A peer who was introduced by a friend not so long ago, subsequently became a friend said that “He considered me his mentor”

Whilst this pleased me no end, it also raised the above question in my mind. Over the past 20 odd years, I have had the opportunity of working with a lot of bright sparks, who have eventually moved on to different organizations, industries or geography.

However it has been a constant source of pride that they have kept in touch with me & vice versa, calling upon when the need to bounce of ideas, thoughts becomes strong.

And so this friend asked me how was I able to manage, keep the connection live and more importantly Did I not feel insecure, it set me thinking, to write down some thoughts that may be useful.

1) I have always accepted the fact that I am not a Star but an actor.
2) I am a Snob & hence prefer to be surrounded with intellectual bandwidth.
3) I avoid comparing responsibilities, accountability, package with peer group.
4) I do not stifle growth by using the personal loyalty card.
5) I definitely keep the professional & personal element separate, becomes easier for decision making.

From an organization perspective it is important to see that the seniors allow exceptional talent to flourish, since if they become insecure & ignore it, the death knell sounds. If not so drastic then it would be a organization based on mediocrity rather then meritocracy.

Do let me have your thoughts.

I am always asked, how do you manage to recruit people without paying them the Sun, Moon & earth - that too in Retail.

I do not have many points or gyan on this, except that I am Upfront:

I tell people you’re in a very competitive industry.
I am always honest with them.
I tell them that I am Not right everyday, neither do I expect them to be. As long as they are 6/10 times and keep me informed about the others, it works for me.
The reason this works, because in the retail business, you’ve got to be right every single day. There is extremely high day to day intensity associated with retail.

These questions are not nuclear science or invented by me, but learnt along the way of my professional journey, read in a variety of books, articles of Management gurus, still relevant in today’s world.

1) What is the new opportunity that we as an organization are not seeing?

2) How might we learn from others - competition & non competition?

3) Can new trends in how people work/communicate open up ways to improve our organization?

4) What is my ‘Best’ today & how do I enable my team to do their ‘Best’ today?

5) If we were starting from scratch, how would we design it?

6) When a meeting is flat & perfunctory - What’s on people’s mind that is unsaid? What’s wrong? What’s going on?

7) What’s the craziest idea that just might work?

What are the most damaging barriers facing us & how do we obliterate them?

9) What do I need to ensure my team understands my driving philosophy & passion?

10) What’s possible today that was not possible last year/month?

11) Is my team focused on doing what matters the most?

I would love comments & additions to the list to make it more comprehensive & encompassing.

Lately on twitter I have experienced spam follows - who use a variety of apps to follow/unfollow to improve numbers, grade & supposedly climb the social media ladder!

To add this sabzi mandi (confusion) there are those mavens, gurus, experts who discuss Social Media Gyan with links, analysis, articles which are repeatedly RT (re tweeted), most of the times without being read, understood in the Indian context.

Any decision on twitter is fraught with SWOT issues, which one would not really need to think whilst taking a JV (joint venture) or business decision.

I intend making some changes in my following list basically at my convenience. It is nothing personal & hidden. I have learnt it the hard way in the past couple of months that People do not like being unfollowed; there is some unsaid rule on Twitter that says following must work both ways etc.

I believe that Life is serious! Reading about it in news, watching it on TV, hearing it being discussed in office is already an information overload for me. I just need less people just talking about serious, political, news, cricket on twitter.

Some other basics of my personal policy/philosophy:

I may follow you if you talk to me, have interesting updates, participate in conversation, are helpful.

I will not/discontinue follow if, you are tweeting only RSS feed of your blog or just RT & links of foreign gurus who have no clue of Indian Social Media. I shall not follow anyone who does not have DP or has a blank bio. Neither shall I follow those stupid trending #hashtags.

I am not looking for everyone to agree with me, to endorse my ideology, work, thoughts but intelligent dissent is always welcome.

If I remember correctly, this was something I read from Sam Walton’s book years ago, tried to implement in toto, succeeded some places, but came out ahead overall.

1 Remember what Sam Walton said: Trust your customers. Go talk to them.
2 Don’t cut your culture. It won’t recover easily.
3 Ask yourself what you want to look like when recovery comes. Then Manage toward the outcome
4 Run your company in good times the way you would in bad times. You’ll always be ready.
5 Believe in your business. There will be an upturn.
6 Do what it takes to remain profitable. Negative numbers become an excuse for almost anything.
7 Invest in your R&D. You will need it.
8 Talk with your customers, employees, suppliers and shareholders. Keep them in the loop.
9 Cut out what’s non-core. Invest in what is.
10 Understand what business you’re in - emotionally. Be a beacon to your customers.
11 Look for technology-based efficiency. Use the web to cut costs and boost productivity.(No, the web isn’t dead)
12 Leverage relationships
13 Make an economic downturn a good time to re-examine your business fundamentals.
14 Demonstrate leadership to your customers. They’re looking for it from business - and too often, they don’t see it.
15 Enlist your employee’s support.
16 Look outside your own walls for good partners. Doing so can save money or make money.
17 Take a calculated shot at something that could change the game: a new marketing push or a timely acquisition.
18 Do what you already know is right - only this time, make sure you really do it.
19 Simplify something - it’s bound to help cut costs. Complexity equals expense.
20 Use this downturn as an opportunity to make a difference.

In case this is incorrect, feel free to comment so that I can make the necessary changes.

This is something which keeps cropping up amongst peers, friends, acquaintances with everyone having their own view.

Keeping in mind the economic scenario globally, there seems to be some factors that seem to have changed during the year.

Proven cross functional skills seem to have gained importance this year, which overall seems warranted.

The ability to manage & more importantly inspire teams, holding them together is another factor which has seen being specified more often.

AND the need of being able to communicate effectively & constantly; whilst being extremely results driven is a critical factor that is being evaluated.

Some of the Better candidates would also need to keep the following in mind also:

• Don’t hesitate to take complex decisions with available data, which at times may be insufficient; remaining calm under pressure
• Need to exhibit strong process orientation, whilst being personally flexible in terms of mobility & willingness to learn.

AND

• Remember to be big picture thinkers, capable of broad strategic implementable vision for themselves & the organization that they shall lead.
• International Exposure & high personal integrity are two more elements that have moved across from being ‘Desirable’ to being ‘Imperative’

I would love some more thoughts on this.

Post Satyam, there has been a lot of debates, discussions on “Are Independent Directors effective”? Everyone has had something to say about this.

YES! there are some reputed people who have been extremely effective over the years, however the general perception has been to the contrary. There are numerous reasons for this, common which I personally feel are listed below:

1)     A fair number of them have full time responsibilities and are also on several boards, which makes it difficult to do   justice to all of them in the right manner.

2)     They have little on stake in the company on whose board they sit.

3)     Mostly, they are friends of the promoter, other board members.

4)     Little experience in the industry of the company on whose board they are on.

Whilst these are factors that can be overcome, only specific guidelines, laws would ensure this really happens. As also the internal need of wanting this to happen shall play an important role.

Time Management is something most of us claim to either have mastered or are completely useless at. Some signs are, being perpetually running late for meetings, not able to schedule, so on & forth. Over the years passing thru these phases & watching a bunch of friends & colleagues namely R. Sriram; Soeb Fatehi; Sunil Sheth; Hemant Gajjer; Devangshu Datta to name a few have managed to change myself to a greater extent, more importantly becoming adept at managing time most of the days — Read the rest of this entry »

With the launch of Damas in India, StoRai the magazine of Retail Association had an interview featuring yours truly.

Some Press writeup during the Traveljini.com days.