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Personal Resilience in Tough Times – Finding One’s Way Back

June 16, 2014 / Tojo Eapen / 0 Comments

Dedicated to my mother, Aleyamma Eapen.
I started thinking about writing on this topic as my mother passed away last week.

According to ‘Merriam-Webster’, ‘resilience‘ can be defined as the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens.

Everyone inevitably goes through difficult personal scenarios at some point in life. These may include passing away of or losing dear ones, losing jobs or security, personal relationships, illness or disease and unforeseen disappointments. They may also result in instances where one questions and tries to find the meaning of one’s existence and life. A whole host of issues and challenges seem to emerge in these situations. Sometimes, people around can act in ways that could be surprising, confusing and disappointing. One may encounter loneliness, lack of social support and various other social and personal challenges.

How can we build personal resilience?

Most times, we go along happily with our lives until one of these scenarios hits us badly and takes us by surprise. Even though we may not be able to prevent some things from happening, it helps to be aware and also respectful of others going through similar stages in life. A bit of empathy and support can go a long way and also helps with the recovery process for the person involved.

Every individual has her or his own way of coping with challenges, pain and finding the way back. Solutions may be unique and relevant to one’s own preferences. That said, it does help to learn and understand tried and tested methods of finding a way back to normalcy. In tough times, it is not easy to think with a clear head.

I wanted to share few actions that I found helpful. If you have experienced some of these, please do share for the benefit of others around. There may be more people around than you think, working through life challenges.

When everything around seems to whirl out of control, it helps to find one’s space of calm and peaceful reflection through prayers, meditation, breathing exercises and focus on one’s core belief systems. Having a spiritual belief system helped me find meaning and peace in difficulty. It’s still important to acknowledge that there will be an up and down process.
For those going through the loss of a dear one, allowing for grieving time and finding the path towards acceptance is an important process with varying timelines. Understanding the stages of loss and grief, and allowing oneself adequate time to progress through these stages is important. Being compassionate and forgiving to oneself during the recovery process is also valuable.
Focusing on the positives helps shift the mind to a healthier direction. A lot of thoughts go through one’s head during difficult times and it is easy to get stuck in a negative pool. If one can be conscious of this and find few things to be grateful and thankful for (redefine the “bad” in terms of potential “goods”), in spite of the difficulties, they help make a difference. The mindset can be important. Research from Carol Dweck of Stanford emphasizes the importance of having a growth mindset, rather than a fixed mindset.
Having a helpful social support group, in the form of close friends, relatives, colleagues, professionals or individuals with a high emotional and spiritual quotient can make a huge difference. It helps for the closest support group to be available and present, sometimes just to be present with a listening ear or a hug (even virtually).
Getting some momentum towards core areas of interest and meaningful impact is helpful. It helps to move forward with a purpose, even in baby steps, whatever engages one’s mind with positive action. For me currently, focusing on completing this blog post, working with a friend on transitioning to a new blog page, helped to take my mind off difficult thoughts and focus on something meaningful for me.

These notes of course do not replace the need for professional support when needed and it is important to recognize when one feels the need, and act accordingly.

If we can reflect, learn and find our meaning from difficult life scenarios, we can grow stronger mentally, wiser, more compassionate towards ourselves and others in difficult environments.

Personal resilience is extremely important during difficult times.

How can you help build personal resilience and help individuals around you?

Life is precious. It helps to count our blessings and make a meaningful difference. Wish you the best.

I also take this opportunity to thank the beautiful, generous souls near and far who have and are supporting me through difficult times. Thank you very much….

