development opportunities” are considered to be the most important factors within the employment deal for a vast majority of high-performing employees, is there any pattern in these? Research shows that “Culture” and “leadership and management” are factors that prove to be significantly correlated to each other. Employees who have great interest in culture tend to have high expectations in the quality of leadership and management. A culture that is neither well developed nor aligned with the company’s leadership and management practices is unlikely to appeal to a high performer.
Priorities of Employers of Choice

Employers of choice have built much of their standing on their reputation as “exciting places to work.” They regard their reputation as an essential part of their employer brand and tout

this image among graduating classes and in the job market. Biut there is more to their success than mere smart publicity campaign. The brands of the employers of choice have much higher

congruence with the employment deal expectations of their high performers. This holds especially true for the high quality of their “culture” and the good quality of their “leadership and management.” Most companies only partially meet the expectations of their most valuable employees. Answers to the following questions can avoid such a mismatch. They build a basis on which an employer brand can be built successfully:

• What types of employees are fundamental to the success of the business?

• What do the high-performing employees expect from the company?

Answering the above questions enables the employer to build a brand that reflects its business and culture and is attractive to targeted employees. Besides the company needs to share and live the brand. The employer brand may not remain a secret for HR professionals, but should be widely disseminated and shared within and outside the company. The employers of choice have proven that well-developed employer brands help attract and retain talent. A strong employer brand shows what a powerful means of differentiation an employer branding can be. It can be thus be concluded that a remarkable reputation, perception and image in the job market builds on both the attractiveness in factors that are of fundamental importance to high performers as well as elaborate efforts, which make this attractiveness visible in the job market.
-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Building better ‘First Impressions’

2010-05-20T01:19:00.000+05:30

Controlling our “blink” responses

Experts believe that our awareness of the fact that we make snap (often unconscious) judgments about people and situations can provide the opportunity for controlling our “blink” response. The key is constant awareness of your ability to thin-slice and think without thinking. Then there is the necessity for each of us to be aware of and control our thin-slicing. Experts are now more convinced than ever that we make snap decisions about situations and people, unconsciously, that bring into play all of our biases. For example all candidates interviewed for a position deserve the same treatment and the same attention to factors other than race, religion, appearance and size.

Any decisions that we make based on our thin-slicing must be accompanied by the recognition that we do make important decisions using this process - unconsciously. Take the time to gather a larger pool of data before going with your initial gut reaction. While you may be right, you can be wrong. And, there is the constant opportunity to unconsciously discriminate, make poor hiring and networking choices and to trust or distrust employee stories for all of the wrong reasons. We are challenged to work with people who are not just like us. After we notice the differences (blink), we need to constantly demonstrate that we honour and appreciate the differences.

Knowing Your Body Communications

It's time to get to know your body. If you don't know where you hold your tension, and most people don't, take a tour of your body, so you can know what needs the most loosening - -and exercise. Are you shouldering the world's responsibilities, or perpetually drooping? Or, in your determined drive toward success, do you plant your feet solidly on the ground in a life gesture of hostility, defiance or taking ground? Perhaps you have a forward leaning posture, with the head tilted slightly forward, as if you are ready to spring into action, expressing a lifelong pattern of flight away from psychologically threatening situations, when you thought it was part of your make-up to leap forward to new opportunities. To be depressed is, in fact, to press against yourself. To be closed off is to hold your muscles rigid against the world. Being open is being soft. No instinctive muscle clenching, such as in the jaws. Hardness is being uptight, cold, separate, giving yourself and others a hard time. Softness is synonymous with pleasure, warmth, flowing, being alive, drawing other people toward you rather than forcing them away.

Expressions & Muscles

When you are misaligned and tense, you expend outrageous sums of energy doing the everyday gestures of life. Since the body is a high viscosity substance, that is 60 percent to 80 percent water, the bonds are floating in a relatively fluid environment. Yet, over time, despite that apparent fluidity, you have tightened the muscles around every major experience of pain, fear or anger, and continue to tighten them each time you think you are experiencing similar situations, thus guaranteeing that you make your own pattern of uptightness familiar and increasingly habitual, until it becomes a permanent condition you no longer recognize as not normal. We all hold great muscle tension around certain bones in blind remembrance of fearful events, long after the actual events are often long forgotten. You may never recall what initially made you afraid, but you can note where you body reacted to protect itself and spend more time in your exercise and massage or other body work to relax and loosen those muscle groups. In Western society, people usually hold the tension somewhere in our upper body whereas in many Eastern cultures the tension tends to be held in the lower body. If you don't begin a regular practice of exercise and stretching, you are guaranteed to lose mobility sooner as you age and rob yourself of the most positive and alive personal presence you could offer the world every day.

We go through life making decisions, closing down and limiting ourselves unconsciously. Stay open literally by getting in motion more frequently. Stand and stretch at least every twenty minutes when you are sitting and working. Try to walk, hopefully in sync with someone else, in fresh air and sunlight, at least thirty minutes a day. One of the safest and most natural ways to move closer to others is to walk with them. Walk and talk on the way to the meeting. Walk with your friends/colleagues, rather than sitting with them. Motion is emotional and makes every event more vivid and memorable. Literally move towards the one that matters in your life and loosen up together. Your life may depend on it. In fact, why not get up right now and take a stretch, look around, call someone and suggest a walk.

-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Why ‘Blink’ Matters : The Power Of First Impressions

2010-05-19T12:10:00.000+05:30

Your Body’s A Movie!
Your body is a hologram of your being; a three-dimensional movie that is constantly on, showing others how you feel about yourself and the world. People are consciously reading your body language and they subconsciously react to your bodily signals. As you walk through life, it’s important that your body is saying exactly the same that your spoken words are conveying. The secret is all in understanding a code. It is a most elaborate code that is written nowhere, known by none and yet understood by all." How do others perceive you? How soon do you realize that you are getting tense? How well do you anticipate their unspoken feelings? You ability to understand these signals has an enormous impact on how well you get along with others. Successful people believe their success is attributable to a pattern of mutually beneficial interpersonal relationships, as much as it is due to technical skills or business knowledge. Your communication and the image you present create the first impression - often the lasting impression - on the people you meet.

Blink: First Impression in Seconds
Professional speakers and trainers have long asserted that people make up their minds about people they meet for the first time within two minutes. Others assert that these first impressions about people take only thirty seconds to make. As it turns out, both may be underestimates. According to international research, the ‘first impressions’ decisions may occur much faster - think instantaneously or in two seconds. These findings have serious implications for organizations.

According to this research, we think without thinking, we thin-slice whenever we “meet a new person or have to make sense of something quickly or encounter a novel situation.” This is true as snap judgments are, first of all, enormously quick: they rely on the thinnest slices of experience … they are also unconscious. People thin-slice because they have to, and they come to rely on that ability because there are lots of situations where careful attention to the details of a very thin slice, even for no more than a second or two, can tell us an awful lot. Whenever we have to make sense of complicated situations or deal with lots of information quickly, we bring to bear all of our beliefs, attitudes, values, experiences, education and more on the situation. Then, we thin-slice the situation to comprehend it as quickly as possible. The implications of this concept have astonishing significance for our personal reactions to most situations.

It’s this ability to think without thinking, to make snap decisions about situations and people in a “blink”, has significant implications for how we interview and hire staff. It plays havoc with how we view ourselves and our ability to interact with people who are different than ourselves. It impacts how we develop friendships with people at work. It affects our networking and business relationship building. It affects who we believe in a work disagreement or confrontation. At the same time, this ability we have as humans, to quickly make judgment calls, saves lives, provides interpersonal insight, recognizes fake artifacts, allows us to assess situations and take action quickly and can even predict the future of a relationship. So, it’s not an ability you want to discard, even if your first snap decisions or judgment calls can also be terribly wrong.

-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Customer Service Lessons in Web-enabled world

2010-05-18T05:43:00.000+05:30

Customers are increasingly getting more spoilt for choice thanks to the forever growing range of purchase options and changing lifestyle necessities. All this makes it very difficult for monitoring all the changes and predicting the impact of scores of new trends. Often these force new service compulsions that may put a sudden burden on your stretched staff and finances. For example in these recession hit days, travelers are demanding low cost travel options where discounted travel fare is insufficient. Hence the tour operator has to discover new vacation destinations, cheaper travel option and even cheaper stay destinations without compromising on the quality of experience and travel safety. For this you need to strike low cost deals with your regular hospitality service partners (hotels, restaurants, transporters) without reducing the overall quality of the travel experience. Every vendor in the customer value chain may need to be convinced by you to reduce his profit margins to sustain the traffic volume of tourists. Like low cost hotels could offer shared bus service for guided tours instead of exclusive cabs, while they continue to provide free meals (buffet) and airport pickup and drop facility (again shared bus-trip). Customer intimacy through innovative ‘more-value-for-less’ service packages is key to sustaining better customer loyalty. You can easily collaborate to outsmart bigger competitors, thereby ensuring customer loyalty dividends continue to accrue to you. Additionally you could use growing number of customer referrals to get more business by using real customer testimonials on your website and e-mailers/direct mailers to mailing lists created with active help from delighted customers. This way you will not only spread the good word (customers helping their friends to get the best travel deals) for enhancing their reputation but also significantly reduce your marketing and sales costs (while increasing its effectiveness). These sales effort cost savings can be passed on to further reduce the price of your offerings to make you even more price competitive in difficult times ( a friend in need is a friend indeed!).

Global competition, Local Problems-Thanks to the web, global businesses are now accessible to their customers on a 24X7 basis. It is no longer sufficient for you to be the best business in the local area, as you now have to compete with the world’s best in terms of products as well as customer service innovations e.g. online ordering e-commerce facility for your local clothes boutique. Free trade capitalism is tearing down trade barriers and technology is making even distant global businesses available locally. Thus customers around the world are now flooded by a growing array of competing products and servicing options: all at bargain pricing. Internet savvy customers of today are more spoilt for choice and usually choose the best price and product options. You now need to constantly enhance you web-presence to ensure that its content is regularly updated and local USPs are properly leveraged. For example customers love local availability of urgent service providers like chemist stores. Not mentioning your local address (with area code), telephone numbers and extended business hours could easily kill your many local availability advantages as your website may not show up in local searches in popular search engines. Local SEO of your website is thus a necessity that you need to implement on your business website to sustain higher customer loyalty. For if you’re not there when a customer needs to reach you, how can he be loyal to you? When any of your local contact details change (telephone number, cell phone, additional phone numbers, e-mail IDs, and URLs), you should promptly inform your regular customer base and also update these facts on your website. Keeping your customers in the dark about new changes can harm your business.

-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Observations about self-organizing leadership roles

2010-05-14T13:34:00.001+05:30

Anne Stadler: South African, North American, European and now an India loving yoga instructor + leadership thought leader transforming student lives @ SOIL shares her inspiring leadership evolution realities in today's modern world

My culture’s habits of leadership are drawn from an experience of organizations that value hierarchy and heroic cultural myths. Most of the organizations in our public life have a pyramidal structure that came into being as the organization’s entrepreneurial period gave way to the need for stability. In such a structure, roles are defined and rigidly codified; new possibilities struggle to emerge; power is centralized rather than distributed. Change is experienced as threatening, a struggle, and destructive—to be avoided. Order and control are maintained at all costs.

Is this way of leadership sustainable? What can we learn from natural self-organizing systems that sustain themselves?

In the forest on the way to Second Beach near La Push:
I follow a path that winds among ancient trees and giant stumps. Roots upended in grotesque shapes shelter shallow caves. A cedar looms beside the trail with some of its great branches upraised to embrace both the heavens and the earth. Its roots stand tall as I am, embracing a ghostly nurse log that provided sustenance for its seed a hundred years ago.

Everything grows. Everything finds a niche. The rocks communicate an impression of permanence. The trees give impression of solidity and strength. But uncertainty is the condition of life. The tipped up root bases twenty feet across show how vulnerable these giants are to torrential storms. Mushroom spores remind us of unseen forces at work. Life and death is everywhere. Death gives rise to more life. Only my belief in the permanence of the present moment gives me the illusion of certainty.

As I observe the disorderly order of the forest, I reflect that contrary to my experience with corporate life and such organizations, there are many roles in self-organizing leadership. The one you express freely and congruently is the one that matches in any given moment, your evolutionary need and the evolutionary need of the group. Arnold Mindell calls this being a “time-spirit” in the group. The informal structure--the way things get done-- of any lively group reflects this. Someone shows up as the healer, someone as the teacher, someone as the joker, the mother, etc. and whoever is appropriate for that moment helps that individual and the group thrive and evolve.

Several experiences of living in an open space organization have shown me that when stewardship is vested a circle of leaders, the appropriate leaders emerge at the right time to help the group discover and do the practical work for which it came together. We saw this in Spirited Work, a seven year open space learning community of practice, 1998—2005, (see www.Sunyatagroup.ws, Archived Articles) and in the recent emergence of the Journalism That Matters Pacific Northwest Collaboratory (www.jtmpnw.org)

It is important to know and observe the place we live in, even as we are trying to sort out the human relationships to get work done. The place itself is a vital mirror and guide for how we live well and sustainably.
In organizations that are not aligned with the underlying flow of self-organizing, emergence is characterized by struggle, chaos, conflict, and imposed order. An organization that uses the co-creative practices I’ve identified earlier experiences ease and creative flow.

Disturbance is a navigational signal that the group or individual is out of synch with the underlying processes of Self-organizing. Thus disturbance becomes an invitation for remembering the calling and correcting the course.
My working hypothesis:

In a self-organizing world, sustainable organizations are impermanent, provisional opportunities for creation and practical activity: “collaboratories”, places of experimentation, co-creation and community. We can sustain our joyful participation in the complexity of our living Universe by experimenting with simple practices of co-creation in order to live well, wherever we live, with whomever we attract.

- Anne Stadler - www.soilindia.net

Experience True Freedom: Here's How!

2010-05-13T17:30:00.001+05:30

Anne Stadler: South African, North American, European and now an India loving yoga instructor + leadership thought leader transforming student lives @ SOIL Here she discuses how leaders can leverage the power of meditation to improve themselves and the lives of people around them

Freedom exists when my Self connects to the Self of universal consciousness. Synapse happens when that connection is present. I feel/sense “I am that!” I experience delight, deep peace & flow. Whatever I manifest practically resonates with the Self-organizing at the heart of the living Universe.

Hypothesis: My aim/intention is crucial. It lands me in exactly the consciousness I aim for. My aim: Self to Self; my fire to THE fire at the core of life.So, I begin by dedicating each endeavor, relationship, and activity to serving life.I open my awareness to the unknown, the unnameable, so that my actions may be informed by the larger field of universal consciousness that is life…through meditation.In meditation, I try to divest myself of all stories, preconceptions, assumptions & expectations about the situation, person, or place that I’m attached to.

I follow delight, my sense of “Yes!”

I embrace what/who I attract.

I listen.

I pay attention (observe). I notice whether I am attached to something or irritated by it, and practice releasing that in the moment.

I do/make as love/attraction/guidance calls me.

I learn.

I reflect.

I complete what I am called to do.

I give thanks and celebrate.

I’m doing this practice daily as well as in the midst of collective activities I am called to do, with the same habitual regularity as brushing my teeth.

A Collective Practice:

“A mass of fire reaching upward from earth into the heavens is the robust, united, burning, radiant soul.”Emerson

What are essential co-creative patterns that foster a mass of fire—the united burning, radiant soul-- leading to evolution and wholeness?

Here are the minimal patterns and practices I, with others, have been noticing and experimenting with.

Treat everything as a learning opportunity.

Start by asking a question:

What are we called to do here together that we cannot do separately?

This opens me/us to the field of learning/action appropriate at this moment. It surfaces the manifestation possibility emerging from the universal intelligent field. Then invite a small group of people essential to the undertaking. In self-organizing system, a larger group or community forms from a small group, a fractal of itself.

We focus on these questions:

1. What is the calling we’re answering?

2. Who are we? What experience does each bring? What gifts?

3. Where are we?

4. What can we do together?

5. Who else needs to be here with us? Then WE invite and welcome a wider circle of others: extending and attracting a larger circle that reflects the “whole”.

Welcome: (the circle of the whole)

Hosting is essential. ALL work in co-creative relationship IS a gift exchange: I/We/Now! The purpose of welcome and hosting is assuring people that just as they are, they belong in that circle of relationship and are essential to the well-being of all.

At the beginning of any gathering, people need to know:

1. What is the purpose of the gathering, and the question we are addressing?

2. Who am I, and am I welcome just as I am?

3. Where are we? Walk around, look, and listen to the place we are in.

4. What is the abundance that has come together?

5. What are the gifts each one is bringing?

Exchange gifts: What are we here to do together?

Invite each person to take responsibility for what they love & care about in relation to the purpose and calling question; either through opening a marketplace as in Open Space Technology, or via another method of self-organizing, so that people can initiate a gift exchange of inquiry and potential action.

This affords the opportunity for my evolving Self to engage with others’ evolving Selves in service of the collective’s evolution. It is the gift exchange that IS the root of the word “community” (From the Latin: “com”, meaning “together”; “munus”, meaning “gift”.)

After a period of action/exchange, reassemble the whole circle:

1. Converge: What is the synthesis that this particular circle has to offer? Using all intelligences, working in small self-chosen groups, bring forth the synthesis of new knowledge that each group can offer in answering the question for which the whole circle assembled.

2. Reflect: What is the “aha”, the transformational learning gift we each want to offer so the group can learn as a whole? What wants to happen next?

3. Celebrate/Close: What is the appreciating and celebrating we want to do as we close this particular chapter in the life of this particular circle?

- Anne Stadler - www.soilindia.net

Fusion Brand Marketing Mantras

2010-05-13T10:27:00.000+05:30

According to latest global marketing research reports, online-offline coordinated brand marketing consistently boosts brand impact at 60% less cost than piling on more offline advertisements in the right conditions. Marketers need not abandon traditional, offline efforts entirely; but should add better researched online promotions to current campaigns. Media combinations grab greater attention as multiple media together has greater impact than an individual medium on its own. Fusion brand marketing approach is here to stay. Here's how it helps and should be sustained:

Momentum boosts conversion- Consumers today prefer to gather comparative information about products / services from online and offline sources to make a better informed decision. Each media exposure builds on the other by helping the consumer in its unique way, at different stages in the buying cycle. If the brand messaging is consistent across various online and offline media, the repetition captures and retains consumer's attention better. This increases chances of a higher conversion rate.

Sustained relationship-building increases repeat business - Integrating offline and online mediums increases customer touch-points leading to a stronger relationship. Email fulfillment / event invitations to offline customers are cost effective and user friendly their readership can be tracked (click-throughs). Similar an offline event can build an online learning community of loyal customers.

Interactivity increases marketing efficiency - Internet Marketing offers the unique opportunity to engage customers in a convenient manner that can supplement offline initiatives. Offline business can register participants online for a special promotional scheme and then interact with consumers to even gauge their preferences. Intelligent tracking of the overall campaign performance with coordinated online and offline campaigns effectively eliminate waste.

Intelligently executed online-offline commercials build brand impact with target audience much better than expensive commercials with beautiful celebrities. Real people love authenticity conveyed to them in a convenient manner.

-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Smart Brand Building

2010-05-12T03:56:00.000+05:30

Businesses can save time and money by proactively evaluating important customer needs from their online presence/offerings. Their web-presence and the overall marketing plan should be cohesively integrated to compliment each other for meet organizational goals cost effectively. Every brand marketing initiative needs to support and enhance the other – seamlessly. Small & Medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that lack the marketing budgets of their larger competitors are amongst the greatest gainers from internet marketing and online customer services.

