Thought for the Day - The Link Between My Consciousness, Gardening and My Life

Or how to improve my consciousness:
If I can make my consciousness fertile, using the fertiliser of no thought (and thereby giving us a chance to escape my own depraved and egoistic thoughts and seriously giving me a real chance), I can perhaps attract what is the highest good for me. Simply put, I have to get out of the way to be who I can be.

My thoughts are creative. They fertilise my consciousness. What my thoughts focus on grows, and populates my mind. They attract similar stuff.

Negative thinking patterns create a downward spiral. Creative thoughts, where you create positive thoughts, create upward spirals.

That said, it is not easy to see or focus on what we want, especially if we have trained our minds to think negatively. It is scary and burdensome.

So for a start I suggest that we get out of the way. I mean, get the negative thoughts out and get into neutral space. No thought. Remove barriers first and then create.
So no thought it is for now.

It means that I do not paint bad scenarios, criticize, blame, be self-critical, be cynical etc. (I have a friend who is constantly talking about how everything is bad - education, talent, values, intelligence etc - and guess what, he gets it in abundance.) I tell him to not talk about it. But he cannot stop himself. From scary, critical, insecure thoughts to no thought is first step.

From that space, it is automatic that we progress to creative. Nature abhors a vacuum they say. In the absence of fear, criticism, blame, lack of space we can see creative thoughts flowing in. We have a consciousness that is fertile.

That is a creative life.

Talk on ‘Quality and Cricket’ at Infosys Limited

Here's the outline of a talk on Quality and Cricket delivered at Infosys, Hyderabad recently.

"Without further ado, let us look at quality from a cricketing perspective. Let me also try and connect quality to two mindsets – of champions and leaders. 

The Search for Quality Cricketers

As captains and selectors, we are constantly searching for quality players. Who are these quality players? How do we recognize quality players? We look at certain attributes that the player exemplifies as a quality cricketer.

·         They turn in consistently high performances above the class average, raise the bar each time (i.e. they work harder than the others)
·         They deliver in all conditions, are mentally tough, tougher the challenge, tougher they get and  create a wow factor (i.e. adapt and self-correct faster which indicates they have some process orientation)
·         They create big impact and turn in match winning performances, you give them one chance and they nail it (i.e. – they take ownership to make an impact for the team)

In the current Indian side, a Virat Kohli qualifies for that surely. All others are still trying. And it’s not to say that quality cricketers are the most talented cricketers. They are two completely different things. For me a Rohit Sharma could be far more talented, but then when I look at quality players, I’d pick Virat Kohli going by their career graphs in the past few years.

Quality and Work

Now great quality at play is something we all admire. When it comes to our work we see quality differently. I know, because I worked too. Quality at work seemed to be all about rules, perfectionists and stuff like that (self-righteous, you-should-do-that kind of a thing, boring). It was boring to fall in line, to be told you’re not good enough even if delivered what was expected. Okay we didn’t bring down the heavens with our performance but we did enough didn’t we seems to be the attitude.

There’s a paradox here. We admire the quality of champions (wow how can they do that, what commitment, league of their own etc). But we do not want their qualities pushed on us. Imposed on us rather.

But seriously, can we be like them? Do we have what it takes to be quality people?

The Difference Between Them and Us – The Mindset

What is it about someone like a Kohli or a Tendulkar that sets them apart? Is it ‘talent’? Or is it application? To me, quality is all about a mindset. The champion’s mindset that wants to get better each time. The mindset that sets harder and higher targets each time. It is a mindset that is uncompromising, it prepares fully, it plugs all leakages. It needs you to deliver against all odds. To do it right the first time. To do it NOW and not postpone at all. To do it with your current preparation.

It’s not a capability issue at all. It’s a mindset issue.

Let me give you an example. My own. When I, a bowler who batted at no 8 for Osmania University Cricket team in the league, scored 158 runs after promising my skipper that I would somehow get 128 runs – the number of runs that I had given away while bowling. To get 128 I had to get it right the first time, eliminate all errors, use only my existing skill and come good first attempt.

To cut a long story short, I got 158. 

We won a match we were not likely to win. High performance, high impact.

What I Did Right – What You Can Do Too

What I did right in that story was this.

