Strategic Leadership

Leadership is an important function that is responsible for formulation, communication and execution of strategies in every organization, company or state.  In all these phases, the leader should connect to ground reality, assess the status quo, then drive the change and take feedback. Most organizations have leaders sitting at top making decisions that impact each staff but barely understand them, thus leading to badly devised strategies or good strategies that are executed bad.

Formulation:

Any leader who is not connected to the ground will be bound to fail in his strategy, as he would have designed something that may not fit the situation. We are in a complex business scenario where off the shelf strategies wont work well. Leadership trying to copy strategy from successful companies are doing at their peril.  In order to device and design  strategy a leader should have a profound understanding of the situation, strengths and weaknesses of the people and the competition among others.

Communication:

Success of any strategy depends on appropriate communication of actions required for the strategic outcome. Communication of the actions forms prime precursor to its execution. A well communicated strategic actions derive much more benefits as the ground staff understand and stand committed to the strategy.  Any strategic action enforced on the staff with out adequate communication, will inevitably lead to mixed outcomes due to lack of clarity on what is expected out of actions.

 Lead the change:

Change doesn't happen automatically, it needs to be lead. Hands-off leaders will suffer the surprise that change did not bring needed results. This is because they have given directions to subordinates and relax in their cabins hoping things to beget results. How ever, in absence of leadership, change will meet resistance and finally dies down before it shows impact.

Feedback :

One potential cause of failure is when the necessary feedback is not fed back to leadership team/leader on what is not working. This happens when the subordinates are scared to give any bad news to boss or when the ‘yes men’ of the boss always filter and moderate the feedback.  This will stop the much needed corrective action to make things work and thus lead to failure path. 

When Learning is Fun

My four year old daughter shot a dozen questions at us during weekend. Most questions relate to Hindi words she picked up during the week from her Hindi speaking classmates. When we gave her answer to each question, some glow is on her face signifying she is enjoying the learning act. I was very happy to see that, because learning is the motive behind education and it is awesome when some one enjoys learning new stuff. At that tender age every learning excites the kid. Problem is with grownups when they are exposed to learning. 

Problem1:

Organizations spend lot of time and efforts on training and development of their staff, how ever its success is miserably low and the impact the training brings to the day job of the staff is minimal. Also most times training are dictated either by central training department, senior management or the line management. This can sometimes lead to sending the wrong employee to wrong set of training. Employees lack commitment to training that they have not requested for and had to go just because of compulsion. 

As one ages, a feeling I-Know-it-all dominates few folks. They are face a not so receptive to new learning, discounting them as old wine in new bottle. Their prejudices disallow from enjoying as well as assimilating the learning.

Some folks are too scared of change. So instead of enjoying the new things , they become skeptical and most times resist change. This will prevent them from enjoying the new learning.

Problem2:

At tender age kids pick up many things by the way of questioning. There is no silly or simple question to their eyes and they can ask anything and everything. Grown ups struggle to ask questions at times, not because they do not have them but because of psychological barriers.

Lets say a person who is widely respected as super performer and brilliant person at workplace. He most times feels a pressure to suppress any simple question that's deemed understood by rest of the herd. If he doesn't people will think him not smart enough. Some people have fear of being ridiculed in public when a basic question is asked. Some folks have the’sheep’ mentality and does not want to ask any question to their boss, this is sometimes looked at as disobedience. Also politics at work place causes another barrier as most often ironically, people do not see the ‘what’part of a question and instead start making absurd guesses about’why’ is he asking this question.

Conclusion:

Learning is really so much fun, if its done in right spirit. The excitement  of knowing a new thing is the real motivating factor for the act. 

