Ratan Tata and the Flat Tyre

One of Mr. Ratan N Tata's first assignments was the stewardship of the ailing electronics company in the Tata portfolio - Nelco.

Story goes that a team of senior managers from Nelco was driving to Nasik along with RNT. Halfway into the journey, the car had a flat tyre, and as the driver pulled up, the occupants - including Mr. Tata - got off for a comfort break, leaving the driver to replace the tyre.

Some of the managers welcomed the forced break, as it allowed them a much-needed chance to light up a cigarette. Some used the opportunity to stretch, and smile, and share a joke. And then, one of them suddenly noticed that Mr. Tata was not to be seen, and wondered aloud where Ratan Tata might have vanished.

· Was he behind some bush?
· Had he wandered off inside the roadside dhaba for a quick cup of tea?
· Or was he mingling with some passer-bys, listening to their stories?

None of these, in fact while his colleagues were taking a break, Ratan Tata was busy helping the driver change tyres. Sleeves rolled up, tie swatted away over the shoulder, the hands expertly working the jack and the spanner, bouncing the spare tyre to check if the tyre pressure was ok. Droplets of sweat on the brow, and a smile on the face.

In that moment, the managers accompanying Ratan Tata got a master class in leadership they haven't forgotten.

And that's a moment that the driver of that car probably hasn't forgotten either.

Questions to ask:
When was the last time I rolled up my sleeves to do a task much below my hierarchy?
Do I wait for the big opportunity to showcase my leadership?
Is that big opportunity ever going to come?
Am I trying to manage upwards so much that I lost the feel of the field?

Ideas for action:

· Humility is the essence of success. Be humble and even teach your children to be so.
· To reach the top and remain there, always start from the bottom, else your days at the top will not last long..
· Practice leadership in small things instead of waiting for the big crisis or a major product launch.
· Seek to find opportunities to lead in everyday moments.
· Build your leadership skills one baby step at a time.
· Good day!!
"It is not how much you do, but how much love you put in the doing that matters."

SIX Bad Qualities to be shunned if we have to prosper

षड् दोषा: पुरूषेणेह हातव्या भूतिमिच्छता।
निद्रा तन्द्रा भयं क्रोध: आलस्यं दीर्घसूत्रता॥

chanakya

shad doshaah purusheneha haatavyah bhoothimichchathaa
nidhraa tandra bhayam krodah aalasyam deergahsootrataa



Six bad qualities in a person should be nipped in the bud if he were to prosper.

They are (1) tendency to sleep long, (2) lethargy (3) unreasonable fear (4) blind anger (5) laziness and (6) tendency to procrastinate.

1. Tendency to sleep Long:

For some people sleep is the ultimate pleasure. No doubt, a healthy snooze is necessary to recoup the body and the psyche from the effects of hard work. But one has to remember that this life is too short. From sleep we have come into the world, and we are proceeding to the eternal sleep ultimately. If we have to do something worthwhile, why should we emulated Kumbhakarna or Rip Van Winkle?

2. Lethargy:

One's lethargy, that is tendency to keep awake without doing anything is another curious dampener to progress. One should understand that the food one takes will digest properly only if one is in motion. There is hardly any difference between a non-performer and a dead fellow. Krishna said in Gita that he had nothing to achieve in life and nothing more to perform, and still he is always engaged in work.

3. Unreasonable Fear:

For some people unfounded fear and anxiety, would block all their welfare. The worst things that can overtake a person like death, misfortune, diseases etc., are not fully preventable. So what is the use of fearing the uncertainty?

4. Blind Anger:

The next enemy is excessive anger. For the strong fellow anger comes out of arrogance. For the weak, anger is the result of lack of ability to do anything. But in anger a man loses his sense of balance and this can lead to his doom.

5. Laziness:

One another slow poison inherent in human beings is laziness. Fully knowing that there are many things to be done before the goal is achieved, if one simply keeps quiet expecting that the rainbow will appear from nothingness, he is pathetically lost.

