Reinforce The Positives

ServiceExpress_ExpressMonorail
(Photo courtesy Express Photorail)

India is gaining in reputation for being the services & hospitality capital of the world. But, instances of bad experiences introduces doubt if the country & its professionals have what it takes to deliver on this promise. I came across a Vir Sanghvi article today that deals with the issue of service attitude (or the lack of it) amongst professionals in this industry. Causes vary between employee’s lack of long term commitment to a job, multitude of employment options, corporations taking customers for granted, etc. – all matters beyond any one individual’s control. Overwhelming for anyone wanting to better the situation!

Can such systemic issues have simple individual remedies?

While raving & ranting about the bad experience has its place, positive reinforcement is a simple yet surprisingly rarely used remedy. 

  • An extra tip to the restaurant staff who made your kid comfortable with additional cushions & toys. 
  • Write an appreciation note for the employee who went out of his way to ensure your favourite dish was customized to your liking. 
  • Share feedback about what you like at least as often as the dislikes.
  • Respond when the hotel staff greet you.

While we detest the dropping of service standards, we often take proper service delivery for granted. Positive reinforcement is our responsibility in ensuring it is repeated. It is representative of a more patient, positive & encouraging approach (much like parenting) to actively develop an immature but growing industry. 

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     ~ Changing Scales in India
     ~ Enterprise IT – Just A Utility?
     ~ When Customer Rule!

Leadership – 25 Years From Now

leadership_lumaxart
(Photo courtesy lumaxart)

In this interesting post at Psychology Today, the author brings attention to the work of Bernard M. Bass. Bass – a leadership scholar – predicted correctly in 1967 many aspects of leadership in 2000.  Its only prudent to pay heed to what he has to say about leadership in 2034.  

  • Leadership development efforts will continue, with ongoing training a requirement for leaders (much of the training will be web-based).
    [Hmmm …a second career idea.]
  • Second careers will become commonplace, as will 85-year-old employees.
    [There go my dreams of retiring by 45!]
  • Women will become the majority of leaders and directors in most organizations (he argued that this is due to their more transformational qualities and greater concern for equity, fairness, and social justice.)
    [Today, there are still write-ups aplenty about low percentage of women leaders in the corporate world. This will be an interesting one to watch.]
  • Leaders will make regular use of artificial intelligence to aid in decision making.
  • Biotechnology and genetics will play a part in both understanding leadership and in leader selection.
    [Wonder what impact this will have on the leaders are “born vs. made” debate. If it does supports the former, then the first prediction in this list will be up for question.]
  • We will “outgrow” bureaucracies, and most organizations will be flexible and mission-driven.
    [Hallelujah!]
  • With technological advancements, it will be much more difficult for dishonest leaders to emerge in organizations and greater transparency in organizational operations will be the norm.
    [Really hope this applies to political organizations as well. ]
  • Virtual work (e.g., virtual teams; web-based collaboration) will be the rule rather than the exception.
    [Google will be glad to see this & the direction they are headed.]

Read the full blog post by Ronald E. Riggio here.

Top 10 Productivity Habits

Productivity_Ant_wwworks 
(Photo courtesy woodleywonderworks)

This AskMen.com blog post lists the top 10 habits to be more productive.

  1. Don’t wait on others The waiting game is a productivity killer. Sending out an e-mail and waiting for a response is the perfect excuse to search funny cat videos for the next three hours
  2. Schedule email checks Pick one or two times a day to really clean out your inbox. Respond to the important ones, flag those that need special care and delete the ones for free prescriptions.
  3. Take necessary breaks It’s great to stay focused, but a man needs to take a break every once in a while.
  4. Block out sections of your calendar for work Schedules fill up fast, and the most effective way to find time for a job is by blocking it out in your calendar.
  5. When stuck, move on to new tasks It’s easy to become so fixated on a problem that the whole day slips by without anything to show for it. When that begins to happen, simply move on and find an easy task to check off on your list. Or take The Next Step.
  6. Set milestones It’s nice to have grand aspirations and goals in life, but it’s also effective to set milestones along the way.
  7. Keep a notepad with you Jot down actions, ideas, doodle your name in bubble letters — just make sure these items are stored in places other than memory.
  8. Delegate Just because we’re not staffed like kings doesn’t mean certain jobs can’t be delegated elsewhere.
  9. Get enough sleep That’s not an invitation to hibernate through winter so you can be productive in the spring, but never under estimate the rejuvenating powers of a solid sleep.
  10. Keep to-do lists Write a list first thing in the morning or even one for the whole week, and you’ve always got it in front of you.

Read the full article here.

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Thinking of becoming an entrepreneur?

BusinessCard 
(Picture courtesy Shoa)

The story of how I was wrong ~ Inspirational presentation about how an MBA student found his true calling in life ~ Link (SlideShare presentation)
Inspiration | Real Life Story

What Entrepreneurship Means ~ Alicia Morga talks about her story about becoming an entrepreneur. Maybe you’ll discover you’re an entrepreneur. Maybe, you’ve been one all along. ~ Link (FastCompany video)
Inspiration | Real Life Story

Should You Be An Entrepreneur? ~ A simple test of 20 questions to determine whether you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur ~ Link (HBR Blogs)
Reality Check

Career Design: Why Three Jobs Are Better Than One ~ Three blog posts that addresses the different aspects of making the shift away from a secure job (read all the 3 posts) ~ Link (blog post)
Inspiration | Real Life Story | Reality Check

Building India’s Amazon: Flipkart ~ The story of how the young techies moved from working for tech giants to working for themselves ..successfully ~ Link (interview)
Real Life Story

Khan Academy ~ An inspiring story of an individual pursuing his beliefs & doing a whole lot of good while at it ~ Link (About page)
Inspiration | Real Life Story

Living Self-Employed Online: The Manual They Forgot to Give You ~ Experiences & lessons from someone who has been at it for 18 months ~ Link (LifeHacker blog)
Lessons | Reality Check

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