Lalita Raman | Transitions Intl - Part 7
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Transitions Intl / Articles posted by Lalita Raman
6 December 2012 In Coaching, Life, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Top 5 Uses of “Powerful Questions”

Understanding a question is half an answer - Socrates How many times have you been confronted, during a presentation or at a meeting, with a question? A question that has made you think, engage you and pull you back into the conversation or dialogue where you might have lost focus. In all forms of communication, one's impact is most effective when we pay attention to the receipt of our influence.  Questions, in my view, allows one to listen and interject at the relevant time and get the other party engaged and excited about the conversation or the subject being discussed. In the relevant context, a question constructed and asked properly acts as a catalyst. Questioning skills deserve much more attention than they usually get. Why Question? 1. Tools - I have observed that in my coaching sessions that through proper questions, the clients come to their own extraordinary personal and professional solutions.  Questions in the right framework are simple and yet precise as surgical tools. 2. Facilitates Listening - Questions asked in the right context forces you to listen, be-present and gives an opportunity to the talker to readdress something and possibly allows them to understand another's perspective.  Practice listening first then use simple strategic and powerful questions. 3.

18 October 2012 In Coaching, Personal & Professional Development, Talent Management By Lalita Raman

TOP TEN QUESTIONS YOU NEED TO ASK, TO RETAIN GOOD PEOPLE

“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well” ― Voltaire Employees who feel valued are more likely to be engaged in their work and feel satisfied and motivated. Employee turnover is a significant cost to any firm.  Retention is a big issue. Typically people stay because jobs are hard to find or get. When things open up the “best  people"  leave. This leaves performance and productivity holes in the Company. According to a survey by the American Psychological Association (APA), feeling valued is a key indicator of job performance. You get the right people on the bus ( refer my post on Marcus Buckingham Alert for Talents) but equally important is retaining the good talent so that they don't get off the bus. How do you retain your good people? Does everyone know what is expected of them. Do they have a clear and concise description of the job and the expectations from them to deliver the job. You are what your talents and values are. Do you allow your people to develop their talents ? Do you give them opportunities to take advantage of the multiple skills your people possess. Do you provide the necessary tools and

3 October 2012 In Conflict Leadership By Lalita Raman

The Zen of Conflict Leadership – 5 Keys to deal with Conflicts

"The better able team members are to engage, speak, listen, hear, interpret, and respond constructively, the more likely their teams are to leverage conflict rather than be leveled by it” Runde and Flanagan Conflict is not something many of us like to be in. Many situations of conflict create a feeling of fight or flight. It triggers a lot of negative emotions including anger, turmoil and a sense of threat. But is conflict really that bad at all times ? Is it possible to accept conflict as a learning process ? Peace is not the absence of conflict but it is the ability to deal with Conflict by way of creative alternatives to respond to situations of conflict. What is Conflict ? Conflict arises from differences of opinion. It arises when people disagree over values, ideas, perceptions or even when led by different motivations. Conflicts cannot be avoided because no two people can agree on everything at all times.  A better way to resolve conflicts is not to avoid it or runaway from it but deal with it in a constructive and positive manner.  Confidence comes from knowing that you have the skills to communicate in a difficult situation, and you have the ability to diagnose the situation accurately

11 September 2012 In Coaching, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Marcus Buckingham Alert: Hiring For Talent

Joanne sits back in her chair deep in thought. She is concerned about her daughter Maria who has become very withdrawn, agitated at times and losing interest in whatever she is doing. She has two daughters Ann and Maria who are identical twins. She thinks back on the training and the access to facilities that she has given both her daughters. They have always been given the same training no matter in sport or any other field. Yet, Ann has been a consistent performer and enjoys whatever she does. Maria on the other hand seems disinterested in any of the activities. Maria has an innate talent to sing, to write poetry, to draw and she enjoys the few moments in her day when she does what pleases her inner soul. She has no interest in dance, swimming or learning the various languages. She forces herself to go to classes with her sister since her mom wants her to. How many of you have been in a similar position? Or as parents not recognized the innate talents of your children ? How many of us in our organizations have not been recognized for our strengths and our innate talents? How many of us have left our

27 August 2012 In Coaching, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

How To Practice Positive Leadership

Pauline is sitting at her desk immersed in her own thoughts and going down the memory lane of her past 30 years. Pauline still remembers the big day when she was 8 years old. She is waiting for her big day, the final competition for being declared "The Best Child Dancer under 10" in the biggest competitions held by a TV channel in her country.  She is passionate about dancing and spends hours on her practice. The Finale arrives and she gives a mind-blowing performance. She wins the competition. She gets accolades, awards, appreciation of her performance.  She is exhilarated. A smile returns to her face when she thinks about this moment. She has won many awards thereafter not only in her country but also internationally. Dance is her passion but Pauline has always kept it as a hobby rather than make a career out of that. She is multi skilled and has never had any issues in trying out diverse things and out shining in each of those.  She is currently a Senior Executive with a top multinational  - she has spent over 10 years with this Company and has grown in her role.  She is one of the top performers and