6. Tendency to Procastinate:

The twin brother of laziness is procrastination. The tendency to postpone every action till the last minute is very dangerous. One does not know what is going to happen in the next moment. So why should one keep aside the things to be done expecting to take up the work at the last moment? May be procrastination is the worst and deadliest enemy one has to avoid if there is to be some meaning and content to his life.

__._,_.___

WINNERS VERSUS LOSERS

¨ The Winner is always part of the answer;
The Loser is always part of the problem.

¨ The Winner always has a program;
The Loser always has an excuse.

¨ The Winner says, "Let me do it for you";
The Loser says, "That is not my job."

¨ The Winner sees an answer for every problem;
The Loser sees a problem for every answer.

¨ The Winner says, "It may be difficult but it is possible";
The Loser says, "It may be possible but it is too difficult."

¨ When a Winner makes a mistake, he says, "I was wrong";
When a Loser makes a mistake, he says, "It wasn't my fault."

¨ A Winner makes commitments;
A Loser makes promises.

¨ Winners have dreams;
Losers have schemes.

¨ Winners say, "I must do something";
Losers say, "Something must be done."

¨ Winners are a part of the team;
Losers are apart from the team.

¨ Winners see the gain;
Losers see the pain.

¨ Winners see possibilities;
Losers see problems.

¨ Winners believe in win-win;
Losers believe for them to win someone has to lose.

Winners see the potential;
Losers see the past.



¨ Winners are like a thermostat;
Losers are like thermometers.

¨ Winners choose what they say;
Losers say what they choose.

¨ Winners use hard arguments but soft words;
Losers use soft arguments but hard words.

¨ Winners stand firm on values but compromise on petty things;
Losers stand firm on petty things but compromise on values.

¨ Winners follow the philosophy of empathy: "Don't do to others what you would not want them to do to you";
Losers follow the philosophy, "Do it to others before they do it to you."

¨ Winners make it happen;
Losers let it happen.

¨ Winners plan and prepare to win.
Losers plan…. Plan…and sometimes don’t plan
The key word is preparation.

A Beautiful Belief

A Beautiful Belief:



If God answers ur prayer,
He’s increasing your faith

If God delays ur prayer,
He’s increasing your patience

If God doesn’t answer ur prayer,
He knows you can handle


- Anonymous

Don't Quit

Don’t Quit

A man once decided to quit...quit his job, his relationship, hisspirituality. …… He wanted to quit living.He went to the woods to clear his head and have one last talk with GOD."Can you give me one good reason not to quit?" he asked.

"Do you see the fern and the bamboo?" God asked,"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew; its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bambooseed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. The second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And yet, nothing from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo." GOD said. "In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I just would not quit."Then finally a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant. .. But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the 4 years growingroots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.""Did you know, that all this time you have been struggling; you haveactually been growing roots? I did not quit on the bamboo. I will neverquit on you.""Don't compare yourself to others." GOD said. "The bamboo had adifferent purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forestbeautiful.""Your time will come", GOD said to me. "You will rise high"

Think before you decide to quit……..

I Asked God....

I Very nice poem that I read daily in the morning before I start my work.

I asked GOD


I asked for Strength.........And God gave me Difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for Wisdom.........And God gave me Problems to solve.

I asked for Prosperity.........And God gave me Brain and Brawn to work.

I asked for Courage.........And God gave me Danger to overcome.

I asked for Love.........And God gave me Troubled people to help.

I asked for Favors.........And God gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted ........

I received everything I needed!

