Mastering the Art of Entrepreneurial Leadership

Leaders deal in ideas.  They also deal in ideals.

The more relevant and significant the ideas may be, the greater and the more substantial are the opportunities and the challenges and the need for leaders to create the ideals only once merely imagined.

Successful entrepreneurial leaders create a compelling vision of where the organization should head.

They also continuously communicate how to proceed, and energetically guide and encourage the development of the organization’s capabilities to advance that vision in a relentless and resolute pursuit of sustained success.

Unshakable will, undaunted determination and relentless pursuit of desires and goals are key hallmarks of  all truly great entrepreneurial endeavors.

All truly great leaders are marked not only with an exceptional sense of self-confidence, which is manifest on the surface and thereby encourages and stimulates others, but also with a sense that penetrates deep into the subconscious of a leader, and there from permeates all that such a one may be, or does.  I do not think that it is possible to overstate the power of such a type of conscious and subconscious self-confidence.

Entrepreneurial success, like success in any pursuit, is more about the consummate understanding and mastery of key principles and less about following rules.

A rule states, “You must do it this way.”

A principle says, “This works – and usually works well – and has done so through all remembered time.

The difference is crucial.

The anxious, the cautious and the lesser experienced may, quite rightly, try to follow rules; the seemingly rebellious, unschooled and ignorant may break rules – sometimes unwittingly so.  Moreover, all of these types of practitioners may try to succeed focusing upon only subsets of situations without realizing how all of the forces at work interact in both conflicting and supporting ways.

But the master of an art, any art, develops mastery over the form of the art using time tested and time proven principles.  The master is guided by proper principles.  And, the master well understands the wisdom of the principles he so faithfully and assiduously practices.  Mastery of their important art should be the ideal of every entrepreneur.  However, there can be little doubt that the habit of command of situations, and the leadership of persons, makes it easier and more natural to become better able to bear the responsibilities of leadership, and to fulfill the duties of decision-making which are essential to leadership.  So, leaders are learners, who learn by leading.  Yet, while leaders learn forward, they tend to understand leadership backwards.

Some of the ablest leaders known to history have been those who have arisen in times of crises and grave dangers.  Such leaders had a boundlessness of courage and conviction.  These were matched by their self-confidence, sound judgment and sense of discernment.  To them, the impulses to power seemed to be indubitably righteous and noble.  Such leaders cared little, if at all, for the rewards of power – such as luxury and ease – which cannot be harmonized with their clear-sighted and totally committed identification with their views of the cosmic purpose to which they were willing to “pay the price,” no matter how demanding or risky.  Thus, it is a combination of great faith, stirred by abiding hope, and supported by powerful abilities and strength of character which enables leaders to inspire their followers with the degree of confidence in their leadership which enables them to collectively “Seize the Day” and capitalize on the opportunities mutually sought.

But, beyond these immense and exceptional faculties, great leaders always seek to develop very great skills in their disciples.  They are also disciplined and knowledgeable persons.  They well know how to do what they are trying to do.  They are at once as efficient as they are effective.  They do the right things, and they do those things rightly.  The greater challenges they face, the more elevated and magnificent become their responses.  There is simply no mountain too high, or too dangerous, which they cannot seem to be able and willing to scale.  These are spectacular gifts when they are all graced in a single leader.  And, such magnificent powers energize the leader, and the leader’s followers.  This Principle of Power is to leaders what the Principle of Energy is to Physics.  Both Power and Energy are transformative.  Thus, they transform themselves, while they transform their followers, and together with their followers they transform their world as well.

Leadership is relative.  It is not absolute nor does it seek to be so.  But, leadership is also relevant.  To acquire the position of a leader, one must excel in the qualities that confer authority.  Many, if not most, of these have just been noted.  Summarized, these might be:

• A keen sense of purpose, or mission
• Self-confidence and courage
• Skills in the necessary disciplines
• Astute decision-making in taking right measures at the right time
• An ability to communicate or transmit their vision.