Where there is a ‘Will’, There is a way

Popular misconception that a ‘Will’ is typically prepared by dying old men in 70s/80s to document how their wealth is to be distributed among the kin. Another related misconception is that its only for the rich folks who have lots of money to be distributed.  On the contrary ‘will’ is the document that gives direction on how your assets and wealth is to be distributed, in the unfortunate event of death and is so applicable to all. I try to give a perspective to this

You definitely need one, if you have complicated family relationships:

Lets say a person A got married to B and they have children C & D. A gets divorced with B and remarries with E and their children are F & G. A gets divorced with E and starts living H and they have a kid I.  In the absence of a well documented and registered will, and an unfortunate event of A’s death, there is heavy chance of dispute arising. In the end the property left by A may not be distributed in the manner he would have wanted. So its important for people in complicated relationships to have a will and register it as well.  Registering the will can help in case anyone tries to contest the authenticity.

You are an accomplished individual in 50s and above:

A person who is in 50s and has some wealth accumulated through his lifetime of hard work. Even if he/she does not have complicated relationships and had kids from single marriage,  a will would help his lifetime of earnings to be distributed in an amicable manner between the sons/daughters.

You have a single spouse and single kid:

This looks like a straight forward case where there is no need for a will, isn’t it? Yes until you hear about cases in this world where the father’s money is taken all by the son/daughter and dead man’d widow is left to struggle for making a living. So an explicit will stating how the wealth needs to be shared between spouse and kids is going to help in getting into such situations.

You have a single spouse and no kids:

Come on, nothing can be more straight forward. Why does one need a will? Okay let me explain that  Will is a document containing complete document of the assets and wealth a person has. Lets say a person A deposits x amount of money in a bank account in the form of fixed deposits. Unless spouse is aware of this account, she would not be able to claim that amount. There are many unclaimed deposits lying with banks as the next of kin are not aware of the fact. Will can serve as document of reference for the loved ones left behind.  Also if one has noble thought of donating some of his fortune to charity, it needs to be documented in will so that its executed accordingly.

You have complicated financial transactions:

In a country like India, we complicate our lives by indulging in transactions for petty financial benefits.  So will becomes a necessity. I know a situation where an uncle of mine invested his grand mother’s money in his name, as he was eligible for better dividends. Up on his death, as this element was not documented, the money wen to his legal heir. A will could have helped. 

So I would conclude that ‘will’ is a document which makes sure your preference of allocation of your fortune is done justly in your absence. For people who are in youth as well this is a must and it can be changed periodically (once in few years) to reflect accurate state of affairs and preferences. 

Being Thyself

One common trait that connects many successful people in various disciplines is that they were pursuing their passion and through out their lives they remained their true self.

Hurdles: 
Before blaming others, the first of all one must put major responsibility on him/herself for not being able to be yourself. We take self inflicted, peer, family, social pressures as excuses but if one believes in something these pressures cant really change it. Self inflicted pressures include pressure to impress, fear of failure, conflicting priorities on passion verses needs. As we watch peers pursuing something or traversing a lucrative path in career or life, we get tempted to imitate or follow them, with a fear of looking stupid or a fear of missing the bandwagon.

How ever this doesn't mean the external pressure do not exist. People from orthodox and conservative families get pressure if they try anything out of the ordinary. Social norms of the day prevent at certain times the innovative and path breaking trends. Peer group, at times, will directly or indirectly ridicule if you fail by pursuing the passion. If one is not innately from well-to-do family, he/she faces pressure of earning daily bread and supporting the family as soon as graduation.

Advantages:
Being yourself is less stressful as you continue to pursue the thought process, ideas, reactions that come naturally. It eventually brings out best self out in all the endeavors. Also being yourself makes you feel happy, content and comfortable.

Who is a Friend?

With the advent of facebook revolution, we all are entitled to freinds list exceeding 100s for less social people and exceeding 1000 for social people. Gender will also play a significant role in the number of friends you have on facebook. Old times definition of friend is summarized by statement " A friend in need is a friend indeed!!" Have you ever wondered how many of those 100s of friends in fb list will turn up when you need? If you were to think honestly,  may be 4 or 5 out of 100+ will come to your rescue in toubled times. Then what about other friends in the fb signify ?

Acquaintances - These are the folks whom we know by face and probably have met couple of times on business or personal front. We just want to keep in touch as any social animal would want to.

