What do success and exercise have in common?

It is that time of the year when most people are making a resolution to exercise regularly, and thinking about what it takes to be successful in the new year ahead. Interestingly enough, both of these have a lot in common.

Here are some things Success and Exercise have in common:

There is no stopping: Exercise keeps you and your body fit only as long as you continue doing it. It doesn't matter if you exercise rigorously every day for 10 years, as soon as you stop, you will start seeing the ill effects of not exercising. Similarly, it doesn't matter how successful you have been in the past and for how long, since the minute you become complacent and stop striving for success, your success will start declining. There is no such thing as "attaining success" and stopping, just as there is no such thing as "reaching fitness" and stopping.

Challenging yourself: To get the best results with exercise, you have to change up the routines and try to challenge yourself in different ways. Similarly, to continue to be successful in any field, you have to do different things, learn continuously, get out of your comfort zone, and challenge yourself.

The more the merrier: Both in the case of exercise and success, the more you go for it, the better results you get.

Getting inspired: Just as being around and interacting with people that exercise regularly will help you stay motivated to exercise, being around and interacting with people who continually strive to be successful in their fields will help you stay motivated to be successful as well.

What's in your way: Laziness gets in the way of exercise. Complacency comes in the way of success.  Don't let either of them get any where near you.

Exercise or no exercise, I wish you a happy & successful New Year!

Talent Retention - Let's divide and conquer

Talent retention is a hot topic that never gets old.

Based on my experience, here are the primary reasons why people quit their jobs, in order of importance:

1. Direct managers 
2. Lack of recognition for their efforts 
3. Lack of exciting work 
4. Not enough money and/or career progression 
5. Other reasons - commute, hours etc. 

Although as leaders and managers we may not be able to control every one of these aspects in every situation, we can still impact a lot of these by making some simple changes in our thinking and behavior. In fact, if we can address the first problem well, all the others factors can be mitigated to a great extent or eliminated altogether.

In a large organization, it is impossible for the senior leaders at the top to have a connection down to every individual in all of their teams and stop attrition all together. However, if every manager from the top down has a goal of doing everything in their power to not lose any of their *direct* reports, and if this philosophy cascades throughout the organization, then, suddenly, retention even at a large organizational level doesn’t appear so daunting.

Each manager typically has a manageable number of direct reports, and should be able to keep a good pulse on these small number of people. It should therefore be easier to identify any potential problems and act on them proactively. If every manager in the organization does the same, it will help solve the talent retention problem throughout the organization. This divide and conquer approach really works, as we can break the problem down into smaller manageable chunks.

Although no manager thinks losing people is okay, most managers don’t explicitly think of setting a personal goal to not lose even a single member of their direct reports. Changing to this style of thinking can cause a subtle, yet significant change.

From the employee's perspective, the fact that his or her manager cares enough about them to have such a goal might be a reason in itself to stay!

How to tell if you found your passion

We have all heard the advice "follow your passion".  I doubt all of us are fortunate enough to wake up one day and find our passion. More often than not, we end up choosing careers or jobs by chance or circumstance. Most of those jobs and careers may turn out to be just fine, and we may find ourselves in a reasonably happy place. But, how can we tell the difference - if we are truly pursuing our passion or merely stumbled upon something that seems to be good enough?

Look for these indicators:

• You look forward to get going every morning, some times to an extent you can hardly wait to wakeup.
• You never think about taking a day off unless you are very sick
• You come home excited and full of energy after a whole day's work
• You are bubbling with ideas and see possibilities in everything
• You don't  feel the need to  "balance" your work and life

If you find yourself saying "yes" to each of these statements, congratulations, you have found your passion.

Organizational Success

Looking at various companies and organizations small, large, and everything in between, there seems to be some common themes that are key to the success of an organization of any size. It all boils down to the following 5 things, doesn't it?

1. Right talent and team: It all starts with having the right talent, both on the top leadership team, as well as at all levels throughout the organization. As obvious as this sounds, it is surprising to see how many times we come across organizations making compromises on this front. It is absolutely critical to ensure we hire the best talent humanly possibly for any position. It takes a lot of time and energy to do this, but more importantly it is all about recognizing the importance of having the right talent and making it a top priority above all else. For this to work well, every leader that is in a position to make hiring decisions throughout the organization needs to share this philosophy, and drive this with almost maniacal passion - for every position every time, no matter how small or big the role is. 
2. Right structure with clear lines of accountability: Having the right talent is winning half the battle, but the other half is about what we do with that talent. How should the teams be organized for maximum efficiency and clear lines of accountability? Right structure is very critical not only to make things happen rapidly, but also to drive the right culture. 
3. Structured Decision-making process: You have the right talent, and they are organized well. What next? What is the process for making key decisions in the organization? Who makes key decisions, who are the stake holders? How do we decide on priorities, make trade-off decisions? Having a well thought out decision making process upfront saves a lot of time and thrashing, keeps the organization nimble and run with speed and agility. It also helps avoid bad politics. 
4. Communication: Most organizations understand the important of communicating the vision and strategy. But often there is not enough thought given to communicating how decisions are made or what key decisions have been made. Communication about decisions is as important as the decisions themselves to drive alignment and commitment within our teams. 
5. Course correction: In spite of having everything right for 1 through 4 above, mistakes are inevitable. Successful organizations are those that have the courage to recognize and admit these mistakes, and that are good about quickly course correcting where needed. 