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History of Social Media

A Great work by JD RUCKER to identify and well articulate the history of social networking. Certainly this has become not only an integral part of life but for some a life in itself. Rucker says “Looking back over the decades, we can see what has led up to this "social revolution" that is taking over the Internet and entering into our real lives. It seems that as a society, we share almost everything. What we eat, where we shop, what we're watching on television (or Hulu, or Netflix, or...)--slowly but surely everything is losing its status as "sacred" with sharing becoming the norm.”

So now we have experienced on how social media can change our life and surely at an unprecedented pace, thing how long you have been on twitter, Facebook, etc. Not so long… but now it has become a religion and as a ritual to visit the temple of social media on a daily basis.

Now the question arises – What and when would be the next paradigm shift in the social media space. While we look into the future it would be important to understand how the shift has happened. As nicely put by Rucker “To understand what's next with social networking, it's important to look back and see where we've been and what has gotten us here.”

Interesting Facts about India.

On this Republic Day, I would like firstly wish every Indian a Happy Republic Day. Besides I would like to share some interesting facts about India. This is something that you may or may not be aware about, but certainly good to know or revisit again.

• India has derived its name from the River Indus, and the early settlers here lived in the valleys around.
• Area wise, India is the 7th largest country in the world.
• India has the largest democracy in the world.
• India invented the number system. The scientist Aryabhatta invented the number 'zero'.
• The study of Algebra and Trigonometry originated in India.
• In the 6th century, Indian Mathematician Budhayana was the first to calculate the value of "pi", and also to explain the concept of the Pythagorean Theorem.
• Even before Christ, the 'place value system' and the decimal system was used in India.
• The maximum number of post offices in the world are in India.
• The world's highest motorable road is Khardung La, in Ladakh. It has an altitude of 5,682 meters.
• The most rainfall in the world ever in a month's time fell at Cherrapunji, Meghalaya. It was in July 1861 and 9,300 mm of rainfall fell in a month.
• The most number of movies are made in India, over 1000 each year.
• The worst train disaster ever in the world took place in 1981 in Samastipur, Bihar. In this accident around 800 people lost their lives.
• The highest cricket ground in the world is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. It is 2444 meters above sea level.
• The first ever university in the world was established in Takshila in 700 BC. Students numbering more than 10,500 from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects here.
• Ayurveda, the earliest school of medicine known to mankind, was started in India in 2,500 BC.
• India was the richest country in the world until it was invaded by the British in the 17th century.
• The art of navigation was developed in in India nearly 6000 years ago. The word 'navigation' is derived from the Sanskrit word navgatih. The word 'navy' is derived from the Sanskrit word nou.
• The world's largest pilgrimage destination is in India. It is called the Vishnu Temple in the the city of Tirupati. Around 30,000 people visit this temple daily, donating about $6 million US dollars everyday.
• One of the wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal, is in Agra, India.
• The oldest European Church and Synagogue are in the city of Cochin, India, and were built in 1503 and 1568 respectively.
• Yoga originated in India some 5000 years ago.
• Martial arts originated in India, and later spread to Asia and other parts of the world through Buddhist missionaries.
• Anesthesia was used in Indian medicine long before it was adopted into modern medicine.
• The Hindus of India created the largest measure of time, known as kalpa. This is the time starting from the birth and ending at the annihilation of the universe, which is around 25 billion years.
• Sushruta is someone who is regarded as the father of surgery. More than 2600 years ago, he along with his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, cesareans, fractures, artificial limbs, urinary stones, plastic surgeries, and brain surgeries.
• India was the only source of diamonds in the world up to 1896.
• In around 1000 BC, steel was invented in India.
• India is one of the largest exporter of computer software products, exporting software to more than 90 countries around the globe.
• In the 5th century, Bhaskaracharya was the first to correctly calculate the time that the Earth takes to orbit the Sun (365.258756484 days). He managed this hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart actually did it.
• Snakes & Ladders, one of the most widely played board games, was created by the 13th century poet Saint Gyandev. Originally, it was known as Mokshapat. The ladders in the game represented virtues and vices were represented by the snakes.
• The first ever dam and reservoir for irrigation purposes was built in Saurashtra.
• Chess was invented in India.
• The 2nd largest number of scientists and engineers in the world, are in India.
• The largest English speaking nation in the world - India.
• Besides the US and Japan, India is only other country in the world to have indigenously built a super computer.
• India has the 2nd largest road network in the world after the US.