Suggested additional reading:
Life After Loss: Conquering Grief and Finding Hope by Raymond Moody and Dianne Arcangel (Book)

Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire. – Schindler’s List

Fundamental Question to Ask Yourself in Any Interaction

May 30, 2014 / Tojo Eapen / 0 Comments

We have all sensed, acted or reacted based on this and would think it makes sense, even if it may be unconscious during our interactions. Most expert communicators and socially intelligent people have inherently known and used this approach. Thanks to neuroscience research, the findings provide a solid reason to understand this.The fundamental question to ask yourself in any interaction:

AM I CREATING A “TOWARD” (APPROACH) STATE OR “AWAY” (AVOID) STATE IN MY INTERACTIONS?

This applies to any interaction in our world of work and personal relationships.

According to neuroscience studies:

Our brains are more tuned to picking up threats in the environment and the threat response is easily triggered.
It is easier to cause aggravation than it is to help other think rationally and creatively.
In the threat state, our brain is disengaged due to related activity and ‘noise’, resulting in reduced cognitive performance. There is also a high possibility of an “emotional hijack”. We also know that emotions are contagious and can spread.
The organizing, overarching principle of the brain is to minimize danger (threat state) and maximize rewards (towards state).
If a stimulus is associated with positive emotions, it will most likely lead to an approach response; if it is associated with negative emotions, it will lead to an avoid response. From our experiences, we know that we naturally try to avoid uncomfortable interactions, situations or difficult people.
An approach response is synonymous with the idea of engagement and closely linked to positive emotions.

So next time you think about starting a conversation in person, over the phone or virtually, ask yourself: Do I want to create a “towards” (approach) state or an “away” (avoid) state? How can I create a “towards” state?

In the world around you, what percentage of “towards” state interactions vs. “away” state interactions do you notice?

Reference, Recommended Reading:
SCARF…, David Rock: http://www.your-brain-at-work.com/files/NLJ_SCARFUS.pdf

How Much of You Is Your Job Title or Position? Importance of Humility & Wisdom

May 23, 2014 / Tojo Eapen / 4 Comments

To my dear friends, colleagues and readers,

Here are some questions for you:

If you were to lose your important position, title or social status today,

What would happen to you?
How would you feel, behave?
How would your existing relationships shift? How would they respond?

Many people in today’s world seem to lose touch with their authentic selves once they get used to the trappings of an important corporate job, title and perceived power. Humility goes down. Arrogance creeps in. Ego grows rapidly. Respect factor goes down. A feeling of invincibility kicks in.

One starts believing or over relying on one’s belief, status of positions and unconsciously start feeling that these will last forever.

Why does one need to reflect and be aware of the line between confidence and over confidence/arrogance?

Like most things in life, nothing lasts forever. Life involves ups and downs, successes and challenges, pleasures and pains. Sometimes, unexpected shifts in one’s life can cause lots of pain, be humbling and bring one to reality that we are all in fact mortal. They may come forth in the form of unexpected job challenges, health issues with self or loved ones, losing someone close, personal issues etc.

If most of your relationships are formed and defined around your perceived social status and not your authentic selves, it may be helpful to be prepared for surprises and pains when life starts to present difficult moments.

It is helpful to be in touch with one’s own authentic self and values. When the rough times appear, this prepares one more to maneuver through, similar to an anchor that holds a ship stable in rough waters. In today’s socially networked world, corporate or social hierarchy does not necessarily indicate level of influence or impact. Therefore, it’s helpful to be aware of arrogant behavior and where that may or may not lead one to.

Letting go of the trappings even for a bit can be a refreshing experience and reality check for oneself and the world of relationships.

I think most of us go through similar scenarios as we progress in our careers and lives. What is important is to build awareness, consciousness, learning and wisdom. This will help to navigate rough waters whenever they come next.

According to Professor Ursula Staudinger, a life span psychologist and professor at Columbia University, true personal wisdom involves five elements. They are self-insight; the ability to demonstrate personal growth; self-awareness in terms of your historical era and your family history; understanding that priorities and values, including your own, are not absolute; and an awareness of life’s ambiguities.

Wishing you humility, wisdom and true success in your journey.