First I decided that I could make an impact if I wanted to, within my role. I expanded my role far bigger than anyone expected from me. This taking up ownership of that impact was the point of inflection when real creativity came into existence. You could look at how you could expand your role to help make a critical impact for your team. You could come alive.

Second, I committed to my team what I wanted to deliver. A clear deliverable of 128 was my commitment. I promised them that. Aloud and openly in the dressing room. To do that I requested that I open the batting. After that, it was my problem to get that score.
Then, I found a way to do it. These two, the decision and the commitment  to deliver, were critical. If you decide on a clear goal to achieve, and commit to it and put it out, you will find a way. Put yourself in that predicament.

Third, was the way itself. I was not in a state of can-I-do-it. I was in a I-have-to-do-it-at-any-cost state of mind. I was already at the finish line walking back to see where the glitches were to avoid them. So mentally preparing, visualizing the entire knock, mentally removing loose ends, firming up the framework in which I will play flawless cricket, knowing my limitations and playing within them was the first part of the way. Once I could see it all clearly in my mind, once every run scored with zero error in my mind, I removed physical challenges – equipment, clothes, exhaustion, heat etc and planned for that. I planned for all contingencies before I went in the next morning. I made one mistake at 28 and was let off, then the second at 158 when I was dismissed. I did not achieve my target of playing 90 overs, but I overachieved the 128 by 30 runs.

If it can be done once, it can be done again.

It is clear that it is not a skill issue. Whatever I had was enough to get 158. I only needed to apply it well. To make less, or no mistakes. It is a mindset issue. Do we badly want to do it is the question.

What is quality then – What a Kohli Does
·         Do it right the first time  – a factor of superior preparation, deliberate practice, planning, execution
·         Adapt to all conditions and recover quickly - Process orientation, helps to self correct quickly, enables a mindset that looks to find a pattern
·         Higher and newer level of performances – High volumes, not easily satisfied, pushing boundaries
·         Match winning ability - Big impact, desire to take ownership for performances that create clear impact

Kohli does better than others more consistently because he utilizes what he has better than most. He tries to understand the process and adapts faster. He knows his game and can self-correct quickly. Once in, he is difficult to dislodge. Kohli shows the quality mindset – he will make few errors which means he will make you pay if you let him settle down or give him a chance.

It is so with all quality players. They
·         Make less number of errors
·         They do not repeat mistakes
·         They recover fast

The Way - How Do We Go About It

Quality players are about expertise. A desire to be the best. The path then is to adopt a mindset that aspires for expertise. Many of you have heard the 10,000 hour rule to expertise. If anything, I like the number. And the fact that you need to put in purposeful and consistent effort to get to expertise. If you look at the article on expertise by Eric Andersson there seem to be 3 aspects to expertise
·         Expertise leads to performances consistently superior to peers
·         Expertise produces concrete results (impact, win matches)
·         The process can be replicated in a lab i.e. repeated (process orientation)

The more you delve into this area of quality as an attitude the more you find that it’s about the mindset and understanding the context. Teams, companies are constantly trying to create champion mindsets, champion teams. Let us understand this mindset a bit better.

Carol Dweck’s Wonderful Book – The Mindset

Let me quickly run you through this wonderful book by Dr. Carol Dweck’s on Mindsets. It is a book that can change our lives. She classifies mindsets into two major ones – the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. Most of us have both and if we adopt the growth mindset consciously, it helps us to deal with making less errors, improving quality etc without thinking that effort and learning are below us. In a nutshell Fixed mindset people are non-learners, who believe that they are born with an innate talent that will see them through everything (without knowing the process really and putting in purposeful work). Growth mindset people are learners and put everything down to learning, effort and constant growth. Some key attributes of these mindsets are these.

Fixed mindset – Intelligence is fixed, sees effort as useless, talent is everything, take easier challenges, have desire to look smart. Give up easily, get defensive, hide shortcomings, ignore useful negative feedback or criticism, envy others success, stop growing, achieve less than their potential

Growth mindset – intelligence is not fixed and the more you use it the better it gets, desire to learn, embrace challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, see effort is key to mastery, learn from criticism, find lessons and inspiration in others success.

The Key Word - Responsibility

Quality or the champion’s mindset that accepts only high quality may appear like hard and boring work but it really is about how much responsibility we are willing to take for our team. For our roles.

