Perform ... Don't Patronise

I believe in performance. I believe in delivering results. I believe in overpromising and then... over delivering. I believe in rolling up my sleeves and getting to work right after the commitment is made,,, and keeping the clock going until the expectation is delivered.

You can tell a performer from a patronizer. They both give the promise of delivery, but only one delivers.

A performer is seen at work, a patronizer is heard at work. You can hear a patronizer talking a lot about the work he will do, but don't see him doing much. A performer, on the other hand, has no time for small talks and he is hard to reach because he is neck deep into work.

A performer brainstorms and strategizes. He invites ideas. He looks for suggestions. He is always fishing for faster ways of delivery and alternate solutions. He listens.
A patronizer is heard in heavy discussions about the vision and the goal, but seldom about what he will do to get there. A patronizer is good at impressing people with his articulation of the dream, but then sleeps on it when it comes to action.

And when the deadline kicks in, the patronizer is the first to cut communication lines, is the easy target of all viral infections to fall sick, and basically will have something horrific happen to him fictitious or real, to get out of the firing line on non-completion of his target. He will not win your praise but he will do everything to win your sympathy for having failed in his commitment.

A performer will stay in touch. He will ask for help if needed for he knows that he is close to his target and non-achievement would only mark a waste of his efforts and his sacrifice. He will work with you to make things happen. He will not disappear on you. He will come to work even if he is sick because he is so invested. He will do everything to not let you down because his sweat and his heart lie at the core of his work.

You can tell a performer from a patronizer. And you choose your outcome when you choose one of them.

P.S. I have chosen many patronizers mistaking them to be highly motivated people. And I have learned to choose well the hard way.
P.P.S. When a patronizer finds his way into your team, you lose, and everyone involved loses because a patronizer will take you to the clouds with his talks and then rain down on you a series of losses, in terms of lost time and resources.
P.P.P.S. I know the difference between both, and I choose to BE a performer !!!

Making a Come Back to Blogging

It's been a few years now... blogging has taken a back seat. But something tugs at my heart tonight, to write... away from my daily journal... into a daily blog. It's a queer expression of extroversion, where I feel the urge not just to think aloud, but to think along... with you.

I sit in my hotel room in Indore... writing.
I just arrived this afternoon, and at 1.12am it seems I have been here for days. Have you ever spent a day in such high randomity, where you met with so many people and went such a great distance in that connection, that it distorted time. I think that is the power only human connection can bring. This kind of metaphysics occurs when people connect at a soul level, at a common frequency, of love.

I landed this afternoon. I spoke to a crowd of over a 1000 students in Daly College and then to a group of 150 Top CEO's in the evening. And guess what, this feels like home. They weren't strangers. These were people I had an instant connection with... the feeling that I had known them a long time. And it remained a constant all through my day.

Is my profession an accident, or am I moving to a higher place of connection?
Is my presence in their presence a coincidence, or am I moving to a deeper place of love?
Is my purpose leading me or am I being lead to my purpose?

The answer isn't as important as the feeling that I feel... that all is right... and that is how it should be.

Boss — Your Key to Success

People who are at perpetual loggerheads with their bosses and seniors have set up a failing model of progress for themselves. It’s like having the Ferrari as your dream car while expressing your dislike for its functions on a daily basis. How can you aspire for a position you detest or have no admiration for, or have no acceptance for? It’s a failing model, for one, you will never arrive there, and even if you do, you will be subject to the same negativity that you held for it.

A boss-subordinate relationship is not only vital to the progress of the organization but is even more critical to the growth of the individuals involved. By rank the boss is supposed to be a mentor and a more experienced colleague who can push you towards a more flourishing future. The boss does not need to be a terror and certainly not the man you wish was dead.

The problems in the professional relationship arise when the subordinate fails to understand his boss’ position and temperament. It would pay you far beyond your imagination to make an investment in understanding your boss, his working style, his experience, his achievements, his drive and more importantly his vision with you. His chair is your future destination and so you have to keep your eye on that goal, in this case, him. His position is your future promotion and so you have to be a student of his personality, his journey, his responsibilities and his skills. Your boss’ existence is evidence for your future aspirations.

Adapt to your boss’ style of working, it will serve you speed up your progress. “I know my boss is a perfectionist,” says Sandeep who is a banker, “and I know very clearly that I have to make an adjustment in my professional dealing with him. My ex boss was an easygoing guy, and somehow I have carried that expectation into my new bosses attitude.” Adaptability is one of the keys to success, and if you can use that to unlock your equation with your boss, you are on the fast track to success.

