Month: September 2024

 

It is tempting to stay with the default- search for a better method when ‘everyone is content with the standard’.

 

HIERARCHIES MAINTAIN THE QUO AFTER IT HAS LOST ITS STATUS- that is the reality.

 

There is always a better way. The tried and trusted over time becomes tired and tested. The common situation for people who produce something groundbreaking: they are surrounded by people who at best are resistant to new ideas, and at worst wilfully ignore them.

Excited about our upcoming C Suite Meet tom evening ie Friday the 13th Sept at the Four Seasons Hotel Embassy One Bangalore. A meeting of minds over a melting of thoughts. New thinking meets new possibilities.

The CEO Meet series is heart crafted by ISD Global.

 

Being a leader and being led are concurrent practices. Though myth would have it otherwise. That you are either a leader or being led.

 

Self respect and dignity is everyone’s preserve. It has nothing to do with the hierarchy you hold in an organisation or anywhere else. Everyone has a voice that needs to be heard. Anyone should be able to put their hand up and speak out. And be vocal about their apprehensions and fears. Ask questions. Know the why.

 

Magic words like please, thank you, sorry and excuse me are assets. Be lavish and generous in using them. And mean it. Keep your commitment, deliver on time. If you are being vocal about anyone else, make sure she or he is in the room and within earshot. Be in the perennial quest to make things better. Do your homework. Write. Refer. Crosscheck. Show your work. Be generous with your words.

 

Enthusiasm and energy are always in demand. Offer it by the bagful. Don’t let ego come in the way if you need to ask for help. And don’t be under confident when you know you can go solo. Be proactive in taking responsibility. Give credit. Be the same while collaborating and contributing on a team. Pull out all stops. Get into what you are into.

Courtesy doesn’t cost anything. And there isn’t anything wrong in expecting it to be a two way street. Get stubborn when you are expected to compromise on what is right and better. Be accommodating- that is NOT the equivalent of being bullied. Back your team to the hilt. And expect it to be reciprocated. Have your ear to the ground and to the person who needs your ear. Clarify when needed. Amplify when it matters. Be mature enough to be childish.

 

“It stops here. With me and you. It ends with us.”
― Colleen Hoover

 

Without meaning to sound morbid or gruesome, here’s a quote that is worth reading again and again and again.

 

“Most humans, in varying degrees, are already dead. In one way or another they have lost their dreams, their ambitions, their desire for a better life. They have surrendered their fight for self-esteem and they have compromised their great potential. They have settled for a life of mediocrity, days of despair and nights of tears. They are no more than living deaths confined to cemeteries of their choice. Yet they need not remain in that state. They can be resurrected from their sorry condition. They can each perform the greatest miracle in the world. They can each come back from the dead…”
― Og Mandino, The Greatest Miracle in World

 

It is time for some purposeful provocation. Time to stand naked in your own truth. About not being apologetic when you set lofty goals. About pursuing your passion with vigor and confidence. And going out and shipping your best work or art.

 

When the preferable is not available, the available becomes preferable. Take the easy way out. Go with the herd(Not to be heard again). Beware of that. And all of it’s always been done that way syndrome. If you are Quadrant Biking through life, this would come in Concourse 1 where there is high possibility and high enrollment. Because thats where the masses are headed. Happy to be in the SOS(Sea of Sameness) space. More on this at https://shorturl.at/R9iHV

 

“It’s lonely at the top. 99% of people are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for mediocre. The level of competition is thus fiercest for ‘realistic’ goals, paradoxically making them the most competitive.”

–Tim Ferriss

 

Ironical isn’t it that we are knowingly ultra competitive when we are striving for mediocrity. And, ironically, the fiercest competition is for the second-class prizes. And we still don’t get it!

 

It’s a long never ending tirade. Justifications that are shallow, hollow and mere escapism. I am referring to the reasons why we endorse and end up doing mediocre work. Let’s look at the usual suspects..

The brief was lousy..

I hardly had any time..

The customer does not value quality..

We never get the right price..

It’s a one way street, we are always the one being short changed..

Does it really matter? As nobody ever notices..

You are always critical..

This market never appreciates high quality..

The management will never understand..

I have always done it this way..

My boss is a jerk..

I don’t want to fail..I rather play safe..

 

They are all sad facades, masking the real issue. The outcome where sub optimal emotional labour is committed will always reflect a huge gap between what could have been and what is.

 

If you want to grow into an extraordinary version of yourself, you must be willing to fail — a lot.

 

If we can prepare ourselves to be as indistractable as possible, zero in on distilling the vital few from the trivial many( the practice of “Essentialism“), and be prepared to look in the ugly mirror, we can stop running on the treadmill of mediocrity. Not just that. With high focus, extreme prioritization and unflappable emotional labour, we can all get to producing our ‘ One Picasso for the day .’

 

What do you uniquely do that matters the most? After all, you can only do one thing really well at a time. SIP by SIP. Engage in some Mutual Fun!

 

So, time to offer a serenade to life, in all its terrifying and transcendent uncertainty, sung in ink, watercolor, and wonder.

 

Where’s your paint brush? The canvas and the easel awaits. And your version of the Guernica.

 

Though not in all cases, as brand or management consultants, the one piece of unsolicited( and sometimes solicited) advise that is given to clients is bury your head in the sand and let the good times carry you forward. This of course when you have tail winds propelling you ahead. A not so different piece of counselling offered when the chips are down is to recommend the same path viz bury your head in the sand and hope the bad times will pass away soon.

 

Neither of the above has anything to do with prudence, pragmatism or wisdom.

 

At ISD Global, we have tried with different degrees of success asking clients to go for the jugular, especially when the tough times strike. The whole market seems to be in shut down mode and the doomsday actors are having a field day. This is the time, when we advise brands and organisations to get over active and give it the kitchen sink. Because while the rest of the market is in deep slumber, whatever you do, gets noticed, which otherwise is a struggle- in other words, you get more bang for the buck, a common refrain used in our industry.

 

And the few occassions that lady luck is smiling on you, the sun is cheerful and bright, your industry and your organisation is having a record harvest, when your brand or project launch has gone off like a T, you have been able to pull of a coup or two, try and do something that most don’t. Write the experience down, record the feedback and the impact created, make a coffee table book- anything that you can look back upon with pride and inspiration.

Because, at a time, not so far out into the distant future, this is exactly you might want to hear, see or read, when you can dance with the demons in your head and tell them I have done it. Nothing is as calamitous as it seems.

 

Certain habits are useful..and this certainly is one of them!