How To Turn Executives Into Wizards

It was brought to our attention that there is one more gap in our coverage of the elements of the circular figure listing several 'quotients'. That is the 'creativity quotient'. "There's nothing obvious about it, except that everyone aspires to be creative. But only a few are clear about what exactly is involved and what are the sources of creativity?". This is the gist of an interaction with another group of executives to get feedback about our last posts. So this blog post is devoted to explaining creativity and vision. According to Lexico, creativity means "the use of imagination or original ideas to create something". Creativity also means  "adding a first-ever new thing to the world".  It could be a piece of art, a novel car or a new service like Uber or space travel as Elon Musk plans to introduce soon. But where and how do you get the idea of that 'new thing'?   Well, creativity is a process but the starting point is '

  As comments on our blog posts have been far and few so far, we interact informally with groups of executives to get valuable feedback to ensure our efforts bring benefits to readers.  This week's topic is the result of the following discussion with one such group and it was a revelation to us.       "You just touch upon vital topics and leave them, saying that the rest of the issues are obvious." "Can you be more specific?" " Yes, the blog on various quotients was really new and insightful and beneficial. But, you only explained two and moved on to the next topic." " Let's make amends right away. Which specific quotient is a priority to you?" " Integrity Quotient. " "Ok, we will go back to that one in next week’s post. And please tell us about More such gaps and recommend new topics." --------------- The word Integrity is heard often and is considered highly important for individuals and society at large. But what ex

A small, informal group of young executives discussed last week’s post "Influencing Factors for Improvement in the Present Position". Most of them felt that the title of the post and the illustration were not in sync. Many factors listed in the illustration were not relevant to or concerned with the 'present position'. When asked to give weightage to each factor, the average worked out to 40% for the boss, 40% for the job and 10% each to company and peers. There is a clear misunderstanding in the thinking leading to the above scores. A manager at any level must have two aims: (i) outstanding performance in the present position and, (ii) preparation for higher positions. Some prudent souls even prepare for and get accelerated promotions! Remember, the executive has to constantly bear in mind that he is on his way to wizard hood.  We shall explain the relevance and even the importance of other factors, but let us first be clear about our basic aim, which is "Ho

  Wizards are always looking for ways to improve and where better to begin than oneself. Executive wizards know that career self-audit is the best way to excel. Here is an exercise for you to do; it will help you to evaluate for yourself how you stand vis-a-vis a number of factors in the environment you work in and vis-a-vis key stakeholders

  That's Not What I Meant! How Conversational Style Makes or Breaks a Relationship That's Not What I Meant  By Deborah Tannen  Harper Collins; Pages 214;  Price $14.99                                   The very title of the book will revive memories in almost everyone’s minds when they had to say "that's not what I meant.” There are occasions when someone says A suggests an action in the interest of say B. If B misunderstands and says that is the thing which will ruin him, the former has to say “that’s not what I meant”.  The author has made the book interesting and instructive through several examples of conversations that went completely awry.    She has based the narration on sound linguistic concepts but avoided getting into complex techniques and formulas. Her starting point is that misunderstandings, or so-called information gaps, are not restricted to any one language, country, region or even social status. “That’s not what I said” incidents are numerous and s

    Hospitality goes far beyond bonhomie, it fuels business  Hospitality Quotient is an important determinant of business progress. Actually, it fuels business. It is the art and science of keeping customers, it is termed as entertainment. That is why it has been included in 'Relationship Management’ signifying that it is not based on a deal to deal basis but is ongoing care. To be meaningful it should be a part of company's culture and the not any specific team or department’s sole responsibility.]It is a delicate task and even a minor slip-up can cause significant damage. The policy should be uniform and not one for VIPs and another for non-VIPs. However, in actual practice, in many companies, it is done as a matter of routine lacking spirit and warmth. We are adopting a storytelling approach in this section to be in sync with the book "Stories at Work" reviewed alongside. Readers will find a lesson in each of the stories. Story 1 The CEO of a large Indian company

STORIES AT WORK  Unlock the Secret to Business Storytelling  by Indranil Chakraborty  Penguin Random House  Pages 220; Price Rs 399 “This book has been written with the very specific objective of helping you to become a business storyteller………..it will also give you tools, techniques and processes by which you can coach yourself to powerfully use stories in business,” says the author. We all loved stories in our childhood. Many stories ended with a moral that stuck fast in children’s minds. Some stories of heroes like Shivaji Maharaj created lasting impressions.  However, as one grows up, education is full of facts, figures and formulas. Stories are rare in the classrooms. There seems to be a sort of bias that stories are all made up, that they are fictional, rumours, fanciful like film stars' romances or distorted accounts of historical events. If a salesperson loses an order and comes to report to his boss about how it all happened, the boss just snubs him saying, “Don’t tell me