Additional Suggested Reading: Top 5 Regrets of the Dying

Trust Guidance for Leaders

May 17, 2014 / Tojo Eapen / 0 Comments

One of the common discussions that I’ve come across in leadership discussions in organizations is “How do we build trust?”. I’ve thought about this question from two perspectives – building trust at an individual level and at an organizational level. If one wonders what the difference is, trust needs to start with individual actions in direct interactions and they have to be manifested to a wider audience or stakeholders through organizational processes, practices and systems. Multiple studies have found that trust is a crucial factor for team performance, including in sports. This applies to any type of organization.This post focuses on the individual aspect. Trust can be built more consciously at an individual level with fundamental actions – which I term as “Trust Guidance”. For someone wondering about how to build trust, these are useful starting points. These come from direct observations, and work with leaders and organizations.

1. Be visible.
Don’t get too busy with meetings and spend most time within closed doors. All stakeholders especially your team members have a high need to see their leaders. As human beings, visibility is reassuring and builds certainty and confidence (neuroscience research findings support this).

2. Be respectful.
Being respectful in your direct and virtual interactions, irrespective of organizational levels are huge motivators for individuals. The lower you go, the more charged up and motivated individuals are when they feel leaders found time for them, even to have a short conversation or acknowledgement. People also go through good and bad phases at work or personal lives. Respecting their space, especially during bad phases go a long way to building commitment and trust.

3. Be aware of self and impact of one’s behaviors and actions on others.
Take time to understand yourself, what drives you, your values, principles, strengths, development areas. Self awareness is the starting point of any development effort. Next stage is to understand others around you and your impact of actions on people around. Trust is a two way street and someone needs to extend a hand forward first to get the process of interactions into motion.

4. Be authentic, consistent in behaviors and actions.
Be yourself. Don’t try to be someone else. Most people are smart enough to see through ‘fake’ personalities. This does not indicate the license to do whatever to be oneself, rather being aligned to values and principles which are built as part of self awareness. Practice what you preach. Admit mistakes with accountability when they happen and share recognition when success is achieved. It is also helpful to explain your thinking approach as people think differently about a certain topic and may struggle to see the rationale in another person’s approach.

5. Be open to discussions, while being conscious of biases.
Having the openness to discuss aspects that you may not agree with and have a strong view about, may help you see many possibilities and ideas that are otherwise missed. Sometimes, it helps to be open about the fact that you have a strong view for a certain reason. It also encourages others to share ideas and thoughts with you without fear. Presence of fear is one of the biggest barriers to trust. Nobody wants to be the ’emperor with the naked clothes’ but there is a probability of unknowingly becoming one with and it becomes very difficult to call someone out when the perceived power distance is higher. Being vulnerable, even to some extent is a big factor for others to see the humanness and accessibility.

6. Be fair in approach and communicate, especially tough choices.
People can live with tough choices if they feel it was based on a fair process and they’re not being misled into believing so. Many times, lack of visibility to the process or the way it was communicated or absence of it, result in difficult scenarios and contradictions for everyone involved.

7. Reflect constantly and make necessary changes.
Take out some thinking time with yourself or with your social network, coaches or mentors who can help with your thinking process and getting to more clarity on changes and actions. Everyone has a different scenario to think about and there are no perfect answers that address all scenarios. Observing, reflecting and adjusting your approaches accordingly would help you figure out the best approach for your environment.

Are there any other fundamental starting points in your view?

Best wishes on your leadership journey…

Absolute ‘Must Haves’ for High Performing Teams in Any Environment

May 7, 2014 / Tojo Eapen / 0 Comments

How many teams does one work with in a lifetime? A collection of multiple teams working efficiently towards common goals are fundamental to the success of any program or organization. It is therefore important for leaders to build a shared understanding and definition for high performance (individual and team). After having worked in and with various diverse teams as a member and consultant (sometimes ones with major issues), the following factors or elements seem ‘non negotiable’, in order to develop a high performing team.