I am sure it all sounds very obvious and simple if we think about it, and it should. The key is to be purposeful and deliberate about these in our thoughts and actions every day!

Sense of Humor at Work

Having a sense of humor at our workplace is not only appropriate but also essential.  Most of us spend more than half of our waking hours at work, dealing with many kinds of stress. A little sense of humor goes a long way to look at these stressful situations in a different light, and helps maintain a fun environment at work.

Having a sense of humor isn't necessarily the same as being able to tell jokes. It is the ability to see humor in day-to-day situations and appreciate jokes. Some people have the knack of putting others at ease instantly with their sense of humor, which can be particularly helpful in conflict or icebreaking situations when meeting with new people.

The benefits of humor go beyond helping with stress at work. Humor and laughter can bring people together and develop very strong bonds. Robert Provine, author of 'Laughter: A Scientific Investigation', conducted research that says 90 percent of the things we laugh at aren't even remotely funny, and most laughter is not about jokes, but rather, about relationships between people. Many of you may have experienced this phenomenon, where you and a very close friend may find simple banter very funny and have a laugh whereas others may not think it is funny at all. So, a laughter filled work environment might be a good indication that people are comfortable with each other and that they share a very positive and healthy working relationship.

Given these many benefits of humor and fun at work, how do you promote these in your teams? It starts by having a sense of humor yourself, taking some risks and leading by example. When you are in the middle of a serious discussion, make an offhand remark or a joke that might surprise people and bring on a smile. Stick to simple and generic lines and make sure not to offend any one. As long as you pay attention to people's sentiments and don't overdo it, most people enjoy a good laugh. Think and create situational humor that the whole group can relate to. You will be surprised to see the group really stays connected through that shared situational humor for a long time after. If you know someone on your team that has a particularly good sense of humor, provide them the opportunity to show it off.  It only takes a few people start and create a fun environment, as laughter is very contagious. Before you know it, it will rub off on others.

Is 'sense of humor' inherent or can it be developed? The answer is yes to both. Almost everyone has some sense of humor inherently, but everyone can develop it further, by watching others who are good at it, exploring, and experimenting on their own in different situations.

If you have a serious work environment today, try some of these ideas, and soon you may find yourself where "work" and "fun" become synonymous.

Talent Strategy

Business results depend on talent strategy as much as on business strategy. Products and technology can be commoditized, and it is easy to lose the competitive edge sooner or later. However, talent can truly set a company apart from its competition on a longer term basis. While business strategy may change or evolve, having a well thought out talent strategy will help adapt to these changing business needs and priorities effectively.

While I share a few of my current talent strategies below, this is an area that will continue to evolve through continual experimentation and improvements over time.

Acquiring Talent:

When it comes to acquiring and finding the right talent for the organization, it makes sense to start with the leadership team. Once you have the right leaders in place, it is easier to drive the right talent strategy throughout the organization, and develop the right technical talent. Focus on quality over quantity, with emphasis on having strong leaders that can drive the right culture and behaviors.

• Start with assessing the needs and gaps of talent in the organization. Do we have the right leaders in critical roles? Is some good talent being under utilized and/or in the wrong role?
• Have a plan to fill the gaps - Do you want new, existing, or a combination of talent? Do you want to hire internally or go external?
• Find the right talent. Think about what "right" means to you and your organization. For example, most leaders I talked to and I myself look for some form of the "Three A's" in leaders:
• Ability - Competence, skills, and experience
• Attitude - Positive, open and flexible, team player
• Aspiration - Hunger, aggressiveness, drive to succeed
• Build the organization around the right talent

Understanding talent:

Spend the time and energy to get to know your team deeply, either through direct interaction or indirectly through your leaders

• Gather as many viewpoints as possible, reserve your judgment, and be open to changing your opinion and first impressions about people.
• Hold talent calibration discussions on a regular basis. Create an open and safe environment to bring out both the good and the bad in every employee.
• Establish objective ways of measuring employee performance through very specific and granular success criterion order to minimize subjective biases.
• Use consistent methods that can be trickled down throughout the organization to set the right culture and behaviors.

Developing talent:

Developing and nurturing your talent can work wonders and pay dividends in many ways.  Besides the obvious positive impact on business results, seeing someone grow and do great things gives a lot of personal fulfillment and satisfaction. I find that I also grow as a leader along the way.

• Have frequent discussions with your top talent and provide constructive and actionable feedback in real time.
• Map the right talent to the right roles. There is nothing worse than wasting good talent.
• Understand the goals of your people. Find creative ways to keep them challenged, engaged and excited.
• Open doors for new opportunities and experiences. 

