Seven Leadership lessons from Hunger Games

1. “Here’s some advice. Stay alive.”

There’s so many times when you may feel that life is dragging you down and you’ve got nothing else to lose. But staying alive is key. If everyone gave up along the way, and you didn’t, the battle is already your's. Having grit is key.

2. “Destroying things is much easier than making them.”

This is very true when you look at from the point of view of reputation. It takes years if not decades to build a reputation for yourself or for your organization, but it takes only one tiny mistake to destroy it. Pay attention to detail and if you make mistakes, make sure it doesn't destroy your credibility. Accept your mistake and move on.

3. “Stupid people are dangerous.”

Incompetent people are hard to find, but if you do find them around you, and considering the definition of incompetent is not asking the right questions, they can hurt your career and personal life. Don’t let them bring you down and coach them to be better. If that doesn't work, get away from them.

4. “They're already taking my future! They can't have the things that mattered to me in the past!”

No one can take away the lessons you learned in the past. But the question is, can you remember them and carry them with you? Even if you’re in the toughest of situations and decisions need to be made, always think back to what you know from before and apply that knowledge.

5. “If you appeal to the crowd, either by being humorous or brutal or eccentric, you gain favor.”

Every leader has a charismatic personality be it by the means of humor or eccentricity. Identify that one thing that helps you stand out from everyone else, and people will recognize you for it. When it comes time to make decisions about things, its not about who you know, but who knows you that matter.

6. "I stare in the mirror as I try to remember who I am and who I am not. "

Its easy to get lost down the path and forget where you started under the influence of circumstances. Don’t let your journey fool you. Always remember who you are and where you came from. Stand in front of a mirror today and reflect.

7. “Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.”

Life isn’t about winning all the time, its about losing enough battles that make you strong enough to win the war. Its the things you do and helps you put the odds in your favour that count. Its easy to blame luck and forget, but if there's something that should give you hope, it should be the fact that life is still a game, and everyone plays.

On character and enemies

I don’t have any enemies, and chances are you don’t have any either. Human beings usually aren't capable of hatred towards other individuals and if you’re reading this post right now, you’re not one of those who are.

But there's one enemy that you do have and that is your own character. As you evolve as an individual  throughout your life span, you will build character and strength in you ideas, but your character is bound to be your own enemy at some point in time. Personal leadership is about facing every crisis in your life and realizing that your character and your beliefs are things that hold you back.

Character is an enemy that you don’t want to run away from, in fact, it is something you should face head on . Good character comes from un-learning the sacred cows and re-working your character everyday. Start today and surely you’ll find your enemy.

Google trends: Math vs. Science

Perhaps you thought math was a science. Then again...


blue: math
science: red

Chart: Global wine consumption

via: Economist

The only strategy that matters

I've been in the food / retail business for a bit now. But I've been exposed to financial services, technology, and luxury products as well. Although most of the time, when you ask someone what is their strategy, answers flow like this:
Our strategy is to expedite mission-critical initiatives, evolve extensible deliverables, leverage global action-items, and create synergistical solutions that deliver the best end-to-end solutions,(ok, I didn't make that up myself, but here's what I used : bullshit generator), aka a whole lot of bullshit, lies and wishy washy talk.

Here's an example from the world of grocery:
One of the leaders on my floor had an idea to increase the basket size of customers shopping at stores, so he suggested that as customers walked in the store, the greeters will place case of water in their carts and say- "Hey! If you spend $50 today, you get this case of water for free!"
But what actually happened was something like this; the grocery store would instead wait for customers to ring in their purchases and if their purchases were over $50, give them a free case of water and say-"Oh, you spent $50 today, here's a free case of water", and the customer would reply back-"Oh thanks, I didn't even know about this".

So instead of motivating the customers to purchase more, which was the big-picture idea, the store ended up rewarding shoppers who were already spending 50 bucks anyways. What was wrong here was the lack of leaders and visionaries to participate in the details. Most leaders quote themselves as high-level, big picture thinkers, but as you saw in the case above, things don't always work out as planned.

There's only one strategy that really matters at the end of the day, and its EXECUTION. If you spend your entire life being a visionary, big-picture thinker, telling people what to do, following up, but never actually do any of those tasks yourself, you probably will never understand why things didn't go as planned and will never learn how to fix them.

Don't let the big picture blindside you. Strategize, but EXECUTE. 

Twitter Digest

The Future Of Mobile [DECK] read.bi/GRmRCE

DHL Envisions 2050: A Supreme Waste of Time And Money. Or Maybe Not... onforb.es/GRlHqZ

The perfect time to start something never arrives. @37Signals

If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. – Mary Engelbreit

CIA divorces: The secrecy when spies split - The Washington Post wapo.st/zTe9ID

The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs - Harvard Business Review bit.ly/GDzl2T

The 6 Habits of True Strategic Thinkers bit.ly/GBKzkC

IBM’s Role in the Holocaust? New Documents Confirm the Worst | History News Network bit.ly/FWrUiJ

MARK CUBAN: DON'T Follow Passion, Follow Effort read.bi/FUxSAB

Why an MRI costs $1,080 in America and $280 in France - The Washington Post wapo.st/AkgWWW

I Hope Yahoo Crushes Facebook in its Patent Suit | bit.ly/FUshdA

10 Contrarian views on common tips

Take risks.
Contrarian view: missing the bus is probably better than getting hit by it.