1. Self & Social Awareness
Self awareness is the fundamental building block of any development effort, either at the individual or team level. Strong self and social awareness are consciously developed using appropriate tools or assessments (eg. Team Management Profile) and conscious practices. If practiced well in a consistent manner, they result in a high degree of personal trust, and creation of “friend, not foe”/“towards, not away” frames (Daniel Goleman’s ‘Social Intelligence’, David Rock’s ‘Quiet Leadership’). The leader spends time with team members actively listening, coaching and empowering (not controlling or answering questions always). He/she is conscious about keeping his or her own ego and biases under check. The perception of fairness within the team is strong. Enabling a learning environment ensures that team members are encouraged to stretch, acknowledge mistakes & learn to make necessary adjustments with accountability. Team members feel encouraged to flourish and find meaning in their work, not restricted or controlled.

2. Key Stakeholders/Outside-In Perspective
These teams are aware of and always work with the key stakeholder perspectives (Dave Ulrich & Norm Smallwood use the term, “Outside-In”), while developing their Points of View. To start with, they map out key internal and external stakeholders and work towards building strong relationships.

3. Purpose of Existence
Through the leaders initiative and facilitation, the team builds together clear, inspiring answers to these key questions: Why do we exist as a team? What is our common vision and purpose? How do we achieve value for our key stakeholders?

4. Clarity of Roles/Responsibilities
There is a strong understanding of each others’ roles and responsibilities, and how they practically interface with each other. These are aligned with the core objectives. I’ve found this area to be a big cause of frustration and conflicts within teams and the reality is that it is very difficult to document everything into a single ‘roles & responsibilities’ document in today’s constantly evolving environments. In cases where misalignment or confusion appears, clarity needs to be forged through constant open dialogues (facilitated by the leader or an expert). This will work smoothly only if the social and self awareness competencies of the team have been consciously developed in the beginning.

5. Diversity
For a high performing team, diversity in thinking, work preferences and approaches are essential. Mutually complementary and supporting skills ensure that there is a healthy spread of task, behavioral preferences and strengths. Diversity has the potential to create more stress and challenging environments in the beginning, sometimes resulting in in negative conflicts but the potential for achievement is much higher if the social and awareness factors are addressed proactively. Constructive challenges help a team push a team further, without needing to wait for external stimuli. Managing diversity can also serve as a strong test and development for the leader’s maturity, emotional intelligence and leadership skills. Michael Watkins (First Hundred Days) noted that organizations can be like organisms – they repel any new or foreign body entering the system. Diversity keeps a team open and sensitive to competitive challenges or strategic shifts and challenges ‘herd’ mentality.

6. Focus/Priorities
Most teams get inundated with demands over time and have the constant challenge of delivering more than they can support. High performing teams and leaders build clarity around the right priorities and results, through reflection, active dialogues, alignment with key stakeholders and focusing their intense efforts accordingly. The performance management and reward systems are aligned accordingly. This also relates to clarity on goals, expectations and progress reviews at the individual level. In his recent HBR article “The Focused Leader”, Daniel Goleman noted that a primary task of leadership is to direct attention.

For any leader of a team, it is helpful to ask oneself what percentage of time is spent reflecting on or discussing these topics – individually and with the team (especially during the early phases of a team’s forming and norming stages)? Most teams spend majority of their time discussing practical issues at hand or technical topics. If a leader does not facilitate and enable the building blocks of team development especially in the early stages, and constantly follow-up on these elements, she or he will spend a lot more time later thinking about and sorting out related issues.

It is never too late to start. This important team development capability needs to be built either internally with HR support or with external experts. These factors become even more relevant and important for senior level teams with high impact on the overall organization.

Are there any other ‘must-haves’ in your view?