Relations    - These are next-of-kin who are technically not friends usually spread across various age groups. But some of them could be friends depending on the closeness and affinity.

compulsion friends - Lets take case of a girl who is studying in college or working and she receives a friend request from her lecturer or boss. Even though it is not a hard and fast rule but many a times she accepts it out of compulsion. This explains it.

Benefit friends - We befriend some folks in power with a hope to get some benefit from them or some favors from them in future.

Gravity Friends - Lets take a pretty looking girl or a handsome male, there would be many folks in opposite sex who want to be acquainted at the least and keep sending friend requests. Some like such attention and that explains the huge friends list.

Alumni Friends - For school/college passouts, their alma mater is very close to their heart. They try to keep in touch with the gang who went to school/college.

Courtesy Friends - Be it a neighbor in the place you live or a staff from the place you work, they are your facebook list because you don't want to be rude enough to decline their friend request. They are courtesy friends per me.

Same situation friends - we connect ourselves with people going through similar stage in life like parents of your kid's classmates, your prospective neighbor in apartment you plan to buy.


I would like to conclude that a true friend need not be on your facebook, need not wish you luck on your life events, need not like your pictures/videos shared, need not respond to your status messages but he/she would be there when ever you are in need.  Also don't count your friends by looking at friends list in fb.

Systematic Investment

There are some fundamental principles that can be applied everywhere and they dont fail us. There are many manufacturing principles applied in electronics and then in software and industry benefited from thus. So irrespective of the field of operation, the knowledge and application of such principles are beneficial to us. Here is my 2 cents worth from me on one such principle.

Principle: 
Systematic Investment is one principle that I guess will benefit many of us if applied in our lives. We have heard during childhood slow and steady wins the race. Systematic investment is nothing but a polished version of the moral that is taught to us.

Application: 

Personal Finance: 
Mutual fund industry is vouching on the principle to lure retail investors. Its definitely a win-win for customer as well as the AMC (asset management company ie., Mutual Fund company). Lots of people want to be rich but they want to be rich overnight and keep worrying about the possible jackpot options that can fulfill their dream. Systematic investment is one sure way of making people rich through disciplined, focused , regular (monthly in most cases) investments. Investment can be made in different avenues depending on person's risk appetite but the using power of compounding, its certain that benefits can be reaped.

Reading: 
Who ever want to be knowledgeable in focused area or various subjects, can start doing systematic investment. Yes!! Systematic investment of their time. It is a slow but sure way towards knowledge acquisition. Even though its difficult to measure the knowledge progression quantitatively, qualitative progress is typically reflected in behavior, personality and confidence levels.

Health: 
Two aspects of health needs to be inspected in this context. Firstly eating a balanced diet which includes needed proteins, minerals , vitamins and other needed essential nutrients. At least who can afford should try to eat appropriate portions of fruits avilable and possibly reserve one meal a week for fruits.

Second aspect of health is regular exercise. Exercise not just to be viewed as a mechanism to build six pack or zero size body. Lets leave them for our film stars who  ought to look special. For other mortals, exercise is a means of maintaining good health. Through systematic investment in the form morning walks, evening strolls, yoga, participating in some sports as convenient to one, one can build a healthy body that helps when we reach ripe age.

The list can go on but I think I will stop here for now. 

Discipline deserves respect

Right from school days we see different genre of kids, but the ones which are taken for granted are disciplined ones who meticulously work through each assignment, study each chapter, complete homework and records on time every-time, and eventually get good grades at all levels. In contrast there is another genre who do not do any one of the above but either ride on talent or sheer luck and get similar grades. While first kind of kids are taken for granted, the second category are treated
like super stars. Argument againt the disciplined folks we hear is 'if we study every day, finish all assignments anyone can can get good grades'. But the point arguer misses out was its not easy to inculcate that discipline.

I will argue the disciplined folks deserve more respect than they get. First and foremost advantage they bring to the table are they are predictable. Its a lovely trait and are usually easy to deal with as you know what to expect. Second trait is they are good at flawless execution of tasks assigned to them without having to chase them on the outcome. It may be my perception but I have observed them to be more knowledgeable and matured, which is an outcome of their methodical execution of
work. How ever knowledge levels vary from one individual to other constrained by their appetite.