Internet marketing is highly adaptive; thanks to its ability to monitor ongoing results accurately and quickly change ongoing campaigns in real time for best possible results and Return on Investment. Online branding can greatly benefit from proven traditional/offline marketing initiatives like yellow pages advertisements, direct mail and display advertisements.

Similarly brick-and-mortar businesses need to effectively leverage Internet to promote themselves and get more business. Leveraging the synergies of online and offline brand innovations together can help you maximize impact of even a shoestring marketing budget.

Branding Success Mantra-Follow the customer
‘Customer is the king’ and brand- marketing' primary motive is to serve the information needs of the targeted customers. As it is expensive and risky to change consumer habits, integrated marketing strategies need to follow customer preferences rather than creating them where traditional marketing methods are firmly entrenched. For example, in case of popular sports events, television is the primary means of viewing them.

Web based brand-marketing needs to compliment the offline viewing by intelligently made contests and co-branded (with the sports event brand) informative advertisements / memorabilia. At the same time smart TV advertisement placements can drive traffic to the web based advertisement for special promotional sales related to the sporting event. A well planned media plan creates the required customer attention.

Significantly it also generates useful leads with word of mouth /viral advertising as interested fans spread the word around of compelling campaigns. The brand promotional synergies these online-offline commercials generate build a sustainable brand salience, provided it makes a tangible difference to consumers’ life. Hence while TV advertisements en-cash the mass appeal of sporting events; the online promotions leverage the convenience and interactivity of the web medium.

The increased time consumers spend engaging with the online and offline advertisements of these brands in positive ways allows smart marketers to build higher awareness and brand preference

-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Online Branding Benefits

2010-05-11T05:12:00.000+05:30

Transforming marketing-Online medium has changed many rules of branding, customer services and even product packaging. Growing global competition with the customer spoilt for choice at the click of a mouse makes online branding more challenging than ever. While offline branding can have the luxury of time, e-branding needs to evolve and be relevant to changing needs and tastes instantly.

Localized Focus-Online businesses have the advantage of instantly contacting global customers at a fraction of offline business costs. However this has its own localization challenges. People do not change their preferred choices for the sake of limited offerings of a business; they simply go to the competitor. Online branding thus needs to be adaptive to localized needs instantly. For example for an online apparel store, customers in different geographic regions have varied choices as per their local conditions. Depending on the local IP of the e-visitor the online store front presents locally relevant branding (culture, tone) and product offerings.

Friendly adaptive branding-Majority of customers are averse to dramatic changes and appreciate brands that are friendly and adaptive to their changing needs i.e. speak their language and are simple. Online branding needs to narrow its focus viz. target regions rather than be generalist. Brand campaigns need to be highly interactive too to succeed in today’s customer focused online business environment.

Technologically Superior -The web gives a technological edge over offline branding mediums. For example an online advertisement not only informs but also facilitates purchase fulfillment through secure e-commerce transaction. Different types of online promotions can even allow online customers to engage in e-conversation with others users for a better informed choice, without having to move. Online branding thus leverages technology to add new paradigms to customer convenience.
- Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Transforming Failures into Success

2010-05-08T09:47:00.000+05:30

The Truth behind Failure

The HR is always hard working, talented, and committed as a team, yet people can easily fall prey to circumstances beyond their control and find themselves in the midst of a failure. In reality, the real tragedy of today’s business environment is not the opportunity lost because of the failure; rather, it is our response to those feelings of failure. Underneath the surface, there are three hidden emotions tied into our feelings of failure that we don’t typically talk about. They are fear, guilt, and discouragement. These emotions sabotage our long-term success because they rob us of our God-given talents, passion, and purpose. For example, fear immobilizes us in the present, guilt makes us look back at things we should have done or done differently in the past, and discouragement saps us of hope for the future. When fear, guilt, and discouragement gang up, they not only rob us of our strength to overcome adversity, but they also rob us of our destiny.
Transforming Failure into Success

Over the years, our culture has done us a great injustice. We’ve been taught that winning is everything and losing is to be avoided at all costs. As a result, we live a life desperate to avoid feelings of failure. The truth is that failure is a necessary component for our long-term success. These five principles will help you transform feelings of failure into motivations for success.

1 Failure knocks our ego down a notch
Often; our egos give us a false sense of power, which ultimately can cause our demise. When our ego gets too big, it’s easy to lose focus on what’s really important because we try to control those things we have no control over. Ken Blanchard, a well-known author, defines ego as “Edging God Out.” Failure has a tendency to knock our ego down. While this can be painful, it teaches us to let go of things beyond our control. We learn that the world doesn’t revolve around us. This is an important lesson because we come to understand that our work is about serving a purpose beyond ourselves. It’s at this point where we begin to relax. Because we’re no longer in control, purpose takes over where fear once resided, forgiveness overtakes our guilt, and hope replaces discouragement. How often does your ego prevent you from turning failure into success?

2 Short-term failure is a stepping-stone for long-term success
A common thread of all great leaders is their use of failure as a springboard to success. Rather than an obstacle, failures become stepping-stones for their personal growth. When we take the time to look, we find that every setback has a blessing in disguise. Just as success leaves clues, so does failure. The key is to look beyond the immediate feelings of failure and discover all the possibilities that await. How can you use failure to your advantage?

3 Failure gives us freedom
Too many people stay in situations they dislike simply because they’re afraid of failure. They prefer to stay inundated with urgent daily pressure because their fear of failure makes them work harder and harder. Often these people try to keep their grasp on the façade of being successful. What these people don’t realize is that failure actually gives them freedom. They now have the freedom to pursue other interests, to open a new business, to find a more fulfilling line of work, to secure a job with better hours or better pay, and even to design a life that offers a better balance between work and family. Before you dwell in the depths of failure, ask yourself, “How can my failure give me freedom?”

For Failure makes us grow stronger…
Whether we like it or not, failure is a part of life. The question is whether it makes us weaker or stronger. An insightful person once said, “Life is a grindstone; whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends on what you’re made of.” We can become victims of circumstance and let failure break us or we can grow in character and allow failure to shape us. Many times, it’s not the big failure that harms us; rather, it’s a series of small failures that wear us down and discourage us, which is the worst ill of all. Discouragement causes us to die a slow emotional death. It happens over time without our ever realizing it. It’s during times of failure that our character is developed. We need to have the courage to move forward with perseverance when we have no energy and want to give up. Instead of letting feelings of failure rob you of hope, ask yourself, “How can I persevere today?”

-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Pointers to HR- Supporting Mentoring As a Culture

2010-05-07T04:18:00.000+05:30

If HR wants to establish a mentoring culture within the organization, here are some proven mentoring best practices.

•Set organizational goals. Don’t establish a mentoring program just because it is a good business practice. Develop a mentoring program based on solid business goals such as increasing diversity or making your organization a better place to work.

•Find out why the talented employees you wanted to keep left you. Talented employees want exciting challenges and great development opportunities. They leave because they are bored. Mentoring is a key to attracting and retaining talented employees.

•Develop people to their fullest potential. In order to develop your people, provide training opportunities, challenging projects and assignments, feedback, coaching and mentoring. In one study with people who had experienced real mentors, half of them said the mentoring experience “changed my life.” Those are powerful words.

•Foster mentoring for women and minorities. Ten years ago, when I began a new job, I sat with female colleagues during company presentations, and wondered, “Why are the guys up there and we’re not?” One of my first job assignments was to develop and manage a mentoring program. We included a special group mentoring program for women. Today, many of the young women I knew ten years ago at that company, have, in fact, climbed onto the stage themselves. Mentoring helped move women into the ranks of vice president, senior vice president and division president.

•Point to the money. Losing talented employees and wasting talent costs companies money.
Two points that are often missed by most HR departments when it comes to spreading the mentoring culture, but are really important from an employee perspective are:

•Allowing mentoring to continue past retirement. The trait most attributed to older employees is the willingness to give maximum effort. These employees are also rated as highly results-driven, very likely to retain what they learn; and low on their need for supervision. Many of the older employees plan to work at least part-time past the traditional retirement age. These characteristics demonstrate eager workers who may be well suited to be brought back as consultants and mentors after their retirement.

•Ensuring that the mentoring is compatible with people’s values and work style. Mentoring involves being collegial, talking, sharing (not telling), and developing solutions together. It is also optimistic, which is typical of most employees. We’ve found that when generations work together in strategic, business-related activities such as mentoring, everyone benefits. The mentee builds new business knowledge, and the mentor often gets reenergized and reengaged in business opportunities. We find unique satisfaction in nurturing these synergistic relationships.

-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Making Enterprise-wide Mentoring Successful

2010-05-06T11:41:00.000+05:30

Don’t establish a mentoring program just because it is a good business practice. Develop a mentoring program based on solid business goals such as increasing diversity or making your organization a better place to work. Here are ways to ensure mentoring is successful enterprise-wide:

Provide new perspectives. Encourage older workers to stop defining themselves in terms of their job titles and start reflecting on skills they have built, and knowledge that they have amassed. Today, jobs are about more than just upward mobility. Mentors can share their vision and career histories so that younger employees understand what they can learn through lateral career moves and on the job experience.

Share information. Mentoring can help employees quickly learn about other levels within the organization. Says one mentor at a Fortune 1000 company, “As a leader, it has helped me to see the obstacles we inadvertently put in people’s development.” Mentoring can also help mature employees learn from and understand other generations. For instance, younger employees can help baby boomers with technical skills or provide marketing insights about a new generation of buyers.

Build skills. Mature workers benefit from being mentors by having the chance to learn more about and practice listening and coaching – skills which require maturity, confidence and experience to fully employ.

Reduce generational conflict. Most frequently reported generational conflicts are differing expectations regarding work hours, certain behaviors at work (e.g., use of cell phones), and acceptable dress. Another common issue is feeling that co-workers from other generations do not respect one another. Organizations can reduce generational friction with effective communication, team building, mentoring and recognizing the efforts of all workers.

Enable knowledge transfer. As older employees retire, they take with them volumes of experience and information. Good working relationships between older and younger generations are critical in ensuring that this institutional knowledge is not lost as mature workers retire. The greater the mix of generations in an organization’s workforce, the more important knowledge transfer becomes and the more powerful intergenerational synergy can be. Mentors can often manage, explain and process this information differently and at times more effectively than managers.

In our experience, we have seen older employees are reluctant to mentor younger employees because they are afraid that once they share their knowledge, they will become extraneous and lose their jobs. In fact, in today’s fast-paced business environment, it is the SMEs (subject matter experts) who can capably and articulately share what they know who are the most valuable to their organizations.
Reward, mature employees for mentoring. To entice experienced employees to become mentors, organizations should reward and recognize them for their contributions.

Talk up mentoring in meetings, in speeches, in newsletters, in performance appraisal discussions and include mentoring in corporate awards programs. And, most important, don’t replace mature mentors with their mentees before they retire or mentors will quickly conclude that being a mentor is a very bad idea.

Ask mature employees about someone who enabled them to succeed. In one study of people who had experienced effective mentoring, half of them said the mentoring experience “changed my life.” Those are powerful words. It is equally powerful to know that you were the person who changed someone else’s life.

Share mentoring results. Study after study in which mentors and mentees are asked how satisfied they are with the relationship report that the mentors are more satisfied. It just feels good to help someone else. Says one mentor; “It has been rewarding to be able to help people at critical stages of their career by helping them analyze where they are in their careers. Mentoring gets people in the right groove for long term career success.”
-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Handling negativity complexities in organization

2010-05-04T16:28:00.001+05:30

When You Are Not in Control of the Negativity
Negativity often occurs when people are impacted by decisions and issues that are out of their control. Examples of these include: corporation downsizing; understaffing that requires people to work mandatory overtime; budget reductions; and upper-management decisions that adversely impact members of your staff. Under these circumstances, as a Human Resources professional, try some of the following ideas.
•Identify any aspects of the situation that you can impact including providing feedback in your organization about the negative impact that is occurring. (Sometimes decisions are made and no one understands or predicts their outcome. Sometimes you can influence an issue or a decision if you practice personal, professional courage and speak your mind.
•Listen, listen, and listen. Often people just need a sounding board. Be visible and available to staff. Proactively schedule group discussion sessions, town meetings, "lunches with the manager," or one-on-one blocks of time.
•Challenge pessimistic thinking and negative beliefs about people, the company, and the work area. Don't let negative, false statements go unchallenged. If the statements are true, provide the rationale, the corporate thinking, and the events that are responsible for the negative circumstances. Share everything you know about a situation to build trust with the workforce.
•Ask open-ended questions to determine the cause, and the scope of the negative feelings or reaction. Maybe it's not as bad as people think; maybe their interpretation of events is faulty. Helping people identify exactly what they feel negatively about is the first step in solving the problem. You can't solve a fog of unhappiness. Help people create options, feel included, and feel part of the communication and problem solving.
•Recognize that, sometimes, a negative outlook may be appropriate.

Working with Others Who Are Negative
If the negativity emanates from an individual, we can:
•Inform the employee about the negative impact her negativity is having on co-workers and the department. Use specific examples that describe behaviours the employee can do something about.
•Avoid becoming defensive. Don’t take the employee’s negative words or attitude personally.
•Focus on creating solutions. Don’t focus on everything that is wrong and negative; focus instead on creating options for positive morale. If the person is unwilling to hold this discussion, and you feel you have fairly heard her out, end the discussion.
•Focus on the positive aspects and contributions the individual brings to the work setting, not the negativity. Help the employee build their self-image and capacity to contribute.
•Compliment the individual any time you hear a positive statement or contribution rather than negativity from them
-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Managing and Solving Workplace Energies

2010-05-03T22:28:00.000+05:30

Workplace Energies
Our workplaces are at times seething with hostility and negativity. No matter where the bad vibes came from, it’s up to us to help make the atmosphere more positive, productive and supportive. As a Human Resources staff member, you usually do not control the situation that is causing the negativity. Perhaps no one in your workplace does. How you address negativity depends on whether you control it and how it started in the first place. The timeliness of your intervention also has an impact. Addressing negativity prevents workplace violence, promotes workplace safety, and creates positive employee morale.

Controlling Organizational Negativity
This is a best case scenario. You have received feedback about negative rumors and you know that the underlying cause of the negativity is based on faulty information, incorrect assumptions, or deliberate misinformation. You may receive feedback that a new policy or procedure is not understood correctly. In each of these circumstances, we have some control over the information, the situation, and the communication. We can solve the problem and communicate well to overcome the negativity.

To influence this situation positively, use a systematic problem-solving process with affected employees to quickly improve identified areas of negativity. Many Human Resources offices launch a complete investigation, and by the time the facts are gathered, the negativity is out of control. Don’t fall for this trap! Include employees who are closest to the negative situation in the problem-solving process. A good cause analysis should be done so that all possible causes of negativity are effectively identified. It is not enough to say, “We have low morale.” You need to identify exactly what is causing low morale to have any chance of improving it. Solicit widespread input to each step of the action plan you develop so that solutions are “owned” across your organization. Involve as many people as you can in its development and in its implementation. Implement your chosen solutions quickly. Then, periodically assess if your work plan is progressing as per agreed milestones. At each step of the problem-solving process, communicate as much information as you have about prevailing negativity and its solutions. When focused solutions selected in your action plan are rolled out, people in the organization are not surprised as they have effectively participated in its information exchange at each step.
-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Humour & Employee Morale

2010-05-02T07:00:00.000+05:30

In today’s uncertain work environment, humor isn’t an option; it’s a necessary way to boost morale. When employees clown around, they’re not wasting valuable time, they’re making use of one of the few tools available to increase and maintain their esprit de corps. Laughter may not change the external reality, but it can certainly help people survive it. This has been proven in some pretty dire situations. Psychologist cite examples of how a group of Auschwitz inmates put on shows to provide laughter for the camp population so as to make jokes to save ourselves from deep depression. Somehow these people, on the brink of death, realized that their morale and survival depended on keeping their ability to laugh alive. As a group, they took the time and energy to make it happen.
Even though nothing could be as horrible as Auschwitz, people in almost all workplaces can learn from this example. Take the time and energy to share humor. Those brave concentration camp inmates proved that humor is a choice, and no matter how much adversity people face, whether at work or in their personal lives, they can still choose laughter. In fact, the worse a situation gets, the more important it becomes to make that choice.

Making It Happen In Your Organization
So what can organizations do to encourage the use of humor as a coping mechanism? We can usually turn boring announcements into a stand-up comedy routine. CEOs/top management should empower people to believe that work should be fun too. They can easily set precedents through their own behavior, and by encouraging employees to enjoy their jobs, they make it safe for the people they employ to use humor by leading the way.
And the payoff? Employees will be more enthusiastic about their work as they will love working for the company because it was so much fun. And their enjoyment will be reflected in higher productivity and better client interactions. In order to help employees use humor, organizations need to provide them with the tools and to set an example. Like in a client organization I started every training group with an exercise called “the rubber chicken toss.” i.e. providing crisis counselors with baskets of toys to use as stress-busters, and made it clear that humor was encouraged as part of our organizational culture. These relatively inexpensive interventions did nothing to change the adversity the group faced, but they did create an atmosphere in which going to work was still fun. I often had crisis line workers tell me that one of the reasons they kept coming back was because of how much fun they had. And if a crisis line, where workers regularly deal with suicide can be made fun, so can any workplace!

Laughter as A Tonic!
As more and more organizations reengineer, merge, restructure, downsize, right size, and even capsize, employees confront uncertainty on an almost daily basis. The rules keep changing in terms of what they’re supposed to do, how they’re supposed to do it, which they do it for, and whether they get to do it at all. And since most have little or no control over the making of these rules, the result is often a sense of powerlessness that translates into increased stress, decreased wellness, demoralization, absenteeism, and lower productivity, all of which affect rates of employee retention. And we all know that people are an organization’s number one asset, and losing them costs money. So the big question for both individuals and organizations is: how do you keep up spirits, continue to work effectively, and maintain health and sanity in a crazy-making situation? I often use my team of welfare workers to spread cheer through events of laughter. This effectively repels despair, cynicism, bitterness, or negativity. As one worker stated, “We could either cry, or we could laugh, but you can only cry for so long. We’d had enough of crying, and it was time to do something else – so we laughed.”
Organizations need to encourage employees to take control over the one aspect of the situation they do control - how they choose to respond to it. And on those days where workers feel overwhelmed, overworked, and have no idea what’s going to happen next, the only rational, life-affirming response is to go find some colleagues, and break out the clown noses, and leverage the energy of life giving humour. And it costs no money and also enhances intelligence as the basis of humour is knowledge combined with empathy.
-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Laughing Your Way to Organisational Health

2010-04-30T04:48:00.000+05:30

Workplace Wellness
Workplace wellness is a serious issue. With terms like "stress-related-illness" and "burnout" becoming household words, organizations are increasingly looking for ways to keep their workforce happy, healthy and productive. Up to now, most organizations tended to devalue the idea of laughter at work, seeing it as a distraction from getting the "real" job done. This attitude is also reinforced by the work ethic many of us were raised with: "No pain, no gain," "Work isn't supposed to be fun – it’s a serious business”.

