Culture...!

An American long-term investor, philanthropist, business tycoon, and the chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway - Warren E. Buffett is considered one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net worth of over 100 billion dollars.

Thanks to: Goldman Sachs / @goldmansachs for making available this video of his advice to new and aspiring entrepreneurs that has a unique and quintessential idea for all the New-age Leaders, in general and for the business leaders, in particular...

"...but you have to do it through other people. 

And you won't be able to do it through people

Who themselves do not feel they are being fairly treated

That their views aren't appropriately considered.

So, you really do have to learn to

Multiply yourself through other people..."

Creating Shared Values should not be confined to Strategic CSR, it could (and must) be transcended throughout the organization for making optimum use of the resources and when it happens, succession planning will occur as a culture and not strategy...

Way to go...!

Anukul...?

I wanted to share this since long. The sci-fi genre is not about the technology or its wonders but rather about its applications and implications. That makes this best sci-fi film India has ever produced. And guess what, this story was written by the legendary film-maker Satyajit Ray which easily makes it 40-45 years old, even with a random guestimate. It not only proves the vision of the great filmmaker but also his deep concern and care about the humanity, particularly for the way, direction and pace with which the ‘development’ is moving forward lately.

The time to share ‘Anukul’ couldn’t have been better as the occasion is aptly symbolic when Geoffrey Hinton – Godfather of artificial intelligence (AI) has decided to step-down for realizing the growing dangers from developments in the AI (Artificial Intelligence) field saying that... "Right now, they're not more intelligent than us, as far as I can tell. But I think they soon may be."

Now there are three things humans, with all their collective wisdom, should deep dive in –

1. Do we really need to create anything that we may not be able to control?

2. Are we ready to trade-out human values and common good for convenience?

3. If AI learnt to validate vices in the name of conscience, where would this take us?

In this regard, I would like to reiterate my most favorite questions that should be answered before indulging into any and all types of advancements and developments projected as conveniences, facilities and services for ease-of-living –

1. Is it worth it?

2. At the cost of what?

If you are fan of ‘sustainability’, think over it! However, if you prefer ‘convenience’ over anything else, please feel free to make it ‘Anukul’!

Way to go...

Old habits...

In the ABCD of life, both Birth and Death are inevitable and beyond our control, but there are 'Attitude' and 'Choice' before and between which can make or break us. Although Attitude is overrated (90%, you know!) and Choice is a freewill if not luxury, what matters most is the Habit and when it is 'Old' it dies hard, they say!

 

Leadership expert Elizabeth Lyle offers a new approach to breaking the rules (and old habits!) sharing creative ways how middle managers can climb the corporate ladder while by challenging the way things have always been done.

 

"I believe there is a window of time in the formative middle-manager years when we can lay the groundwork for that kind of leadership, but we're missing it. Why? Because our future leaders are learning from senior role models who just aren't ready to role model yet, much less change the systems that made them so successful..."

 

"Organizations are evolving rapidly, and they're counting on their future leaders to lead with more speed, flexibility, trust and cooperation than they do today..."

 

"We need middle managers and senior leaders to work together to define a new way of leading and develop each other to rise to the occasion..."

"The command-and-control behavior that she was once rewarded for just isn't going to work in a faster-moving, flatter, more digitally interconnected organization. What got her here won't get her there..."

 

"But what we find is that they're often doing the best job at not rocking the boat and challenging the system because they're trying to impress and make life easier on the senior leaders who will promote them..."

 

"...our role models are in behavior boot camp right now, and our work environments are undergoing unprecedented disruption. We are systematically changing just about everything about how organizations work, but by and large, still measuring and rewarding behavior based on old metrics, because changing those systems takes time..."

 

"Either he inherits an organization that is failing because of stubbornly old-fashioned leadership, or he himself fails to build the capabilities to lead one that transformed while he was playing it safe..."

 

"I work with another senior client who summed up this dilemma beautifully when we were talking about why he and his peers haven't empowered the folks below them with more decision rights. He said, "We haven't done it because we just don't trust that they're going to make the right decisions. But then again, how could they? We've just never given them decisions to practice with."

 

"That is seriously hard mentorship to provide, and even the best leaders need help doing it, which is why we need more coaches coaching more leaders, more in real time versus any one leader behind closed doors..."