Think before you act.
Contrarian view: Act fast before you loose the opportunity.

Begin with the end in mind.
Contrarian view: No one really knows where they are going to be later on, so live life as it comes.

Lead by example.
Contrarian view:  History isn't always a predictor of past, don't rely on it.

Work hard.
Contrarian view:  Solving the same problem 10 times over won't teach you anything. Don't ever call that hard work.

Structure follows strategy.
Contrarian view:  Strategy should revolve around structure.

Develop a world-class culture.
Contrarian view:  Culture can't be changed, embrace it.

You can't cut costs on your way to greatness.
Contrarian view:  Ever heard of Walmart?

Your greatest resource is people.
Contrarian view: Doesn't matter who runs the show, what really matters is the product.

Aim to be the #1.
Contrarian view: Sometimes its good to be an amazing #2. In fact, great leaders define themselves as the #2 and get elected as #1.

Why do people generate free content?

There are those who just like to write and share it with a select few and then there's those who write for money.
With the technological advancements recently, and the boom of social media platforms, people are sharing more content then ever, but did you ever stop for a moment before when you logged on last time on Facebook or twitter and ask yourself why you logged on in the first place?

Chances are that you didn't really have anything to share, but you came back for the feedback from your last post. You came to hear back from a friend you poked or messaged or a tweet you shared and look for the Re-tweet count.

Its not the actual content, although as important, but the momentum of the feedback that drives you to come back. Feedback is an important part of daily life, be it good or bad and you should always be open to it. Keep posting and the feedback will keep flowing.

Fitness instructors and selling

Everyone sells. I sell my products, ideas, content and chances are you do as well. But fitness instructors don't have to participate in 'strategic ass-kissing' as everyone else does. They are the only people who can motivate you by telling you that you are weak, aren't putting enough effort and are not good at what you are trying to do and achieve. This actually portrays a different image on likability. Turns out that the best people skill is authenticity, not likability. 

Be honest about who you are, and what you sell. If you can't convince yourself to buy what you're selling, you're not going to be able to sell it to someone else either. 

Be authentic and you'll know the truth behind what it is to sell, be it likable or not.

Can I use you as a reference?

Don't worry, I'm not actually asking you to be a reference, at least not for now. But this statement might be a powerful tool in your job search. Picking up the phone and asking for someone to help you in your search can be hard. Even if you are really extroverted, cold calling is not everyone's cup of tea. 

But for the people who you've connected with before, you can surely use this line. This eases the pressure of the person you are calling and takes out the factor - "wonder why he/she is calling? and why now?" 

No one likes being bombarded with job search requests, but giving an opinion as a reference is not a whole lot to ask. Sometimes its important to do whatever it takes. 

Twitter Digest

• NYT: Seeking Ways to Make Computer Passwords Unnecessaryhttp://nyti.ms/FOUsR5 
• Sweden Edges Closer To Becoming A Cashless Societyhttp://read.bi/FPHS0b 
• 13 Things You Need To Know This St Patrick's Dayhttp://read.bi/Ao30wA 
• You're not hired to do your best, you're hired to succeed.#SimpleTruth 
• 50 Things I Learned About Social Media, the Hard Way - If there's a better list than this, I have not seen it. http://bit.ly/zioc6J
• #Success has many parents, #failure few. Seth Godin 
• The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time - Tony Schwartz - Harvard Business Review http://bit.ly/z6eJh9 
• Loopholing: Seeing the Options Between the Ruleshttp://blogs.forbes.com/jessicahagy/?p=143 
• Interesting. Are you prepared? LinkedIn is a hacker's haven for business secrets. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/linkedin-is-a-hacker-s-dream-tool.html #in 
• Seth's Blog: Speaking when they care (reorganizing the economics and attitude of customer service) http://bit.ly/yU3FOm 
• After 244 years, Encyclopaedia Britannica stops the presses:http://nyti.ms/yY8DMd (Years, not tears!) 

Michelangelo's sculptures and reality

Most of the people reading this post will have heard of Michelangelo. He was one of the greatest artists of all time and his sculptural work is world renowned.

When asked what he was doing to create such art, he would say-"the sculpture is already present in the stone, all I have to do is carve everything else away".

Our Identity is just like that. Beneath what others see and what we portray ourselves as is who we really are. It is only the process of excavation that leads us to finding our true self. We must throw away the extraneous and unnecessary things that don't matter in life and find our own sculpture.

Choices matter and it is your job to find your true inner sculpture.

