How can growth mindset change your future?

In today's fast moving life, we always find problems in almost everything. In office, we end up facing lot of work related issues. At home, we have lots of responsibilities to take care of. In middle of all this, we often become habitual of fixed mindset and stop taking challenges. I have always been firm believer of growth mindset. I recently read an article titled "Are You Trapped In A Fixed Mindset? Fix It!" on Forbes, by Carol Dweck, who is a professor at Stanford University and a social psychologist.

In her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol writes "For 20 years, my research has shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life." She asks each one of us to switch from a fixed mindset to a growth one. She also explains that if you have a full-on growth mindset, anything and everything is possible. Carol explains that there are following steps for everyone to move from Fixed mindset to growth mindset.
1. Begin by seeking evidence for the growth mindset in your life.
2. Next, learn to recognize your fixed mindset when it takes over.
3. Recognize that you have a choice.
4. Put the growth mindset into action.

You can also see following video from Carol.



I am impressed by the view and approach suggested by Carol. We all hear about successful entrepreneurs, sports persons, cinema stars and many more in their own areas of work. None of them was an expert from birth in their respective areas of work. Each one of them faced problems on the path to success. They are successful today because they decided to come out of comfort zone and accept challenges, with belief in capabilities of self. It was their passion that made it happen. Leaders and successful persons are persons like us.

I still remember that I used to hesitate speaking in English till second year of my undergrad. But with conscious effort and exposure to organizing various events in college and my work organization, I could improve and become comfortable in talking with people. I feel that one's interest in something and attitude can change the things drastically.

We need to change our mindset and acknowledge the failure and criticism. Every mistake presents an opportunity to do something better. Let's stop blaming the circumstances and accept the challenges. There is solution for every problem. It is about whether you try to find the solution. Mindset plays a big role in life and it can change your future. If you dream big, you will be able to achieve your dreams. Believe in yourself and you can do anything. Let's take actions to achieve bigger goals in life !!!

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What does it take to revolutionize a mammoth organization?

I have been thinking about how difficult it is to bring about change in an organization that is facing growth challenges and tough competition with other organizations. While theoretically it might be as easy as top management passing on orders to all the employees, but practically it is a huge task which becomes successful only when the workforce truly gets involved for to bring about the change.

Recently, I read an article in The McKinsey Quarterly on an interview with Om Prakash Bhatt, Chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), which is largest bank in India. Om Prakash Bhatt graduated with BS in Physics and MA in English. He went on to become the Chairman of SBI in year 2006. That was at a time, when SBI was losing market share and was lagging behind in race with growing private banks which offered new products to lure customers.

Om Prakash Bhatt knew that success lay in innovation, however the challenge was to energize and provide right direction to 200,000 Government employees stretched across 10,000 branches. One statement of Om Prakash Bhatt which really impressed me was: "If you look at any transformational effort at any institution across the world, most of the things people have done are common sense. There is no magic to it. The secret is how you do it, how you build a team, and how you build consensus around what you’re doing. Only then are you able to execute your plan. I had a vision for the bank, but I needed to communicate it." As part of his strategy, the top management of SBI started interacting with branch managers with in groups of up to 80. This kind of direct interaction had never happened before in SBI. It gave a sense of need and involvement to employees across all levels of the organization. The idea was to create an environment where people were free to voice their ideas, to criticize and to accept criticism, and ultimately to build consensus and alignment. The moment employees of an organization start feeling that they are part of it, they become more engaged and energized to generate higher results.

SBI which was facing in losses in market share, recently became a Fortune Global 500 company. I am sure, like me many of us would agree with the fact that services of SBI in past 3 years have improved a lot as compared to earlier. While business approach and providing new offerings with changing customer needs is the need-of-the-hour for any organization, it is very important to have employee involvement for an organization to succeed. All of us with our talent and collective team effort can do wonders. We are already seeing tremendous benefits of collaboration within organizations and this is poised to continue and evolve further into tomorrow's global world. Om Prakash Bhatt is a great inspiration for me and I am impressed with his leadership. It would be unfair, if I did not quote his words here: "I want us (SBI) to be available to every Indian, from the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich, to both individuals and institutions. I want to do all this by instilling in my people a sense of service and helping them realize their work in the bank is not only about excellence in the workforce but also about self-development, evolution, and excellence in life."