Quality is about the part of us which is capable of doing a better job. It is a desire to participate in the process. To own. To contribute.

Responsibility is the key word – it is the essence of all the other words we throw about – ownership, leadership, quality, champion, growth, delivery, commitment etc.

Quality and Leadership

Interestingly this attitude seeps into leadership forms too. I believe we all need champions, we all need to behave like leaders to make the change we want to see. Real leaders who do the right things, who grow everyone around. My theory on leadership is a bit like this.
·         Insecure leaders – no responsibility, power
·         Personal leaders – no power, take full responsibility to make an impact within their role
·         Secure leaders – genuine power, grows people all around and creates long term impact

In the end our society needs personal leaders, secure leaders, who will grow more secure leaders. We cannot be run by insecure leaders which I fear is where we are now. We need quality leaders and to get there we need to adopt the quality mindset. Anyone can do it now without any further preparation – decide, commit and you will find the way to deliver higher quality. 

Interactive Session with Kuchipudi Exponent Dr. Anuradha Jonnalagadda - Department of Dance, University of Hyderabad

As part of the course of 'Art Management and Digital Art' course that I have been entrusted with at the Department of Dance, University of Hyderabad, I encountered a doubt raised by my students. How do we know what to do in the future? Who to approach for guidance?

To me the issue was more about - do you know what to ask if the person appears (a good example of when the student is ready the teacher appears). Who and How are easy. The students said they knew what to ask. So we made a list of the 'who'. We shortlisted 15 experts in dance in Hyderabad, of which 5 were on campus itself. Then we decided to invite them one by one, in a formal manner, and engage in a 45 mt- 60 mt Q and A session.

We chose to start from home. Dr. Anuradha Jonnalagadda, was our first guest. I had the good fortune of interacting with Dr. Anuradha earlier when I had conducted a 2 day workshop for the Department of Dance a few years ago and found her a very helpful, knowledgeable person who genuinely cared about her students. Then she was the Head of the Department. She is an accomplished Kuchipudi dancer who trained under the famous maestro Vempati Chinna Satyam, she specialised in the evolution of the Kuchipudi dance technique in the last century. Her research is on 'Tradition and Innovation in Kuchipudi Dance'. She has founded the dance school 'Nrityaantika'.

MPA Final Semester students Jani Miya, Niyanthri, Aiswarya, Aparna, Sneha, Ashwini, Suchismitha, Snehalatha and Rohini were asked to prepare for the event and also prepare their questions properly so that the session would be fruitful.

After a formal welcome, the session took off with probing questions by the students.

Q. How do we maintain and grow our dance skills? How does one self-correct after leaving the institution? How do we know if we are doing it right after a particular stage? How many hours do we practice?
A. First, regular practice is a must. Practice ensures that you maintain technical excellence. So, you must continue dancing. Second, as you practice basics, you must also devote time to trying out new things, items. Some improvisations must be tried and perfected.

Self-correction happens with practice and observation. One thing you can do is to watch all performances of good students and performers. Observe their performances from the aspect of learning. What is it that makes them so good. Analyse their performances. Try their improvisations. The mirror was my best friend. I'd try all the things the other dancers would and add my own to it.

For expressions, observation is the best thing. Observe your self in various moods. Observe others. and their reactions and expressions. Even when you are undergoing some deep emotion you can use it to educate yourself. Observe as a 3rd person.

You are lucky that you have the luxury of watching all the experts. Watch the performances of the greats on you tube. In Kathak and Odissi there is a lot of delicacy.

Try your best as a learner. Give your 100% and if you're satisfied with that, you have done a good job. Don't be overly self-critical of yourself. You cannot learn everything in one day. It's a gradual process. Be patient.

Q. You are a well known dancer. What were the challenges you faced to get where you are today?
A. I had a huge advantage that I had a supportive family. I was the youngest at home and I have been learned dancing from my childhood. I performed at young ages thanks to my father's constant support. I won a gold medal at the Kalajyothi festival in Rajamundry in the sub junior category. It was a festival sponsored by Narini Kedareswarulu, a local zamindar. There is a college named after him there. Funnily I wore white because that was the only costume I had for that competition, but next year, all sub junior girls wore white. We had good support from the eco system too. I had great masters.