Most importantly, its really difficult to replicate the feats they perform with ease. I know folks in workplace who start their work at 9:30 am sharp day after day. I know a certain person who wear formal clothes to workplace last 13 years without exception. I know folks who meticulous finish task tracking each day and have all the needed numbers at finger tips when ever I need them. (Its a shame some of us ride on them and look good to bosses) I know folks who finish stipulated mandatory training or never miss status reports with out having to remind them. All these folks are ones who deserve more respect than we give them.

Why do we indulge in wrong deeds?

When we were attending a lecture on behavioral skills needed for the organization, one of the participants asked the facilitator-"What ever you are teaching us is commonsense. Why would any one do otherwise?". Facilitator replied - "If that was true we would not have any one who smokes cigarette, knowing the fact that it causes cancer. "  Very much true indeed!!

Extending that analogy in broader terms, people know in general that  wrong deeds have an impact but still indulge in them. Here are few reasons I can think of for this trend

Temptation:  People fail to resist temptation as typically Nishidda karma (unwarranted/barred deeds) have so much tempting to get away.

Group Behavior:  Some bad deeds are performed by person who is innately good natured when he is in a group. This is usually because of mob/sheep mentality. Even though he knows at heart that the act is wrong, he either too timid to complain or too reckless to stop. Ragging in college is one example to this genre.

Delayed Impact: Some acts beget impact albeit late. So person involved either ignores the impact or less worried as its not immediate.

Impact Not Clear: With certain acts the impact is not clearly seen. Person thinks he/she can get away with it. A case of powerful person torturing a poor fellow is an example.

No one is watching: Similar to above scenario, where there is no chance of getting caught in the act. That's why wise people say  ' a good person is judged by what he does when no one is watching'

Ignorance: Some people act by receiving instructions from their bosses with out understanding what they are tasked with.

Fit of Anger: Behind most crimes, anger is one commonality found. Bhagavadgita says - Desire (not fulfilled) leads to anger, anger leads to mental imbalance and mental imbalance leads to destruction.

My Director - K Viswanath

When I am writing this blog, I am doing so with respect for the man, with fear that my limitation of writing skill failing to express his greatness adequately, with happiness that he is born to be Telugu/Indian and chose to make films, with sorrow that he is not directing films these days, with shame that I did not get to watch all the movies directed by him, with honor that I was able to write this about him.

The person in context here is K. Viswanath Sir and he is an accomplished director in Telugu films and also directed few films in hindi. His films may not have earned Box office records unlike today, but his films can be showcased for his exemplary skill in the art of film making. He started directing at a time when films were transforming from meaningful story telling to meaningless hero-centric stories. He could have easily chosen to go with the trend and earned a fortune. He chose otherwise and thus made films that are good enough to inscribe his name in Telugu Cinema in particular and Indian cinema in general.

There was a time when I watched a series of movies that centered around purest form art and with a message that art is for the art's sake and not for fame/money's sake. When I looked up the commonality of these genre of movies, I could easily find K Viswanath in it. He made extra effort to make sure Indian values are embedded in the movies and thus future generations when they watch his movies get benefited and transformed (if they will) from it. Movie is a medium that gets maximum reach and he is one of those few who understood it and its impact on the people. So he chose to make films that have positive impact on people instead of cashing on their emotions in the name of mass appeal. We find our next door character playing lead role in his films and not the fictitious character who can hit truck load of people single handed.

Films like Swati mutyam, Saagara sangamam helped Kamal Hasan increase his image as versatile and genious actor and earned him thousands of fans among telugu speaking audience. Films like Subhalekha, Swayam Krushi and Aapadbandhavudu helped Chiranjeevi prove to critics that he can play role fitting characters perfectly alongside characters that established his mass appeal.  Film Sankarabharanam proved to the world that box office hit need not have glamorous lead characters as this film features a 60 year old man who is passionate about Carnatic music in lead role.  Sankarabharanam released in only one theatre and opened to an empty hall but later reversed norm of that day about the commercial elements in box office. He provided space for lyricists like Veturi, Seetharama satry, writers like Jandhyala, Gollapudi Singers like SP Balasubramainam, actors like Chandramohan to reassert their talent and perform to their mettle.