However, we're starting to realize that all of this suffering is hurting us more. Not only that, but we're finding that it's actually counter-productive to the bottom-line results. And amazingly enough, this is confirmed by scientific research. A recent study conducted at financial institutions found that managers who facilitated the highest level of employee performance used humor the most often. Scientific data is also proving that laughter is an integral part of physical wellness. It has been found that laughing 200 times burns off the same amount of calories as 10 minutes on a rowing machine. Another study found that after a bout of laughter, blood pressure drops to a lower, healthier level than before the laughter began. Laughter also oxygenates your blood, thereby increasing energy level, relaxes your muscles and works out all your major internal systems like the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Furthermore, researchers are discovering that laughter also affects the immune system. Hence laughing makes people grow stronger, with the body's T-cells, natural killer cells and antibodies all showing signs of increased activity.

When You Need Humour ...
So what are the specific indicators that tell us we need to incorporate humor into our workplace? According to psychologists there are two major factors.The first is being placed in no-win situations. These include being expected to do a job but not having the necessary resources in terms of time, money, policies or people power. This can also include having to serve a difficult or overly demanding client base or boss, or having to enforce unpopular rules or regulations.

The second is the presence of unpredictable or uncontrollable stressors. These can take the form of regularly arising, but unpredictable, situations which adversely affect stress, workloads or scheduling. They can also include decisions made at other levels of the organization or government that affect your job but into which you have little or no input.

In situations where we have little or no control over our external circumstances, our only control lies in how we react to them. We can either choose to laugh or despair. In some ways, laughter is the only rational response to all of this since, in order to survive, we need to find a life-affirming way to cope. Being able to laugh about ourselves and our situation helps us release tension, regain our perspective, and accept that which we cannot change. Not only that, it also gives us the physical energy and resilience needed to survive.

As more and more groups realize the benefits of laughter, they are incorporating it into their wellness programs. What I have found from working with numerous organizations is that they are often full of very funny and resourceful people who just need to be given permission and encouragement to use their sense of humor on the job. Our "inner clown" is now our lifeline in these times of change and uncertainty. Giving him or her free rein not only results in healthier workplaces, but also increases bonding with the rest of the team. Remember, the group that plays together, stays together!
_Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

WHO ARE HR’s CUSTOMERS

2010-04-29T09:14:00.001+05:30

What Customer?
For HR to become more effective as a function and as individual players, the most critical question to be resolved is often: Who is HR's customer? It's a question which rarely is asked because everyone assumes the answer is obvious. But when you ask different people in HR, you get different answers. It's no surprise that many of the actions that HR units initiate are confusing (or downright infuriating) to the organization. The question of who the real customer is, often the most difficult and the most impactful decision an HR professional can make. It's a classical double-blind problem. Most "don't know what they don't know." Most don't even realize they should be dealing with the question. What makes the question even more troublesome is that there's no right answer. There are competing right answers. It's a classical dilemma. You're damned if you pick one and damned if you pick the other. Picking either has opposite advantages and disadvantages. But you also can't avoid making the choice. To not choose consciously and to not communicate a choice clearly guarantees that an HR unit will get caught in paradoxical situations as illustrated throughout this story.

Stakeholders Vs customers:
The distinction between different types of stakeholders is also one which is often fuzzy and problematic for HR and other internal staff units, and contributes to the problems in the classification of HR’s customers. Globally stakeholders are divided into four categories. Customers, influencers, end-users and partners.
•Customers: A customer makes a buying decision (to use you or someone else) and negotiates a formal or informal "contract" with you, the service provider.
•End-users: An end-user (sometimes called a consumer) receives the service.
•Influencers: An influencer sets the parameters within which you can or must operate, but doesn't buy the service.
•Partners: A partner works with you to provide a service. With partners you have mutual need, common objectives and shared risk related to that service.
What makes it difficult is that sometimes different stakeholders in your marketplace switch roles for different projects or demands they're making. So HR has to be careful to know not only what the HR business strategy is, but what role they're in at the time and what your commitments to the stakeholders are in that role. Remember, all of them make demands, but only a trained HR leader in place at the time can sort out these issues, plan an appropriate response and know what the appropriate limits, possibilities and flexibilities need to be
-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Making HR transformations deliver better value

2010-04-28T04:53:00.001+05:30

Getting processes right
Process management is a key element of HR transformation. The HR function is process-intense, but basic inefficiencies in many of those processes, which range from payroll administration to employment law compliance, prevent HR from delivering full value. Companies who are successful at managing overhead costs have a significant advantage over their competitors. In general, organizations can simplify almost half of their HR activities into common processes. Redesigning and streamlining processes can be the most difficult job facing the function. One of the most effective approaches to process redesign is through activity-based costing that assesses each activity’s time and cost, as well as headcount and full time equivalent involvement. Such an approach pinpoints the likely causes of operational problems, quantifies what they cost and reveals how best to solve them. Understanding the details of process cost, process overlap and process effectiveness is at the heart of identifying the opportunities and areas where significant improvements can be made. HR processes are generally where the function connects with its internal customer, yet process re-engineering often gets little focus or direct investment. Only a third of respondents from an international survey indicated HR process change as a current tool for HR transformation.

Making governance explicit
Most HR leaders have not been challenged to think formally about governance issues, so they operate with they operate with an implicit (and, usually, imperfect) model. In those rare cases where HR governance is explicit, it’s usually synonymous with compliance. Unfortunately, this view of governance is limited and does not reflect the fact that managing human capital makes the HR function responsible for investments that, on average, account for 36 percent of operating revenues. HR governance is not a strategic objective, but a systematic approach to management that enables the function to achieve strategic and operational objectives. It, therefore, plays a very important role in the successful transformation of the HR function.

Delivering successful HR transformation
The initial task is to define the current state of HR delivery within the organization, and determine the existing business strategy and priorities. It’s then important to gain an insight into what the customers of the HR function, the line managers and employees, think of the services they receive and examine the state of HR processes, assessing whether they are efficient and standard across the organization or if they vary by business unit or country.
By applying various tools it’s possible to look at the existing technology, the current organizational structure and the company culture, and identify areas of improvement for HR. The next step is to design a new operating model – which may include outsourcing, service centers and new technology – which is configured to provide the best delivery model for the organization. Getting it right is worth the effort. Successful HR thought leaders, describe effective HR execution as “the difference between plans that become reality and those that go nowhere.” These HR leaders regularly connect HR strategy and execution as they firmly believe that, “value add of any HR initiative is the end-result of the quality of that effort, the acceptance of stakeholders and its execution.”

Business executives first, HR specialists second
In organizations globally the most respected HR leaders are business executives first and HR specialists second. They partner with and are confidants of their CEOs and leadership teams and often find themselves at the epicentre of corporate change, being given credit for bringing about the toughest of business transformations. These HR leaders are also being recruited by progressive domestic and global boards. Responding to the intense focus on complying with new corporate governance legislation and increasing investor scrutiny, boards are retooling to ensure they have the right mix of highly qualified specialists, including HR experts. The price of failing to make the connection between overall business strategy and HR strategy is high. There will always be an option for the organization to hand over the HR services to an outsourcing organization who can effectively transform the function and make it work at considerably less cost. But HR functions which grab the nettle – those that convince the business of the value of transformation, can recognize that skills and capabilities in HR can change if needed and can harness technology – will become effective strategic partners and make a positive contribution to the continuing success of the organization.

-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

HR Transformation- An operating model

2010-04-27T02:55:00.000+05:30

In terms of driving effective transformation, the studied success-experience shows that the key to success or failure lies within the HR operating model. This is where HR strategy is put into action and the area which was universally identified by organizations as inhibiting progress. The key areas of the HR operating model are sourcing, infrastructure and governance.

Sourcing Strategy
The sourcing strategy provides the greatest opportunity to reposition the function entirely and get the most out of limited resources. The main options are:

insourcing – when all operational, technological and human capital functions are developed and maintained internally;

co-sourcing – involves a partnership with vendors to share responsibility for operational, technological and human capital functions and resources; and

outsourcing – where there is a contract with suppliers to provide all operational, technological and human capital functions and resources.

Global studies show that outsourcing HR activity happens almost everywhere, but current outsourcing decisions are rarely taken as a strategic view of sourcing. In recent years, maturing vendor capabilities and advancing technologies have expanded the breadth and depth of sourcing alternatives available in the marketplace. Determining the optimal sourcing mix for the organization requires HR to apply rigorous business analysis and decision protocols. An effective sourcing strategy will maximize the return on internal resources by concentrating investments on the areas of core competence and of highest strategic relevance to the organization. It will also enable organizations to take advantage of external suppliers' investments and specialized capabilities that are often prohibitively expensive to duplicate internally. Thirdly, it will provide a variable cost structure leading to the ability to scale service capacity to meet organizational needs – an essential requirement given the dynamic nature of today’s marketplace.

Technology and Transformation
Over the last few years, the HR function has invested a great deal of money into technology without realizing a return on the investment. Frequently, HR technology projects don’t deliver the expected results, and a key factor in this is a failure to define functional requirements clearly. By not rooting these requirements in a solid HR strategy, organizations spend too much money on ad hoc software purchases or, even worse, under-use expensive HR software suites by not implementing modules that could be of significant value. Within many organizations a large portion of purchased functionality in Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) goes unused, ending up as shelfware – in other words, software modules are bought but not implemented. The modules most likely to be left on the shelf are those considered key to operational human capital management, including competency and career development, recruitment, performance management and succession planning.
Along with the right software, clean data and tight integration are critical success factors which are often overlooked. Key stakeholders must have access to accurate, consistent, integrated data which cannot happen unless HR and IT objectives are fully aligned. This successful alignment requires an understanding that changing technology alone will achieve little. Change starts to deliver its value only when supported by and integrated with other elements of the infrastructure – and when part of an explicit HR strategy.

-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

NEEDED HR TRANSFORMATION- FOR BETTER BOTTOMLINE

2010-04-24T07:18:00.000+05:30

HR Transformation

The definition of HR transformation has evolved out of a number of perceived and real pressures on the HR function. The function is expected to support the business, provide the right direction for the people management strategy, and then execute the strategy. It also has to demonstrate an improvement in value, yet at the same time carry out cost-heavy administration. In response to these challenges, the transformation process that many companies have embarked on involves examining the HR strategy and how it supports the business strategy, and then changing the HR operating model to achieve optimum delivery. An international study across diverse industry verticals has revealed a remarkable consistency in the key drivers to HR transformation across the globe. The main driver was the need to align HR delivery with the organization’s business strategy. Second was the desire to transform both the perception and reality of HR as a high-cost, low-value function to a low-cost, high-value business partner. Through the transformation process, HR begins to move away from administration and towards a more value-added strategic role. The objective is to align the function with the organization’s goals, making it a strategic contributor that’s responsive to today’s dynamic business climate. Despite these good intentions, a recent CFO Research Services report suggests that while some progress has been made, nearly 60 percent of finance executives still view HR as more of a cost center than a strategic partner. HR is still primarily an administrative and compliance based function with almost 50 percent of its time being spent in these areas. Less than 15 percent of its time is spent on strategic, value-based interventions.

Aligning HR competencies with Strategic Necessities

Although four out of five HR functions globally have embarked on some form of transformation, they are yet to be credited with driving business outcomes. Global research shows that although HR function has strong competence in professional knowledge, team, interpersonal and leadership skills, it lacks competence in financial management, data management and technology. In short, it lacks the skills that are required to deliver the business credibility that HR transformation is seeking to address. Indeed, the skills of the HR function are seen as one of the major barriers to effective HR transformation. Together with inappropriate skills, the inability of the function to use technology effectively has often meant that significant business investments have been under-utilized. The function has also observed a general lack of business commitment for HR transformation both in terms of the need for HR to play a more strategic role and the confidence in its capacity to do so. In short, the function has neither the skills nor the infrastructure to deliver effective transformation and the business leadership is not always convinced of the need. To achieve stellar success HR function must attend to its business model needs and ensure that it is integrated with the business strategy more ‘tightly’. When properly aligned, each dimension of its roles flow predictably from one to another. More importantly, each dimension plays a critical role in formulating a comprehensive strategy – and, by extension, in maximizing business performance and bottom-line benefits.

-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Smarter Employee Recognition

2010-04-22T18:30:00.001+05:30

Useful Tips –Tried & Tested

You don't want to design a process in which managers "select" the people to receive recognition. This type of process will be viewed forever as "favoritism" or talked about as "it's your turn to get recognized this month." This is why processes that single out an individual, such as "Employee of the Month," are rarely effective. Here are tips that have been tried out successfully :

•If you attach recognition to "real" accomplishments and goal achievement as negotiated in a performance development meeting, you need to make sure the recognition meets the above stated requirements. Supervisors must also apply the criteria consistently, so some organizational oversight may be necessary. The challenge of individually negotiated goals is to make certain their accomplishment is viewed as similarly difficult by the organization for the process to be a success.

•People also like recognition that is random and that provides an element of surprise. If you thank a manufacturing group every time they make customer deliveries on time with a lunch, gradually the lunch becomes a "given" and no longer rewards. In an organization, the CEO traditionally bought lunch for all employees every Friday. Soon, he had employees coming to him asking to be reimbursed if they ate lunch outside the building on a Friday. His goal of team building turned into a "given" and he was disappointed.

•There is always room for employee reward and recognition activities that generally build positive morale in the work environment. In one company, there is a "smile team" that meets to schedule random, fun employee recognition events. They have decorated shop windows, with a prize to the best, for a holiday. They sponsor ice cream socials, picnics, the "boss" cooks day, and so on, to create a rewarding environment at work. Another company holds an annual costume wearing and judging along with a lunch potluck every major national festival.

Recognition Reality!
Prioritize recognition for people and you can ensure a positive, productive, innovative organizational climate. Recognize people to say “thank you” and to encourage more of the actions and thinking you believe will make your organization successful. People who feel appreciated are more positive about themselves and their ability to contribute. People with positive self-esteem are potentially your best employees. These beliefs about recognition are common among employers even if not commonly carried out. Why then is recognition so closely guarded in many organizations? Time is an often-stated reason and admittedly, recognition does take time. Employers also start out with all of the best intentions when they seek to recognize employee performance. They often find their efforts turn into an opportunity for employee complaining, jealousy, and dissatisfaction. With these experiences, many employers are hesitant to recognize people. HR needs to plan a recognition process that will "wow" the staff and "wow" management with its positive outcomes. A proactive ‘people aligned’ recognition philosophy that is periodically reviewed is essential.
- Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

BUSINESS CASE for EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION

2010-04-22T06:52:00.000+05:30

Recognizing Recognition Needs
In today's turbulent, often chaotic, environment, commercial success depends on employees using their full talents. Employees willing harness their expertise and talents when they are motivated and receive consistent recognition. Yet in spite of the myriad of available theories and practices, managers often view recognition as something of a mystery. In part this is because individuals need recognition by different people and in different ways. In addition, these are times when de-layering and the flattening of hierarchies can create its won set of recognition challenges. The heart of recognition initiatives is to give people what they really want most from work. The more you are able to provide what they want, the more we can expect what the organization really wants, namely: productivity, quality, and service….and the returns are also enormous, namely allowing employees to:
• achieve goals;
• gain a positive perspective;
• create the power to change;
• build self-esteem and capability
• manage their own development and help others with theirs

Recognition Necessities
Employee recognition is not just a nice thing to do for people. Employee recognition is a communication tool that reinforces and rewards the most important outcomes people create for the organization. When you recognize people effectively, you reinforce, with your chosen means of recognition, the actions and behaviors you most want to see people repeat. An effective employee recognition system is simple, immediate, and powerfully reinforcing. When you consider employee recognition processes, you need to develop recognition that is equally powerful for both the organization and the employee. You must address five important issues if you want the recognition you offer to be viewed as motivating and rewarding by your employees and important for the success of your organization. These are:
•You need to establish criteria for what performance or contribution constitutes rewardable behavior or actions.
•All employees must be eligible for the recognition.
•The recognition must supply the employer and employee with specific information about what behaviors or actions are being rewarded and recognized.
•Anyone who then performs at the level or standard stated in the criteria receives the reward.
•The recognition should occur as close to the performance of the actions as possible, so the recognition reinforces behavior the employer wants to encourage.

Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Future Scenario Planning Do’s and Donts

2010-04-20T23:41:00.000+05:30

Succeeding In Scenario Planning

Although it is important not to view scenarios as any kind of forecasting of the future, organizations that practice it do get better at spotting the driving forces that can change the industry, putting them a few steps ahead of those who don't see it coming. This is especially true of discontinuities. In many situations, the gaining of even a few months of extra lead-time to meet eventualities represents serious competitive advantage. Finally, it offers a significant contribution to transforming an organization into an alert, objective, focused distributor.
Scenario planning is based on the assumption that the end game vision and the strategic plan are flexible. Consequently, a robust flexible strategy that would perform well over different scenarios is essential. This is why it is important to identify specific action items for each scenario. These bullet pointed action items become the challenging factors to test the flexibility of the strategic plan.

a. Avoid Plots Which Follow the "Most Likely" Progression.
The idea behind scenario planning is to get beyond the standard forecasting done for typical strategic planning sessions. Therefore, it is imperative that participants "think outside the box." Wild scenarios can always be reined in after the original ideas are extracted from them, but mundane scenarios will always be mundane, and will not contribute to growth. Thinking outside the box in the simplest terms means that we should not start with today and work forward for our scenario. We need to look to the future and write the scenario as if we are already there.

b. Don't Allow "Probabilities" to be Assigned to Scenarios.
As soon as participants see probabilities assigned to their scenarios they will begin to think inside the box again. They will try to "win" by getting the highest score, which undoubtedly will be for the scenario closest to the "normal" progression. Defeat this by valuing all scenarios equally by not assigning values at all.

c. Be Creative with Scenario Names to Stimulate Imagination.
This entire concept is oriented to "outside the box" thinking. Therefore, every effort must be made to stimulate original and creative thought, both in the scenario creation process as well as the strategic planning process that follows it. Use of dramatic and creative names for scenarios will reinforce the creative thought process and add to the excitement.

d. Demand Ownership of the Scenarios.
Managers at every level MUST accept ownership of the scenario process and the scenarios that are generated by it. The final direction taken by the company may be far from the plots in the scenarios, but the final result will be crafted from the imagination and the findings in the scenarios.

e. Be Creative in Communicating Scenarios.
The scenarios created are the basis for the planning process. If they are dull and communicated poorly, the enthusiasm with which they were created will be lost to the strategic planning process. Relate the strategies in a creative fashion - as a TV news broadcast, a skit, or some other creative outlet.

Conclusion
Restructuring, cost cutting and operational efficiencies, the focus of the 80's and early 90's, have proven not to give lasting competitive differentiation. Companies today are turning back to strategic scenario planning to find their direction. Once again, it is imperative that they succeed at scenario planning. Scenario planning can be fun. Scenario planning encourages creativity and it will challenge managers to get beyond old paradigms. Use it as a platform to begin your strategic planning process. You may find it much easier to determine your "end game" once you've completed a day of scenario planning. Try it, you might like it. Besides, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Future Scenario Planning Success Steps Unveiled

2010-04-19T16:17:00.000+05:30

Get Set Go!
Step1: Uncovering the decision
Management has to understand its choices. For this it has to know, what will be “on the agenda”. So in the first step these strategic decisions that might have to be made in the future have to be uncovered. This is done by asking the right questions related to the mission and business purpose of a company such as: where is our industry going? What is the path of development of our industry ? What events might influence it and will force us to change ? Under which circumstances might we become incredible successful, under which circumstances will the company be at risk ? It takes persistent work to penetrate the internal mental defences of human beings. Therefore this task includes examination of existing mind-sets of managers, so that prejudices and assumptions become obvious, and careful thinking whether those mind-sets would keep these managers from seeing the right future. The best way is to begin with important decisions that have to be made anyway and then built out to the environment. This step also should include an identification of the key factors of the business system influencing the success or failure of the decision.