Even after my father got transferred, in my tenth class, I continued dancing. I performed in many roles as a solo dancer too. I started my own academy. Ms. Sobha Naidu, the famed dancer was my teacher. She would give us an opportunity to perform during the breaks in her performances. Wherever I performed in those breaks, I always got offers to come back and perform solo.

Q. What are the challenges you faced?
A. Challenges are to divide time between study and practice. Academics and social acceptance. You must keep yourself and your work in proper perspective.

You see my father would maintain a huge scrap book which I still have. Paper cuttings. Medals. Articles. They all serve as inspirations. You must all maintain that and reflect on all that you have achieved.

Q. What do we need to do as we go forward to gain recognition?
A. You need good temperament. You need (1) Good PR, so be in the circuit and make contacts and (2) a support system to help you organise and promote you. You must plan ahead and be noticed by the right kind of people. Look to get reviews, newspapers and magazines. Look for help from the peer group. Make a group on facebook, get alumni support.

For performances you must plan 3 months in advance.Call teachers and others. I used to do that. Make connections at festivals. Be in touch with the experts. All the time.

Whatever happens build a good temperament to stand through. Don't lose confidence. Don't lose patience. Don't lose faith.

3) What about the work ethic we must adopt?
A. To perform consistently you must be passionate about your dance.
Being a teacher helps. Teaching is a big challenge. Learned a lot by teaching. It helps you to be in touch with your basics.
Observe others. Take the right things from them. What did they do right? Don't waste time criticizing what they are doing. Look for what they are doing right.
Your personality gets reflected in your dance.
Use stuff you learn from others. Acknowledge their contribution to it. As big dancers respect your co dancers, orchestra. Be grateful for the medium for having chosen you and for all others who have supported you in your endeavour as a dancer. If you get 10000 keep 5000 and share the rest.

Q. What preparation do you do before  a performance? Did you prefer to go solo or do a ballet?
A. Ballet is always easier. There is only one character.
As for preparation - physical practice is a must. I also do a lot of mental thinking about what I am doing. Experiences. episodes. Had ample time to rehearse so much that I was fully into it. I memorised it in my mind. I would think about it. I would write it down. For reference.
I would also read about relevant articles and made notes. I do that because when I write, I remember it better.
Having fully prepared for a performance, I surrender to the process. I am not perturbed if anything goes wrong. What ever I could do I did. Now I wait for the process to unfold.
3 hours before the performance I am peaceful. Nothing bothers me now. I don't exhaust myself. I have a good sleep. Eat light and good food. No rich and oily stuff. Don't load myself. Have a calm mind. Sit and think about what I am going to do. I focus on the job. Positive tension is always there. I am always thinking how to do better. And then, do your best.
If the performance does not go well, I am very hurt. So, for a performance after a month, I start preparing today. So nothing goes wrong.
I try to build good energy. 

Q) How long do you practice?
A. At the academy I would practice up to 9 hours a day. 9 am to 1 pm and 4 pm to 8 pm. After all the work I am tired, but happy about it.

Q) How do you plan the practice?
A. What you are not doing well in the basics, try that. Basics are for stamina. You should have separate time for abhinaya. Moods may interfere. You may not like doing certain things sometimes. Follow your routine. Do what you're enjoying. At the end of it, you must enjoy it.
Strengthen your strengths. Work on your weak areas. friends can help here.

Q. How did you improve from childhood? What is the path of mastery?
A. When I came to the academy I understood what practice means. I had to put in a lot of effort to make up. The practice was very structured. No mistakes were tolerated while performing.
New steps were taught only if 25 steps were done perfectly. To learn more you'd do more of it.
I wanted to receive compliments  from my master. I had a really strong desire. I waited for 14 years for that. He gave me a compliment at the Mumbai festival. It was a moment I can never forget.

Q. Now we are in our final semester, where do we go now?
A.. There are experts coming in. Workshops will be held. Please keep contact with them.
I see dancers coming together to form groups. Natya Sangraha. Attend. Perform as much as you can. La Makaan., Saptaparni, Sacred Space and such spaces offer your space free to perform. Use all opportunities to perform
Anupama Kailash. Get into groups.It may not pay you for a few years but persist.
Write to organisations. Get a list of organisations. Do a good CV of yours. Brochures. You tube. Send to organisations. About performances. Thematic.
Look to perform at festivals. Ugadi festival. Mumbai festival. Odissa has many festivals. Keep in touch. Communicate constantly so people recall your name.
Register at the Cultural Affairs. Submit your application. Follow through. Finish the job.