Young Billionair at 27 - Sabeer Bhatia

Born: 1969Success Story of Young Billionaire - Co-founder of Hotmail -Mr. Sabeer BhatiaSabeer Bhatia is one of the poster boys of Indian success story at Silicon Valley. He is better known as the man who co-founded Hotmail. He later sold it to Microsoft for $400 million and today Hotmail is the world's largest e-mail provider, with over 50 million registered users.Sabeer Bhatia was born in 1969 at Chandigarh. He comes from a humble background. His father was an army officer and his mother worked with the Central Bank of India. Sabeer Bhatia had his earlier schooling at Bishop Cotton's School in Pune and later on at St Joseph's College in Bangalore. After passing out from school he joined the Birla Institute of Technology (BITS) at Pilani. At Pilani, he qualified to try for a transfer scholarship at Cal Tech, considered to be the world's most competitive scholarship. Sabeer Bhatia was the only applicant in the entire world in 1988 to get a passing score of 62.In 1988 Sabeer Bhatia came to America and completed his B.Sc. with honours and earned a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University. In 1992, while working on his Ph.D., Sabeer dropped out and joined Apple Computers as a systems integrator. He worked for Apple Computer for a year. Then he worked for another startup, Firepower Systems Inc. In 1995, Sabir Bhatia co-founded Hotmail Corporation along with Jack Smith, a colleague at Apple Computers. They launched pioneering web-based e-mail service Hotmail. At the end of 1997, he sold Hotmail to Microsoft for $400 million. Sabeer Bhatia t worked for Microsoft for a year until March of 1999, and then in the middle of 1999 he founded Arzoo.comHow did the Indian-born then 27-year-old engineer pull it off? All with a coolly executed mix of brilliant idea, Zen-like negotiations, and sly approach to venture capitalists that would make Machiavelli green with envy.I think you have some gut instincts and you have to go on those," says Bhatia. "And you have to give it a shot ... to an entrepreneur it's like a gamble, but you've got to take that chance." Bhatia crafted the strategy of pitching a decoy idea to venture capitalists in order to see which ones he could trust his true idea with. His real idea turned out to be Hotmail, which offered free e-mail accounts that could be accessed over the Web.
"I was introduced to a number of people who pretended to be venture capitalists, but were in fact, people who had little money or just wanted the idea," explains Bhatia. "I was skeptical and I was scared. I truly believed it was going to be very powerful."
The strategy was not only gutsy, it paid off handsomely. Hotmail added users at a record pace after its kickoff on July 4, 1996, which attracted a lengthy courtship from Bill Gates & Co. Bhatia's stubborn negotiations shocked the Microsoft officials and frightened his own partners, who worried the deal would blow up in his face.
It was the software giant that buckled, however, and it purchased Hotmail for a then mind-boggling $400 million. The humble engineer from Bangalore became an instant Internet player.
Bhatia's mild-mannered appearance may lie in the grounded roots of his upbringing in India. Yet, that doesn't fully explain his innate yen for navigating the business' oft-murky waters.
"You have to be able to look into your adversary's eyes and try to figure out how much does he want this, and can I play on his weaknesses? ... And that's exactly what I did."Sabeer Bhatia has won several honors and awards. These include: "Entrepreneur of the Year," award by the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (1997); and "TR100" award, presented by MIT to 100 young innovators who are expected to have the greatest impact on technology in the next few years. He was named by TIME as one of the "People to Watch" in International Business (2002)

The "Don't Quit" Poem

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you're trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns, As every one of us sometimes learns, And many a failure turns about, When he might have won had he stuck it out; Don't give up though the pace seems slow-- You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than, It seems to a faint and faltering man, Often the struggler has given up, When he might have captured the victor's cup, And he learned too late when the night slipped down, How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out-- The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems so far, So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-- It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.
- Author unknown

You Can If You Think You Can!

If you think you are beaten, you are,If you think you dare not, you don't.If you like to win, but you think you can't,It is almost certain you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you're lost,For out in the world we find,Success begins with a fellow's will.It's all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are,You've got to think high to rise,You've got to be sure of yourself beforeYou can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always goTo the stronger or faster man.But soon or late the man who wins,Is the man who thinks he can.
~ C. W. Longenecker ~