Leadership traits!

In the academic world of communication studies, there is an ongoing research to understand leadership and what leaders do. There is no consensus on the definition of leadership let alone the best leadership style. Several researchers talk about leadership as a style, some talk of leadership in terms of the traits, while others discuss about situational leadership. There are many more perspectives that these researchers employ in studying leadership.

I won’t discuss other perspectives on leadership here and will also not delve into the aforementioned leadership perspectives. However, I would like to share the views of the former president of India, Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam. Dr. Kalam refers to six important traits that leaders must possess. (As a student of communication studies, I would think that he employs traits theory)

As per these traits, the leader must:

1. Have a vision
2. Travel unexplored paths
3. Know to manage success and failure
4. Have courage to take decision
5. Have nobility in management
6. Communicate with the team on a constant basis

Of all the above-mentioned traits, Dr. Kalam talks in length about the third one. He says that leaders should not only know how to manage success but what is more important is that they should know how to manage failure. He gives example of an incident from his own life back in 1970s. Dr. Kalam was the project director and was leading a team that was responsible to put the satellite Rohini into the orbit by 1980.

The project was initiated in 1973 and the team was well-equipped with all the facilities. However, in the first attempt in 1979, the satellite failed to launch properly in the orbit. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chairman Satish Dhawan immediately addressed the press conference and took responsibility of the failure upon him. He told the media that the team worked really hard and that for the next attempt, the team will be provided with more technological support. The next year in 1980, under Dr. Kalam’s supervision, the team launched the satellite successfully. It was again time to address the press conference. This time the chairman asked Dr. Kalam to talk to the media. He wanted Dr. Kalam and his team to take the laurels.

I wonder how many of us can actually do that! It’s always easier to blame people than to take the blame upon oneself. However, what we learn from this incident is that as leaders, we must always support our team and trust them.

If you are interested in listening to this interview from which this article has been transcribed, then please click here.

Video of the month!

Opportunity in Adversity!

There is no doubt in the old saying – ‘In every adversity, lies an opportunity’. However, in our daily grind of life, we forget to realize this profound truth and get frustrated and depressed by our problems.

Some time back, when I logged into my yahoo account, I found an interesting plug about a young woman tailoring old-fashioned clothes and giving them a new fashionable look. To read the article and to know more about her project, click here.

I was really impressed by her creativity and was curious to know more about her. I visited her blog at www.newdressaday.wordpress.com and saw umpteen number of tailored dresses. It was amazing but what was even more amazing was that she had started this project in November 2008! What was so special about that time? Well, the U.S economy was going through a rough time with millions of people being laid off. Fortunately or unfortunately, this young woman was also laid off (as written in the ‘About’ section of her blog). Instead of getting depressed and losing hope, she decided to use her time and energy in a creative way. Lo and behold! Now she is not only enjoying her hobby but also has garnered the attention of several fans.

Contrary to her story, several people curse their circumstances when faced with hardships. They don’t realize that in such adversities lie immense opportunities. One needs the will and courage to stare right into the face of adversities and find opportunities. Is that hard? Probably yes but it is definitely better than brooding and complaining! Wouldn’t you agree?

Another important thing to remember here is that living life with passion is so very important for ones happiness and overall well-being. I am still trying to find out my true passion and I believe that one day I will succeed in doing so but I think people who aren’t passionate about their work or those who don’t even bother about finding it are missing something very important! Referring back to the young woman, it’s evident that she is passionate about her work now and is thoroughly enjoying it!

If you ever face adversity, remember the following wise words by John Heywood.

“If you will call your troubles experiences, and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be”

How can one not watch Television?

Every time someone asks me what I like watching on TV, they are either shocked or amused by my answer. If you are wondering why that is the case, let me tell you that I don’t watch TV and we don’t have a television set at home. Yes, that’s true!!