Work closely with your boss and demand inputs to improve your performance. If your boss is constantly unhappy with your performance, find out what you are doing wrong or what you are not doing that should be done. When people don’t perform well, they just turn their backs on their boss’s comments and on the ownership of their poor performance. Don’t wait for the boss to criticize or recognize you. On a monthly basis present your performance for his feedback for improvement. And chances are that in doing that, you yourself will become aware of your progress. I would say go a step ahead and demand inputs on improvement. Get ideas on how you could perform better. It’s a profitable perspective when it comes from your boss.

Discuss your career growth with your boss. Express your interest in getting ahead. People on the top welcome company. Chat up with your boss to understand what you would need to do in order to deserve your next promotion. Don’t wait to be promoted, work strategically toward it. Most bosses in organizations are under utilized by their teams—they don’t speak to them, they don’t approach him, they don’t work with him. Pick your bosses brains and help him help you; he after all holds the chair you aspire for.

The major complaint that professionals confess to is that they are starved for recognition. “I don’t mind the hard work and the erratic working hours, but not being appreciated is something that steals my motivation to continue giving more.” Is a common complaint in the corporate circuit. It’s nice to let your boss be aware of your motivation buttons. “I work better when I know I am adding value and I am appreciated,” my employee once told me, and I have made it a point to use recognition as her carrot to keep her motivated when she is slow. And moreover recognition is a two-way traffic, your word of appreciation works wonders on your boss just like his word works on you. I have almost never seen people publicly appreciate their bosses or give them credit in their success. Appreciate and give credit to your seniors where due to guarantee your deserving share.

A boss-subordinate relationship is like an arranged marriage. You don’t even get to see your boss until you are hired. To nurture that relationship, to establish the affinity and a healthy communication, to adjust, accept and accommodate becomes your responsibility because your future in the company depends on it.

Speaking is my passion, Inspiring Change is my Business.

Learn Apply Teach

Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job. If you work hard on your job you’ll make a living, if you work hard on yourself you can make a fortune.
~ Jim Rohn

When I was interviewing candidates for the position of ‘Sales Head’ for my company, I met this girl whose claim was that there was no one else who knew more about the training industry than her. And sure enough, two questions later, it was established that she had more information and latest happenings in the training industry than me. I hired her on the spot. Seven years later, she still continues to grow and still continues to amaze and surprise me with the insights and actionables that she comes up with on how we can expand and grow.

How high you can fly in your career depends upon how deep you can dive in your subject of expertise. The height is proportional to the depth. Now add to it some width, know what is happening on your left and right and how that impacts and affects you, and how that can be harnessed to push you further, you become indomitable.

How much do you know? Do you know all there is to know about your job? Have you still left a lot of room for improvement or are you constantly upgrading your skill and knowledge? The economy is changing so fast that today the customer has more or equal information about you, your company and your product as you, or sometimes even more than you. Does your knowledge supersede that of your customers, your seniors, your competitors? When you answer that in affirmative, you are on the super fast track to success.

Make a habit to learn. Make it a morning ritual to study, to learn, to observe, to fill in your intellect with data, with information and the ideas and energy will drive you through the day. You don’t need any one’s permission to learn, all you need is a burning desire to be ahead in the game that you have chosen to play. Remember, how much you earn, is hidden within how much you L(earn).

Make a commitment to apply what you have learnt. Put your information to use and it will give you results beyond your expectations. Knowledge without application is like a pen without ink. It is potential that never saw performance. Principles that lead the Indian Team to victory in cricket can be utilized to align the performance of your department. Knowledge is applicable and results are duplicable.

And once you have applied it, make it your duty to teach it to others. If you can teach what you have learnt and inspire others out of the results that you gained from that application, boy, you are on the fast track to success. When you share and teach, you have achieved mastery over that subject, because the best student is always the teacher. You cannot teach that which you have not fully understood. When understanding is the final result of your learning, genius shines.

Commitment to your dreams is the key. I am here to help.

P.S. My eighth book The Calling—Unleash Your True Self is out now. I grew a lot in writing and I hope it will do the same for you. With every order of The Calling on my website, you get a surprise gift :)

Rooting for your success,
Priya Kumar

Good Is Not Good Enough

Never do something good enough. For it was done good enough, it most certainly should have been done better.
~ Unknown

Today is the world where “good is the new average”. The top companies, the top employers and the top employees in the world don’t claim to be good; they claim to be the best. If you cannot claim that your services, that your attitude and that your work delivery is the best in the world, then you fall in the 75% bracket of the average performers who draw an average salary and lead an average life. To up your game, to elevate your standard of living, to belong to the elite group of performers you have change your attitude from good to best.

