Read to Lead

  The ultimate secret of exceptional performance It's a great feeling, to have an aim, a goal in life. Now you are clear what you want. There is a surge of anticipation and a tinge of worry. The uncertainty of the task adds its own charm to it. You are excited and scared at the same time. You are well aware that the road ahead will not be easy. Still, you have decided that you will give it your best shot.   Damned if you try and damned if you do not. Since you know that you will go for it, you decide to give every ounce of energy that you have to accomplish the task. You want to spend every waking moment thinking about it, sleep is an enemy now. You do not have time for family, friends or even resting. You decide that only thing that matters is the single-minded pursuit of the goal. Something like that must be the way the mind of a champion performer. That is how most of us think. Working hard continuously and, relentlessly even when the world sleeps. Using all his talent an...

    Effectiveness is a less glamorous cousin of charisma or flamboyance. It is equally; if not more important than other traits that define leaders. Many management books and theories, talk about managing others. Effectiveness, however, comes down to managing oneself.  Without being effective, there is no performance. Your knowledge, charisma, intelligence are of no use if you do not know how to be effective.                                     Peter F. Ducker is his book  The Effective Executive  has brought out these very points. With examples from government, military, and business. He offers a panoramic view of effectiveness, what it means, and how can one go about developing and practising it.   In the outset, the author proclaims that you need not be a leader to be effective. People without an ounce of charisma have been highly effective. Effec...

  I have always been fascinated by superheroes all my life. People with exceptional capabilities. Who take on their nemesis and save the day. Some can fly, some are exceptionally strong, no barrier or limit is big enough for them. Though mostly found in movies and comic books; is there something that you can learn from them? Why do we even need to think about them, obviously if I look for someone who can fly by himself, or can spin a spider web then I will not find him or her in real life, but the values they represent is something that makes them so appealing to all of us. Let us imagine ourselves to be in a place where a small child has fallen into a river having a strong current, there is one person who is watching this, another person who jumps in the lake to save the child, and the child himself. Now think, which one of these people you are or you want to be? Are you just an onlooker who will see everything and do nothing, or the one who will jump into the river, even your p...