Best wishes…

‘The Leadership Code’ – Applications for Global Leaders

April 22, 2014 / Tojo Eapen / 2 Comments

The topic of effective leadership has been thought about and dissected from various perspectives. I have also spent quite a bit of time reflecting and learning from various angles, while observing, experiencing and working with leaders on practical aspects.I got an opportunity to read the draft of ‘The Leadership Code’ book written by Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood, and Kate Sweetman few years back. My recent RBL group partner certification on the topic got me thinking again about related experiences, and its relevance globally. The Leadership Code work reviews various models and research works and presents a strong, consolidated (‘meta’) view. Having worked with global leaders, managers and HR over the years, I felt it would be beneficial to share some related thoughts and observations. From my own experience, leaders undoubtedly have a huge impact (through their direct or indirect actions and behaviors) on how people within an organization feel and engage with customers and external stakeholders, and thereby how the external stakeholders perceive an organization through their interactions, connecting to results.

TLC recommends that the fundamental areas of focus for an effective leader include Personal Proficiency, Strategy, Execution, Talent Management and future Human Capital Development.

In my observation, many leaders seem to spent majority of their time thinking about and working on the execution area. It is natural, as most individuals are promoted to their leadership positions because they are very strong in execution. The ‘leadership passages’ (Leadership Pipeline – Charan, Drotter, Noel) or transitions require leaders to reflect and rethink their approaches and practices, as they progress through their journey. When it comes to leadership development programs, a lot of the focus seems to be on Personal Proficiency. This is of course an important area but hopefully would not be at the expense of others. Building a strategy might be less complicated for some leaders but communicating it consistently across and engaging with the organization through to the front lines, making it practical and aligning with the performance management system (which enables right execution) are complex steps. It is important to note the distinction between execution at an individual level and execution at the organization level (requires different approaches). Talent management tools exist in many organizations but what makes them valuable is an indepth understanding of the organization’s talent and key drivers through day to day interactions and applications. When future Human Capital Development is not given serious attention, the succession pipelines dry up or we miss to look at the critical roles in a changing environmental context with the relevant talent, resulting in heavy business impact.

A recent post by GE’s CLO & VP of executive development Raghu Krishamoorthy, mentioned that most of their leaders, including their chairman spent at least 30% of their time on people related topics. Competent HR professionals and systems can play a huge role as enablers and support in building a balanced view and practical approach.

An important question I would leave you with is – to consider if you would need to and how you could find a healthy balance of these areas on your leadership agenda. The proportions may shift depending on business life cycle and other practical considerations but if as a leader, you miss out on eg. future Human Capital Development area citing business and operational emergencies, the probability of never getting out of them increases and building a sustainable organization for the long run remains a dream.

It helps for every organization (starting with top leaders) to clarify how leaders help balance today’s priorities and future success, and the important role that leaders play to build sustainable organizations for the long run.

RBL Group also finds that while around 60 to 70% of leadership competency models reflect TLC, around 30% would ideally involve differentiators related to the organization’s strategy and brand (which leads to a distinct ‘Leadership Brand’).

Wishing you happiness, success and wisdom…

A Decade of Cross Cultural Experiences in Four Fundamental Practices

February 24, 2014 / Tojo Eapen / 0 Comments

After spending over a decade of my life in Finland/Europe and the U.S., and having had the great opportunity to interact and work with talented individuals and leaders from various cultural backgrounds and journeys, I wanted to synthesize and share some of my key experiences and lessons in cross-cultural experiences.

Working and living across countries/cultures may present great opportunities and at the same time, they hold numerous challenges. The ability to work effectively with, lead and manage across cultures are competencies that are becoming very important in a world that continues to get smaller and closer, due to rapid advances in technology and social media. As glamorous as it may seem from a distance, adapting to and succeeding in a very different culture are not at all easy. Those who choose to be ignorant of this topic will lose great opportunities for personal and professional growth.

There’re numerous studies and research articles on this topic and some of my thinking has been influenced by them.