Step2: Information-hunting and –gathering
To create scenarios, stories, that resonate in some ways with what people already know and leads them from that to question their assumption of how they see the world, observations from the real world must be built into the story. The scenario process thus involves research – skilled hunting and gathering of information. This is practiced both narrowly – to pursue facts needed for a specific scenario – and broadly – to educate the scenario planner, so that he is able to pose more significant questions. Flexibility of perspective is critical in doing it. The scenario planner has to simultaneously focus on what matters in a given decision situation, but keep awareness open for the unexpected. Because some research subjects emerge again and again in the work of a scenario planner, some planners recommend to move along these typical topics during research before looking for others. Such typical topics are: science and technology developments; perception-shaping events, that shape or change the perception of the public; new ideas that emerge in the “fringes” (that means not in the mainstream) and are spreading further.

Step3: Identifying the driving forces of a scenario
The first task in building the scenario itself is to look for driving forces of the macro-environment that influence the key factors identified earlier. For example government regulations might influence them. But beside government regulations, there are many less obvious external factors as well. Identifying and assessing these fundamental factors is both the starting point and one of the objectives of the scenario method. Driving forces are the elements that move the plot of a scenario, that determines the story’s outcome. Driving forces often seem obvious to one person and hidden to another. Therefore the identification of driving forces should be done in a team, by brainstorming together. By looking on such driving forces, it is helpful to run through this common list of categories of driving forces: social forces/demographic developments, technological developments, economic developments and events, political developments and events, environmental developments. Normally, companies have little control over driving forces. Their leverage for dealing with them comes from recognizing them, and understanding their effect.

Step4: Uncover the predetermined elements
Predetermined elements are developments and logics that work in scenarios without being dependent on any particular chain of events. That means, a predetermined elements is something, that seems certain, no matter which scenario come to pass. For example the most commonly recognized predetermined element is demographics, because it is changing so slowly. Identifying such elements is a tremendous confidence builder in strategic decision making. Managers can commit to some policies and feel sure about them. There are several useful strategies for looking for predetermined elements. For example you could look for slow-changing phenomena like the growth of populations or the building of physical infrastructure. You could look for constrained situation, where companies, nations or even individuals have, at least for a certain time, no choices.

Step5: Identify critical uncertainties
In every plan critical uncertainties exist. Scenario planners seek them to prepare for them. Critical uncertainties are often related to predetermined elements. You find them by questioning your assumptions about predetermines elements and chains of predetermined elements. So critical uncertainties are the variables in scenario planning and are the basis to create different scenarios in parallel. One method to identify the most important critical uncertainties is, to rank key factors and driving forces on the basis of two criteria: first, the degree of importance for the success of the focal issue or decision identified in step one; second, the degree of uncertainty surrounding those factors and trends. The point is to identify the two or three factors that are most important and most uncertain. These factors are forming then the basis for the different scenarios, because the goal is to end up with just a few scenarios whose difference makes a difference to decision-makers.

Step6: Composing scenarios
To explain the future, scenarios describe how the driving forces might plausibly behave, based on assumption of predetermined elements and critical uncertainties. To describe the different scenarios, their plots, you use the uncertainties that have seemed so important. So driving forces, predetermined elements, and critical uncertainties give structure to the exploration of the future. To create the scenario stories, the plot lines, the recommendation is, to bring a team together that is aware of the decision that is considered. Each member of the scenario planning team has done his or her research. Then they sit together talking and developing ideas in response to the questions: What are the driving forces? What we feel is uncertain? What is inevitable? How about this or that scenario? The goal is to select plot lines that lead to different choices for the original decision. The challenge is to identify the plots that best captures the dynamics of the situation and communicates the point effectively. The scenario planner’s task is then; to define the forces inside and outside the company, and analyze which plots they fit. Having gathered the variations that are possible, the scenario planner would select five or six variations that fit the case. Eventually he or she narrow and combine those into two or three fully detailed descriptions of what might happen – the scenarios.

Step7: Analysis of implications of the decisions according to scenarios
Once the scenarios have been developed in some detail, then it is time to return to the decision identified in step one. How does the decision look in each scenario? What vulnerabilities have been revealed? Is the decision or strategy robust across all scenarios, or does it look good in only one or two of the scenarios? If a decision looks good in only one of several scenarios, then it qualifies as a high-risk gamble, especially if the company has little control over the likelihood of the required scenario coming to pass. The question what should be discussed then by management is how the strategy should be adapted to make it more robust if the desired scenario shows signs of not happening.

Step8: Selection of leading indicators and signposts
It is important to know as soon as possible which of several scenarios is closest to the course of history as it actually unfolds. For that, as soon as the different scenarios have been finished and their implication for the decision determined, then a few indicators should be selected, to monitor the strategy or decision in an ongoing way. Monitoring these indicators will allow a company to know what the future holds for a given industry and how that future is likely to affect strategies and decisions in the industry. If the scenarios have been carefully developed, then the scenarios will be able to translate movements of few key indicators into an orderly set of industry-specific implications. The logical coherence that was built into the scenario will allow logical implications of leading indicators to be drawn out of the scenarios.

-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

FUTURE SCENARIO PLANNING : A POWERFUL MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR STRATEGIZING

2010-04-17T04:33:00.000+05:30

Fast Forward to Future

As technological change accelerates, as business volatility grows, and as markets go global, it has become more important than ever for executives to have some grasp of the future. Attempts to forecast accurately have become increasingly futile due to accelerating technological progress, faster cultural change, and unexpected competition emerging outside an industry’s traditional borders. Instead of reacting to this uncertainty by ignoring the future, strategists are using different methods for anticipating and proactively preparing for events yet to unfold. These methods for modeling, simulating, forecasting, and planning for possible futures both protect your business from major changes and allow you to exploit opportunities. Those that prosper under changed conditions are either lucky or planned for the future by applying scenario planning to prepare strategically for the future. Scenarios and other systematic ways of thinking about the future play a vital role in strategic thinking for gaining insight into business futures. These futures tools need to build on and inform your strategic thinking. Scenario planning yields far more value when performed at the appropriate level of detail, when conducted iteratively, and when it feeds into and is fed by an organization’s strategy and innovation processes.

Scenario Planning To The Rescue

Scenario planning is a creative method of examining possible futures and building the one that is desired while taking into account what could happen and how it would affect the overall business plan. A major advantage of using scenarios to set up strategic planning is to gain ideas and insights that would be missed by using the traditional projection process. It is also a method of forcing the planning team to look at more than the "desired" outcome and, therefore, be prepared for or even aggressively plan for, events out of the ordinary.

The purpose of scenario planning is not to imminently decide which scenario is correct. It looks at each plausible future scenario and examine how prepared your company is for the potential change and consequences. Ideally you should try to establish markers or milestones that may occur in each scenario that would alert you to which scenario is actually unfolding. By knowing in advance due to these pre-determined benchmarks, you put yourself ahead of your competition in not only reacting to the events but actually having an outline of a plan in place to take advantage of the situation

Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Sustaining Higher Happiness Quotient by spreading cheer

2010-04-16T01:06:00.001+05:30

Each and every living being has within them the seed or potential to become a fully enlightened being and to realize its full potential. What we need to do now is to be able to achieve it … this is something that only human beings can do. Animals can gather resources, defeat their enemies, and protect their families, but they can neither understand nor engage in the enlightened path. It would be a great shame if we were to use our human life only to achieve what animals can also achieve, and thereby waste this unique opportunity to become a source of benefit for all living beings.

After having indulged our self-cherishing for so many lives, now is the time to realize that it simply does not work. Now is the time to switch the object of our cherishing from yourself to all living beings. Countless enlightened beings have discovered that by abandoning self-cherishing and cherishing others they came to experience true peace and happiness. If we practice the methods they taught, there is no reason why we should not be able to do the same. We cannot expect to change our mind overnight, but through patiently and consistently practicing the instructions on cherishing others, while at the same time accumulating merit, purifying negativity, and receiving blessings, we can gradually replace our ordinary self-cherishing attitude with the sublime attitude of cherishing all living beings. Here are some simple steps to achieving all this and more:

1: Gradually develop the capacity to be "centered."

The "center" or the "centered self" has to be built through conscious effort. We have to learn to go there and "center" or calm ourselves. How can we do this? Through efforts to relax and detach yourself from a constantly active mind and from demanding emotions, you can find some peace. With practice, you can get better at withdrawing from the stress (while becoming an even keener observer). Several other steps will help you do this.

2: Use determinism to increase your acceptance of what is happening

By understanding that there are causes for everything that happens, we can start to focus more on observing the true causes and less on some emotional reaction, such as "ain't it awful," "that should never have happened," etc. We can relax because we know the outcome was lawful (unless we witnessed a miracle). This accepting attitude gives us a certain freedom--a toleration of whatever happens. We may, of course, have a preference about what happens, and if the desired behavior occurs, we are happy, but if something else happens, we can be equally happy; because we accept reality (laws) and we learned some important information about the laws of behavior. The freedom from being right or winning and just focusing on observing and learning is a great relief.

3: Give up trying to control everything, loosen up.

Whether you understand it or not, the world is unfolding as it should. Woldwide philosophies advocate acceptance or "going with the flow of the river." Going upstream is very hard and probably isn't the right direction anyway. Focus on learning to control your own life within a little bubble, don't worry much about changing the course of great rivers.

4: With practice you can learn to have a detached, calm, accepting attitude. That is peace of mind.

Peace of mind includes more than inner calm, it is accepting oneself, others, and the world. It is being sensitive to being off center, i.e. things beginning to go wrong, and doing something about the problems right away. It is a wonderful mental state, but no one can achieve it all the time.

Spread Happiness All-around!

We can sometimes help others by providing them with money or better material conditions, but we should remember that the greatest benefit we can give is to help them overcome their delusions and find true, lasting happiness within. Through technological progress and by organizing society in fairer, more humane ways, we can certainly help to improve people's lives in some respects; but whatever we do will inevitably have some unwanted side effects. The best we can hope for is to provide people with conditions that bring some temporary respite from problems and difficulties, but we cannot give them true, lasting happiness. This is because the real cause of happiness is inner peace, which can be found only within the mind, not in external conditions.

Our real purpose in attaining the permanent inner peace of enlightenment is to help others do the same. Just as the only way to solve our own problems is to find inner peace, so the only way to help others to solve theirs is to encourage them to engage in spiritual practice and discover their own inner peace. This way of benefiting others is by far the best; yet we can do this effectively only if we first work on our own mind. There is little benefit in telling people how important it is to overcome their delusions if we are unable to control our own. However, if through training our mind we succeed in pacifying - or even completely eliminating - our own anger, for example, we can certainly help others to control theirs. Then our advice will not be mere words, but will have behind it the power of personal experience.
- Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

ITS EASY BEING HAPPY!

2010-04-15T09:20:00.000+05:30

What’s Happiness ?
Many people would say, "I just want to be happy." It is a worthy goal but few people know what’s happiness and how to find it. Some would say they want to have a good education and an interesting career. Others would say they want a loving spouse and a nice family. Others want a career, a family, good health, good friends, a nice house, expensive cars, good relationships, and enough money to take an extended vacation each year and to be comfortable. What would you say you need to be happy? According to worldwide research, all happiness and suffering depend upon the mind, and so if we want to avoid suffering and find true happiness we need to understand how our mind works and use that understanding to bring our mind under control. Happiness and stress are states of mind and so their main causes are not to be found outside the mind. When things go wrong in our life and we encounter difficult situations we tend to regard the situation itself as the problem, but in reality whatever problems we experience come from the side of the mind. If we were to respond to difficult situations with a positive or peaceful mind they would not be problems for us; indeed we may even come to regard them as challenges or opportunities for growth and development. Problems arise only if we respond to difficulties with a negative state of mind. Therefore, if we want to be free from problems we must learn to control our mind.

Obstacles To Happiness
Since we all have within us our own source of peace and happiness, we may wonder why it is so hard to maintain a continually peaceful and joyful mind. This is because of the delusions that so often crowd our mind. Delusions are distorted ways of looking at yourself, other people, and the world around us - like a distorted mirror they reflect a distorted world. The deluded mind of hatred, for example, views other people as intrinsically bad, but there is no such thing as an intrinsically bad person. It is the deluded mind of attachment that projects all kinds of pleasurable qualities onto its objects of desire and then relates to them as if they really did possess those qualities.

All delusions function like this, projecting onto the world their own distorted version of reality and then relating to this projection as if it were true. When our mind is under the influence of delusions we are out of touch with reality and are not seeing things as they really are. Since our mind is under the control of at least subtle forms of delusion all the time, it is not surprising that our lives are so often filled with frustration. It is as if we are continually chasing mirages, only to be disappointed when they do not give us the satisfaction for which we had hoped. Therefore, if we want to transform our life and be free from delusions by learning to transform our mind.

-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

People-Trust’ Rules For Organizations

2010-04-14T05:49:00.000+05:30

What’s Trust?

Trust. You know when you have it; you know when you don’t. Yet, what is trust and how is trust usefully defined for the workplace? Can you build trust when it doesn’t exist? How do you maintain and build upon the trust you may currently have in your work place? These are important questions for today’s rapidly changing world. Trust forms the foundation for effective communication, employee retention, and employee motivation and contribution of discretionary energy, the extra effort that people voluntarily invest in work. When trust exists in an organization or in a relationship, almost everything else is easier and more comfortable to achieve. Experts define trust as, “the state of readiness for unguarded interaction with someone or something.” They have developed a model of trust that includes three components and call trust a construct because it is “constructed” of three components: “the capacity for trusting, the perception of competence, and the perception of intentions.”

Thinking about trust as made up of the interaction and existence of these three components makes “trust” easier to understand. The capacity for trusting means that your total life experiences have developed your current capacity and willingness to risk trusting others.

The perception of competence is made up of your perception of your ability and the ability of others with whom you work to perform competently at whatever is needed in your current situation.

The perception of intentions is your perception that the actions, words, direction, mission, or decisions are motivated by mutually-serving rather than self-serving motives.

Why is Trust Critical
There is a direct correlation between how employees view their company and how customers and stockholders view it. Once leadership has lost the confidence of their employees, that negative energy has a measurable impact on the messages employees -- and especially front-line employees -- deliver to customers, the community at large, and stockholders. Executives must take an active role in leading the discussion about trust in their organizations. This is not something to be left to Human Resources or Public Relations. And it has to be more than platitudes on a wall. Also trust is the basis for much of the environment people want to create in their work place. Trust is the necessary precursor for:

•feeling able to rely upon a person,
•cooperating with and experiencing teamwork with a group,
•taking thoughtful risks, and
•experiencing believable communication.

- Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Promoting Organizational Values Framework

2010-04-13T06:17:00.001+05:30

Organizations need to build and promote a ‘shared values framework’. This is a practical means to help organizations establish an appropriate management system by measuring where they are on the path to excellence, helping them to understand the gaps, and then identify solutions. This approach recognizes that stakeholder needs are met through processes. Value based process improvement is at the heart of any organizational development and it is through processes that the talents of people can be released, which in turn produces better performance. Improvement in performance can be achieved by involving people in the continuous improvement of the processes they work in.

Spreading Values-Popularity/Consensus
Using the work and insights from different value alignment sessions held across the organization, volunteers from these sessions should meet to reach consensus on the values and for developing value statements for each of these prioritized values. These volunteers will then draft value statements that are shared with all staff for feedback and refinement. Staff then discusses the draft value statements during organization-wide meetings, wherever possible. This total group then adopts organizational values by consensus vote when the organization believes their value statements are complete. Following the Values Alignment sessions and consensus agreement on the values, the leaders with staff, will:

- communicate & discuss the mission & organizational values frequently with staff members
-establish organizational goals that are grounded in the identified values;
- model personal work behaviours, decision making, contribution, and interpersonal interaction that reflect the values;
-translate the values into expectations, priorities, and behaviours with colleagues, reporting staff, and self;
-link participation in the adoption of the values and the behaviours that result, to regular performance feedback and the performance development process;
-reward and recognize staff members whose actions and accomplishments reflect the values in action within the organization;
-hire and promote individuals whose outlook and actions are congruent with these values; and
-meet periodically to talk about how the group is doing via living the identified values.

To check whether the values have permeated sufficiently the following must occur:

-People demonstrate and model the values in action in their personal work behaviours, decision making, contribution, and interpersonal interaction.
-Organizational values help each person establish priorities in their daily work life.
-Values guide every decision that is made once the organization has cooperatively created the values and the value statements.
-Rewards and recognition within the organization are structured to recognize those people whose work embodies the values the organization embraced.
-Organizational goals are grounded in the identified values.
-Adoption of the values and the behaviours that result is recognized in regular performance feedback.
-People hire and promote individuals whose outlook and actions are congruent with the values.

- Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Working with Others Who Are Negative

2010-04-10T05:29:00.000+05:30

If the negativity emanates from an individual, we can:
•Inform the employee about the negative impact her negativity is having on co-workers and the department. Use specific examples that describe behaviours the employee can do something about.
•Avoid becoming defensive. Don’t take the employee’s negative words or attitude personally.
•Focus on creating solutions. Don’t focus on everything that is wrong and negative; focus instead on creating options for positive morale. If the person is unwilling to hold this discussion, and you feel you have fairly heard her out, end the discussion.
•Focus on the positive aspects and contributions the individual brings to the work setting, not the negativity. Help the employee build her self-image and capacity to contribute.
•Compliment the individual any time you hear a positive statement or contribution rather than negativity from her.
If none of the above is working and the employee’s negativity is impacting productivity, workplace harmony, and department members’ attitudes and morale, deal with the negativity as you would any other performance issue.
Recognize Your Potential Part in the Negativity Cycle
•Recognize that you are human and occasionally experience situations in which you must uphold decisions you don't entirely support. You don't want to contribute to the negativity by your words, actions, non-verbal behaviour, or voice. Yet, you want to act authentically so you are trustworthy and credible.
•Know yourself well enough to recognize internally when you are becoming negative.
•Become aware of work situations in which you typically find yourself becoming defensive or negative. Because you are aware of them, try to recognize when you are reacting and avoid your typical negative reaction. (Some people figure out exactly how to get you going and push your "hot buttons" deliberately, so to speak.)
•Take a time-out or walk away by yourself when you have dealt with a stressful situation.
•Spend some time alone thinking every day about the positive aspects of your work and life. You don't want to spend all of your time on negative thinking. If there is nothing positive to think about, examine the life you are choosing to create.
•Treat yourself with care. Don't beat yourself up or second-guess yourself over decisions or mistakes. You are human. You learn; you grow. Focus on the big picture; don't get bogged down in the day-to-day.
>>> Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Building & Harnessing a Mentoring Culture

2010-04-09T03:33:00.001+05:30

Everyone Needs Mentoring
What does it take to develop your people? It takes more than sending someone to a training class. It takes more than hard work on the part of your employees. What development takes are people – from the CEO’s office to the mailroom – people who are willing to listen and to help their colleagues. Development takes coaches; it takes guide; it takes advocates. We need to recognize that there are people in every organization — whether they’re men or women, minorities, or people who grew up without any business role-models in their lives — who don’t know how to react in various work situations. And it’s our responsibility to teach them. Organizations are only as successful as the men and women who make them work. So, if we care about our organizations and our people, we have to share our knowledge of the organizational culture; we have to share our wisdom; we have to mentor. Development depends on mentors. It is hard to make it without a mentor and it takes too much time without a mentor. Good mentoring is unbiased, objective support that identifies the qualities and abilities in other people and develops them; it identifies which hurdles are hard to get over and finds ways to get over or circumvent them when appropriate. Whether you are the mentor or the 'mentee', using the mentoring forum can be hugely rewarding. At last! Lots more companies are waking up to this fact that people can't always 'do it' alone. They need support, guidance and nurturing. To help with this, organizations are institutionalizing a mentoring culture.