Q. How do we handle it when we do not have family support?
A. I know its important. We all feel that. That people don't appreciate us. When I am low, dance is the only thing that rescues me. I don't care now.
You can't change anyone else. Change yourself. 
Keep a supportive fiends circle.
Dance at every opportunity. Raja and Radha Reddy fought this opposition for 30-40 years. You are fortunate. There are many opportunities.
Analyse. Not merely enjoy as an audience. There will be setbacks and disappointments, snide remarks and hurtful comments. But you must keep on at it.

On that note, we ended the session which went on for almost 2 hours.

To highlight what I took away from the talk
Skill
1) Practice the basics everyday. Set aside hours for practice (ranges from 4-9 hours). Practice gives stamina. (Commit this time to yourself)
2) Try improvisations, items and aim to perfect them. You can use the mirror as your best friend. (Copy from others, and improvise and acknowledge that)
3) Watch as many performances as you can and observe what they are doing right. Analyse the performances. (Write a blog and critique)
4) For expressions observe others, your own moods as 3rd person (write about it)
5) Watch Masters perform on you tube. (Make a list of top performances). 
6) Watch all peers perform and analyse.

Physical
1) Basics -  for stamina
2) Teach - best way to practice basics
3) Eat right. 
4) Rest. 

Mental
1) Be patient with the process. Don't be overly self-critical. Whatever you are doing is keeping you on the journey. Slow down but don't stop.
2) Read. Make notes. 
3) Prepare well for performances. 3 months in advance. Call all teachers. Visualise. Make notes. Build good energy. Address all weak areas. Prepare until you know all weak areas have been addressed. 
4) Enjoy what you are doing
5) Be grateful to eco system, for support group.
6) Be respectful to the medium and all who are associated with it - teachers, peers, musicians, support staff
7) Don't criticize, learn good things
8) Share freely with orchestra whatever you get. Work as a team.
9) Build a good temperament
10) Don't lose confidence, know where you stand

Growth Process
1) Use all opportunities to perform. Masters will normally facilitate such breaks. Perform as much as you can. No big or small. 
2) Try to get reviews of performances in magazines, websites.
3) Maintain scrap books, awards, cuttings which you can look at for self-motivation
4) Make marketing collateral. Brochures. Websites. Resumes. Register everywhere that is required. Get portfolios done. Facebook and Linkedin profiles.
5) Make a plan of things to be done in the next 3 months, 6 months and 1 year in terms of things to do, festivals to attend, performances to plan for, people to meet, registrations to be completed, people and organisations to be contacted.
6) At all times try to maintain good Public Relations, make contacts (meet, get numbers, connect, keep in touch)
7) Join a support group - alumni groups, dance groups, institutes
8) Attend festivals. Volunteer. Help. Perform. Make connections.
9) Ask questions of teachers and experts
10) Build trust. Understand relationship with all external world. It reflects your personality. Share freely with support staff whatever your get paid. Behave like a team. 

I could see that Dr. Anuradha Jonnalagadda completely epitomised the growth mindset (as Dr. Carol Dweck points out in her book 'The Mindset'). She believed in effort, never gave up in the face of setbacks, believed in learning from all sources, took negative feedback well, learned from the best masters and kept working at her skill. Interestingly she speaks about maintaining good energy, about how a dancer's personality gets reflected in her dance. Though she attributes all her success to being at the right time, its obvious that she had the right approach to her art form. The students certainly benefited from the interaction but I was glad that I learned so much from listening to an expert like her speak. Thank you Dr. Anuradha Jonnalagadda for sharing your experiences and your time.

Speech at L&T Tech Services - Leadership and Cricket

This is the talk (or most of it) that I delivered at L&T Tech Services on Leadership and Cricket.

Leadership and the Insecure Leader

My first brush with leadership was thanks to my mother. She gifted me a cricket bat when I was eight years old. Having a bat conferred instant power on me. I was unanimously elected captain of our team and all sorts of powers were given– I could bat first, could go off anytime I wanted, drop people I didn’t like from the team and could do anything I pleased – long as I had the bat. 