If you come to another’s turf with empathy, sensitivity and open ears – what the Zen masters call ‘beginner’s mind’ – you’re halfway home.
– Tom Peters

1. Respect
Being aware, sensitive to and noticing some of the key themes, norms and behaviors in a new environment constitute an important starting point. This can help one to understand how things work, life patterns flow and what is valued in that setting. Many of the norms would be very different from one’s own conditioning and would seem strange initially. Being respectful to individuals and cultural norms helps to adapt faster to any new environment. One would also need to be respectful of the differences and try to understand the background without being judgmental. There is a possibility of feeling disrespected or ignored, in some instances. Chances are that, not everyone in a different culture is aware of the nuances of your culture and interaction styles. Irrespective of how you feel initially, your mature approach and respectful presence can increase your acceptance, credibility and prevent you from getting stuck in a frustration zone.

2. Openness To New Experiences Without Judging
This is vital for making progress in a different cultural setting. Stephen Covey’s teaching, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood” is a very useful advice to keep in mind while interacting with people from a different culture. It is useful to be aware of our own biases and that our biases and environmental conditioning may easily lead us into the questioning, judging, confusing and eventually distrusting zone. Individuals from different backgrounds can look at the same scenario and perceive it very differently. Categorizing something in your mind as superior or inferior, right or wrong, good or bad etc. will impact your own thinking ability and responses to situations and people. Open communication with authenticity is fundamental to avoiding misunderstandings. During initial stages of interactions, it’s useful to explain the reason behind doing or asking for something that impacts others, and clarifying the same with others without creating a ‘threat’ state, when there are questions in your mind. This avoids confusion, especially in the initial stages of relationship building.

3. Flexibility
As mentioned earlier, I realized that my own way of seeing a topic was very different from how others from a different background related to the same topic. Being flexible relates to building self-awareness and using that awareness effectively to understand and manage through various scenarios. This would also mean shifting/stretching ways of thinking and adjusting/ changing one’s own approaches. Taking the responsibility to tackle an unpleasant situation with maturity and emotional intelligence requires a lot of flexibility, to flex one’s own thinking frames. It’s very useful to have a positive ‘forgiving’ and ‘forgetful/let go’ attitude with unpleasant experiences, while being aware of one’s own learning. Very seldom does anyone win an argument of being right or wrong. ‘Co-regulation’ beyond ‘self-regulation’ is very helpful. Vicious responses only result in cycles of vicious interactions and stress, which take the relationships further into the red zone. On the other hand, not engaging in a proactive, positive conversation results in increasing distance.

4. Coping with the unknown and fear of failure
There’re a lot of unknowns in a new environment. Finding information through formal and informal channels and making personal connections are very helpful to put one at ease initially. One has to also find relevant ways to accept, understand and cope with stress related to uncertainties of the new environment. It generally will take a certain amount of time before adjusting and feeling comfortable in a different cultural environment. Patience is fundamental to work through times of frustration, disappointment and negativity. It may not be uncharacteristic to go through a feeling of ‘being lost’ at times. It is really important to find one’s own support from ‘comfort zones’, secure bases and ‘connections’ in those situations.

It is helpful to be prepared for mistakes and misunderstandings along the way. Fear of failure can inhibit people from experimenting or experiencing new things, which reduce the impact of the cultural experience, knowledge and personal development. The normal tendency might be to stay within one’s own comfort zones most of the time.

According to a leading expert in this field Fons Trompenaars,

“We need a certain amount of humility and a sense of humor to discover cultures other than our own; a readiness to enter a room in the dark and stumble over unfamiliar furniture until the pain in our shins reminds us of where things are.”

Your willingness and openness to step into the new world can take you to a totally new dimension of personal growth, deep connections and confidence. Enjoy the journey. Best wishes…

Please share your valuable learning and experiences!

Note: The topic of ‘culture’ can be reviewed at different levels or frames. I’ve tried to focus on the country culture aspect here. Some of these practices can be useful in working through other aspects, like organizational culture differences.