Mentoring Is a Strategic Business Imperative
Today, in our love affair with what’s new, what’s cutting edge, and what’s technologically cool, it’s easy to forget that knowledge also comes with experience. It may require a few hours of e-training or a semester-long course to learn how an energy pump operates, but it takes years and years of experience to recognize the sounds of a pump that is not operating properly. The only way to shorten that learning cycle is to have someone with more experience help to accelerate learning. Companies need to recruit and retain mature employees because of respect for their knowledge. The best companies today will help their organizations transform the way they think about all of their employees. Each person brings different knowledge to the organization. Each generation brings something different and valuable to your organizational operations. Younger employees routinely tell us of their disenchantment with their companies as they describe the onerous demands (and opportunities) placed on them by managers who may have confidence in their abilities, but lack the time or skills to help them succeed. Faced with frustration and afraid that they will fail, many of these younger employees move on and look for a more supportive business environment. In fact, the average 30 - 44 year old has changed up to 5-6 times! Most businesses could use their more experienced staff, who have deep knowledge, impressive networks, and broad-based business experience, to buffer younger employees against frustration, focus on their career paths, and find places to acquire the skills-based knowledge necessary to succeed through a strategic mentoring plan.
-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

ALL YOU HAVE IS YOUR INTEGRITY: WHY LEAVE IT TO CHANCE

2010-04-07T12:32:00.000+05:30

Right Vs Wrong
Everyone knows right from wrong. Right? Wrong. People disagree about the definition of right and wrong all the time. That is why the topic of business ethics is currently front and center in the media and in office break rooms. And, as our world becomes more complex, sometimes the right answer, the one that meets the needs of the most stakeholders: employees, customers, potential employees, and board members, lies somewhere in the middle. We encounter tricky ‘middle path situations’ in almost all organizations. Are these "bad people" or "good people" making questionable ethical choices? Do they even consider whether the choices they are making are ethical? So, before we relegate the subject of business ethics to the touchy-feely, head-in-the-clouds worlds of philosophy, religion, or academia, consider the potential positive impact on your organization of a working code of business ethics.

Institutionalizing Code of Business Ethics
Developing a code of business ethics will not stop unethical behavior but it will give people something to think about, a measurement against which to assess their behavior. We can develop a written code of business ethics that guides the decision making and actions of all of your stakeholders. Our reputation and track record for ethical behavior and integrity are vital for establishing the trust that is the basis for all successful relationships we sustain including those with our customers, employees, community and stock holders. Once we have developed your code of business ethics, the critical component in making it an effective tool is using the code, daily, if possible. Develop a universally applicable code of ethics and make it live in your organization by organizing interactive challenge sessions across the organization at all levels. We then should use the document as a measurement or guideline for all actions and decisions in the company. After all, the organization’s reputation and integrity are too important to leave to chance.

-Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

2010-04-06T16:55:00.002+05:30

BUILDING AN ORGANISATION BASED ON VALUES

2010-04-06T03:41:00.001+05:30

Why Identify and Establish Values?

Effective organizations identify and develop a clear, concise and shared meaning of values/beliefs, priorities, and direction so that everyone understands and can contribute. Values are traits or qualities that are considered worthwhile; they represent an individual’s highest priorities and deeply held driving forces. Thus value statements are grounded in values and define how people want to behave with each other in the organization. They are statements about how the organization will value customers, suppliers, and the internal community. Value statements describe actions which are the living enactment of the fundamental values held by most individuals within the organization. The following are examples of values… competency, individuality, equality, integrity, empathy…. Once defined, values impact every aspect of your organization. We must support and nurture this impact or identifying values will have been a wasted exercise. People will feel fooled and misled unless they see the impact of the exercise within your organization. Values form the foundation for everything that happens in our workplace - the leader’s values permeate the organisation. We naturally hire people who share our values. Whatever we value, will largely govern the actions of our workforce. If we value and care about the people in our organization, we will pay for health insurance, employee recreation, and provide regular raises and bonuses for dedicated staff. If we value equality and a sense of family, we will wipe out the physical trappings of power, status, and inequality such as executive parking places and offices that grow larger by a foot with every promotion.

Whatever You Value Is What You Live in Your Organization

Most of us work in organizations that have already operated for many years. The values, and the subsequent culture created by those values, are in place, for better or worse. If we are generally happy with our work environment, we undoubtedly selected an organization with values congruent with our own. If you're not, watch out for a disconnect between - what you value and the actions of different people in your organization. As HR professionals, we will want to influence our larger organization to identify its core values, and make them the foundation for its interactions with its employees, customers, and suppliers. Minimally, we will want to work within our own HR organization to identify a strategic framework for serving the customers that is firmly value-based.

- Anshumali Saxena www.soilindia.net

Importance of HR Governance

2010-04-02T23:39:00.000+05:30

Historically HR leaders have not been challenged to think formally about functional governance issues. By "functional governance" we mean applying an approach to governance that focuses on performance (results) as well as conformance (compliance) to key support functions (HR, Finance, Technology). However recent corporate scandals like Enron have made all corporate and functional executives much more aware of their personal and legal accountabilities. In the few instances where HR governance has been made explicit, it is usually synonymous with compliance and does not address the central issue - improving leadership and management of a function that invests an average of 36 per cent of operating revenue in remuneration, retirement, training and other human capital programmes.
With over a third of company revenue at stake, it's time for CEOs to expand their focus from compliance-driven corporate governance to the far more productive and profitable issue of functional governance. In this article, I shall explore the potential performance enhancement opportunities achievable with improved HR Governance.
What is HR Governance?
HR Governance is the act of leading the HR function and managing related investments to:
•optimise performance of the organisation's human capital assets;
•define stakeholders and their expectations;
•fulfil fiduciary and financial responsibilities;
•mitigate enterprise HR risk;
•align the function's priorities with those of the business; and
•assist HR executive decision making.
It's important to note that while corporate governance is treated as a strategic objective to attain, HR governance is not. HR Governance is a systematic approach to management that enables the function to achieve strategic and operational objectives and performance outcomes.
Why does HR Governance matter?

HR Governance can have a measurable impact on your business by improving productivity and helping to drive organisational change. Some of the benefits of establishing a workable HR governance structure are:
•clear reporting structures
•role clarity and value-adding HR activities and decisions at each level of the organisation
•logical decision making boundaries and controls
•integration and alignment with business priorities
•clarity around an organisation's tolerance of duplicative activities
•transparency of process and resultant employee trust/commitment
•demonstrable evidence of HR's value to the business.
The issue for every organisation is to have assurance that, given its own unique context, its governance processes will reduce operational and legal risk while enhancing its ability to deliver strong performance.

- anshumali.saxena@soilindia.net

Leadership necessities for Organizational Agility

2010-04-02T12:40:00.000+05:30

As successful leaders we need to ensure that our organization can attract and retain resilient, agile, nimble, adaptive people. Beyond managing change, a proactive HR can help the current employees develop this capacity. It calls for concerted efforts to transform the work environment, organization, and climate that enables HR to deliver the workforce needed for the future. However in many organizations, existing HR systems are major impediments to creating agile workforces. For the most part, HR systems are designed to reduce variability and to standardize behavior, not to promote flexibility and adaptive behavior.
This move toward agility has created a new role for the HR function as HR organizations tend to become smaller. Hiring criteria and processes need to be altered to reflect agile attributes. Additionally job descriptions and compensation systems need to be re-designed to pay relatively more for enterprise-wide results and relatively less for individual outcomes. The HR department needs to create an organization that constantly builds its capacity through building the capacity of the people it employs.
The Agile Work Environment
Multiple layers of management that separate people from information, customers, and the ability to make knowledgeable decisions slow down an organization…hence they do not find place in the new agile reality. Neither will people who want to do one job, make limited decisions, take no risks, and pass each challenge to their supervisor. Direction and focus, in this agile work environment, is provided by leaders who drive and communicate the organization’s strategic vision throughout the workplace, daily, incessantly, and consistently while allowing individuals internalize this vision and perform their work to maximize its attainment. There are mainly three critical characteristics of the nimble organization:
•Hire only the agile -When staffing the organization for nimbleness,80% of the resources should be directed toward hiring people already prone towards the desired attributes, and then training and coaching them to expand their capabilities even more. No more than 20 percent of the resources should be allocated to assisting those who say they are willing to work against their own instincts and biases and try to develop completely new propensities… to become nimble and resilient.
•Spread resilience - when change is introduced, it is typically better handled by resilient people. It is better integrated by people who are used to constant change and who are not taken by surprise by the announcement or request.
•Build a core competency around handling ambiguity - People who handle change most effectively recognize that change can be scary, perhaps unpleasant, and that it always requires something different from them. Despite this, they continue to rise to the occasion and effectively perform their job responsibilities.
_ anshumali.saxena@soilindia.net

Better Customer Service = patient listening

2010-03-31T19:55:00.000+05:30

Customer’s Friend or Foe?

Mid sized businesses often dream of becoming big and go all out trying to acquire new customers. However it’s almost 6 times more cost effective to grow by selling more to existing customers. And that’s not all, as happy customers get, even they get more customers without any additional marketing costs: through their referrals. Isn’t it smarter to pamper existing customers rather than chase risky new customers? Besides customers expect the SME to be more proactive in addressing their needs as that’s one of the main reason a customer chooses a SME as he finds big businesses to be more focused on other big customers. If SMEs do not pay sufficient attention to improve their customer service levels, they lose on cheaper ways to boost their revenues and may also lose out on existing revenue opportunities. Inefficient customer service is too big a risk to take, if SMEs want to survive and thrive as a successful. One of the most common mistakes which SMEs make is to stop listening to customers, or even if they listen they ‘forget’ to carry out the necessary changes (this is even worse than not listening as it’s a ‘fatal’ betrayal of customer trust!) .

Do you argue or do you listen?

Ok you are a busy SME business owner who has million tasks to attend and almost every task is life threatening: payment to suppliers, tax returns, chasing for refunds, fixing broken equipment etc etc. But what use is all this if you don’t have the time to listen to your customers? You stop listening to customers; you stop growing or even surviving as a business. Remember customer is the king? So can you afford to ignore the undisputed King?? For heaven’s sake no! He who cares and listens to his customers not only earns more from customers but also gets free insights to fix business flaws that may lead to major embarrassments or even major revenue leakages.

So how do you feel when people argue instead of patiently listening to you, especially when you are agitated about an irritant? Agreed you’re an expert and most of the time you know better while the customer doesn’t know what’s he is complaining about. But will your reputation take a hit if you simply shut your mouth; offer a concerned apology (costs you no money)? In fact many studies have indicated that businesses who argue less and patiently listen to their customers (offer solutions only after a patient hearing and an apology) win more with higher customer retention rates. As an SME you need to engage patiently with our customers, just like a true-friend. Will you be friends with people who only want to argue with you? If you can get exasperated with such irritable one-sided arguments, so can your customers.

Are you a lazy listener?

Your customers often enjoy multiple options and love to exercise their freedom of choice. Like your customer can grab an ice-cream from the roadside cart (belonging to the leading ice cream brand) or he can come to your store for your unique ice-cream flavours. Only if you take the effort to listen to the latest discounts offered on competitions’ ice-creams and beat them. If you think listening to customers is sufficient you are sadly mistaken as should continuously listen to competition’s offers. SMEs who fail to master this art of ‘proactive-listening’ miss out on many opportunities of making more sales to existing customers. Then there are times when you fall into a ‘research-lethargy’ trap. Ok you did conduct a comprehensive customer feedback campaign and also gave out exciting gifts to surprise sweepstakes winners. But did you implement the findings of the survey or simply forgot about them as you were too busy to go through the mountain of collected-data? The day you get lulled by growing business demands, you are inviting competition to not only steal your customers but also your business. Wakeup and become a better listener-doer for reaping the many benefits of proactive customer centricity.

Cheers Anshumali Saxena @ www.soilindia.net

Delivering successful HR transformation

2010-03-31T00:49:00.000+05:30

The initial task is to define the current state of HR delivery within the organization, and determine the existing business strategy and priorities. It’s then important to gain an insight into what the customers of the HR function, the line managers and employees, think of the services they receive and examine the state of HR processes, assessing whether they are efficient and standard across the organization or if they vary by business unit or country. By applying various tools it’s possible to look at the existing technology, the current organizational structure and the company culture, and identify areas of improvement for HR. The next step is to design a new operating model – which may include outsourcing, service centers and new technology – which is configured to provide the best delivery model for the organization. Getting it right is worth the effort. Successful HR thought leaders, describe effective HR execution as “the difference between plans that become reality and those that go nowhere.” These HR leaders regularly connect HR strategy and execution as they firmly believe that, “value add of any HR initiative is the end-result of the quality of that effort, the acceptance of stakeholders and its execution.”

Business executives first, HR specialists second
In organizations globally, the most respected HR leaders are business executives first and HR specialists second. They partner with and are confidants of their CEOs and leadership teams and often find themselves at the epicentre of corporate change, being given credit for bringing about the toughest of business transformations. These HR leaders are also being recruited by progressive domestic and global boards. Responding to the intense focus on complying with new corporate governance legislation and increasing investor scrutiny, boards are retooling to ensure they have the right mix of highly qualified specialists, including HR experts. The price of failing to make the connection between overall business strategy and HR strategy is high. There will always be an option for the organization to hand over the HR services to an outsourcing organization who can effectively transform the function and make it work at considerably less cost. But HR functions which grab the nettle – those that convince the business of the value of transformation, can recognize that skills and capabilities in HR can change if needed and can harness technology – will become effective strategic partners and make a positive contribution to the continuing success of the organization.

Cheers anshumali.saxena@soilindia.net

Crisis Leadership Tips

2010-03-30T05:47:00.000+05:30

When the going gets tough, the tough get going…well its easier said than done, right? Wrong! Simply keep your wits and courage and follow these simple instruction….
1. Do not get too attached to your ideas. While it maybe good at times to be passionate about your own ideas, but getting too emotionally attached to them is not logically correct. Most leaders are incredibly distrustful of ideologues trying to push things down their throats. It’s all about subtle-positioning. Be prepared to quietly walk away as logical separation from your ‘ideas-under-fire’ will give you the appearance of perspective & poise.
2. Be ready to accept alternative-views. Best way to react to most objections by success-leaders is by first embracing them, then patiently explaining why your plan could be better or at least is equivalent. Again, it’s a sophisticated positioning strategy. There is a subtle yet significant difference between, “My approach’s better and here is why,” & “That is an interesting idea; here is why I think this could be a better-approach.”
3. Mastering the art of zinger-retorts. When you aer getting grilled there could be some real-life zingers/ The only one way you can hope to beat a zinger is with the help of a zinger-retort. And the only way you can become good at your zinger-retorts is by getting good at thinking- on-your-feet, by leveraging equal parts preparation, knowledge, experience, and of course, self-confidence and belief. Not to forget the essential skill to have a sense of humor when under fire too (show you have courage and wit in the required measure).
4. Delicately managing your key stakeholders. You do need to know your info and strategies/ideas thoroughly and still be ready for the worst. Its very important to know the individual preferences and other business nuances of all your key business stakeholders and also have a pretty good notion of their expected objections. Select one-on-one pre-meetings with these stakeholders is a great idea as it will sufficiently equip you to handle their objections and suggestions with practiced ease.
5. Never, lose control of your meeting. It is your own-meeting, or at least your time to present your side of the story/strategy. So you are in charge & you’ll need to act like one. I do not care if the CEO & CFO begin going down a rat hole on a mindlessly trivial-point. You need to be adept at all the usual tactics for keeping your meetings on track: on topic + on time.

anshumali.saxena@soilindia.net

Evolving corporate ‘Landscape’

2010-03-26T10:02:00.000+05:30

Organizations frequently survive the people who establish them. At some point it becomes the case that such organizations have been designed by one group of people but are being operated or run by another. Other people then have to live with the change challenges where the design and, the ends may have already been established. These people are then chiefly concerned with means. This is why so many problem-solving efforts start out focused on means. Some organizations are designed to buffer their core operations from turbulence in the environment. In such organizations all units fit into one of three categories: core, buffer, and perimeter. In core units (e.g., systems and operations), coordination is achieved through standardization, that is, adherence to routine. In buffer units (e.g., upper management and staff or support functions), coordination is achieved through planning.
In perimeter units (e.g., sales, marketing, and customer service), coordination is achieved through mutual adjustment. People in core units, buffered as they are from environmental turbulence and with a history of relying on adherence to standardized procedures, typically focus on “how” questions. People in buffer units, responsible for performance through planning, often ask “what” questions. People in the perimeter units are as accountable as anyone else for performance and frequently for performance of a financial nature. They can be heard asking “what” and “how” questions. “Why” questions are generally asked by people with no direct responsibility for day-to-day operations or results.
The group most able to take this long-term or strategic view is that cadre of senior executives responsible for the continued well being of the firm: top management. If the design of the firm is to be re-structured – these are the people who must make the decision to do so. Finally, when organizational redefinition and redesign prove necessary, all people in all units must concern themselves with all three sets of questions or the changes made will not stand the test of time.

Checkout more success-steps and inspired peace at www.soilindia.net

Making Organizational Change Successful

2010-03-26T00:04:00.001+05:30

Successful change management requires a large commitment from executives and senior managers, whether the change is occurring in a department or in a complete organization. A change effort cannot be optional, especially for the senior staff. They must lead or get out of the way. The new system will ultimately have to stand on its own feet, but every new system needs support and nurture. Inspired leaders can do the following for successful change management.
•Establish a clear vision for the change management process. Paint a picture of where the organization will end up and the anticipated outcomes. Make certain the picture is one of reality and not what people “wish” would occur.
•Appoint an executive champion who “owns” the change management process and makes certain other senior managers, as well as other appropriate people in the organization, are involved.
•Pay attention to the changes occurring. Ask how things are going. Focus on progress and barriers for change management. One of the worst possible scenarios is to have the leaders ignore the process.
•Sponsor portions of the change or the change management process, as an involved participant, to increase active involvement and interaction with other organization members.
•If personal or managerial actions or behaviors require change for the changes to take hold in the organization, “model” the new behaviors and actions. (Walk the talk.)
•Establish a structure which will support the change. This may take the form of a Steering Committee, Leadership Group, or Guiding Coalition.
•Change the measurement, reward, and recognition systems to measure and reward the accomplishment of new expectations.
•Solicit and act upon feedback from other members of the organization.
•Recognize the human element in the change. People have different needs and different ways of reacting to change. They need time to deal with and adjust to change.
•Senior leaders must participate in the training that other organization members attend, but, even more importantly, they must exhibit their “learning” from the sessions, readings, interactions, tapes, books or research.
•Be honest and worthy of trust. Treat people with the same respect you expect from them.
For better career success and industry success-mantras join http://www.soilindia.net/business-leadership-program.html

Neo-Darwinism for Leaders to succeed

2010-03-25T02:36:00.002+05:30

We all live in an era where theories keep changing, as we humans evolve at a faster pace than ever. No wonder today’s Business environment has made a mess out of Darwin's theories. For the most part, businesses have built their understanding of competition and strategy on a foundation of Darwinian mis-readings. Today facts have turned this on its head…here's the truth about some commonly misunderstood Darwinian principles:

The struggle for existence-One of the ways that Darwin used that expression was to refer to the death of a plant that didn't get enough water. The struggle for existence doesn't mean the lion biting into the lamb. Instead the lion could invest in rearing up lambs to ensure his future food supply.