I was always against watching TV and often had tiffs with my mom who would incessantly watch TV and considered it to be her constant companion. Even when she was busy doing the household chores, she would have the TV turned on in the background. This ritual of watching TV further gained momentum after she retired from work. What I realized over time is that it’s hard to stop someone from watching TV. People are just so addicted to it! Perhaps that fear of addiction kept me away from TV.

I am always scared that if I start watching TV, I will be glued to it for long hours if not forever. In fact, I tried to test this fear several times by starting to watch TV for a few minutes a day and trying to see if I can turn it off at my will. However, I failed miserably. Instead of watching it for a few minutes, the duration went up to hours and that affected my rhythm and routine. Luckily, I couldn’t take it for long and one day decided to pack my TV set. Phew…..that was easy!!

It was not long before the temptations haunted me. I wanted to watch some of the popular sitcoms. I also felt out of place when friends discussed the storylines and treated me as an out-group. Dealing with it was hard at first but then I realized that in the long run, this discipline will help me. Sometimes, I give into my temptations by watching my favorite serials on Internet. The biggest advantage with this arrangement is that I can watch it at my will. Also, sitting in front of the system watching videos is a tiresome job, which keeps me from spending a lot of time watching those sitcoms.

I have so much time available, now that I don’t spend it on watching TV. I get time to do my household chores and don’t neglect them. I get time to talk to my friends. I get time to blog. I get time to study for my classes and much more. It’s just so amazing to have things under your control and be at peace. With so many advantages, I wonder why one would not want to watch TV!! For me, it has turned out to be one of the best habits inculcated so far in my life.

May we be generous in listening?

The more I interact with people, the more I find that most of them are interested in talking about themselves. Nothing wrong with it! It’s after all a basic human nature. We all want to talk about ourselves and also love to hear good things about ourselves. But why do we forget that other people also have the need and urge to talk and would be appreciative of us if we listened to them!

In this post I am emphasizing on listening and not hearing. These are two different activities. Listening is accomplished by conscious effort while hearing happens on its own. Listening is difficult while hearing is simple. In order to listen, one must also have patience without which it’s highly impossible to listen. Unless you are patient, you will be tempted to interrupt the other person.

Reflect upon some of your recent conversations. Were you listening to the other person without thinking about anything else? Were you exclusively in conversation with that person or were you multi-tasking? May be you were browsing, or typing or doing some household chores or perhaps driving!! Though our hectic lifestyles have made it sort of mandatory to multi-task, some tasks are best accomplished when done single-handedly. Listening is just one of them!

So, how do we improve our listening skills? The answer is simple and straightforward….practice, practice and practice!! Try to stay focused on the conversation and resist temptations to interrupt or to think about something else while talking to others. It might be difficult initially but take one step at a time. For a few days, try to stay focused for at least 5 minutes during the conversation. Once you accomplish this, extend your time to 10 minutes and so on.

There are many advantages of having great listening skills. When you listen to someone carefully, the chances of misunderstandings are less. The other person feels valued and will also appreciate your 100% involvement in the conversation.

Distance makes the heart grow fonder!

The last few months of my life were completely packed with so many things that needed constant attention. I was juggling between work, studies, family, new home, friends and a lot more. I had some challenges at my work place that had to be resolved immediately and that took up a lot of my time. The courses I had enrolled in for this semester seemed tough than what I had anticipated. We were gearing up to become first-time home buyers and there were lot of errands to be taken care of! I also had my mother-in-law visiting us from India for the first time. I had my blog and my Toastmasters meetings too. So many things yet only 24hrs every day! I was stressed out and had to make choices and decide my priorities constantly.

One day when the stress was beyond my control, I suddenly recalled what one of my professors had told me almost a year ago. I also wrote about it here. He told me that in order to add something, we need to subtract a few things. I immediately realized that I was living on the periphery of my life. I was getting stressed out for no reason. I decided to take a sabbatical from my Toastmasters meetings and also from my blogging! As you would know, I haven’t written much in the past and my fellow Toastmasters at Valley Forge Toastmasters club know that I haven’t visited them in months. Nonetheless, now that I am done with my semester and have learnt a few lessons on how to prioritize and organize my life, I am glad to say that I am back to blogging now! Now I know (hopefully) that the things I subtracted earlier were in fact the ones that had to be remained on my list.