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What should tomorrow's leaders be like?

We all are witnessing one of the biggest global recessions. Hopefully, it will be over in few months or more. However, current situation raises a vital question, "what should tomorrow's leaders be like"?

Recently I read an article detailing Marshall Goldsmith's views about tomorrow's leaders. Marshall Goldsmith is author of management-related literature, professor, consultant and executive coach. He is author of 24 management books. He also has a personal website that hosts over 200 free resources for visitors across the globe. Marshall said that leaders of the future must listen, learn and make mistakes.

I would like to outline some of the essential traits that tomorrow's leaders should possess.
(1) Everyday is a new learning and that is how a leader needs to develop himself/herself. Today's environment is very challenging and competitive. A leader need not be afraid of committing mistakes and should be ready to accept those.
(2) Leaders need to keep long term vision in mind. Ignoring long term vision can have adverse impacts on growth of the organization. I remember NRN Moorthy saying that there was a time when all the board members were in strong favor of selling Infosys, but NRN opposed it and today Infosys represents IT face of India in many ways.
(3) In future, CEOs/leaders will need to manage to people who have better IQ than leaders themselves. So, managing people and learning on the go is going to be very important.
(4) Willingness and desire to learn will play an important role. Good thing is that most of the Indian leaders/CEOs have attitude to learn more. In this challenging environment, one needs to challenge himself/herself and set higher goals to remain on the top.
(5) As CEOs grow their organizations, integrity needs to be maintained.

As we move forward to build a nation of leaders, let's groom ourselves as strong and true leaders. Continuous learning, people management and ethics are going to play an important role in this process.

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Are we prepared for test of Leadership?

Current recession poses challenge for the corporations and each one of us. When times are good, everyone comes aboard happily, but in bad times we suffer. Current situation is test of the leadership in a way and also presents opportunity to find innovative ways.

Corporates today are busy taking cost cutting measures, and making an effort to retain the best talent at the same time. Though it becomes absolutely necessary to take strict cost cutting measures at times, I feel that it is equally important to keep employees in the job as far as possible. If a company has to lays off or fire employees, the better option perhaps could be to reduce salaries of all the employees, including senior management of the company. We need to remember that in most of the companies, senior management of the companies draw a huge sum of salary. I agree that they deserve good returns for their hard work, but it is equally important to accept lower wages in bad times, for benefit of all employees. That would result in more faith by the employees (and their families) in the company, in long term. Still in many cases, companies have to take steps of reducing the workforce.

I would like to cite an example, which is on the same lines as my thoughts mentioned above. Japan Airlines is one of the top ten Airline operators in the world. Recently I read about CEO of Japan Airlines reducing his salary to lower than pilots of the company. You can see the video below on CNN about this.



If leaders of the organizations take remarkable steps in benefit of the workforce, then it has unbelievable positive impact on the mindset of the employees. On the other hand, any negative emotions taken by leaders get passed on to entire organization, like a chain reaction. Any fear shown by them can spread pretty fast. I feel that it may not be possible for you as a leader to change the world, but you can certainly change the way you look at the world. Being calm and thoughtful really helps.

As we get groomed to become future leaders, we need to learn carefully and calmly. Today's learning is going to be the foundation for tomorrow's leadership and will help each one of us in good or bad times again in future. Each of our actions should be taken, with long term vision in mind. If you display kindness to other people, that also spreads.

So, let's bring out our leadership skills from within in this test of leadership. Our steps can show the path to others and we can emerge even stronger. Let's build a nation of true leaders, who can sail through all times.

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Whom does 21st century belong to?