The selfish gene-Do you believe that natural selection is just about selfishness? Try explaining it then: Think of yourself as a gene sitting in a body. You give an alarm call. By so doing, you call attention to yourself, which may alert the predator to your presence. At the same time, you will be saving the kin group -- and saving copies of yourself -- in future generations. Genes do self-sacrificial things regularly. Those that do are often the best replicators -- that is, they are the ones that make their way down through the generations.

Competition hurries progress - This false notion suggests that you get better outcomes by eliminating the weaker member of a group. That is supported by another Darwinian misreading: Only the strong survive, and the outcome will be better if you have people of first-rate strength. These assumptions have become the foundation of growth, progress, and capitalism: stronger, better, more. But they are not part of Darwinism. Darwin's insight was that competition can lead to all sorts of new ecological niches. If predators are devouring animals (like you) during the day, you might become nocturnal. If predators are becoming stronger or larger, you could become smaller, more mobile, or less visible.

Nice or nasty?-As the nationalities begin to disappear and global economics takes over from global politics…Darwin has got a gentler face…Big doesn’t eat the small, but co-operates to live and thrive for a longer time span. Welcome to a brave new and friendlier world,, where ‘co-opetition’ (cooperation with even competition) and not just competition rules.
So are you ready for the un-ending global oportunities coming your way. Prepare for them with confidence with practiced ease..its all happening at www.soilindia.net, check us out!

What Great Managers Do Differently

2010-03-24T12:21:00.001+05:30

Great managers break every rule perceived as “conventional wisdom,” when dealing with the selection, motivation, and development of staff. Each “great” manager is identified based upon the performance results he produces in his organization. The insight most commonly expressed by mangers is the belief, “People don’t change that much. Don’t waste time trying to put in what was left out. Try to draw out what was left in. That is hard enough.” The implications of this insight for training and performance development are profound.

This insight encourages building on what people can already do well instead of trying to “fix” weaker talents and abilities. The traditional performance improvement process identifies specific, average or below performance areas. Suggestions for improvement, either verbal or in a formal appraisal process focus on developing these factors. What great managers do instead is assess each individual’s talents and skills. They then provide training, coaching and development opportunities that will help the person increase these skills. They compensate for or manage around weaknesses. Does this mean that great managers never help people improve their inadequate skills, knowledge, or methods? No, but they shift their emphasis.

The Four Vital Jobs for Great Managers
It’s critical to know the four twists on conventional approaches which further define the differences in tactics espoused by great managers:
• Select people based on talent.
• When setting expectations for employees, establish the right outcomes.
• When motivating an individual, focus on strengths.
• To develop an individual, find the right job fit for the person.

Select People Based on Talent -Great managers usually select staff members based on talent, rather than experience, education, or intelligence. They define “talents” by studying the talents needed to achieve in different distinct roles. Talents identified are:
• striving (examples: drive for achievement, need for expertise, drive to put beliefs in action),
• thinking (examples: focus, discipline, personal responsibility), and
• relating (examples: empathy, attentiveness to individual differences, ability to persuade, and taking charge).

Setting Expectations & Outcomes-These great managers then assist each individual to establish goals and objectives that are congruent with the needs of the organization. They help each person define the expected outcomes, what success will look like upon completion. Then, they get out of the way. This is gets great results as most work is performed by people who are not under the constant supervision of a manager. At the same time, the manager will also establish the critical path and the check points for feedback, but at the same desist from to micromanaging the employee. This works as the manager can easily drive himself crazy while losing good people who feel he doesn’t trust them.

Motivating Individuals by Focusing on Strengths-Great managers appreciate the diversity of the people in their work group. They recognize that “helping people become more of who they already are,” since each person has unique strengths, will best support their success. They focus on an individual’s strengths and manage around his weaknesses. They find out what motivates each staff member and try to provide more of it in his work environment

For proven and industry leaders' created Inspired Manager learnng programmes join www.soilindia.net

Is There a Pattern in Employee Expectations?

2010-03-22T22:20:00.001+05:30

As “quality of leadership and management, “culture,” “pay & benefits” and “growth & development opportunities” are considered to be most important factors within the employment deal for a vast majority of high-performing employees, is there any pattern in these? Research shows that “Culture” and “leadership and management” are factors that prove to be significantly correlated to each other. Employees who have great interest in culture tend to have high expectations in the quality of leadership and management. A culture that is neither well developed nor aligned with the company’s leadership and management practices is unlikely to appeal to a high performer.

Priorities of Employers of Choice
Employers of choice have built much of their standing on their reputation as “exciting places to work.” They regard their reputation as an essential part of their employer brand and tout
this image among graduating classes and in the job market. But there is more to their success than mere smart publicity campaign. The brands of the employers of choice have much higher
congruence with the employment deal expectations of their high performers. This holds especially true for the high quality of their “culture” and the good quality of their “leadership and management.” Most companies only partially meet the expectations of their most valuable employees. Answers to the following questions can avoid such a mismatch. They build a basis on which an employer brand can be built successfully:
• What types of employees are fundamental to the success of the business?
• What do the high-performing employees expect from the company?
Answering the above questions enables the employer to build a brand that reflects its business and culture and is attractive to targeted employees. Besides the company needs to share and live the brand. The employer brand may not remain a secret for HR professionals, but should be widely disseminated and shared within and outside the company. The employers of choice have proven that well-developed employer brands help attract and retain talent. A strong employer brand shows what a powerful means of differentiation an employer branding can be. It can be thus be concluded that a remarkable reputation, perception and image in the job market builds on both the attractiveness in factors that are of fundamental importance to high performers as well as elaborate efforts, which make this attractiveness visible in the job market.
Join the inspired success brigade @ www.soilindia.net

Becoming Better and Staying Successful, Now Simplified!

2010-03-20T07:07:00.000+05:30

Who doesn’t want to be happy and prosperous, lifelong…and now thanks to available expert coaching it’s easier and safer too. Get going with our SOIL’s proven success-expertise and easy to follow advice at its popular Info sessions at its campus and Bangalore (on Saturday20 Mar 2pm- 4pm) with regular updates on our blogs/facebook pages.. With experiences and anecdotes from real life experience across different management and industry groups SOIL’s e-publishing is a must read and you’ll cherish its common sense appealing inspired leadership content and compelling suggestions.

It’s Your Life, Live it Up! Don't wait for negative thoughts to start thinking more positively, simply develop a habit to purposely feed your self with positive thoughts every day -- many times a day. Keep it simple: by telling yourself things like, "I am a good professional." -- "I love life." -- "I am good at what I deliver." -- "I make my own good-luck." -- "I have decided to be successful and be happy." -- And the really simple, "It is all good." Initially you may not really believe in these positive-thoughts, and that is ok, however keep at it. Say these to yourself as if you do mean them; eventually you’ll begin to believe them. Remember that our negative-thinking patterns are a result of many years of reinforcement and changing these thinking patterns to positive-ones does takes some time and effort. Optimism is a journey and you need not rush to the finish line, simply enjoy the scenery and calmly keep winning over pessimism.”
So go ahead and succeed faster, Now!
Success is God’s gift for us all, and you need to be better prepare and equipped to leverage all the opportunities that come your way almost daily. All you need to do is be better prepared to accept and harness them. Get started today by visiting us at our Info sessions Saturday 20 Mar 2010, 2- 4pm Gurgaon (SOIL Campus) & Bangalore (Symphony Services Corp premises) this Saturday 20 March 2pm-4pm www.soilindia.net

People-Savvy tips for organizational transformations

2010-03-19T04:11:00.000+05:30

People empathy and care for their informal group sensitivities is very important if you want your HR resources to fully energized and goals-participative. Here are proven tips that will strengthen individual, team and larger system ability to succeed regularly:
1. Be Friendly and become more accessible
To win the trust and involvement of team members, it is necessary to smoothen out the rough edges of public perception. Make sure everyone perceives that top management is responsive to their needs. Then organizations will be able to create greater rapport with them, and close the gap between reality and their perception of responsiveness.

2. Treat Front and Back Alike: Not Just Front-liners
Everyone in the organisation, from the front end to the back end, are like the front and back edges of a serrated knife. They share the same responsibility of ensuring that customers’ expectations are met. If only one side of the serrated knife is sharp, it will only be half as effective. Therefore, those at the back end must support the front-liners so that the whole organisation can be responsive to the customer.

3. PracticeSelf-Running Motivation
An effective reward system is one with tangible benefits that appeals directly to your staff. It helps employees relate to the higher mission. If the reward system is fun and reinforces the right values, it will fully harness the people’s full potential.

4. Foster Networks
Build and foster networks and collaborations between organizational structures that will act as threads connecting ‘fabrics’ of different ranks, jurisdictions and sectors. Forge these strategic networks, so that you can leverage on the strengths of others to complement top management.
-Anshumali at www.soilindia.net

The Road To Organizational Success

2010-03-18T04:27:00.000+05:30

Exploring and experimenting with various organizational structures, skills and strategies will positively impact workplace climate and productivity, along with team morale, focus and cross-team coordination. Simply follow the following guidelines:
1. Walk this Way: Leaders Set the Pace (Compass)
Proven success-leaders are like the directional arrow of a compass. Where they point will be the direction employees will go. So be clear where you are headed for, and show it to your organisation by success-leaders’ example.

2. See-Through Service: Transparency in our Processes (Magnifying Glass)
Employees tend to feel insecure or tense when they cannot get a clear picture of the policies and practices of our working processes. To help them gain a better perspective of matters, make processes more transparent enabling them to feel in control, too.

3. A Certain ‘P’ Factor: People Make the Difference (Screwdriver)
People are the vital nuts and bolts that hold the framework of any organisation together.
When a few come loose, the organisation will start to waver. Hence it is important to make sure that every screw finds its place. This can be done by recruiting the right people, and implementing training and development programmes that enhances their capabilities consistently.

4. The Way of the Bookie: Measure Everything (Ruler)
Performance indicators are yardsticks that help assess and gauge how an organisation is faring. Carried out on both the micro and macro levels, these appraisal methods will let you keep track of your performance, while providing a better understanding of employee and customer needs. Effective action can then be taken to further improve the standard of services delivered

Be more innovation savvy

2010-03-17T13:28:00.000+05:30

Innovation is critical Businesses today operate in an increasingly crowded world, with fierce competition jostling for supremacy in almost all business activities. Organisations need to standup, head and shoulders above direct and indirect competition, to be simply noticed. Implementing business process innovation across diverse functions is key to staying ahead of competition. In fact with technology, competition too can quickly replicate innovations, hence companies need inspired leadership to speed up introduction of new innovations while ensuring that they fully assimilate the existing innovations. Agility with ability is the new innovations mantra. Cleverly designed business process innovations also help the online business position itself as a business savvy organization that gains credibility by leveraging best practices with its customers, building unique process conveniences. With little offline tangibility to reassure customers, many online businesses thrive on technology led innovations to build brand loyalty. They often introduce unique web-conveniences that increase customers ‘stickiness’ on their sites. Customers get addicted to these ‘convenience-innovations’ like personalized ordering/interaction webpage and love to stay loyal to their chosen e-commerce portals.
Get innovation-ready at our forthcoming Inspired Leaders' Expert Info-Session Series - Saturday 20 March 2pm- 4pm: NCR Delhi (SOIL Campus-Gurgaon) and Bangalore (Symphony Services Corp premises). www.soilindia.net

Be Change-Smart, Proactively!

2010-03-16T10:01:00.001+05:30

Unstoppable Change
Change is an inseparable part of every life-form on Earth. As the only civilized creatures, humans are impacted most by the ongoing change events and thus can benefit more by managing change smartly than by being mere spectators. Change momentum is unstoppable and over the last decade has accelerated far more than any preceding time thanks to the twin forces of globalisation and internet. If you are not prepared to go along with the all pervasive changes then you may soon be overwhelmed in the ‘superhighway’ called ‘life’! It is simpler and cheaper to adapt gracefully than play the ‘catch-up’ game. For today’s agile and info-trained professionals, change is profitable as you can learn to proactively leverage its many elements and even lead vital aspects of omnipresent change forces. For example profiting from online learning forums and staying in e-touch with friends and associations through social networking assets like facebook and twitter is not just participating in beneficial changes but also capitalizing on them by following ongoing global best practices as per your time convenience.

Individual Change Assessment
We are first individuals and then employees or business professionals. Hence as the first step we need to be aware of our own capabilities to make the best use of the changing situation(s). You need to carefully plan your own responses to the emerging change-situation. Taking help of a seasoned trainer or mentor at a reputed management training or leadership grooming business school will be of immense help. An educated, well trained response is always better than an ad-hoc response. Change is a chasm and can cause anxiety as you fear unknown repercussions; training can not only remove these but also empower you to profit from changes. Preparing for change requires changes in the way we live, work and even sleep. For example moving to a 24X7 business environment may require you to work in night shifts at times. Preparing the mind, and body for this change will require implementing changes in your diet, fitness, relaxation and work routine. The earlier you adapt the easier it becomes to minimize the negative effect of the un-avoidable ‘change-chasm’. Be change-ready by visiting Inspired Leaders' Expert Info-Session Series - Saturday 20 March 2pm- 4pm: NCR Delhi (SOIL Campus-Gurgaon) and Bangalore (Symphony Services Corp premises). www.soilindia.net

Inspired Change Management- Bridging Macro and Micro Business Necessities

2010-03-14T02:45:00.000+05:30

A productive organizational development process involves fortifying both individual parts (or replacing ones that cannot be supervised or rehabilitated) and strengthening the whole system. Similarly integrating formal and informal systems is vital to a proactive Organizational Development-Team Building process. Here are three essentials for inspired change management for better bottomline and happy customers (internal and external):
a. Macro and Formal. Using outlined structures and strategies as a foundation, your people building process needs to be ready to expand into an OD process through interaction amongst different departmental members. This occurs when various teams of a branch or division meet on a regular basis, for example, at a monthly staff meeting. Even if having employees run these larger macro meetings is not practical (though department heads might rotate as facilitators) you can still have a wavelength section. Here the primary focus is understanding the many obstacles in coordination and negotiation amongst the teams or departments. Do you have their mutual support or is it more in-house territoriality and seeped in cutthroat competition? A Q & A session on your prevailing macro structure can also disseminate key information. Such an event helps employees to scrutinize the knowledge and focus of their leadership.
b. Matrix Teaming. In between macro and micro, formal and informal is the matrix concept. Representative individuals from various teams or departments meet to discuss crosscutting issues. These meetings can range from small task groups to larger gatherings. This is an excellent way to gauge actual or potential, formal or informal productivity innovations that need to be given the green light for experimentation. The latter, when verified, can readily lend themselves to various “on the spot” rewards. Clearly, in an open system, such organizational problem-solving structures and teams can be mutually reinforcing in a very positive manner.
c. Micro and Informal. Team members need to gather and check with each other at regular intervals in informal settings, often with such icebreakers like snacks/coffee. Unfinished business or anticipated roadblocks can be easily identified. Useful short-term and spontaneous problem solving suggestions are easily generated at such meetings. Five or ten minutes of this informal morning or opening shift roundup will also increase people’s participation in the business goals focus. This collective ritual always enhances enterprise-wide cohesiveness, employee-morale and productivity.
- anshumali.saxena@soilindia.net

Responsive Change Torchbearers of Inspired Leadership

2010-03-12T05:29:00.000+05:30

Many organizations are facing challenges associated with increasing development productivity, aligning ‘people networks’ to support overall business strategy. This is essential to sustain an agile and flexible organization that can rapidly respond to changing business requirements. Initiatives to improve the alignment of micro initiatives with macro (environmental) developments are commonly hindered by isolated business processes, duplication of decision takers and a fragmented information sharing model. This lack of micro-macro integration causes inefficiency, errors, duplication, and missed business opportunities as the business initiatives address only small parts of the business process continuum. Only a holistic approach to service-oriented architecture — adopted in the design, development, and operation of enterprise-wide micro initiatives makes any organization responsive. Innovative micro-initiatives that map to macro events can effectively act as "glue" that works as an adhesive (local level) strategy and a cohesive (global level) game-plan. While every seasoned manager has experience with the good, bad and ugly of micro planning there are a few core inspired leadership lessons for succeeding in responsive change-management:
* Responsive management looks ahead to new realities
* Responsive management works with focused priorities.
* Responsive management plays for performance impact.
* Responsive management lives with transparency in action.
* Responsive management thinks about its alternatives.
What do these responsive companies and the people who run them teach us? First, inspired leaders must be champions of the customer experience. By example and by emphasis, they must set high expectations for satisfying customers in their organizations. Second, employee empathy is what creates distinctive service. It's not enough to put on a happy face. And while technology is often central to providing a superior interconnects between micro initiatives and macro necessities, it must be used to benefit people, not just to replace the human element.

Shorter Leadership Learning Programs With Intensive Industry Participation Needed

2010-03-11T09:28:00.002+05:30

Kids are maturing faster, businesses are expanding faster, globalization is galloping at a faster pace. Winner- leaders are now needed to take charge earlier, and people need to transform from regular managers to being inspired leaders far earlier in their careers. Exciting times ahead!! This is what came out after 2 years of extensive international research and industry consultation by founders of SOIL (School Of Inspired Leadership) at Gurgaon, NCR Delhi
www.soilindia.net

How to Leverage e-Social Networks

2010-03-10T07:33:00.000+05:30

We humans are ‘social animals’ which means that we hate being lonely and love belonging to a social group. No wonder interaction is a popular necessity for many as we form many social networks based on religion, personal interests, individual hobbies, professional pursuits, pastime pleasures or even expertise and talents. Using social networks for personal benefit or business recognition is now more important than ever.
Overcoming e-networking challenges-One of the most difficult networking challenge is to expand your influence by being an inspired leader that people revere consistently. Theoretical knowledge is insufficient for grooming better leaders in the fast changing world of today. No wonder SOIL has got acclaimed business leaders to mentor students one-to-one so that they can grow both in confidence as well as reputation even before they get hired for plum positions. Students @ SOIL are using their social network presence to spread the inspired leadership message to far corners of the connected web world. This is giving many the perfect platform to reach out to many committed e-friends and business leaders-in-making.
Participate in this unique immersive inspired leadership program at www.soilindia.net and be transformed for the better, forever.

The Law Of Two Feet in action

2010-03-09T12:28:00.001+05:30

The recent Inspired leadership conference based on the Open Space format, exposed SOIL students to the concept of “The law of two feet”, which in essence means that “If at any time during our time together you find yourself in any situation where you are neither learning nor contributing, use your two feet and go to some other place where you may learn and contribute”

Deep diving into the law, I had one of my “Aha” moments which came by understanding that a basic guideline of Open Space technology workshop can be translated and imbibed as part of personal growth for each one of us. Expanding the horizon and viewing two feet as that of Passion and Accountability. If you are not learning and contributing in a given context, use your two feet of Passion and accountability to grow.