14 August 2012 In Coaching, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Four Little Known Personality Traits That Could Affect Your Relationships

Picture a scenario in a playground or in a jail where a large bulky kid beats up a small kid or a large honcho in a jail victimizes a relatively weak soul. Most of us can easily associate with this character and the term they are known by is Bully. Bullies are one we either witness as a child or one some of us may have been victimized by. In organizations as well we do face bullies but the behavior is not in the form of beating up somebody physically. The Karpman Triangle describes some habitual roles or positions that people tend to take up in a negative situation or while in conflict. This model suggests that each of us display unconsciously motivated behavioral patterns with the people whom we are in contact with.  There is an unconscious belief/s that drives our behaviors or actions which causes or contributes to evoke a feeling.  This feeling augments beliefs or perceptions about ourselves and others and how we fit in and how we are treated.   Most of these beliefs or perceptions are negative.   The model posts three habitual psychological roles. But research by some of the Coaching Institutes have added a fourth behavior. The three

31 July 2012 In Coaching, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Success : What does It Mean To You ?

What does success mean to you?  I was asked this question by one of my friends last week. Definitely got me thinking and after some thought I responded to her by saying it is something that appeals to my within, an act and achievement of that act.  She looked at me with the most surprised look and remarked, "oh!, so it is not about promotions, getting compliments, having a big house, or a successful business". Yes, success to many of us at some point in our lives may be associated with materialistic concepts because as we are growing up in life those are the things that are given importance to.  I've been there, yearned for the same things but life has taught me that success at the end of the day is how well I choose to face my disappointments and change my path to achieve the vision, one that still appeals to my within.  To achieve success one requires confidence, clarity and self-awareness. Success does not mean absence of failure. In fact, I would say not trying at all is possibly the worst failure. Our thoughts guide us through our journey in life and a lot of this depends on what you

19 July 2012 In Coaching, Leadership By Lalita Raman

Coaching for Success – Top 9 Reasons To Hire A Coach

A leader is one who inspires by their actions and receives a buy-in to their vision by what they are, how they act, and what they do.  A leader need not necessarily be one with a title. Leadership is not about the use of authority.   Most organizations have managers but not necessarily many of them are leaders in a true sense. Many managers rely on authority and control to get the job done. They are directive in their management style and instruct, no matter how enthusiastic or self-starter some members of their team may be. Described conversationally, it’s “I talk, you listen … I direct, and you adhere. “Described attitudinally, it’s I’m the boss and I alone have the authority to decide how things are done. However, no matter how junior or inexperienced your team may be most of us don’t like being bossed around.  Ask yourself if you'd like to be commanded and instructed - fact is most of us including you resent it and the team whom you are managing resent you for doing it.  Authoritative and directive style management stifle creativity, enthusiasm, learning, transition, commitment, morale and the tenacity to stay on is broken. There are some managers who

9 July 2012 In Coaching By Lalita Raman

Coach : Why You Must Hire One?

With the information overload that we have on a daily basis from Social Media, and the Internet, many times you find it difficult to get to where you want to go. Let's say you are a top performing executive in an organization and have consistently surpassed your targets. You have never shirked responsibility nor have you disappointed in your commitments. However, you feel you are reaching a saturation point and are not able to grow. You speak to your boss and he tells you to enroll in a leadership and motivational course. He also sends you some web links to read. You attend the course for 2 days, you read all the links he sent you and add some of them to your other regular reading sources. Yet, you feel that you are not able to make the progress you want to make. You have tried to tell this again to your boss, Human Resources and other seniors within the organization but to no avail. You don't want to leave the company but sometimes you feel that is probably the best option available. Sounds familiar? I could give you several similar examples where you probably feel stuck or you have been assigned a new

28 June 2012 In Coaching By Lalita Raman

What is Your Hat – Leader v/s Manager v/s Counselor v/s Trainer v/s Coach

In organizations and day-to-day life we come across people who call themselves managers, coach, trainer, teacher, mentor and some consider themselves as leaders. Often some of these terms are used synonymously. Though a person can play the role of a mentor, manager, leader, coach, within an organization, each of these roles are different and unique. Leader - one who inspires others by their actions and behavior. Leadership is a philosophy of life. Leadership is not about managing things but about developing people. It is about helping people to liberate the fullness of their talents while they pursue a vision that you have inspired them to buy into as a worthy and meaningful one. Great leaders can be great teachers and great coaches. Manager - managers direct and tell their team what to do. They plan for the achievement of day-to-day tasks and the goals of the department or group whom they manage. Managers, by nature, are concerned with outcomes. Mentor - Mentors help to shape or influence a person's beliefs and values in a positive way by resonating with releasing or unveiling a person's wisdom frequently through the mentor's own experience. Mentoring is based on wisdom and role experience and tends to be more