"Around 20 years ago, Warren Buffet gave a school lecture in which he said, "The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they're too heavy to be broken..."

CEO...?

"It took us a while to learn that you can't actually make a company more digital by appointing a chief digital officer, or that a chief diversity officer could not single-handedly make a company's culture more inclusive. So we already know that we cannot just appoint a chief stakeholder officer if we really want to serve all stakeholders. Instead, we need to reset. If we really want to serve stakeholder needs, we need to get everyone involved. There are no quick fixes..."

There never were...!

"We've been looking for people who look different, but boards still do the same thing. We don't need tokens. We need people who truly understand the experience and represent the diversity of our stakeholders."

The Living Beings with Brains as well as Hearts...!

"Imagine a world where corporate governance was very different than today:

Community leaders sitting on the boards of their local bank;

Moral philosophers advising social media companies;

Environmental activists as directors of global energy companies."

Can I ask for more...?

"If customers are stakeholders, then they should not be harmed by the goods, services and products we produce. It's that simple."

Really...?

"For stakeholder capitalism to really work, we all need to see ourselves as chief executive officers. If we really want change, we have to be willing to bear the backlash. We're not always going to get it right, and that's OK. Real, substantive change takes time. The right answer keeps changing. But we have to try to do better."

Indeed...!

Way to go...

Privilege to Choose…!

I chose to break away from the systems and the expectations and imprison me. I started to live a conscious mindful life and because of that I got to live purposefully and fully. I have exposure to beautiful villages on stunning mountains across running streams all across a beautiful world!

I meet local heroes that inspire me to become a better person every day, teach me about love, privilege, perseverance and strength! So I ask you what if some of the choices that you are faced with, which side of the glass window are you on.

Are you filling your can with mosquito-infested brown murky water or are you choosing between your morning milk obverses latte or perhaps your afternoon sandwich versus a salad? Do you have privilege in your choices and if so what do you do with that privilege?

And let's take this even further, are you living a life that the system has precondition usefulness or are you living the life you really want? Are you using meaningless choices to distract from that one choice that really means something?

What is that inner voice?

What is that voice you can no longer ignore?

What is that one choice but is so authentically you that will make you a slightly better and happier person?

What is that one choice that could defy all reason to make the world just a slightly better place?

I definitely don't have all the answers and I still have a lot of life to live, stories to tell and choices to make. I feel like my life's work has just begun. But what I do know is that when you embrace the uncomfortable and start making mindful conscious choices, change becomes possible and perhaps tomorrow because of you, one more person will have the privilege to choose…!

Strategy...!

"Create something that's compelling for other people where they see the value for themselves to participate..." - INNOVATION

“Being incredibly open about where you are and where you are going to go…” - REFLECTION

“Willingness to give up control…” - OPENNESS

“There is a list of thousand people who contributed…” - COLLABORATION

“Honest Process…” - INTEGRITY

“It is about the community…” - ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I know it is neither new nor a celebrated talk or something, then why am I sharing it here today...?

Well, every organization, irrespective of its size, certainly has some defined targets and to meet those, a strategic plan has to be in place with all its essentials like structure and processes with all required resources to achieve the preset objectives. Besides, there is a vision and a guiding principle(s) that drives the change or transformation the organization must undergo to execute its strategy.

Strategic planning is clock-work, not as in its literal meaning that implies schedule but more like the intricate mechanism behind three arrows of the clock to help them show the right time. A strategic plan without a structured line-of-action to follow it up for execution is as good as a dead clock which has a potential to keep everything on track but fails to do so in absence of an intervention to restart it.

I have always been a big fan of Wikipedia and thought of sharing this to find some insights and tips for putting together something in view of Creating Shared Value by upholding above values. Way to go...!

Schooling...!

"Our collective well-being starts with inclusive schools

and helping every child realize their endless potential..."

"When families and schools work together, everyone wins. Students are supported, families are empowered, and teachers' jobs just become that much easier. Education goes beyond economic growth, and our goal goes beyond the classroom..."

"Schools are a funnel to the real world. Public education makes citizens. And in creating the next generation of citizens, we cannot be leaving behind four out of five children or their families. If we continue to pick and choose who the system engages with generation after generation, like we do now, we will not be left with a community, a civil society or even a functioning democracy..."

"Our dream is that one day, they'll feel included 

in the very communities that they're expected to build..."