Courtesy – Buzzle.com

Behavioural Targeting on Social Media

Teachers keep track of their students through social media, marriages are fixed based on the information shared on social media, friends share their pictures through social media and even marketing campaigns are tailor made depending on the likes, dislikes and views shared by social media users. No wonder these social sites have become rich mine of information!

From their favorite eating joints to where they like to shop and from their favorite brands to the most stylish celebrity, social media users believe in giving their opinion freely. They share their beliefs and discuss their point of view with who ever is interested in them.

There are almost 500 million active users on Facebook while Tweeter boasts of over 50 million tweets per day! Popularity of social media can be assessed from the fact that devices that support social media sell like hot cakes. This user-generated content is just click away for behavioral marketers. It was never so easy before to find data that gives such accurate details of the current as well as potential customers. Behavioral marketers are just required to figure out right ways of finding opportunity for behavioral targeting in a way that they don’t seem too invasive.

With unique characteristics each social media site offers various ways of behavioral opportunities. The data available can be used for planning effective marketing campaigns. By studying various applications, marketers can get an insight into user likes and behaviors. Status updates, horoscope readings and top friends are some of the features that are especially useful in studying consumer behavior. The data gathered from these applications can be used while creating company’s profile on the social media sites like Facebook with the aim of converting these users into fans. Its just about giving them what they want in a way they want.

One of the most popular sites, YouTube has come up as a powerful marketing tool where ads can be created and uploaded depending on what videos users are watching and recommending.

­Sounds incredibly easy, doest it? But before getting started with behavioral targeting on social media, it is essential to do one’s homework. Prior to running any programs, one must observe sentiment and behavior to get a clear picture. With almost everybody active on social media, a robust monitoring and analysis will be called for to clearly define your target audience. This is a time consuming exercise but will ensure targeted campaigns.

Remember, if your image gets tarnished once, it’s difficult to set it right again. So, tread cautiously and stay away from deceptive campaigns and ghost tweeting. They will not last long and will only play spoil sport!

Another thing that marketers must keep in mind is that there are some social media users who believe in moving beyond their closest friends and family. This creates the challenge of effectively analyzing peer influence. Again, this will require more time to accomplish.

Careful and planned behavioral targeting on social media is a cost effective way of reaching targeted audience directly. No other data can be more accurate, more effective and more useful than the data given by the user’s themselves. So, go ahead and hit the bulls eye!

How to Use Social Networks to Increase Channel Selling

All the best relationships you have in the real world take commitment, time and a big heaping dose of trust to work. The same is true of online relationships—especially those with customers and channel partners. E-book by Louis Columbus.

Download the Ebook by clicking here

Social Media - Is it really free?

In today’s world, where nothing comes for free, it’s amazing to find so many social media sites offering their services at no cost. There is no fee for signing up with sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. But is it really true? Is it true that marketing campaigns through social media cost less and that it has come up as the most economical yet efficient platform for reaching out to audiences? Let’s find out the truth behind this happy scene.

It sounds too good to be true... Market your product for free on social media! This is how the larger picture appears but on closer look it becomes quite apparent that there are certain costs involved in using social media space. Social media is far from free. It’s true that signing up for an account with social media sites cost no money but the amount of time employees spend in maintaining those accounts to gain a foothold in a social media community translates into real cost. Organizations usually fail to account for the significant amounts of time that is given for planning and executing a social media program.

If an employee was to maintain a regular blog as part of social media marketing, then just imagine how much will be the cost of that person's time? This is something no organisation accounts for. Although social media-based marketing and product development programs are helpful in providing an insight into customers psyche, but again, the time spent in tracking applicable KPIs (key performance indicators) and interacting with customers’ adds up to the real cost, proving that social media is not free.