Work to delight, your customers, employers and whoever your work touches. The two extra mint leaves adds a zing into the lemonade. A little “thank you for your trust” note, in the file that you are submitting to your boss conveys a very sincere acknowledgement and reassurance of a work well done. It’s the little things that we take for granted are sometimes that things that matter most. If your work, if your delivery is not bringing a smile on the face of the receiver then you are falling into the curse average.

Speed is what will add a vertical rise to your success. Under promise and over deliver. There is no glory in being late or being a victim to delays. You are always going to be racing against time, for work and for your own life. Estimate the time you are going to take to finish a job and make it your job to finish it in half, and you will get into the fast lane to success. Ever notice that the fast lane isn’t crowded?

When delivering a job or service, make it personal. As much as there are certain ways that you like to do things, making it personal to the receiver will take you from good to best in no time. “Since it meant a lot to you to have the books tomorrow, I personally went and picked them up to get them to you”. “Since pink is your favorite color, I used pink ink to sign the books”. Get personal in your delivery. Take interest in who your target audience is, whether your seniors, customers or co-workers. Get the job done, and get it done their way. The rewards you will get in terms of goodwill—your reputation will begin to precede you.

Good doesn’t pay more. Good doesn’t bring you glory. Strive for best. Strive for delight, speed and always remember to make it personal.

I know how much success means to you and I know that half way into the year, you are still giving your best shot at work. I also know that there is constant pressure and bombarding of negativity from the market, the economy, the competition and the environment in general. And sometimes, that negativity works its way into our hearts and infects our enthusiasm, passion and drive and in creeps the self-doubt and limiting beliefs “Can I really do this?” That’s when you know its time to take a step back and get a grip on that power that will steer you clear to your goals.

The Personal Breakthrough Workshop on 20th August will get you to challenge the inhibitions that have found their way into you’re your that have been holding you back from going all out and driving your job at full steam. Walk on Fire and with that experiential learning get back your spirit to conquer and overcome all adversities. Your passion may need some dusting. Your power may need to be unleashed. Let nothing hold you back !!! Success is your inheritance. This 20th August you are invited to Re-New, Re-Boot and Re-Invent the game that you were always meant to win.

Do Whatever It Takes

If you’re interested in something you will do what is convenient.
If you are committed to something, you will do whatever it takes.
~ Murray Smith

We make things happen, we all have made things happen—the impossible into possible, we all have such stories of victory where we moved against all odds and delivered. And the common thread weaving through these stories is that you did not have an option but to deliver. When the heat turns up and excuses are no longer acceptable, where the stakes are high, we move into “do whatever it takes mode” and deliver.

If your baby girl was in ICU, you would do whatever it takes to get whatever there is to be done to save her life. Allow me to let you in to this fact, your family, their dreams and their hopes are already in ICU. Serving them and nurturing their dreams and securing their future is not easy. You have to do whatever it takes to get whatever needs to be done.

There are no shortcuts to make it to the finish line. You will be disqualified in the race and in life if you make that attempt. History stands witness in every industry where people that take shortcuts may get away with it for sometime but you will also find that those people slip back to ‘start’ in time. People resort to shortcuts when they are no longer willing to do whatever it takes. And they will keep cutting their dreams short in that ratio.

Do whatever it takes means that when things are not working, you have to speed up, find alternate routes, make adjustments or simply do what needs to be done to get your results back on track. If 10 calls are not working and not getting you to connect with the people you need, make 20 calls. If 20 calls are not working, make 40 calls. If 40 calls are not working, hit the road and catch the people in their offices. If that is not working, ask friends for references, if that is not working, consult your boss, if that doesn’t work…. Basically, you stop when you get the job done.

I attended the inauguration of a children’s hospital one time. The CEO of the hospital told the story that the night before the inauguration, the walls of the corridor leading to the main wing were not painted. With the workers gone and the contractor not traceable, he gathered his team and they came together and painted the corridor all through the night. Its not a piece of perfection but it carries the scent of their attitude and still serves as an example for them that no one and nothing can stop you from achieving what you want, if you are willing to let go of your inhibitions and step up to do whatever it takes even if that means doing things that you have never done before and doing things that are not expected of you.

