Lead..Manage..Reflect..

  "PE" is a financial term that denotes "price divided by earnings" of a given stock, representing a crucial metric for assessing whether a stock is overvalued or undervalued. What is your "PE"? In your particular case, "price" refers to the compensation the company pays you, while "value" represents the contribution you make to your team or organization on a quarterly basis. Should your compensation significantly surpass the value you provide over time, the company will perceive you as a less valuable employee, thereby impeding your career opportunities. Consequently, your compensation growth may not match your anticipated rate. The company may attempt to adjust your compensation to match your "PE" gradually. It's worth noting that "PE" is subjective in the eyes of investors. If your current "PE" leaves you dissatisfied, it may be prudent to search for a company that values your skills more. Naturally,...

  You can teach a person with character job-specific skills, but you can’t teach a person with job skills character When  #hiring  people, look for character and the ability to quickly learn new things. Trying to find a perfect match with job skills may result in a wrong hire. Hiring the right people is crucial to the success of any organization. However, finding the perfect candidate for a job is not always an easy task. Many employers focus solely on the job-specific skills that a candidate brings to the table, often overlooking the importance of character. This can lead to a wrong hire and a host of other problems down the line. It's easier to teach a person with character the job-specific skills they need than it is to teach a person with job skills character. Job skills can be acquired through training, education, and experience. However, character is something that is inherent in an individual and is difficult to teach. Character is the sum of a person's values, bel...

  Effective leaders are well-connected across all levels of the organization. Why is this important? Is it a matter of optics or a “feel good” activity? There is much more to being connected. There is a sense of respect Leaders earn because people feel that their leaders are giving them time and they start valuing the Leader. Many times, what a leader is expecting, and what happens at the ground level are completely different. Connecting at all levels is an opportunity in understanding how the vision and priorities are understood and executed at the ground level. Many leaders believe that it is the job of the people below them to execute. They end up spending most of their time tracking projects’ status. Understanding people’s issues & concerns are left to the yearly survey. Addressing people’s issues will only be a yearly affair. Quarterly All hands meetings are important and are typically a one-way communication to provide business updates, but can’t serve the purpose to conn...

  In a conversation within the team, what is the percentage of "leadership issues" that get discussed? I mean challenges arising because of "leadership issues", which do not contribute to the productivity or outcome of the team, and that can pull the team down gradually. "Leadership issues" can take significant mindshare from the team and can be a demotivating factor. The higher the level at which leadership issues are present, the bigger the impact on the overall organization. This is where having the right leaders at all levels is crucial. What is the key contributing factor for the "leadership issues"? What can be done about it? In this post, let us specifically focus on the transparency. Many of the organisational problems arise from a lack of transparency. When people feel that the leader is not transparent, there is little trust in the team. This can linger in the team for a long time and pull down the team. Every leader thinks that he or s...

  When I say "stuck in a job" I mean people who feel that they’re not learning much and are not happy with their career progress. Let us look at reasons why people get stuck in a job. Think of the initial few years after taking your current job. You joined a new company. There are so many things to learn about: products, people, processes, tools, and culture. In fact, it is overwhelming. You don’t know where to start. Your learning pace is high because of the new environment. It takes some time for you to be productive in a new environment. After a few years, you do a pretty good job in all aspects of your job. You are very productive! After continuing in this phase for some time, you may start feeling that your job is routine and there are not many challenges to accelerate your learning curve. This is where management plays an important role in creating interesting work to retain critical talent. There are two types of leadership styles. One is the "conservative" l...

  What is "real empowerment"? Empowerment is practised in different ways. Few managers believe that letting people do their work and not micromanaging is empowerment. This is partially true but is not a real empowerment. Letting people do their own thing and expecting them to reach out when they have a problem is, to some extent, disengaging management. In this case, the manager is trying to simplify his work and doesn’t have much interest in the reports. Few managers are busy managing up and don’t want to spend much time with their reports. "Real empowerment" means giving people freedom in how they can achieve their task. At the same time, being engaged means understanding the challenges faced and how the problem is solved. Sometimes, act as a sounding board and guide them to make better decisions. A few months after joining Sun Microsystems, the director, two levels above me, met me near the break room. He enquired on my work. He spent a few minutes understanding ...