In a similar instance, I was made a class leader because I came first in class. But that did not help in dealing with Lloyd who had rippling muscles. I sacrificed many innocent classmates to stay out of Lloyd’s wrath.

In both these situations I had no desire to lead. It was given to me and I could use it the way I wanted. In the first case I misused it to serve my interests. In the second, I misused it to survive.

People with bats. Can’t blame them. They were ‘given’ that position.

What do they do?

We all played under captains like that. Men thrust into positions. Their doubts destroyed them (and the team). Unsure. Undeserving. Harsh. They formed coteries.

When leadership is thrust on us, it comes easy. We are not prepared for it. We are blamed, so we look for others to blame. We miss the big picture. Lack of clarity, distance from team, insecurity are not good.

Serving oneself or surviving in the job are petty purposes that no one will buy into. Are his followers willingly following him? No. The moment the bat goes, they are in trouble. He is not the kind of a captain we want. He grows at the cost of his team. The team deteriorates.

How to pick leaders – Or rather, who picks them

Right through my cricketing days I always wondered how selectors chose captains. Some were chosen because they were senior, some for their pedigree. Some because they kept quiet. In fact this was always considered a great quality. They say Ravi Shastri would have led India more if he did not speak his mind so.

The guys who are picking the leaders must be secure enough too. Else we have insecure leaders promoting insecure people because it serves their interests. Funnily the only place where leaders are elected democratically is in politics where we all elect them. Most of the others in the system are selected.

But then, before we start the debate, do leaders make any difference at all? Or is it all about the team?

Two examples – Inter varsity matches

To illustrate my point let me tell you two cases. An Inter University match. Greatest side ever to have left Osmania. Captain was considered a future captain. Well educated, articulate, knew the game. But he could not hold the energies of the team. He was looking at the greater narrative already perhaps. We lost the first round. The best side to have left Osmania lost.

Six years later. The weakest side I played in for Osmania was led by a young determined captain. As seniormost member, he enlisted my support. I want you to help us win. He showed intent, purpose, vulnerability. We won. After 10 years Osmania won.

It’s not about the best side obviously. It was the captain that was the difference.

I learned then that good leaders make a significant difference to the team. My estimate is 40%. It could be higher depending on how good this person is at leading. It was not about good marks, being polite, or owning the bat.

It was all about getting the team to achieve it purpose.

How captains evolve – Take ownership to achieve the purpose

How the insecure leader evolves into a secure leader is like this. I know. I have been through that. He will feel the pain of many losses, mostly due to his own bad leadership. Having lost so often, he gets over the fear of failure. 

He wants to win. Finally. (Look at all the leaders who wanted to do good in their second stints and you get what I am talking about.)

That is the turning point – the clarity of purpose and ownership of that. (Unfortunately most times you are removed from captaincy by now.)

My second captain was clear that he wanted to win. He went that extra mile to make it happen. He owned it. He owned the purpose.

Purpose – why we are here? 3 stories

I played under two three Test players who were my captains. One was A who was considered among India’s greatest captains. But in all the time I played under A I never heard him say we are out to win. Most of the time he believed that we should know since we were state level cricketers.

One particular World Cup he said, as did all other skippers, that he wanted to give his best. A safe statement to make. But what signal does that send to the team? In the times I played under A we figured out what we thought we had to do. If it fell in place we won. If not we lost.

In contrast, Steve Tikolo, skipper of the Kenya team, an associate team, said he wanted to win when questioned by the press about their goals and objectives. Kenya went to the semi final.

Another captain I played with was S. This was a young team. The first words he said was – we are here to win. I want everyone to give his best effort. That set the rules for us instantly. All effort went into high gear. There was fun but it was crystal clear what was expected of us. We went to the semi finals in Buchi Babu that year as well. Many of us got our Ranji Trophy breaks because of that performance.

It became clear that to lead well one must have a clear purpose. And then convey the purpose to the team so they know it too and can help. One cannot assume. In our assumptions we send all sorts of wrong messages to go to the team.

A leader who knows his purpose and takes ownership to achieve his purpose will go that extra mile. If I were to pick a leader I will look at 1) someone who has taken ownership for himself. Then 2) if he has taken responsibility for another.

Leadership with a sense of ownership

Understanding ownership does not come easy. To understand the pain of the leader one must experience being in the leader’s shoes. One must experience the pain of owning something. And wonder why the others are not running about with the same urgency. The secret dream of all leaders is that everyone is running about doing things and he is watching them and supporting them.