Leading the World – Food for Thought for Corporate Leaders in India

January 16, 2014 / Tojo Eapen / 2 Comments

As someone following the world of leadership, human capital and organization development discussions, I could not resist sharing some observations and food for thinking for corporate and business leaders in India. The following themes appeared to me across conversations and experiences during my time in India. There are of course many exceptions but one would need to openly challenge some notions, if more Indian companies and leaders aspire to be relevant in today’s connected world and tap into the high promise potential of our younger generations.

1. The Big Picture

The popular expression, ‘Seeing the trees and not the forest’ seems to be a major area for many leaders to reflect on.

There seems to be a general tendency to focus heavily on the details and costs, without sufficient emphasis on critical strategic leadership elements like value creation, organizational alignment and stakeholder engagement. While the technical aspects and analytical skills seem to be an area of strength, it is important to remember that as leaders of organizations, your mandate is much bigger. It may be comfortable to focus on tasks and activities that are more tangible in nature (‘comfort zone’) than those like discovering new business directions, making strategic choices or understanding the emotional quotient in your organisation. Organisations should indeed be efficient bodies with improving process and cost management – yet the need for finding new directions, being agile, adapting in a constantly shifting world in a sustainable manner, and the ability to ‘connect the dots’ is critical. An important example of a real time topic is the recent discussion around the future of India’s IT sector and how companies need to evolve and flourish in a shifting environment. Communication, language skills and influencing across stakeholders can be challenging, yet critical. Cross cultural awareness and openness especially for companies and leaders expanding across the world is fundamental for success.

In his latest book ‘Focus’, Daniel Goleman notes that for leaders to get results, they need three kinds of focus – Inner focus (our intuitions, guiding values), Other focus (connections to the people in our lives) and Outer focus (larger world).

2. Understanding and Realising the Power of Human Capital.

How many leaders see high value in investing in a product or physical assets vs. investing in talented people? Are investments on talent management, human capital or leadership development seen with similar importance and bottom line impact (starting with the self)? Who creates great products, services, strategies or innovations in organisations, and what leads to those creations? What is the amount of discretionary effort that an individual has and can stretch in any effort? Seeing the golden link between business results and highly effective employee practices are fundamental to sustainable success.

A lack of concerted development effort results in a vicious cycle for an organization – eg. lack of investment in leadership development results in lack of quality thinking, reflection and improvement of leadership effectiveness at an individual and organizational level. I’ve heard from few leaders that they’re so busy running that they don’t have time to stop and think. As a result, the focus tends to become narrow across the board (often unconscious). The organization can help consciously provide that space.

For the non-believer, it might be worthwhile to think about the disruptions in many areas (especially technology) and generational shifts we have seen in recent times. One also could think about the Indians who have flourished in global environments like the U.S. and what the difference is. Core factors like Certainty, Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose, Relatedness, Fairness (ref. David Rock/NeuroLeadership Group, Dan Pink) are relevant everywhere and should be actively adopted by leaders.

3. Challenging the status quo and changing traditional management approaches.

This is a major area for change and the need to change traditional management approaches to reflect today’s world is extremely high. We still cling on to many approaches from previous century to manage organizations and workforces in 2014. Even factors like restrictive hierarchies and mindsets haven’t shifted sufficiently to realize the potential of evolved knowledge work and potential. As technologies turn the talent pyramid upside down for potential disruptions, a leader has to find a way to understand and truly tap into reframing one’s own mind map. This does not mean that old ideas and philosophies become totally irrelevant. Even institutions like Harvard are actively adopting and applying the age old wisdom of mindfulness and meditation to the business environment.

There seems to be a reluctance to empower and trust across the organization. Some of this may stem from the historical, cultural and environmental /social aspects of heavy competition and conflict. As a leader, one needs to think how he or she can build true collaboration and change such a culture or value system to enable significant output. Role modeling is fundamental and well-designed HR systems can be strong enablers.