Till now, personal and official use of internet was clearly defined. But with social media, this fine line has become vague as it is both used in personal as well as professional capacity. This is because social media revolves around connected people and not any specific location. For all you know, an employee might be chatting to his friend when he is supposed to be interacting with a customer!

It’s all about the man hours that a team spends to attain success with the social media site that make sup the hidden cost associated with social media. One gets to hear about the free tools offered by social media sites that help companies connect to new people but no one actually consider the time that is spent in the whole process.

Social media-based marketing and product development programs also require research and planning. One has to carefully plan and give time to engage and truly interact with a community. This also requires prior research to decide which communities one needs to be active in. All this time spent is actually taken from employees’ time. Again this time is never accounted for!

Most of the tools offered by facebook, twitter and other social media sites are free but there is a hidden cost in terms of your employees’ time. When using any tool, you are required to both monitor and measure it. This means -unaccountable time. So, the underlying truth is that social media does involve cost in terms of the time spent in being active on it.

Dealing With People You Can’t Stand – How to Bring Out the Best in People at Their Worst?

Ask the Expert

QUESTION:

I work with some really difficult people at work.  Buncha grenade-throwing sniper whiners that say no to everything  because they think they know-it-all.

If you try to help them their battle cry is not only “NO” … but also  “No Good Deed Will Go Unpunished,” for trying.

Help me out here.

What are some of the behaviors you recognize in people at their worst and how can a person successfully deal with them so everyone wins?

ANSWER: By Dr. Rick Kirschner, co-author of the international bestseller “Dealing with People You Can’t Stand: How to Bring Out the Best in People at Their Worst.”

Well you know, everybody is somebody’s difficult person, so we’ll just start with that. I define a difficult person as somebody who does something that you don’t want them to do, or doesn’t do something that you do want them to do and you don’t know what to do about it. In my interviews with people over the years, it seems that there are about 10 signs of consistent bad behavior that drive people crazy and all of us are probably good in at least one or two of these.

THE TANK (AKA in some companies as the CFO or Treasurer)

The first one is what we would call the tank attack and this is where you hear the tread coming down the hallway and then the radar switches on and if you show up in the crosshairs then you have a problem. You’ve got a really pushy person, they take control, they try to take control of you. It seems incredibly personal in the irony but it’s not personal at all; they’re trying to eliminate an obstacle and they think that’s you.

THE SNIPER

Another type of difficult behavior is the sniper attack and that’s where we say you have two kinds of snipers.

We’ve got friendly snipers. Those are people that just love to tease and quite honestly, when you travel a lot, you find lots of folks who like to tease. It’s a really fun way for us to try to keep ourselves awake. So that’s friendly sniping and yet some people are so dead skinned (sp?) that it hurts them when it happens so it makes that a difficult behavior for them.

There’s another type of sniping and that’s hostile sniping. That’s where somebody literally isn’t in control so they’re going to take you out of control and there’re all kinds of ways that plays out. The bottom line is that snipers can’t snipe if you don’t let them.

THE GRENADE (AKA IN SOME COMPANIES AS THE PR GUY)

Then there’s the grenade, the human grenade. Perfectly normal one minute, and then something pulls their pin and after a brief period of calm…one one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand…BOOM! They explode at 360 degrees all over the place. They’ll talk about anything and everything and none of it makes sense. Everybody loses it sometimes and it turns out that when people lose it, it’s often because they feel under-appreciated.

Bottom line is: if you don’t want people losing it around you, you should show a little appreciation. My mom used to say, ”You can always appreciate something about somebody. You can appreciate them for coming. You can appreciate them for going. There’s always something to appreciate.”