Many of us have been talking about growth of India for past few years. In this post, I will talk about Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, India's largest private sector enterprise and a Fortune 500 company. I read an article about Mukesh Ambani's views on 21st century and India. He said that 21st century is destined to be India’s century, while addressing a conference on “Taking India to the next millennium” at the International Bar Association (IBA). He also said that responsibility of eradicating poverty lies “with all of us”, adding it is not fair to hold only the government or the industry responsible for it.

He outlined following four advantages that India has today:
(1) Demographics - World is becoming Older and India is becoming younger, which provides tremendous growth opportunities for us.
(2) The ability of Indians to believe in democracy
(3) Technology is going to drive more value creation in the world and India has embraced technology.
(4) Globalization and growth despite of slowdown, led by younger people

You can also see following video to see his views.



After reading this news article, I started thinking about whom does 21st Century belong to and where India stands today. In my view, 21st century belongs to each one of us. It depends on us, what we want to see in tomorrow. We all can bring the change in the society.

India has witnessed tremendous growth in recent years and it is result of talent and effort of each one of us. Now, the onus is on each one of us to take it to next level. India needs true leaders, who can guide others. I am sure, each one of us has lots of innovative ideas to fill this gap. While we, the people in respectable jobs are growing to better living standards, each one of us needs to share this growth with at least few other people. Imagine, if each one of us makes sure to take few more people along on this growth path, it can do wonders. There are various ways like supporting education or vocational training of underprivileged people. If we help in their growth, tomorrow they too will can contribute for growth of the country. Let's use our full potential for continuing growth story of India and be part of the change. Remember, our true potential is much more than what we are doing everyday. So, it is time to realize the power within and make 21st century belong to ourselves.

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Bowl for a child - At Minneapolis on 04-Apr

Vibha-MN is hosting its 5th Annual Bowling event ‘Bowl for a Child’, to be held at AMF Bowling Lanes, Brooklyn Park, MN on Saturday April 04, 2009.

The event proceedings will benefit the underprivileged children in India & USA, right from poverty to education and to health care. Come, join us to have fun and at the same time make a difference in the life of a child.

Vibha is a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate, empower and enable every individual who wishes to make a positive difference in the life of the underprivileged child. To this end, volunteers at Vibha have fundraisers in several action centers across the US and India. The funds are then directed towards grassroots organizations in India and the US which are selected after careful screening by volunteers. The main focus areas of the projects supported by Vibha are:
1. Education: With a belief that education is the key to unlocking the potential of children and for breaking the vicious cycle of poverty, about 50% of their resources go towards education.
2. Vocational Training
3. Physically and/or Mentally Challenged Children
4. Children in Vulnerable Conditions

The volunteers of Vibha’s Twin Cities chapter organize events, drives and campaigns in Twin Cities, Minnesota and create awareness about the cause, as well as raise much needed funds to support grassroots projects in India and US. “Bowl for a child” has attracted good participation in the past. The schedule for this year’s Vibha “Bowl for a Child” is below.

When: April 04, 2009
Where: Earle Brown Lanes (AMF Bowling Center)
6440 James Circle North, Brooklyn Center, MN 55430
Timing: 2-5 PM & 6-9 PM
Tickets: $25 (advance); $20 (advance-students);
Group discount: Buy 5 tickets and get 1 ticket free*.
(*applicable only for 2 pm to 5 pm slot till March 25, 2009)
Tickets are limited, so hurry and reserve your spot!

For tickets and more information regarding the event, please visit: Bowl for a Child - 2009, or you can email me.

If for some reason you are unable to make it to our event this year, you may choose to contribute by making a tax-deductible contribution at donation link for Vibha. Remember, your small contribution can make a difference in life of an underprivileged child.

Let's make positive difference in life of at least one child

By now each one of us knows about Slumdog Millionaire. This is the movie that won eight Oscars in a row few days back. While this movie has glorified Indian talent in different areas of cinema, there are some important aspects of it, which we should not miss as a responsible citizen of India.