A good talent strategy will help acquire, recognize, and develop talent for sustainable competitive advantage and long term results. Given that, it makes sense for leaders to spend quality time thinking through and developing a talent strategy that works for them and their organizations.

Feedback - A gift or a curse?

Giving and receiving feedback is tricky business and an art. It is probably one of the most important leadership traits, and can take a lifetime to learn. It can differentiate good leaders from mediocre ones by  demonstrating several important leadership characteristics - good judgment, clarity and organization of thought, courage, maturity, sense of humor, crispness of communication, sensitivity, caring, coaching abilities, humility, and emotional intelligence all in one.

We all hear about feedback being a gift. It can be, if done well. We need to take several factors into consideration and do some pre-work and thinking to do both giving and receiving fedback well. Here are some things to think about:

 

Giving feedback:

• When is the right time to give feedback?
• Is the person ready to receive it?
• How do you prepare the person to receive the feedback as you intend?
• What is the best way to deliver it?
• How frequent is frequent enough?
• Who do you give unsolicited feedback to and why?

Receiving feedback:

• Who do you ask for feedback?
• How often do you ask?
• How do you react to the feedback?
• What aspects of the feedback do you choose to act upon and what do you choose to ignore and why?
• How will you deal with unsolicited feedback?

As with most things in life, the answer for most of these questions is, "It depends" (on the people involved, their situation, and the need) and is very personal. But the better prepared we are with answers to these questions before attempting to give/receive feedback, the better results we will get. 

As a giver of feedback, there are a few things to keep in mind. Most people take feedback very seriously and try to act on it. So, if your assessment is based on a short interaction with the person you are giving feedback to and you are not sure your assessment is complete or accurate, it will be better to say that upfront. Otherwise your feedback may have unintended results such as lowering someone's confidence, demoralizing them, or changing their behavior for the worse. Also, if you are simply passing on someone else's comments rather than giving feedback based on your own observations, you should clarify that as well. In addition,it is almost always better to keep the feedback as real time and on-the-spot as possible rather than holding any thing back for a later time.

As a receiver of the feedback, the most important thing is to focus on the intent of the feedback. As stated above, giving feedback is an art that takes a lifetime to learn and even the most seasoned leaders sometimes struggle to do it properly. It is just as difficult to the person giving the feedback as to you as the receiver. Assuming you trust the feedback giver, both in intent and ability, help him/her out by focusing on the message rather than the specific words used or how it was delivered. On the other hand, if you don't fully trust the person giving the feedback because they don't  know you very well, or for any other reason, try to validate the feedback with another trusted adviser before acting on it.

If we keep these simple things in mind and prepare well, feedback - both giving and receiving - can be a gift rather than a curse!

The Happiness Theory

Why are some people happier than others? Why are we happy some times and not at other times?

These are age old questions. In spite of the millions of dollars spent on research in finding the answers to this, we still don't have any satisfactory conclusions.

It is clearly not money that makes this difference. We all know people that have far less money and resources but are still happier than some ultra rich people. Even in our own lives we may have experienced the phenomenon that our happiness doesn’t increase proportional to the money we make.

Is it friends, families and communities that make the difference? Perhaps. Those factors certainly seem to play a bigger role than money does. Support from friends and family are certainly key in recovering quickly from tough and unhappy situations. Being around friends and family also brings joy (in most cases any way!).

But what causes happiness or unhappiness inherently at a very personal level in the first place?

Maybe, it has been so difficult to find an answer to this quest because there is no single answer. Maybe, it is so personal to each of us that we can't generalize it. That is a possibility.

But then, that doesn't explain why we can’t stay happy forever, once we figure out what makes us happy at a very personal level and actually achieve that.

No. Happiness appears to be a dynamic and living thing rather than in a static state. That is why there doesn't seem to be a such a thing as "achieving happiness".

As I look into my own life and examine my happiness patterns on a day to day basis, I happened upon a rather simple explanation, one that both satisfies my curiosity and seems to fit and explain the reasons for my own happiness and unhappiness. It may seem too simplistic at first, but think about it and apply it to your own situations and see if it works for you.

Simply put, happiness in any given moment seems to be inversely proportional to our own expectations and nothing more. That is, the lower our own expectations are in any given situation, the higher our happiness quotient will be, and vice versa. In that sense, it is a continuum rather than being binary.

We have all probably experienced this phenomenon in some simple situations. For example, when we go to watch a very popular movie, we sometimes notice that we don't enjoy or derive as much happiness as  we expected too much, based on what we heard about the movie.

This same concept can be applied to everything. If you get a pay increase higher than what you expected you are happier, if you got less than what you expected, you are less happy.

Like I said, it seems to explain the mystery behind my own happiness and unhappiness in almost all cases that I tested.

In the end, it is all about how we manage our own expectations. Easy, right? So, how do we do that?

Well, I "expect" that I will crack that code in the remainder of my lifetime :-).