Scale-up with PK!

The swiftest way to grow your company is to grow your people, says Robin Sharma. As a leader, I need to influence, inspire and enable my team. Alongside, I need to consciously grow them as well! How do we do that? To be effective, every role in the business needs to be operated by people fulfilling 3 aspects: Competencies, Capabilities and Cultural alignment. As a leader, we need to make sure that...

Research shows that only 4% businesses scale-up successfully. The rest either survive or perish. Why is it so? Why the success percentage is in lower single digits? The reasons are many. The good news though, is that we have vast potential to improve that number ! The Top 5 reasons cited, why businesses don't scale-up successfully, are as follows: 1.  Lack of focus - Lack of clear positioning,...

What we focus on expands. As a leader therefore, it’s essential that we choose consciously where to focus on; and stay focused on the right areas, for what we focus on expands. Also, it makes sense to focus on what we want more of - than what we want less of; for example, focusing on accuracy than mistakes. This universal law plays up significantly in our daily life - In our business, profession,...

Extra ordinary things get done outside our comfort zones . When we go out of our comfort zones, when we operate outside our comfort zones, it’s normal that we feel vulnerable. In those times, we may find supporters and naysayers - often, more of the latter. How do we deal with that? Happened to come across this interesting anecdote. Once a tiny frog attempted to climb a tall-wall. A group of frogs...

Building Intangibles in the Business - Are We Doing it Consciously? Intangibles accounted for 90% of the overall business valuation of Standard & Poor 500 in year 2020. In 1975, it was 17%. Building, enhancing Intangibles in the business is therefore essential to create long-term value. How do businesses do that, in a conscious way ? First and foremost, it requires thinking beyond ROI for ever...

Criticism – It’s Something that Leaders have to deal with. Anything you do will attract criticism - Anonymous. To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing - Aristotle. We don't build monuments to trolls - Tim Cook. Anything we do, critics, trolls and naysayers seem to appear from nowhere! So be it. Successful people focus on making a positive impact, doing some credible stuff  - th...

Do we ask for help when needed?  A boy and his father were walking on a forest trail. They came across a fallen branch blocking the trail. The boy asked ‘If I try, could I move this branch?’ Father replied, ‘Sure you can, if you use all your strength’. The boy tried, he couldn’t. He tried again, hard. He couldn’t. With disappointment he uttered ‘You were wrong, I can't move it’. Father respond...

Best outcomes happen   when we put our 'best versions' to work, when we strive to be our 'best   versions' while making the attempt, through the process. A leader's priority   therefore is to get the 'best version' of every team member, every day. How do we get there? One way is to 'be the   best version' of one-self. That way, one could significantly increa...

A man was traveling with his 25 year old son in a train. The Son sitting by the window looked out and started calling out - ‘Dad, look at those trees, they are moving with us! Look at those clouds - they are yellow and white!’ The father smiled. Two people sitting next to them were at a loss; They murmured each other and then asked the father ‘have you taken him to a psychiatrist?’ The man smiled...

As leaders, we need to simplify. When we simplify, things get done . Anything complex, clouds visibility; thrashes initiative; impairs motivation; and in effect, Complexity stymies action. As a leader therefore, it’s essential to simplify; so that visibility improves, initiatives thrive, and motivation sustains. When we simplify, appropriate action happens, and things get done. When we simplify, w...

Leadership isn't about being comfortable; it's about being effective, even when you're uncomfortable - says Roger Schwarz. Being effective even when you’re uncomfortable. Doing what’s needed even when it’s personally uncomfortable. Leadership is about being effective. When we build our Leadership Presence , effectiveness happens. As a Leader it’s so important to do what’s needed; to go beyond me a...

My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there - said Charles Kettering. As a leader how much time, efforts, and energy I'm putting into the long-term aspects of my Business, on a daily basis? In other words, how much time, efforts, and energy I'm able to put on a daily basis, into things that really matter over a period of time? The future shapes-up based on wh...