The power of introverts

Twitter Digest

• How Alchemists Invented Modern Finance: Echoes bloom.bg/wQweq2
• Why Retailers Don't Recover from Bankruptcy: Echoes bloom.bg/yHrOhj
• Urban Dictionary: get a kennel bit.ly/yht4Vh
• Why Book Publishing Can Survive Digital Age: Echoes bloom.bg/wqQN1E
• The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time - Tony Schwartz - Harvard Business Review bit.ly/z6eJh9
• Seth's Blog: The mathematical impossibility of universal delighthttp://bit.ly/wcEl6K
• Coca-Cola lobbyists spend millions to defeat soda taxes |http://bloom.bg/wlZOOn $KO $PEP

Crazy enough?

Everyone has theories. Theories are just a fancy term for formalized opinions actually. But not all theories are valid and most of the time, it’s the persuasiveness of the person doing the delivery that is more important rather than the theory itself.

But as always, there is bound to be someone who will argue that your theory on whatever subject matter expertise you are discussing is crazy. But the question that divides us is not whether the theory is crazy or not, but instead, is it crazy enough.

Every time you suggest something not crazy enough, chances are it will get sidetracked and never gain enough exposure and hence never come to an actual test situation. But if its crazy enough, it will come under the spotlight, and seek instant validation. 

Crazy theories are not that common though, so next time you come up with one, make sure you voice it. Don't run away from crazy, embrace it.

Six Leadership lessons from Mark Twain

 

Policies are like sand, culture is like rock. You can shift lines in the sand but you can only draw them on a rock.

Bending the policies at the workplace can be dangerous and risky, but you probably won’t damage your reputation via the grapevine in such situations, for everything else, I can’t say. But the culture of an organization is like a rock, you can’t change it yourself, but you can only immerse yourself in it. 

Find your place quickly in an organizational culture and soon you’ll be part of a winning team. Success without such efforts or without understanding the political environment of a corporation is impossible.

Always acknowledge a fault frankly. 

Make mistakes, but acknowledge them even faster. There’s nothing worse than sitting on it. The best part is accepting it because it shows you care and are doing whatever it takes to fix it. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more.

You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

What you see around you might not necessarily be the be all end all. Respect everyone equally because you never know who holds the door to the right opportunities which would be perfect for you. 

Education consists mainly in what we have unlearned.

Always unlearn. Great leaders never get accustomed to old tried and true ways, accept change with a passion and work towards proving things they did previously wrong, learning from everyone at every level in an organization. This is typically hard since the freshest and youngest minds have to newest and most modern solutions. Don't let ego come in the way of unlearning.

Never let your schooling interfere with your education.

Some of the best learning comes on the job so continue to learn from every person you meet and every task you work on, be it for pay or without. Formal schooling is important, but don’t let it blindside you.

Every generalization is false, including this one.

See every problem by itself and understand its beauty. No two situations are the same. Leaders thrive in ambiguous situations and love blank sheets of paper. Never generalize and take problems for granted. Dig deeper and look for every possible underlying cause before going further. 

Twitter Digest

A brand not responding on Twitter is like hanging up the phone on customers. With millions watching. @DaveKerpen

Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but doesnt get you anywhere! bit.ly/fFjQ6j

"It is more useful to be aware of a single weakness in oneself than to be aware of a thousand weaknesses in someone else." -Dalai Lama

Demand the (Right) Right Data - Thomas C. Redman - Harvard Business Review bit.ly/y1QQRa

A Remedy for Soaring Executive Pay: Focus Less on It - Simon C.Y. Wong - Harvard Business Review bit.ly/zZkwxj

How Star Women and Star Men Fare Differently in the Workplace - Boris Groysberg - Harvard Business Review bit.ly/zsEyzX

Five Leadership Lessons From James T. Kirk | onforb.es/zCOoop

Ridley Scott and TED 2023

On promises and effort

We all make promises. Some of us keep all of them and some of us break them quite often. Promises are an important part of human nature and are the foundation of trust. You start by making promises and keeping them to the point you don't have to. But putting most of your effort on structuring the promise, be it unrealistic or not, is not the best option either, so here's a different strategy. 

Instead of focusing your efforts on the promise and time-lines associated with it and what not, try focusing on delivering on them. Soon you'll realize that its the delivery that counts the most, not the promise. Perhaps delivering on a twisted version of the promise might not work either, but something is always better than nothing. Under-promise and over-deliver.

JP Morgan revenue by trade type

Life is like a Twitter Feed

We all have game faces. Sometimes we put on the nice ones, and other times the bad ones. In fact, its important to have a few game faces. Now I'm not suggesting you be someone that you're not, but merely pointing out that its good to watch your expressions and language in different situations.

But throwing on your game faces only in certain situations is not realistic. For example, if you want to portray yourself as educated and well read, consistently do so and build a continuum. Don't be someone else at work and someone else outside of work, you're bound to convey a mixed message to a common group of people that way.

This isn't too far from what a Twitter feed is like. You have to constantly share information and ideas that represent who you are(or who you want to be).

Life is just like Twitter, you never really know when someone else is watching.