How difficult would it be to narrate a tale that's centered around  blind man and a dumb girl? Viswanath took up the challenge and we have masterpiece Sirivennela. Who would approve lyrics written by then newbie Mr Seetharama satry which requires a PHD in telugu to comprehend. But because of Viswanath Sir's decision, many telugu speaking were able to pick up many new words in vocabulary through the songs of Sirivennela.

On one hand portraying the Indianness in his movies, he did not hesitate to challenge some of them. But when he does it, they get the cleanliness of his vision and clarity of his thought. One such instance was in movie Saptapadi, he concludes the tale by giving the hand of a married brahmin girl (who got married against her will) to a low caste but high cultured man. He also challenged through movie Maangalyaniki Maro Mudi, why a wife should put up with husband who is evil natured.
Even if I write one paragraph each on movies like Siri Siri Muvva, Subhodayam, Swati Kiranam, Sutradharulu, Srutilayalu,  Swarna Kamalam, Chelleli Kapuram, Kaalam Marindi, Sarada and others,  I would be incomplete in describing him. In hindi he directed movies like Sargam, Kaamchor, Sanjog, Jaag Utha Insan, Eeshwar, Sur Sangam, Shubh Kaamna, Sangeet and Dhanwaan. Winner of numerous awards and above all winner of hearts of movie connoisseurs.

Decision Making

Decision making is one key skill that differentiates winners from others. Its not just business decisions that are difficult to make but personal ones are equally hard. Here is some analysis on the aspect

Timely: Decision is best taken when made in timely manner. Delayed decisions can hand us misery of missed opportunities and failure.

Firm: Once a decision has been taken, one must be firm on it. Half-hearted decisions do not really lead the path to success.

Emotions: More often than not emotions come in the way of decision making. They tamper with the objectivity of the decision and thus can make it difficult to see the obvious logical choice. Decisions in personal life are hugely impacted by emotions.

Fear Factor: Some decisions involve taking a stride towards uncertain path with uncertainty around outcomes. Change from status quo induces fear and can introduce roadblock to decision making.

Comfort zone: Some times one has to move away from comfort zone and put some efforts in a direction that they are not used to. This can also be one of the reasons for decision paralysis.

Data Points: While data points usually help in easing the process of decision making, lack of adequate data points can stumble it. How ever, abundance of data can confuse and overwhelm the person too.

Predictions: Every decision involves maker's ability to visualize and predict future. If one errs in the vision its impacts gets cascaded to the decision.

Skill: Is the person skilled enough to make a decision is a major factor as well. Its sometimes imparted through education and experience provided .

Peer Pressure/Sheep Mentality: Out of peer pressure or a general sheep mentality of going with the general practice can influence the decisions. Its not uncommon to see XII class student deciding to join medicine because his/her buddies are doing it.

Why so many Gods?

Being a Hindu is little complicated, as you have your own set of questions on mind while trying to comprehend vast scriptures written mostly in Sanskrit that explain Hindu Dharma. It gets complicated further as there are few questions asked that we struggle to explain. One such FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) is "Why do we have so many Gods in Hinduism?". It looks like a difficult question to answer and needs reference to many scriptures, excuse me for making an attempt using my intuition instead.

Lets compare the whole concept and working mechanism of God to a leading bank like SBI. Now if this system is looked at as a single entity then it is called Paramatma - concept defined by Vedas. We don't expect to find only one person we see in news ie., chairman of SBI present in each of its branches we walk in. What we expect is a set of sub-functions with defined areas of responsibilities delivering the task that SBI is expected to perform. In similar fashion we have different sub-functions like creation being performed by Lord Brahma, sustenance performed by Lord Vishnu and destruction performed by Lord Shiva.