How would your life change if you embraced challenges head on and did not shy away from problems especially when they compelled you to leave your comfort zone and try something new? That is the definition of a problem; it instills apparent fear. You break that with self-confidence, with self-belief, with passion as your driving fuel, where you dreams are more important to you than the temporary struggles that you have to move past. A personal breakthrough awaits you at the helm of every challenge. To get you a taste of who you really are and what you are capable of doing, this 20th August, participate in the Personal Breakthrough Workshop. Reclaim your confidence, put a plan toward your future, put together your faith in your abilities, that you are enough, all by yourself to accomplish your goals. Walk on fire, unharmed and ignite that raging flame of confidence that you are bigger than any challenge that life and circumstance throws at you.

I am committed to keep you committed to your goals. Come make it happen. Invest in the power that is innate to you and make memories of achievement that will constantly fuel your confidence each time it takes a negative hit.

This 20th August, the Personal Breakthrough Workshop could be a stepping stone toward the success you are destined for.

Rooting for your success.
Priya

You can also order my eighth book The Calling—Unleash Your True Self on my website and you get a surprise gift with every order, gratis a delighted author :)

Change or Be Changed

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading – Lao Tzu

With the amount of self help books that occupy shelf space in people’s houses and with the amount of personal growth initiatives that do the rounds in conferences, the world should have been a magical place by now. So where is the ‘life of your dreams’ as promised by the best selling authors and programs?

The truth that persists and yet eludes most people is that for things to change, you have to change. Even if one didn’t read a single book, we know right from wrong, we know what we must do and should do and yet don’t do. What is needed is—change and application of what one knows to be right. So the real issue here is that with so much inspiration and guidance at our disposal, why don’t we change?

When change is optional, we opt out of leaving our comfort zone and adopting a new way of thinking or working or living. It is when change is no longer an option that people wake up and smell the coffee, and often, when that bell of change rings—it’s too late. The guy won’t quit smoking, even with the alarming propagandas and increasing restrictions, and not to mention the soaring tobacco prices. But one medical report gone wrong, he has no option but to change. If you are waiting for a ‘no other option’ report on your life, that change won’t bring you pleasure. Give yourself that ticket anyway. If your life is far from the one you have in your vision, you don’t have an option but to act now in accordance.

When pretense has become a habit people fool themselves that their life is okay and that they are on the right track. Ask someone “how are you doing?” and the rote answer that comes through is, “life is good”, whereas his bank balance, his children, his bosses can testify the contrary. Keeping a social image is one thing, but many have started lying to themselves on a daily basis that their life is okay. Okay in today’s world sucks. Why would anyone want to live an okay life and give an okay performance at work and be an okay father at home and bring back an okay paycheck? One has to stop pretending that everything is okay and gear up to make their lives better.

When people are afraid to lose they refuse to change. And by lose I don’t mean lose out on delivering results—people are actually afraid to lose their familiar ground, they are afraid to lose their friends, their comfort zone and their habits. They are not able to adjust to the idea of moving out of their familiar territory. That’s what they are afraid of. They are not afraid to lose in the future! If they had their eyes on the future, then they could also see alternate realities. They say they are looking at the future, but their sight is stuck on what they would lose in present time. Let me tell you this—whether you are heading for progress or not, times will change, your friends will change, your work will change, heck, everything will change, it already is changing. But because that change is so gradual, you don’t feel it. You will lose your health, your youth, your friends and your family, and you will also lose your life one day. Loss is inevitable. But don’t let that come in the way of the gains you can have.

There is enough material, enough inspiration and enough goodness in the world at your disposal. Getting to the petrol station is not enough, fueling up and then putting your car into gear is what will take you places. It would be quite foolish to not make power and passion a part of your life and steer it in the direction where abundance is your inheritance.

Take that step today to break through the inhibitions and the self-doubt that has been holding you back. To give you that extra edge and that much-needed push, we have a Personal Breakthrough Workshop on 20th August 2016, in Mumbai. If you are totally committed to making that change in your life where you want to Unleash Your True Potential and get moving on the path of your calling, register now. In this one-day workshop you get to walk on fire. You cannot help but have a different viewpoint on your own life and abilities once you walk across the path of blazing fire, unharmed, for if you can conquer fire, you sure can conquer your own limiting beliefs.

On early bird registration you get a one-on-one exclusive session with me where I help you create a battle plan to get you started on your vision and goals, worth Rs. 25,000 absolutely free. Not only that, you get access to three video sessions spread over the next three months that will address your concerns, keep you focused on your goals and give you the winner’s edge in your daily living.

Commitment to your dreams is the key. I am here to help.

Rooting for your success.
Priya