Personal leadership – the next level of leadership thought

Personal leadership is about seizing the responsibility already vested with us i.e.e expanding our roles, and maximizing it from the perspective of team good. Seize every opportunity to make a difference in the environment. Think and act like the leader even if you do not have the power. In this case - no power, but you assume complete responsibility for team performance.

Manage the energy of the team. See the difference. Only then will we become secure people. Secure leaders. We must understand that vulnerability, that space. Even as a tea boy I can make a difference. If I choose to.

As a cricketer I have experienced this personal leadership. Let me tell you a story – one that defines me. One that is about ownership. One that drove me to believe that a fast bowler can write a romantic novel.

The story of how I scored 158 as a number eight batsman.

Understanding Leadership, ownership and the process

I never experienced leadership in its true sense until I led my league team in 1992. I wanted to win the league championship for MCC. That’s when it hit me. Leadership was not about position, power or aggrandisement. It was about getting a job done.

I knew why I wanted to lead, who I wanted to lead, what I wanted to do and how. But I could not do it alone. I needed my mates to believe in the same cause with the same intensity. I needed them to play with the same intensity. I stated my purpose, set some ground rules. We won that year. Easy.

But here's the catch - when I had a younger team next year we did not win. The same tactics did not work. I needed to rebuild trust, understand the new dynamic. Not so easy.

Good leadership – in the long term

Good leadership is about bringing out the best out from everyone. Not getting the best people together and hope they will do the job. Get the stars, pamper them and they will do the job for you.

Clive Lloyd’s champion team came after the WI got thrashed around in Australia. They took individuals, worked together, had same values and made a team that won consistently over many years. Kapil Dev’s team was ordinary too.

It’s about the leader. It’s never about team and its resources. It’s about what the leader can do with what he has. The captain must believe that he can win with whatever resources he has. That he can make them outperform. If he thinks he cannot deliver, he must resign. He is not fit to be a leader. He does not want to invest time.

MSD won the T20 with a second string side. Kapil Dev did the same with a team that did not have the star power of the West Indies.

How can we make everyone feel a sense of ownership that you do as leader?

Transfer of ownership – take my responsibility, go for glory, I will take the pain.

Insecurity and security.

The first belief to have is this – everyone wants to do well. They merely need the right environment. Facilitate this and grow your team. Manage the energy around the team. Make them feel secure, yet pushed to growth. Make them feel involved in this cause. Make them feel secure. I read somewhere – how to make people die for you. There is a story about Michael Brearley and a lion tamer. Each one is different. You must invest time.

Tell them what. Figure out the how – 3 examples

We know what we want - to get the best out of everyone. How we do this is our style. Be autocratic. Be democratic. Be involved. Be detached. Examine these classic styles.

Push type

When we see Sourav Ganguly, we know that he badly wants to win. He will back his players, he will take on the world to back his players. He will inspire them by his intensity. Everyone has to play for the team. You give me your best and I will give you the world. We follow, there is growth. No second line of leaders emerging.

You see Sachin and you see someone whose level of perfection is so high that he is constantly at the others with his ideas, theories. His lack of trust and patience with the others did not grow them. His impatience did not allow them to grow and contribute. They could not deliver and consequently he could not either. Not a lack of intent – just lack of trust. Too much involvement gave too little space. Not much growth.

Pull type

We look at Rahul. He will do things that put his intent beyond question. He will open the innings. He will keep wickets. He will take greater load as the captain. He will lead from the front. The sheer purity of his nobleness will inspire followers. No one can ever question his integrity and intent for the team. You follow. But he is always at a higher level. He is the one who is pulling the ship. He’s taking the load. Trust deficit.

Equal sharing of load - We are all in this together

Then you have MSD. Coming into lead at a time when India had superstars upon superstars. Sachin, Kumble, Rahul, Sourav, Laxman – how does anyone lead such a team? MSD was brilliant. I make them all feel like they are only leading. Now listen carefully, only a very secure leader can say that. With MSD it was always about the team – it was not about himself. He gave space for others to flower, he trusted them in critical moments, he backed them, took the blame. He made everyone feel equal.