Now a followup question asked is "Is it not confusing us if we have so many Gods to worship?" Actually it is not. Like in previous example, which ever branch we walk-in, we are essentially doing banking with SBI. So which ever God we offer prayer to is being referred to same Paramatma. In a family set up it self, one kid has more affinity to mother, one kid has affinity to father. So the kid with affinity towards mother can happily pray Goddess Sakti in various forms like Durga. The kid with affinity towards father can identify God with Lord Vishnu or Lord Shiva. In any case the sincerity in worship is all that matters. So my view is as opposed to complicating things, it's really giving flexibility in worship.

How to control Wavering Mind/Manas

I was asked this question when I was 26 by a cousin who was barely 20s. I did not know the answer then. Firstly I did not expect this question from some one in early twenty's, especially when rest of the world is bothering about girls, movies and so called materialistic enjoyment. It has shaken my conventional knowledge that these sorts of question arise when a person reaches a threshold age or starts getting grey hair or no hair on head situation.

As the kid who asked me this question was sweetest one, he patiently listened to the answer I gave without doubting that it could be wrong. I don't even remember now, what answer I gave. But I did not forget that question. Every time I come near any book, discourse or discussion around that topic, I kept my eyes and ears open.

When I was recently listening to Bhagavdgita CD of Late Ghatasala garu, I suddenly realized the answer to that question is clearly stated by Lord Krishna. Even though many times from many people we learn that Bhagavadgita is quick reference document for any query on Sanatana Dharma, I rarely had ventured to get into the details. Here is what I learnt from Gita

Question: Manas keeps wavering back and forth between material things. How do we control it
Geethacharya's Answer : 

There are two ways of controlling wavering mind/manas

1) Abhyasa :  Meaning practice. We keep manas in check by relentless practice by feeding it only the good things and keeping in check its interaction with sensual desires that are unwarranted. Keep it busy with work, keep feeding it with good material then it gets used to the good deeds and thus stops wavering on sense objects

2) Viragya: Means Renunciation. We keep telling the manas - hey buddy you think this (sense object) is permanent? It is not and it perishes with time. Why do you after all going after something that is not true. If every sense object and desire is visualized in a viraga manner then wavering mind starts discarding them as unfit of its attention over time.

Pashu Dharmo Namae Preethihi - పశుధర్మో నమే ప్రీతిః

In Devi Bhagavatam Veda Vyas proposed that 'PasuDharmo Namae Preethihi' meaning animals are with in their right to do what they feel like. In basic needs of sleep, hunger, copulation, animals do not need to follow any rules and can do as per its wish. Its sad that in today's world even human's follow the same rule and proudly announce it.


Given that I have made this statement, the question that I will need to answer now is - so how do we know what's the right behaviour for humans. The word 'Dharma' is what we as humans must follow but Dharma is so complex that how do we know what to refer when in confusion. There are few guidelines laid out to answer this question

1. Shruti or Veda:

Veda is said to be ultimate proponent of Dharma and is said to be breathe of Lord himself. Seer Gautama said ' Vedoshila Dharmam' - Veda is ultimate reference to Dharma. For any query related to Dharma, Veda will be first authetic source of reference. How ever, Veda is not easy to understand and is not easy to access

2. Smriti

Smritis are written by Seers who have strong hold on Vedas to guide law enforcement personnel as well as common people on what Dharma is.
krute tu mAnavA dharma: tretAyAm gautamA: smrutAh !

dvApare SAnkha likhitAh kalau pArASarAh smrutAh !!
　
There are many smritis but Manu Smriti (for Kruta Yuga), Gautama Smriti (Treta Yuga), Sankha and Likhita smrutis (Dwapara Yuga) and Parashara Smriti (Kali Yuga) are few popular ones. Each of the above Smritis are written keeping in view the times prevalent and for respective yuga. If Smriti contradicts with Veda in any of its doctrines, then Veda is to be followed.

3. Puranas

While Smriti is a good reference for understanding Dharma, it is full of doctrines that might be difficult to interpret given complex nature of Dharma Sukshma. So Puranas give illustrated instances of execution of Dharma thus making it simpler to understand and emulate.