Distance from both these activities – blogging and attending Toastmasters – made my heart grow fonder for them. I missed these two activities a lot and realized that I love them more than anything else! I need them in my life! These are perhaps not my options but have become my necessities. I only hope that my fondness increases by the day Keep visiting this blog for more.

Thanks for the constant reminders and encouragement to keep on keeping on!

Video of the month!

What can Rubik’s cube teach us?

Have you ever solved Rubik’s cube? The past weekend, I had a good time trying to align the cube. Believe it or not, this was my first attempt at it. It was pretty interesting to arrange the faces by turning the sides of the cube. I thoroughly enjoyed it but at times was also frustrated! In my frustration, I finally quit solving it but learnt an important lesson by the time I was done with it. Actually, in my opinion, Rubik’s cube puzzle is a good analogy to understand a very important phenomenon.

To understand this post, it will be helpful to know what Rubik’s cube is. If you don’t know what it is, click here to get an idea. To solve Rubik’s cube, you have to simply align the faces such that each face is of the same color. There is nothing that you need to add or change to solve it. It’s all about finding the right algorithms.

Sometimes, in order to get more from life, we simply add more into our lives and despite doing that, we are not satisfied. Perhaps what we really need to do is to arrange the things that we already have, just like we arrange the Rubik’s cube. For instance, you must have seen the difference when you rearrange the furniture (wardrobe, closet) in your house. Suddenly, your house looks different and you know that you have only moved a few things around. Now, I am not saying that buying new furniture will not make that difference. New furniture will definitely give your house a new look but how many times can you buy new furniture? By rearranging the furniture, you would enjoy the feeling of a new look without actually spending anything. It’s also possible that this feeling is much better than what you would have if you would have bought new furniture. The same philosophy is true for other things in your life.

Similar to Rubik’s cube, in order to bring our life to order, we need to arrange the different colors (aspects) of our life. Put the pieces of your life together instead of adding new pieces. Solve the Rubik’s cube of your life and see the difference! I am sure that there are a lot of aspects of your own life that you are unaware of. Take the time to explore them. It’s after all, great fun!

Video of the month!

Tribute to Toastmasters Club!

A week ago, we had our Toastmasters meeting. I was attending my club after almost a month and it felt so good though I must confess that initially I was a little hesitant in going back. Nevertheless, it was fun and a great learning experience to be part of the group. Last meeting was special as we had one of our members finish his tenth speech thus making him a ‘Competent Communicator’. We are all so proud of him. For a moment, it reminded me of my tenth speech that I had completed just a few days ago. It was a great feeling and I could imagine how he might be feeling upon reaching the first milestone!

Toastmasters club is a place where you don’t grow alone but grow together! It’s a place where you just don’t celebrate your own victory but also rejoice in other members’ accomplishments. It’s a place where you become selfless to help others achieve their potential and also silently motivate them by your actions. It’s a place where you learn from each other about so many things like culture, preferences, strengths, and weaknesses. But if you ask me for one compelling reason to go to Toastmasters regularly, it would be- To Constantly Grow!

Ever since I have been a member at Valley Forge Toastmasters Club, I have had exponential growth and trust me I am not trying to brag about myself! I am telling you the truth! I am so grateful to all the members of my club who taught me constantly and encouraged me to keep on keeping on. At times when I was self-conceited and thought that I am the best, I witnessed an immaculate speech by another member soon making me realize that I haven’t achieved perfection yet At Toastmasters club, you always get opportunities to learn from others and I believe that everyone has something to teach and learn from one another.

As the Toastmasters’ calendar year comes to an end shortly, I wish all the current and prospective members, success in their endeavors. I would also like to thank all those people who helped me transform in to a better listener, a good leader and a better speaker! Kudos to Toastmasters International. It rocks!