4. Wellbeing, Effectiveness of self and others

Last but not least, many findings today relate to individual wellbeing, effectiveness and personal sustainability. It is not uncommon to find young professionals in India who spend lots of overtime at work, ignore exercise and a healthy lifestyle. Many leaders also today seem to be heavily distracted, over worked, juggling too many things while ignoring the options to engage/empower team members, and apply the same principles and role modeling to their direct reports. Multiple research studies show the negative impacts of continuous high stress on mental and physical health. Combined with these working habits, the lack of exercise and constant overtime at work leads to a tired brain in a constant ‘threat’ state and poor decisions. Neuroscience studies indicate that a tired brain does not support innovation or fresh thinking.

As a leader, how would you rate yourself on curiosity, interest in learning and applying some of the recent studies/findings to your ways of working? The leading consulting firm Korn Ferry found that ‘learning agility’ is a fundamental trait among successful leaders.

There is not much doubt that having high quality leaders and talent are fundamental success drivers for any organization or even a country. The sooner a leader realizes it, the better for the system and the people in it. Leadership starts at the individual level (with self-awareness, management) and needs to be developed consciously at the systems level for truly high impact.

Leadership in government functions is probably a different discussion, with higher priority due to the scale and scope of impact on general public and seeming lack of current attention to the topic.

Institutions (especially Universities) and organizations also play a key role in leading the drive for influencing and changing practices at a systemic level, even beyond their own countries. There is probably a higher need to communicate that information and interact actively with individuals (eg. leading universities in the U.S. using social media to disseminate latest studies and discussions).

If you aspire to be a respected, world-class leader, I leave you with three final questions:

What Leadership Brand (ref. RBL Group) would you like to build for yourself?
What would you want your Leadership Legacy to be when you are not around?
If you’ve found one useful takeaway from this reading, what will you do about it next?

Curious and interested to hear your thoughts about this topic…

I wish you the very best on your journey.

Few Notes of Wisdom for Reflection from ‘How Will You Measure Your Life?’ (Book by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth, Karen Dillon)

September 18, 2013 / Tojo Eapen / 0 Comments

Solving the challenges in your life requires a deep understanding of what causes what to happen.
“The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” – Steve Jobs
Too many of us who start down the path of compromise will never make it back.
What’s most important to you in your career?
Problem is that what we think matters most in our jobs often doesn’t align with what will really make us happy.
Good intentions are not enough…spend your resources consistent with your intentions.
The opposite of job dissatisfaction isn’t job satisfaction, but rather an absence of job dissatisfaction.

Are You Building a Sustainable Organization?

January 27, 2013 / Tojo Eapen / 0 Comments

Very Important for all leaders and boards to reflect on: Are you building sustainable organizations?

As the discussions focus on economic challenges, changes, unpredictable environments, global dynamics and impact on organizations:

How are the actions of leaders in your organization linked or measured with creating long term value and building organizations to last long term?
How are leaders measured on this dimension? What behaviors does that encourage?
How do boards and organizations find the right ratio in requiring leaders to create short term vs. long term value?

Lead-Wise

Page 8 of 11

Personal Resilience in Tough Times – Finding One’s Way Back

Fundamental Question to Ask Yourself in Any Interaction

How Much of You Is Your Job Title or Position? Importance of Humility & Wisdom

Trust Guidance for Leaders

Absolute ‘Must Haves’ for High Performing Teams in Any Environment

‘The Leadership Code’ – Applications for Global Leaders

A Decade of Cross Cultural Experiences in Four Fundamental Practices

Leading the World – Food for Thought for Corporate Leaders in India

Few Notes of Wisdom for Reflection from ‘How Will You Measure Your Life?’ (Book by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth, Karen Dillon)

Are You Building a Sustainable Organization?

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