He is secure in his space. He shows his vulnerability (again a feature of a secure person). He gives you authority. He gives you opportunity. He trusts you. He will support you. He will allow to make mistakes. He will not tell you how to do it, only what he wants done. He will take the blame if things don’t work out.

Such a leader has little to do except support and hold that energy. To step back, to tell what to do and not how to do, to be patient, to believe in people (and yourself) and to know that it will all work out in the end – this is all one has to do. You need to really want them to do well – as if they were your own children.

Biggest block to transferring ownership

Clearly the biggest block to transferring ownership is the owner - the leader. It is he who gets in the way. It is his ego that cannot let him let go. It is his insecurity that the others may grow bigger that stops him from transferring this ownership. Are you secure enough to let go and trust? To let others grow? To allow them to contribute?

If you as a leader grow personal leaders, of people putting up their hand, your job is easy. Facilitate that. You will do yourself, your company, society and the country a huge help.

Manage the energy

Losing teams have low energy. Find ways to challenge the team, to make things interesting. Make them believe that something good will come out of it after all. Belief is a thought. But so difficult to hold. Young MSD, long haired, wild ways, thrust with the captaincy of the team for the T20s with a young team of rookies is out to play the T20 championship. His decisions are crazy but spot on. In the first match shootout he bowls three non-bowlers – Robin Uthappa, Sehwag and another. In the final he throws all reason away and bowls Joginder Sharma. Now MSD had all stakes up – but he did not make safe decisions. He went with what he believed was right. And once he made that decision he fully trusted Sharma. Even after a wide ball, a six. I believe that it is MSD s belief in him that shifted something in Sharma’s mind.

I know about that invisible thread. There is a small story of how difficult it was to let go for me. A cricket match we played.

Inspiring leaders – they want to grow you

We can go beyond being insecure. We can go beyond wanting the right result. We can go into growing people. We can go into love. We can care for our team as children. We can make genuine connections. We can grow people by merely trusting them and believing in them. They will do all the work. I have seen the best skippers do that. They will look at you in a way that makes you feel special and you go all out to kill.

To be inspirational we need to really care. We need to be secure enough to let the others take centre stage. It’s a matter of belief. The paradox is that to be secure, you just have to be vulnerable. It’s ok to be vulnerable. And that changes it all.

 All we need is patience, a capacity to learn and to deal with people genuinely. All else falls into place. Good luck.

Sunday Cricket Lessons - Bowl With a Tennis Ball to get the Biomechanics Right

We did not bowl with the tennis ball because of the bio mechanics as much. Tarun had not played for a long time and we did not want to risk injury. So we bowled with a tennis ball instead of a cricket ball. The difference was good enough to warrant a lesson.

Firstly we realised that our actions, finishes etc were not being done properly. How did we figure that out? The result of course. The tennis ball was just not travelling enough nor posing any sort of danger. We were completely ineffective.

After a few balls however we started to make adjustments because it was too embarrassing to not have the ball pose any problem to the batsmen, to drag the ball down and be slapped about like some school boy bowler. The actions started getting tighter, wrists started coming into action, the finish became more powerful and purposeful. The ball was finally doing something and causing problems.

When we went back to the cricket ball, it took a couple of balls to reorient but the effect was far better. The ball zipped, swung and cut.

Nothing like an acid test like this to know if you are doing all the basics right. We made all the bowlers bowl for a while with tennis balls. It was a good experience.  

Nice Link - 40 Vintage Pictures of Hyderabad

Lovely stuff. It's so refreshing. Brings back great visuals and images. You'll enjoy it if you have lived in Hyderabad ever.
http://storyglitz.com/40-vintage-photos-of-hyderabad-that-you-never-seen-before/

The International - Movie Review

Fast paced action flick with enough gun fights, killings and action sequences to keep you glued. One problem. I didn't really get what they were up to. There's a bank that seems to be financing not just shady deals but killings as well, and that too of big political players. Simple as that. Get the money and you get the muscle.

So we have an Interpol agent and an attractive DA from the US who are investigating the bank under suspicion when the killings start. They don't stop. One killing to another, one bad man to another, one huge gunfight, one slick assassin who kills in the style of Carlos, it goes on and on until most people except the protagonists die (how did they escape?). Enough to know that the game is too big. Watch, get entertained and walk away. No strain on the mind. No romance either.