4. Sista Achara

In Gita Lord Krishna said world will follow what wise men do. Acharas have been established so that through execution of them as part of daily routine people can unconsciously follow Dharma. This is to ensure people who either do not have access to wisdom of Shruti/Smriti/Purana or who may find it difficult to refer to them at all times, can follow Dharma through enforcement of Acharas.

5. Self Decision

Self Decision is surely allowed in absence of any guidance from above four proponents of Dharma. How ever this should not be first recourse in any circumstance where we can have adequate guidance from above four. If we make this first recourse, then we will be downgraded to level of animal, which is free to execute action per its will.  

Comfort Zone

Have ever wondered reason for stagnation in career/job? Did you ever feel tentative or uncertain when you started doing a new job ? Did you feel clueless and had a feel of lost in desert while put in a role that you are not prepared for ? list goes on - reason is the same 'comfort zone'.

I discretely remember the first day on road with my new car and no companion to guide me. I felt nervous and a bit scared. too many questions played on mind - what if car stops on road all of sudden? what if I ram into some one/some other vehicle ? I had a frustrating day that I wanted to leave the car on the road and take an auto back home. Now when I look back to that day, I feel how silly my thoughts were.  The utility my car is to me today outweigh the initial struggle I had to go through while learning the driving skill.

Similar experience many a times I had faced while changing role or job at work place. When I first walked into Onsite location as ONC (onsite coordinator), I had feeling of nausea and not very sure if my communication skills are adequate to perform the job. When I was inducted to team lead role, I felt initial insecurity that made me wonder if its really my cup of tea. When I got promoted to manager role, I was nervous even to walk in to one-one meetings of my team. Later I went through phases where I had faced initial problems speaking in front of huge gatherings.

When I look back now and compare how comfortable I am doing it today versus my initial hiccups, only reason I can think of is being pushed out of comfort zone makes an individual feel uncomfortable. Sometimes we resist it as well. But as we go along the path we start feeling comfortable and it starts becoming comfort zone for us. Moving out of comfort zone and doing something different is what makes an individual progress in career.

ज्ञानं परमं बलम् -- Knowledge is Power Supreme

This is what we were told in college right from day1 as the motto of the University. Few students like me didn't understand the meaning of it then. As time progressed and we struggled through the life's ordeals, that is when we realized what it meant and the importance of knowledge in life.

Knowledge is multi fold and influences us in many ways in our day to day lives. Its not just the books that impart knowledge but major source for most people is through cognitive learning that life imparts.

Parents and Elders: Mother forms first source of knowledge for any kid. She starts teaching him/her language and pronunciation. She starts teaching the kid the good manners that are perceived acceptable in the contemporary society. Father supplements the knowledge imparted by mother with any additional learning needed before and while schooling. Also few elders like Grand Parents do their bit in inculcating good manners as well as teaching few verses/stories during childhood.

Teachers: Teachers/Gurus at various levels play a major role in imparting mammoth portion of knowledge to an individual by the time he/she graduates. The knowledge imparted varies from person to person depending on the choice of courses and level of grasping he/she possesses. Most times its this knowledge that comes handy in earning bread and butter for rest of life.

Friends: Friends at each level play a vital role in proper utilization one's energies in right direction. A person who made friendship with incorrect set of folks might set his foot in wrong direction thus wasting life's endeavours. On the other hand person who connects with right group might finish at a higher level than his innate state.

Books: This is for folks who love reading. Books serve as major source of knowledge during years of education. Capsules of knowledge packaged into syllabus will prepare an individual to continuous knowledge acquisition. Books keep serving a person with knowledge post-college era, if one is willing to pay attention to them.

Media and News: Media like TV , movies, internet, newspapers also keep feeding an individual with small packets of information. Unlike other modes of knowledge, this feed has to be assimilated and translated into knowledge by the individual on his own. Primary problem with this information is that it can be clubbed with lot of garbage and needs some mining to separate good from bad.

Experiences: Even though it is not a medium, mistakes one commits in life teach a person a lot more than success stories. Beauty of this is that lesson learnt hard way is difficult to forget in life. Also person grasps a lot of things by sheer observation of other individuals, situations and by personal reflection of them.