The natural question which comes to mind is, how does one know what’s his passion and how to achieve it. The key is in learning again. Learning is not to simply unlearn to learn again, but understanding deep beneath why to unlearn at the first place? Learning is to explore your passion, breaking free from the clutters of mundane and energy draining chores of life.

However, the story doesn't end just by asking and answering the "5 Ws" of learning, the fun is in asking the "How"! The underlying mantra to this is to hold yourself accountable for your passion, because at the end of the day, it’s your passion and you got to nurture it.

As we tread our journey and run on the two feet of passion and accountability chasing our dreams, don't ever forget that the "Journey is more important than destination".
By Vinay Pandey, Student, Business Leadership Program

Seasoned Leader in 15 years Vs Trained Leader in 5 years

2010-03-09T10:09:00.000+05:30

Pace, inspiration and loads of real business hand-holding are key to today’s business school education. New Age B-School SOIL creates an accelerated growth path for working executives and bright graduates. Our international faculty and India Inc’s successful business-leaders and acclaimed thought-leaders join hands to enable our students to leapfrog into the select league of people-compassionate, business goals-passionate and inspirational role-champions needed to outpace competition with better revenues and brand salience. Move over staid MBA, its time for industry designed, leaders’ mentored leadership grooming programme that’s wowing leading corporate and creating transformational leaders-in-making. Be the difference you want to be, today and forever. Visit and enroll for admissions at www.soilindia.net

Education Essentials & Life's Knowledge Necessity

2010-03-06T03:12:00.003+05:30

Excellence in one’s life is all about having self-belief and a resolve to consistently strive at self improvement because success is a ‘continuously moving’ (upwards!) target. Continued self improvement is an enjoyable journey if you break it up into small achievable tasks. Taking expert help is advisable as you avoid common pitfalls and many embarrassing situations. It pays to have an unbreakable faith in society’s education infrastructure that was created to specifically create successful people armed with knowledge and skills that society needs to grow. Add to this the never ending power of All Mighty to help you with the right wisdom and fortunate miracles.

Hey isn’t it more comforting to think that there is some ‘super-power’ that is always ready to help you, no matter who you are and where you were born. All that's needed to invoke this divine power is to pray regularly and never ever loose faith…to be the best you can be requires faith in God’s doings and following His good teachings captured in planned education too. Only through proper education and a good human attitude can you rise above your negative cycle of life-mishaps, and negative surroundings. With this positive success-attitude and committed learning you begin to see your own problems as part of a larger corrective (divine) plan. It’s His way to help you discover a better, more fulfilling path to your continued glory.

Customer's the king & a source of innovation too!

2010-03-05T02:57:00.004+05:30

We have all been brought up hearing stories of the customer being the king and how serving this all important king is the make or break for all businesses - big or small. True. But serving this omnipotent King starts with perfecting the fine art of sincere 'listening' – however successful or big one may be. One often-missed reality is that this listening is a valuable source of business innovation and all it takes is an investment in a good CRM tool. After analyzing several CRM reports and customer feedback, the CEO of Walmart.com realised the fallacy in the previously held perception about this new web front attracting its own set of unique customers. It was actually being used by offline regulars to check the product range before their store visit! Post this feedback, the web front was tweaked to serve as an ally of the offline stores (by running live campaigns to drive more offline retail traffic) than as a standalone website. Thus active listening and consistent CRM analysis helped Walmart to use the webfront as an innovative marketing tool for its main (offline) business rather than wasting money promoting both businesses separately.

Thoughts on Mindfulness

2010-02-24T12:59:00.001+05:30

I would like to share my thoughts on Mindfulness basis my ideas which have developed in the last few years partly based on my study of Chinese Medicine.

I believe there is something between the life force energy that connects everything to the leadership of the Mind, Body and Intellect. That something is intention, which is part of the self. The self is the amassing of life force energy into a being when we incarnate. The life force energy becomes the mass (E = Mc2) of the body, with emotions and an intelligent brain. Intention is what allows the self to lead the Body, Mind and Intellect. Thus an important step in living a mindful life is having and using one’s intention.

Eating and drinking in the right way includes eating slowly, regularly, without arguing or watching TV, and with a thankful attitude to the plants and/or animals that sacrificed their life force energy for our benefit.

Mind, Body and Intellect are part of the same whole and affect each other in profound ways. Thus negative emotions can lead to negative thoughts and to disease in the body. Besides good decision making, leadership of the intellect also involves eliminating what Daniel Amen (famous brain researcher) calls ANTS (automatic negative thoughts) and using affirmations to reinforce positive thinking.

Cleansing of negative emotions is vitally important, as repressed emotions are the cause of much, if not most, disease. Sharing negative emotions can help release them, but one can also become addicted to empowering emotional wounds. If one shares pain in order to receive love, then when the sharing fails to elicit the desired response, a new wounding is experienced.

There are many ways to cleanse negative emotions, including spiritual practices (eg meditation); counselling; healing by others; nutrition, rest, and exercise. Personally, I have found QiGong* meditation, acupuncture (which balances Qi), homeopathy and ayurvedic medicine, medical QiGong (healing by a practitioner who balances Qi), and TaiQi (which moves and balances Qi) extremely helpful in releasing and resolving emotions.

*”Qi” is life force energy and “Gong” is “skill” so QiGong means skill in gathering, circulating and applying life force energy.

Contributed by - Patricia Evans, Faculty, SOIL

The World of Emptiness and Leadership

2010-02-19T11:16:00.004+05:30

The title might sound interesting; indeed it is, for a reason. To help you understand this let me take you back to the times when one could really see a clearer picture of the things happening all around us. When there were no multiple personalities or ideologies. There used to be a single school of thought and one was recognized based on one’s single ideology and sticking to that for a lifetime. Those were really the moments when the world was empty. Cross cultural connections, internet, globalization, the way we know these concepts today were never really talked about then. Media was not very prevalent in those times and leadership was emerging from the grounds.

Some fine examples from which we can imbibe critical leadership lessons are Bhagat Singh, Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa. They are the ones who recognized the missing link in the world and put their complete conscience to the cause.

Bhagat Singh, the man who believed in action defied the existing superstitious beliefs and atrocities happening on the people at that time and even took his stand by going against the beliefs on the Supreme Being i.e God. He was of the view that in order to find your freedom you really have to get up and revolt against the British Empire. How did he gain respect or how he rose in those times is the question I am seeking to address. The idea was simple. He sensed it first inside himself. That he was here for a higher cause greater than his own self was the feeling inside him. Then he went along with the people and supported the existing ideology like that of Mahatma Gandhi from which he found out that mere presence of non-violence is not going to get us freedom but we must fight for it, so he took to violent activities and became part of a revolutionary organization. He demonstrated clear leadership for the young blood in our country. He was not thinking about himself at all but he was thinking for the country! NOT everyone can do that. It needs a lot of courage to stand up and go against the existing tide. My contention is that someone HAS to rise and therefore someone will rise as part of nature or as a belief of a God wanting balance.

Likewise, the man called Mahatma Gandhi who demonstrated his leadership by sticking to non-violent means. The train incident at South Africa triggered the change inside him and he went on to support the higher cause. His leadership demonstrated the first step a human being takes towards leadership, he truly and clearly identified himself spiritually and that is when he went on to preach the same to the world. Many of our present day leaders like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar are doing the same in a way. Another example is that ofMother Teresa who again realized the purpose of living by giving to others. Her idea was simple: Loving the people from weaker sections of society and doing everything in service to these people.

Looking at these personalities two lines of thought emerge. One, that these people were not mere mortals but were sent by God to really look at and improve the existing state of affairs in those times, within that part of the world and second, that it is very natural that these people stood up for the cause, they took responsibility upon their shoulders. Both these thoughts are debatable as long as the world exists, because mere thoughts of human influence without God’s purpose seems slightly out of context to me.

Those were the times when the world was empty and leadership was visible for the deeds done by these souls. People were finding their ideals in these leaders and for many of them it was their first kind of experience of someone directing their souls with new ideologies. After independence, our country has seen leadership in the form of politics, business, sports, bollywood and rest of the country has followed in their footsteps. Some were the really enlightened ones to lead and the rest were following their footsteps generation after generation.

Now, the times are changing and demanding as well, not only in a single corner but around the world one is seeing and experiencing different things happening; internet has arrived, media has expanded itself in magnitude and reach and we are doused in so much information. Things are in abundance and the world is no longer empty. The presence of things around has made each one of us empowered to think of our own individuality. The questioning of Scott Adams in his book God’s Debris may find his answer today. His idea of avatar level interpreting “There is only one avatar at a time”, I think this is debatable. His understanding of avatar was merely limited to the knowledge at highest dimension. In fact, I would say there are many who could think of the world using multiple intelligences and are fully aware of the situation that the world is into. We now are well aware that there is no supreme power that is going to solve our problems. The statement made by U.S President Obama that “We are the change we have been waiting for” truly justifies this concern. Not so long ago, Mahatma Gandhi said the same when he wanted each one to realize the power of self. Times have changed. And, for a fact each one us can realize our power and world is going to get empowered with such knowledgeable people.

The questions that arise hence are: What’s the point of leadership in today’s context? Are those past day leaders not born today or are they lost in today’s labyrinth? Where is leadership and who are the people going to lead and what ideal should we live our lives on? These and many more such questions abound in the context of practicing leaders.

In conclusion, Leadership has to take a new stand in today’s times not relying on what was done earlier because problems are going to be different everywhere be it politics, organization, community level etc.. The leveling of the world has brought considerable changes all around. The world is filled now and will continue but likewise fundamentals never change, so are the fundamentals of leadership. The world is in need of self inspired leaders. Organizations and governments have been devising ways to empower people with technology and share information across borders. Now people can reasonably figure out what it means to be a person. This, demands of the human being, changes at the conscience level, changes within each and every human being. He/ She is not merely surviving alone but has to take care of the change (become more responsible) that is coming along his way. Leadership should mean creating balance and sustainability at our personal level, our society and country level and can’t just be left to chance. We have to recognize, that in this new religion of work, our society has to create coherence and respect the interests of each living being.

There were times when one could really find his ideal, role models in others. But today’s times where ideals have blemished; it is up to us to be self inspired and act as a role model and inspiration for others. As we progress towards each role of tomorrow, we need to stay committed, focused and contribute to maximum effect. To summarize, leadership of the future will mean accountability of living in this world. Accountability for and towards each and every human being!

Contributed by: Tejinder Singh, Student of Business Leadership Program, SOIL

Obligation vs Choice

2010-02-11T11:05:00.001+05:30

“During a race, I never wear a wristwatch, and my bike doesn’t have a speedometer. They are distractions. All I work on is finding a rhythm that feels strong and sticking to it”, says Dave Scott, six time winner of the Hawaii Ironman triathlon.

What he means is that he rejects outside-in obligations, a way of saying he does what he feels like doing- ironically enough, inside-out goal setting blows the competition away!

Here is a hint for HR people grappling with decreased employee engagement at the workplace. You think you do everything right: wellness programs to boost employee well being and ensure that the employee is more productive, short term and long term incentives to boost engagement and a host of other creative initiatives. . Yet, at the end of the month, you find dwindling employee engagement scores across organizations. The situation, however, is quite different with people working in NGO’s or charitable organizations. The difference is that people in the former are driven by tasks and goals set by someone else and in the latter, they do what they love doing. They have found that inner “rhythm that feels strong” and have stuck to it.

The problem in fact, lies at the core of our business beliefs. We still believe the age old adage, “What gets measured, gets done”. But that was the industrial era, or at best the early information era. We are in the experience economy now. People are motivated by experience. And what is the experience they want? The answer lies in moving from the outside-in approach to the inside-out approach, so that employees are not bound by external obligations.

The focus of businesses worldwide has now drastically moved towards human capital. We are in the era of strategic convergence. Yesterday’s best practices are no longer the strategic advantage. Consultants can ferry them across the globe. The Information age has flattened the world. So you can rely on superior processes or practices only as much! Rely on your people.

Today, successful organizations have to be flexible and adaptable to respond to the rapidly changing market conditions or they risk becoming fossilized remnants of a bygone era. And since it is people who will drive the success of businesses, their needs are of prime importance. The motto is quite simple- free the people from externally driven goals, let them choose what they want to do. Easier said than done? What about Semco SA led by maverick leader Ricardo Semler? On his second day at work he fired two-thirds of his management (“Sometimes Change Management involves just that - change management”!) and built an organization based on the simple premise of giving people the freedom of choice. Of course such an “audacious” form of industrial democracy needs leaders, the likes of which are few. But there is no doubt, our age old motivational theories are either no good or wrongly implemented. If you want a world class organization, let freedom and innovation thrive. Because more often than not the former drives the latter.

As so succinctly put in the article “The Motivator’s Dilemma” by James Clawson and Douglas Newburg - “The difference between good enough and world class is the difference between obligation and choice.”

Contributed by - Anirban Chowdhury, Student of HR Leadership Program, SOIL

Placements at SOIL

2010-02-08T10:59:00.001+05:30

Placements – the most awaited time of the year and for some of us, of our careers. This is the time that will decide which way our future moves. All of us are preparing hard. And of course, hats off to the Career Forward team - they are working tirelessly all day for all of us.

It is exciting and our nervousness gives us butterflies in our stomach. The excitement is about getting so many companies on campus and the nervousness is of which one is right for me!

Lots of questions come to mind. Where will I get placed? Where will my friends get placed? Will I be able to perform well in the interview? Do I have what my dream company is looking for? Are the interviews going to be hard to crack? Being the charter batch of SOIL, we have to set standards. We have the responsibility of creating SOIL’s brand. All these things have to be taken care of.

Every day, I see a few disappointments but much more happiness. Students are celebrating not only for themselves but also for their friends who are getting placed. I see some students helping others in preparing for interviews and others coordinating with the Career Forward team. Everyone is motivating each other towards achievement. An interesting scene is the one right outside the interview room – all a little worried about the interview and at the same time hopeful of being selected!

It is an amazing experience to see the President of SOIL being at work till the last interview ends, despite being busy with so many other responsibilities.

The past 2 weeks have seen many individual stories being created and one of them was mine. When I was selected, I felt that one can never know what makes you get selected and what brings you a rejection! I had thoroughly prepared the technical aspects of my HR subjects and my perception was that the behavioral interview cannot be tough. But that’s not true. It’s really tough to understand what goes right and what goes wrong. I had already given 5 interviews and this was my sixth. I was well able to figure out what I had lacked in my previous interview and overcoming these flaws was my single aim till I got selected. But now I am selected, and I still feel the need to improve and learn and grow. I had thought that I’ll be very happy once selected. But I am still puzzled. And I have plenty of questions within me about myself that I need to explore! I guess that’s what lifelong learning is about.

Contributed by – Ira Jha, Student of HR Leadership Program, SOIL

Six Dimensions of Leadership

2010-02-03T16:17:00.002+05:30

“What distinguishes the students of SOIL from other B-Schools?” My answer to this question is “Leadership”. To explain my answer better, following are my experiences of Leadership, which I have encountered at SOIL.

My encounter with leadership started on the first day of a course conducted by Dr. Ramnath Narayanswamy. On the first day of our course we were given an assignment to make 12-slide presentation on “Who am I?” On the face of it, it looked simple, but it turned out to be the most challenging assignment. We struggled, but by the end of the course we knew ourselves better and had learnt that the journey of Leadership starts with self. That is where I learnt the first dimension, “Leadership of Self”.

The second learning came during our Theatre course. For the course, we had to put up a show for the entire school in two days, what followed was a powerful experience in teamwork. The entire class together wrote the script, dialogues, and together decided each scene. We discussed, we debated, and we decided. The end result was a flawless performance. What we achieved together in this class was no less than a miracle. I witnessed the power of working together towards a common objective. This was the second dimension, “Leadership by Togetherness”.

The third was learnt through Yoga. As part of the curriculum we were taught yoga by Susie Roy. We attended the first class with stiff bodies and reluctant minds. However, Susie, with her love for each student, created an environment of warmth and belongingness. Slowly we all started loving each moment that we spent with her. This is how I learnt the third dimension, “Leadership by Love”. The fourth learning has come from our NGO association, as part of our course. I am part of an NGO called SRF Foundation, which works in the field of rural education. We had a life changing experience when we made our first few visits to villages nearby. These villages just 50 KM from Gurgaon, seem 50 years away from Gurgaon in terms of development. Here we met real life heroes, who have done wonders with literally no means. They have had neither the resources, nor the support of people but have done wonder within their constraints. This is where I learnt the fourth dimension, “Leadership in Constraints”.

The fifth aspect was something that was told to us by one of our visiting faculty. Dr. Karl-Erik Sveiby, the father of Knowledge Management, during one of his lectures introduced us to the lives of the Nhunggabarra People of Australia. This unique tribe does not believe in having one single tribe leader! People here assume leadership in areas in which they are experts. For example, men who are experienced hunters, take lead during hunting expeditions, similarly women are in-charge of decisions pertaining to community and marriage. Their record keeping is better than any databases and spread-sheets of today. These people have led a sustainable, sophisticated and a happy life and even though they do not have a leader, they definitely have Leadership. This was the learning of the fifth dimension, “Situational Leadership”.

The final lesson in leadership is something which I saw from the founder of our institute, Mr. Anil Sachdev. This was when swine flu was at its peak. During that time we received news that one of our colleagues had been infected with H1N1. The moment the news came in Mr. Sachdev walked into our classroom and sat with us; rather than in the safe confines of his office. He exposed himself to the same risk which all students were exposed to. He also made arrangements for medicines for each student and their family. This type of leadership by the founder of SOIL left an indelible impression on most of us. And this was the sixth dimension, “Leadership by Example”.

In the time that I have spent at SOIL, these are some of the dimensions of Leadership that I have seen and learnt and am sure that by the time this course ends I would have experienced many many more.

Contributed by - Ankush Chopra - Student of Business Leadership Program, SOIL

UTV-Bloomberg Promo of Inspired Leadership Conference 2010

2010-01-28T15:50:00.002+05:30

Exciting times at SOIL - A student perspective

2010-01-27T10:38:00.001+05:30

The entire SOIL family is working hard for Placements as well as the Conference on Inspired Leadership. The excitement of the Placement week is still on and the count-down to the conference has begun as well. These 10 days are completely action packed for all of us at SOIL since both events are of equal importance. Technology is an important enabler at this time and we see several mails going back and forth! Some herald news about the students who have got selected and are signing out of the placement process, others inform us about the companies scheduled to visit campus and yet others relate to the preparation required.

It is interesting to note that while just a few weeks ago all the students were busy preparing for the student dossiers to be shared with the companies and seeking advice on the relevant career paths, the discussions have now moved on to which companies one should apply to and what profile would be appropriate! Lots of excitement!

As the first batch at SOIL, it is exciting to be part of the development of the placement policy, choosing the profiles and the companies, organizing the pre-placement talks and the establishment of the various processes. It feels great to see that the Career Forward team has been successful in getting several of the top ranking firms to the campus for the placements that began on 18^th Jan.

Congratulations to our batchmates who have got great offers from Vodafone, Infosys, M&M, Johnson & Johnson, Kohler, TATA Steel, John Deere, Max India Corp and others. We are all looking forward to meeting with several other firms including Accenture, Taj, Metlife, Airtel, Avantha, Polaris, Murugappa and Dr. Reddy’s (to name a few)!