THINK THEY KNOW IT ALL & DO KNOW IT ALL –  TWO DIFFERENT TYPES

Then there’s the “Think They Know it All” and the “Know it All”. They’re different. The know it all actually knows 98% of something and they’d be happy to tell you about it for hours on end but they don’t have a moment to listen to your clearly inferior ideas. Then you have the think they know it all and they might know maybe 2% of what they think they know but they think “hey that’s pretty good”.

So these are two very different behaviors and they require two very different responses.

We say with know it alls, the best thing to do is to turn them into a mentor or run your ideas by them in the form of questions because, since they’re know it alls, they have to know the answers to your questions. If your idea is a good one, they’ll hear it as they think it and they may even think they thought up your question themselves and then answer it. We always say, “Present the question in a document that’s been notarized if you’re really paranoid about it.”

With the think they know it alls, you want to put their bad ideas to the hook but you don’t want them to be on the defensive because the problem is: with a person who doesn’t know very much about something, if you press them about what they don’t know, then they’re forced to repeat it and every time those words come out their mouth, they go back into both of their ears and they think that it must be right since they heard it twice.

THE WHINER

You’ve got the whiner. That’s the person with:

“Everything’s wrong, nothing’s right. There’s a plan for my life and I’m not in it.

THE “NO” PERSON

Then you’ve got the “No” person who’s sort of the fossilized whiner. That’s the person who shoots down every idea:

“That won’t work. Nothing works. Never has. Never will.”

What we say with negative people is that you’ve got to let them be negative.

One of the dumbest things you can do is try to talk a negative person into being positive. In fact, if you ever tried that, it’d probably turn you into a negative person too. So, in a way, you’ve got what you wanted because we all know that two negatives make a positive.

Don’t waste time trying to make a negative person positive.

Try to find out the details of what they’re negative about. With the “No” person, it may take awhile. With the whiner, it may take even longer. So, you have to keep asking the question a few times and repeating it. Keep saying “Well actually the question is…” until eventually they say, “OK” and they tell you the details and then finally if you find somebody that’s got a talent for finding what’s wrong, one simple thing to do is put them in charge of finding what’s wrong.

Hear Dr. Rick Kirschner’s  entire response on Expert Access Radio.

Courtesy – Expert Access

Senior moment - A 98 year old woman in the UK wrote this to her bank.

The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the Times.

Dear Sir,

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my cheque with which I endeavoured to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the cheque and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honour it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my Pension, an arrangement, which, I admit, has been in place for only thirty eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account £30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.

My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, but when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become. From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan payments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank by cheque, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate. Be aware that it is an offence under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope.

Please find attached an Application Contact Status which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Solicitor, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof. In due course, I will issue your employee with PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modelled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows:

1. To make an appointment to see me.
2. To query a missing payment.
3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
7. To leave a message on my computer (a password to access my computer is required. A password will be communicated to you at a later date to the Authorized Contact.)
8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through to 8.
9. To make a general complaint or inquiry, the contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service. While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.

Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.
May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous, New Year.
Your Humble Client .

(Remember: This was written by a 98 year old woman; DOESN'T SHE MAKE YOU PROUD!)

The CMO’s Imperative–Tackling New Digital Realities

New Digital Media – Including Online Video, social media and mobile advertising – are transforming the marketing landscape. The Boston Consulting Group has spoken to dozen of chief marketing officers (CMOs) and other who realize that 50 years of marketing-management approaches must change dramatically. These marketers don’t need to call to action. Rather, they are actively seeking to build a twenty first century marketing capability that can navigate whatever comes next.

In the report, BCG offers new insight derived from the BCG future of marketing and advertising study 2010, which encompasses a quantitative survey of marketing executives, one on one industry interviews and benchmarking research. This report is a follow-up to the 2009 White Paper, The CMO’s Dilemma: Can you Reach the Masses Without Mass Media? It is also the second release in the new Marketing in the Digital Economy publication series. Over Time, This series will examine a variety of digital – marketing topics, word-of-mouth advocacy, digital listening, organizational capabilities, mutli-channel implications and more.

After years of evolutionary change, emerging digital media have brought marketing communication to a break point.

To read the full report Click Here