This movie has presented true picture of human trafficking in front of us. Though this movie has been filmed in India, human trafficking is actually a problem across the globe and that too in mass. Now next question that comes is, why it happens. Human trafficking has been going on for many years. Poverty and illiteracy are two of the major reasons for this. I came across an article some time ago, which said that child development schemes by Government of India have actually done very little. Fact is that the number of children unable to have minimum food (dal-roti) is increasing every year. On the same lines, it is shocking to know that Preeti Mukherjee, the winner of Oscar at same Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles four years back, is a sex worker today. List does not end here.

What can we do to stop this? While one person can not change everything, it is each one of us who needs to do a little at least. If we contribute in some way for providing basic education and food for poor children, then it will certainly save some children, from falling into trap of human trafficking. As a human being and responsible citizen, we should contribute for this noble cause. In case we are not able to contribute our time for this, at a minimum we should support projects for education and food of poor children. I am listing two of the forums here for contribution (I have been associated with these organizations).
(1) Vibha - This was founded in year 1991 and provides a platform for individuals who want to make a positive difference in the lives of the millions of underprivileged children in India. I have been volunteer for Vibha's Minneapolis Action Center for past few months.
(2) Kartavya - An effort of my college students in India to teach poor children. These children need support for getting admitted in schools after few years of education by college students.

Let's each one of do a little to make a positive difference.

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Is recession really closing doors for us?

It is official now, with Obama saying that it will take years to recover from recession. The problem of recession started with subprime crisis in year 2007, but a recession was declared much later and what followed after that, everyone knows.

Few days back, I read an article by Professor Jagdish Bhagwati, international economist and Professor in Economics Department at Columbia University, USA. He argued that the provision to restrict hiring of H1-B visaholders would deprive the US of the best global talent which comes in the form of highly trained and talented people. To quote his words: "In terms of broader considerations like the people who are coming in on H1-B visas - they're frequently highly trained and talented people and a lot of our progress and prosperity depend on having such people". He stressed that it is not appropriate to blame H1-B workers, as many of them eventually settle down in US, form new IT companies and provide job opportunities to American nationals as well.

I agree with thoughts of Prof. Bhagwati to a some extent. At the same time, I feel bad about millions of people loosing their jobs or business globally. I also understand that it is right of every country to protect it's own benefits first. Even Canada is gearing up for reducing immigration to reduce the impact of financial crisis. After having spent twenty one months in America by now, I can say that Americans have provided a great environment for growth and that's why individuals from all over the world see it as right place to work and grow.

In past few weeks, I read many news articles about increasing problems for H1-B workers in USA. With US stimulus bill in place, the US Congress has barred firms receiving government bailout from hiring Indians and other foreign workers through the skilled US visa worker visa (H1-B) programme, if they are replacing American workers. As a result, H1-B workers will have some impact, and that will impact Indian nationals too. Why I am saying "some" here is because of two reasons. First one is that the stimulus bill bars companies from hiring H1-B workers, but does not seem to stop companies from having H1-B contractors (not employees). Second reason is that not all the companies have opted for bailout package. Since it is global recession now, the overall business scenario of companies in US and across the globe is getting worse everyday. Whether we are in US, India or any other country, there will be impact on many of us. We all can see that everyone is sticking to their current job somehow. Attrition rate in companies has gone down.

I can write much more about the recession and the impact, but here is another way of looking at it too. We all have seen India growing at a very fast pace in last few years, yet there is lot more to transform things at grass root level. May be that this recession has brought some hidden light for us, or has given us a way to re-think about our priorities. Today, with almost every country having dependency on other countries, it is nearly impossible for a country to be isolated from impact of global meltdown. However, India still holds a good financial position comparatively. A lot can be done in India, whether it be in professional career, or for the growth of unprivileged society. Why not we realize our power within and take a step ahead to projects/ideas, to take the nation forward? Let's not be afraid of failures on the way. Failure is one of the very powerful ways to learn. In today's world, it does not matter where you are located. What matters is your thought and actions to make a difference. Many professionals like us have already starting working on related projects. You can find information on such projects in my earlier posts. Let's join our hands together to make India a better place for everyone.

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