Now, with the conference coming up on 29^th and 30^th Jan, it is interesting to see how some students are working on the placement process and others have focused on organizing the conference! There are some who are even striking a balance between both…you sit for an interview, visit your NGO for the SIP project, come back to work for the conference and then prepare for classes the next day…this has really given us a chance to celebrate inspired leadership!

While the placement week has been of immense significance for all of us, we also realize that the Conference is also one of the most important events during our year at SOIL and I am confident that both events will be a resounding and memorable success.

Contributed by - Santosh Prabhakar, Student, Business Leadership Program

What to expect from SOIL

2010-01-27T10:35:00.001+05:30

“What sort of a job will I get after I complete my course?” “What is the salary I can expect?” “What sort of companies will visit the campus?”

These are some of the many questions that race through a student’s mind when one considers pursuing a B School education.

The story at SOIL however, is different. The one year program has been designed in a manner that ensures maximum interaction with industry leaders in various formats. Due to this intense involvement with the industry, SOIL students are well prepared for moving towards the right career.

One of these formats is the mentorship program where students spend 3-4 hours every month with a senior leader from the industry. This helps the students chart out their career aspirations, identify the areas that they need to focus on and develop the skills needed in the industry that they aspire for. These meetings also enable conversations about career progression and who knows, the mentor may at times find the mentee a good fit into their own organization!

Another exciting way to engage with the industry is the Company Day. This provides the students with a platform to network with senior leaders from our Consortium Companies for an entire day. Besides sharing leadership stories from their respective companies, they also discuss real life case studies with the students. The students get an opportunity to present their recommendations to the senior management of the visiting companies who in turn can provide constructive feedback to add to the students’ learning experience at SOIL.

With the students half way through the program, the efforts of the Career Forward Team come into focus. This comprises a team of students guided by the SOIL faculty and management team. While the SOIL consortium companies lead the placement process and commit their participation, the Career Forward Team also reaches out to several other companies. A unique aspect is the Student Dossier that is shared with the Companies…this highlights each students’ experience, their learning at SOIL as well as their future aspirations. This brings out much more as compared to just a resume. (http://www.soilindia.net/student-profile.html)

We believe that every student at SOIL has unique gifts and the aim of the team is to best fit the students with the right company and brightest prospects.

Information Session and Campus Tour at SOIL

2010-01-22T14:40:00.003+05:30

Facts, figures, and even the best websites, blogs, and virtual tours will never give you the 3-D, personal experience of knowing how a particular campus feels, how the students live their daily lives, or what the buzz of the classroom is like! To put it simply, you wouldn't buy a car without test driving it first!

On 16^th January 2010, prospective students and their families had the opportunity to learn more about SOIL and its programs through a 3 hour group information session led by our management team, faculty and industry consortium companies.

The session provided the students with a more natural, spontaneous and engaging experience; a taste of what it would be like to study and be a student of SOIL.

The information session was structured in a way that provided students a natural and spontaneous flavor of SOIL’s value proposition, reputed faculty, the strong partnership with 30 leading organizations and the unique learning experience.

The session began with the Founder and CEO Anil Sachdev talking to the participants about the vision of SOIL, the growth story of the past one year and the future plans.

The participants then had the opportunity to interact with Aadesh Goyal, Chairman and MD at People Strong. Aadesh is one of the mentors for the SOIL students and he shared this experience with the audience and they got a clear understanding of how the mentor-mentee program has not only helped students identify and forge their goals, but has also enabled them to develop the right kind of skills and attitude required to move their career forward.

There was also a session with senior representatives from the Industry Consortium. Mr. P Dwarkanath, Director, Group Human Capital, Max India, shared with the students the importance of matching the curriculum of a business school with the requirements of the industry. He spoke of how the industry needs more people with a deeper understanding of leadership principles along with business acumen. Mr. Prashant Shrivastava, Director HR, Kohler related his experiences of interacting with the first batch of students at SOIL during the Kohler Company Day. He also cited the HR curriculum and discussed its relevance to the real world HR best practices.

This was followed by an introduction of our resident faculty – Prof. Adwaita Menon, Strategy, Prof. Shrikant Gupta, MIS, Dr. Sunita Chugh, HR and Dr. Vinita Sahay, Marketing. Who shared their background, experiences and the pedagogy followed at SOIL. And spoke of the unique grading system that allows each student to excel rather than pursuing a relative pattern. They also spoke of the interactive classroom features that encourage peer to peer networking and intense faculty interaction.

Our students are at the heart of SOIL, and as such are the best people to share experiences about life at SOIL. The session ended with a Campus Walk and an open session where the participants could know more about the admission process and the finance/loan options as well.

This was the first of many Info Sessions that SOIL plans to organize. This was a truly engaging and memorable experience for the audience involved.

SOIL's SIP Program with Adharshila (NGO)

2010-01-15T11:28:00.001+05:30

Leadership Crisis

2010-01-05T10:46:00.002+05:30

Leadership is almost certainly the most written about and discussed topic in organizational literature- even more so in today’s turbulent times.

What is beyond doubt is the fact that we have a global leadership crisis. Today, more than ever, in the uncertainty, and change we all face, organizations need more integrity and emotional intelligence, and our leaders have far too little of it. This may be the greatest limitation on our ability to navigate the turbid and unclear waters we all seem to be treading in. Certainly, we need more abundant and better qualified leadership to get us through the challenging times ahead. Yet, we are moving into a period where the leadership pool is getting smaller and younger. While this presents obvious challenges, this also perhaps presents us with a great opportunity.

The opportunity lies in the fact that we do know far more today about the importance of leadership continuity and the key leadership characteristics that contribute to the long-term success of institutions. Leadership undoubtedly makes a big difference. We have all, I am sure, at some stage worked with, for and alongside people some of whom are inspiring, some mediocre and some that don’t deserve to be leaders to begin with.

The growing crisis in leadership that we face today is observable from at least three different perspectives.

Firstly, with respect to demographic evidence, in the next decade, the percentage of 35 to 44 year olds will decline significantly in most countries and at the same time evidence suggests that competition between companies to attract and retain top talent will intensify. However, in the absence of any clear indication on the leadership qualities of those who are to enter the pool, nothing definite can be said about the shape of things that will emerge.

Secondly, with respect to the anecdotal evidence, we can clearly see a deteriorating confidence level in leadership in almost every principal field of endeavor whether it is business, education, Government or religion.

Finally, there is evidence that is emerging that presents serious concern about the need for quality in our leadership pool.

1. Companies are indeed at risk on many fronts – not just geopolitical or financial, but vulnerability to natural disaster, regulatory change, technology change, loss of market share, new competition, law suits, complexity of global markets and now corporate fraud!

2. Employees are constantly looking for newer and deeper meaning in their work. On average one out of every two employees the world over is disengaged at their workplace. They lack the enthusiasm, drive and passion for their work. Furthermore, the gloomy economic outlook, increasing job insecurity and layoffs have dampened levels of employee morale and made matters worse.

3. Environmental degradation is affecting all mankind on a global scale. Ozone layer depletion, global warming and loss of biodiversity are concerns of global significance that urgently require leadership intervention at the highest level.

4. The growing demand growth for energy especially from countries like India and China in the face of tight supply conditions continues to heighten the energy crisis.

5. There is a growing radicalization of religious beliefs inhibiting Governments’ from developing foreign policies that are acceptable and based on strong economic fundamentals.

6. Today, there is far more globalization and interdependence than we have witnessed in the past. We have all been victims in varying degrees to the financial meltdown on Wall Street. As the world becomes far more integrated, we will require a different kind of leadership.

Companies have to find solutions focused on sustainable development encompassing economic security and prosperity, social development and advancement and environmental sustainability. Business enterprise can no longer suck in the resources of society and environment beyond its self-sustaining capability. Today, society and environment are seriously questioning the existence of irresponsible and non-responsive business enterprise.

Industry has also realized that organizations with strong environmental and social credentials get the social sanctions to operate, carry less risk, achieve greater efficiencies and are better positioned to take advantage of opportunities in a global marketplace. Never before in human history has the need to create a true symbiotic relationship between business enterprise, society and environment been felt more than it is today. So much so that the sustainability of business enterprise as the engine of human development is completely dependent on this symbiotic relationship.

Business enterprises will have to transform from a transactional intelligence of demand and supply economics to emotional intelligence of building, nurturing and caring. It will have to allow the benefits of economic growth to sustain the ecological and social environment and spur the evolution of technologies that drive balanced growth.

This is a major change and requires leadership of a very different kind. Jim Collins discovered in his extensive research that the most powerfully transformed leaders share a paradoxical combination of personal humility and fierce resolve. Ensuring success of business will require transformational and sustainable leadership. Success going forward will be measured by a new understanding of integrating business, social and environmental issues, much like how economic thinkers are looking at integrating economic development with human development indices as a true measure of growth of any economy.

Contributed by - Nishchae Suri - President, SOIL

Enabling self-sufficiency at Kanhai Village

2009-12-29T11:20:00.004+05:30

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” As part of our SIP project, this is what we are trying to do in Kanhai Village located in Gurgaon, Haryana, enabling self-sufficiency. We are a five member team from SOIL- Ashray, Abhishek, Anirban, Geeta and Bhavna, working closely with close to 70 BPL (Below Poverty Line) families in Kanhai. We are enabling these villagers to become self-sufficient in the key areas of Health and Education.

As part of the initiatives, we have conducted a health camp with Max India Foundation, an AIDS awareness camp with SRF Foundation and recently a Polio awareness camp. In the coming months, we are planning to undertake more such camps in partnership with other NGO’s. Getting into a project like this makes you recognize the disparity that exists in the country and realize that the things that we take for granted in our daily lives like sanitation, personal hygiene etc, can be such an alien concept to these families. However, we are overwhelmed by the support that we have got from the people here and are very thankful to the Sarpanch of the Kanhai who has lent us tremendous support.

The best part of being associated with SOIL and such a project is knowing that the work we are doing here will not be forgotten once our batch passes out, but will be continued by our succeeding batches. It is very difficult to capture our experience and our emotions in words; the only thing we can say is that we are very thankful to SOIL for enabling such a humbling experience and allowing us to be a part of change.

Contributed by - Ashray, Abhishek, Anirban, Geeta and Bhavna

Inspired leadership Conference

2009-12-28T11:47:00.001+05:30

Anil Sachdev talks about the upcoming Inspired Leadership Conference

Inspired Leadership Conference – 2010

2009-12-22T14:19:00.006+05:30

SOIL is happy to announce our first conference on Inspired Leadership. This will bring together a microcosm of the planet’s leaders in business, government, ‘Not for Profit’, Education, performing arts etc. The world today needs global leaders to think beyond themselves and their countries; School Of Inspired Leadership endeavours to bring the community together by hosting this conference on Inspired Leadership. The conference will provoke thoughts about Inspired Leadership and how can it be empowered by the five values that SOIL believes in – Mindfulness, Compassion, Ethics, Sustainability and Diversity.

The planet is in grave danger. Ecological disasters, economic crises, terrorism, the increasing gap between the rich and the poor - are all signs of this man made catastrophe. We cannot solve these complex problems by the existing ways of doing and managing. We have to take responsibility by leading in ‘whole systems’ ways. We cannot make dangerous tradeoffs by stimulating greater consumption to solve economic recession; by engaging in wars to bring about peace; by creating new cities to improve living standards of the rural poor; by reducing ‘emissions’ to impact global warming etc. We need to dig deep into the reservoirs of ancient wisdom to look at how our ancestors lived in harmony with Mother Nature and ask new questions that make us behave like one global family and raise our ‘consciousness’.

The conference will be held on 29th and 30th of Jan 2010 at the SOIL campus in Gurgaon. It will have three distinct parts:

Plenary sessions with business leaders of repute :

Mr. Arun Maira, Member Planning Commission; Mr. Muthuraman, Vice Chairman, Tata Steel; Senator Abbie Cornett of Omaha
Workshop on Inspired Leadership by Peter Block, author and consultant
Open Space Learning for over 10 hours facilitated by Anne Stadler, Founder of Spirited Work and the Open Space Institute of USA

For more information or to register for the conference, please write to us at Ilc2010@soilindia.net

The official video of School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL)

2009-12-17T11:20:00.002+05:30

Message from Nishchae Suri, President SOIL

2009-12-14T13:15:00.006+05:30

Great Leaders believe in Lifelong Learning. At the School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL), we create lifelong learners.

The first step in building an institution committed to learning is a personal one: You must be open to learning. At SOIL, we are committed to continuous personal improvements and growth. To enhance and develop learning skills, we have focused ourselves on a few critical dimensions around knowledge, information and learning methods

We are willing to accept the provisional nature of knowledge. We constantly question long established 'truths' to make sure that they still hold. We encourage an open attitude towards learning and encourage and appreciate diversity in thought and application.

Large organizations rely heavily on processed data. With information being constantly screened, condensed, compiled, coded and crystallized into recommendations, we end up with a filtered view of what's happening. We enable real life organizational experiences for you, where you can confront and experience what's really going on in organizations. Visit companies from different industries, meet their employees, talk to customers and understand how work really gets done.

We recognize that every individual has different learning needs and styles. While one of you may be detail oriented, another would look for the bigger picture. Our Individual Learning Plan (ILP) captures your personal bias and our mentors help you calibrate your judgments accordingly. Humility coupled with fierce resolve is necessary for success. The willingness to seek better ideas is part attitude and part developed skill. At SOIL, we help you become skilled at defining the limits of your own knowledge. By simply asking the right questions and recognizing that you do not have all the answers, you can enhance your learning substantially.

At SOIL, we celebrate your strengths and help you become the person and professional you were born to be.

Benefits of Industry Consortium to SOIL Students

2009-12-08T13:02:00.005+05:30

A select consortium of corporate firms who share SOIL's vision and ethos have been invited to partner with SOIL to enhance mutual learning and standards in higher education. This network of accomplished professionals, help impart overall direction to curriculum design, participate in the admission process, review the quality of teaching, learning & industry research and lead the placement process.

Currently, our industry consortium includes reputed companies like Asian Paints, ABB, Anand Group, Aditya Birla Group, Avantha Group, Bharat Petroleum, Bank of Baroda, Dabur, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline, Grant Thorton, Hindustan Unilever, Indian Hotels, Infosys, Johnson and Johnson, Kohler, L&T, Max Healthcare, Max New York Life, Mahindra and Mahindra Group, Maruti, Nokia, SAP, SAS Technologies, Symphony Services, Schneider Electric, SRF, Taj Hotels, Tata Steel and TVS Motors. The Industry Consortium Board is chaired by Dr. A.K. Khandelwal, the former Chairman of Bank of Baroda.

The Industry consortium partners with SOIL in the following ways –

Curriculum Design
Selection of Students
Mentoring Students
Research and Case Study Preparation
Leading the Placement Process

At SOIL, we believe Corporate Social Responsibility not only can be, but absolutely should be a priority in this marketplace. In fact, the global financial meltdown is testimony to the fact that it is imperative to have more responsible corporate behavior, follow sustainable business models and adopt transparent regulation, to achieve more stability in the global markets. We maintain that inclusive and sustainable growth are not only better in the long term on a social level, but indeed create more value for all stakeholders.

Learning from the heart - SIP program with Shri Ram Foundation

2009-12-07T16:08:00.005+05:30

“All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.” Aristotle

We are an eight member team working with the SRF Foundation (part of the SRF group, one of SOIL’s industry consortium members). The objective of SRF Foundation is to reform rural education. As part of the SIP program at SOIL, Ankush, Uttara, Nataraj, Bhavesh, Rahul, Suraj, Vinay and Santosh are visiting various villages and documenting their schooling experiences.

The SRF Foundation is working to create a world class platform for sustainable education transformation. As part of its Model School Programme, the foundation has adopted 25 schools in Mewat Districit of Haryana and is addressing various issues in these schools. We, as students of SOIL are working closely with the foundation to study the problems in these schools and prepare individual cases for them.

The team till date has visited 9 of the 25 schools as part of our project learning and have taken away more learnings in this short period of time than we could have ever imagined. Challenges are many as we progress into this project; however, our belief in the project motivates us day-in and day-out.

Blind cannot lead the blind, thus, if we are to think of ourselves as the leaders of tomorrow, then we must be aware of every aspect of our environment. And what this project has done for us is that it has made us conscious of the disparity that exists in the Indian education system. It is heart-rending to see children learn in an environment where there is paucity of books, teachers and infrastructure. Here, the students are not motivated to attend the school for the value of education but only for the mid-day meal. So how does a system survive, when there is no hunger for education?

As we further along on this project, we are becoming acutely aware of the tasks and challenges that lie before us. However, we are hopeful that our emotions and hard work put in the project will not just replicate itself in the generous donors but also reflect in our future professional lives. And as the course rolls out, we are proud of our contribution as students of SOIL to a larger interest of the country.

Submitted by : Ankush, Uttara, Nataraj, Bhavesh, Rahul, Suraj, Vinay and Santosh

SOIL's Commitment

2009-12-07T15:44:00.004+05:30

We believe that leadership is about taking responsibility to create impact without necessarily having the authority vested in your position to make this happen. Our students work with a NGO one day a week on a project that enables the NGO to ‘do more with less for more’.

We provide the tools, the talent and the ethos to celebrate sustainability – to nurture a generation of inspired professionals who build organizations by creating value for the shareholders while caring for the environment and staying committed to improving the lives of those they touch.

Our NGO partners include – Adharshila, Natural Heritage, Nyaya Bhoomi, Dr Shroff Charity Eye Hospital, SRF Foundation, Common Cause, SOS Children Village, Udayan Care, Joining Hands, Searchyears and Navjyoti.

Watch out this blog space for articles from SOIL student on these projects.

Message from Anil Sachdev, Founder & CEO SOIL

2009-11-27T15:05:00.008+05:30

Ethics, diversity, mindfulness, compassion and sustainability are the five pillars of "Inspired Leadership". They truly create lasting value in the true sense of the word and build organizations of consequence. The School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL) is being founded to develop leaders who live this vision.

We are creating a business school that is attempting to respond to some questions given below:

Can business schools truly develop leaders who care for the planet?
Is it possible to build "character" in higher education?
Do we know the challenges we are likely to face tomorrow and can we build competence to face
these ahead of time?
How do we build enthusiasm in our hearts when there is so much "bad news" screaming at us from every form of media?
Can a business school help students to know themselves, realize their "purpose", discover their gifts and learn how to leverage their strengths to create maximum value?

We are experimenting with many innovative approaches. Our Social Innovation Program (SIP) entails every student spending one day a week working with a NGO that is striving to improve the state of our world. Each student would be mentored by a Business leader. This would develop leaders with compassion who truly "care". We plan to teach ethics by leveraging the power of theatre and performing arts. We will simulate live "cases" in which students would attempt to play the roles of real life characters when they face ethical dilemmas. This will develop leaders who realize the consequences of the choices they make.

We are designing a "wellness" program covering physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual well being. This will teach our students the virtues of a good living and a balanced healthy lifestyle.We are forming a Consortium of role model companies to participate in shaping SOIL at every stage- from selection of students based on multiple intelligences to design of relevant curriculum, review of quality, participating in the Social Innovation Program (SIP), teaching relevant & live case studies on their companies and the placement of students. This will make our school truly exceptional and impactful.

We are all excited about giving birth to SOIL. We feel "blessed" and have a deep sense of gratitude of being given this opportunity to build an Institution of consequence. Join us in this journey and help us to create the SOIL in which the right seeds are planted to grow talent that our world needs and deserves!