I, The Absolute

Leadership Development Program gave me an opportunity to read some of the most interesting articles I have ever read. They provided great insights.

1. Managing Oneself – by Peter Drucker. He explains how people waste time by trying to overcome weaknesses. He says focus instead on strengths. That is where our maximum improvement will come from. 85 % time should be spent on strengths. 10% time on those peripheral factors which directly contribute to our strengths. 5 % time on weaknesses.

2. How Hardwired is human behavior by Nigel Nicholson: It basically says that man still carries all those psycho-physiological elements which made a successful animal species and led to its survival. Some of those may not be relevant in today’s context. But they are so hardwired that we cannot escape from them. We need to realize their utility and use them or channelize them to get better results. Anger, our instinct to gossip, etc are some of the examples. Naked Ape is a good reading which talks of similar concept

3. What makes a leader by Daniel Goleman: EQ is king. IQ is good but can take one only thus far. Emotional intelligence has five components – self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. The first three skills are about self; the last two about our interface with others. All these “can” be developed through a disciplined approach

4. Tipping Point Leadership by W Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne: No point trying to change everything at the same time. No point trying to change everyone. The article takes the example of NYPD Police Chief, Bratton, and explains how he used the techniques which can be labeled tipping point leadership techniques to effect a change in the crime rate and the way of work in NY. Cognitive hurdle – put managers face to face with problems; resource hurdle – focus on hotspots; don’t spread your resources across and waste them; motivational hurdle – focus on key influencers in the organization; political hurdle – identify and silence internal opponents and isolate external ones. Read the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell for further ideas.

5. Narcissist Leadership by Michael Maccoby: Three types of leaderships – erotic; obsessive and narcissistic. Narcissists are innovators, driven in business to gain power and glory. They are in love with themselves so much that eventually they lose touch with external information which further leads to their down fall. They are successful, but do not have a sustainable success.

6. Level 5 leadership by Jim Collins: Five levels of leadership. Level 5 leadership is at the top of the pyramid. The level 5 leaders build enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of “personal humility” and “professional will”. Level 4 leaders produce great success stories, but the organizations they led fall off once they leave the organization. Level 5 leaders are extremely humble; they choose successor who will keep the success going. They don’t take much credit for the success of the organization. Think of the CEOs who are on the cover page of every magazine. Contrast them with those CEOs whose companies have far higher EPS, but the CEOs themselves are not known at all. Further reading: Good to great by Jim Collins.

PS: the Buddhism and the Buddha can provide great leadership lessons. My desire to read about the Buddha and the Buddhism has gone up several times. But, it may not be all that difficult. My LDP professor says, Buddhism is a two slide power point presentation – Slide 1: Life is suffering; Slide 2: Follow eight fold path to escape suffering and achieve moksha (list those eight).