Communication, effective communication, is an essential ingredient for enhancing one’s leadership presence. Being clear, concise, conscious, and sensitive helps one communicate effectively . Once 2 wise people happened to visit a wealthy man. The wealthy man wanted to know how long he would live. The first person remarked ‘You will live long enough to see all your sons and daughters die’. The weal...

Great Leaders standout. People   get inspired by their thoughts and presence. What makes Great Leaders tick? One   of the 4 Things Great Leaders Have In Common is: Leadership Presence: Being present - being there wherever we are! In whole. Ability to listen enhances leadership presence. Communicating clearly, Influencing people and   outcomes positively, adds to Leade...

Comfort zones make it difficult for one to forego the (false) sense of safety - though we know extra-ordinary things happen outside our comfort zones. A ship in the harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for - said John Shedd. What would move us from our comfort zones? External forces do that at times - where we get pushed out of our comfort zones by (external) circumstances. Many s...

As leaders we have different ways of looking at people when it comes to their roles and responsibilities — One way is to look at them based on what they’ve done so far. Another is to look at them based on what they’re capable of. These two could be different — at times, vastly different. The latter approach has helped me immensely over the years — even today it continues yielding highly positive o...

When we get in to action, do we exercise enough diligence? Do we consciously resist the temptations to act in haste? A professional photographer was told that a 2-seater plane would be waiting for him at noon at the local airport. Arriving at the airport, he saw a 2-seater plane with its propellers on, warming-up just outside the hangar. Greeting the pilot, he jumped-in with his bag, and said ‘Let...

Today we are exposed to a lot of noise all around. As Leaders we know we need to differentiate and pick the signals by filtering out the noise. How do we do that? Once a farmer noticed after a day’s work at the barn that he has lost his wrist-watch. He was disturbed as it was a priced possession and had sentimental value. He had stacked hay all that day. Therefore spent a lot of time searching for...

Keeping focus is becoming increasingly challenging. We know our ability to focus on a goal or a task until it’s complete is critical for attaining desired outcomes. In a world that is overflowing with distractions, notifications vying for our attention, how do we remain focused? At one level, Focus is about managing distractions - When I manage my distractions, am able to focus better! As Steve Jo...

Often we get troubled by the complexity of challenges we face; overwhelmed by the enormity, the size. Making us dumb-founded, shocked and feeling stuck; virtually making us incapable of taking any meaningful action. Is there a practical way of handling challenges? Is there a constructive way of managing them? River Ganga (Ganges) originates at the upper reaches of Himalayas at Gomukh - beyond Gang...

As leaders, do we assume things, and become unyielding with our ways? Especially as we acquire more experience, grow bigger, stronger? A ship had been at sea in bad weather for days. As the visibility improved one night, Captain and crew were keeping an eye on all directions. Suddenly the lookout sailor on the bridge called-out ‘I can see light far away’. The captain shouted back ‘Signal the other...

An elderly Cherokee was on a stroll with his grandson. He was narrating about the battle that goes on all the time inside - the battle between two ‘wolves’. He said the Wolf No 1 consists of anger, envy, jealousy, regret, greed, arrogance, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority. And the Wolf No 2, that consists of joy, gratitude, love, humility, kindness, empathy, generosit...

As leaders , while seeking solutions to an issue or taking decisions, do we manage to get inputs and insights from the people closest to the issue? Often the best person to solve an issue or make an operational decision is the person closest to the issue. This happened years back. A Soap factory was facing a peculiar challenge - Some customers were getting empty soap boxes at the retail. The issue...

Probably not. Business Owners on a Scale-up journey get exposed to multiple risks. The best way is to manage them. Business Owners on a Scale-up journey get exposed to multiple risks. Taking risks are part and parcel of Scaling-up. As the saying goes, no risks, no returns. When one prepares to face the risks, it gets qualified as calculated risk, informed risk, measured risk, calibrated risk...

Decision making is a significant aspect of leadership. As a leader, one needs to take decisions, make choices frequently, on a variety of things. One of the key factors influencing, impacting the effectiveness of decisions is timing - taking timely decisions; without delays. While at that, having the required, relevant information is a key pre-requisite. The pertinent question is, how much of...