Leadership | Transitions Intl - Part 4
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Transitions Intl / Leadership
17 November 2013 In Change, Character, Coaching, Comfort Zone, Communication, Conflict Leadership, Customer Service and Sales, Employee Engagement, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Organizational Leadership, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

The Power Of Reframing

Have you been in meetings where you interpret something that has been said by your boss very differently from what one of your colleagues may have interpreted? Have you had moments or days when you feel everything is going wrong, until you see someone else having a worse time which pales yours in comparison? Have you observed situations where two people could have faced the same situation, yet one considers it as a challenge to be overcome whereas the other person dwells on it, complains about it and their body language and facial expression conveys that they are having one a nerve wrecking experience? How many times have you for any small mistakes made, stated that "I have messed up" instead of "I made a mistake"? When I coach leaders, executives and professionals, I hear negative statements about who they are or what they are not good at or what they cannot do. The cues is not only verbal but also in their body language and facial expressions. When I listen to what is being said, the way it is being said and sense the cues, I ask of my clients to reframe the thought, the feeling, the fear in a positive way. Reframing is the art

17 November 2013 In Character, Comfort Zone, Customer Service and Sales, Habits, Integrity, Lead From Within, Leadership, Organizational Leadership By Lalita Raman

The Missing Link In ‘The Customer Is the Boss’

Have you ever thought like a customer when you are talking to a potential client? Do you really care to understand what the customer wants ? I was in Mumbai last week visiting my family for 4 days. My dad and mom are not keeping too well and I thought I must take some time out to be with them. While I was there, I decided to complete some formalities that was pending with a bank account that I had opened. The relationship manager stated that he wanted copies of my passport, other identification documents and photographs. I was taken aback because I had submitted all of this in as many copies as was required by this bank, four months back. The relationship manager started giving me several reasons why he wanted those again, none of which sounded convincing to me. One of the reasons he gave me was that this was a compliance requirement. This is one of the top favorite reasons given by many a customer contact of most banks. The relationship manager did not take time to understand my requirements, figure out how much time I had and how to reduce the inefficiency for me. Many customer contacts ever so often

17 November 2013 In Change, Character, Coaching, Comfort Zone, Emotions, Habits, Lead From Within, Leadership, Personal & Professional Development, Yoga By Lalita Raman

Living In The Moment

Last week at the gym, two women were exchanging a rather loud conversation in the ladies changing room.  I could not help pay attention to one of the remarks made by one woman to her friend. One of the ladies asks her friend, so how was your week-end to which her friend replies ” I spent a lot of my weekend living in the moment”. I turned around and had a smile on my face when I heard that remark. I smiled because it is not often that I hear that response. The lady who had asked her friend the question, of course was confused and started asking a lot of questions at which point in time I was well on my way out of the ladies changing room and was rushing for my class. The moment that is now and every moment that is yet to arrive will be history by the time you finish reading this statement. Be in this moment, live and enjoy this moment. These are statements that you read in blogs, quotes , hear from your friends and read in various self-help books and possibly remind yourself at various points in your day. Have you wondered ever so

16 November 2013 In Character, Coaching, Communication, Integrity, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Organizational Leadership, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

How To Lose In Leadership

I was at my friend’s place last week for dinner. She has 2 kids, a son and daughter. We were chatting and in the midst of a discussion, her daughter Nikita, comes up to her Dad and reminds him that it is her time to play chess with him. Despite being told that he will play with her later, she insists. He consents and tells her that she will play the game without playing any pranks. Nikita is a junior chess champion at a State level for girls under 10 years. Her dad, although not a champion has always been an expert in chess. We were watching them play and Nikita suddenly turned to her mom and asked her a question on what she should do. I also noticed that she didn’t just ask for a solution but explained what her strategy was and consulted her mother on which option she should choose as the next step. John was having some morale issues among his team. He had 5 direct reports though he was responsible for a team of fifty. He decided he will conduct a survey to determine the engagement and satisfaction among his team. At the end of one

21 September 2013 In Character, Customer Service and Sales, Integrity, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Organizational Leadership By Lalita Raman

Five Leadership Lessons From Cirque Du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil shows have been my favorite ever since I saw their first show in Asia, about 15 years back.  Their shows always have something magical and theatrical about them and invokes your senses. Quick Facts on Cirque Du Soleil  A clip of Zarkana I recently watched their Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour Show and on my way home, as I was thinking about their various shows that I have watched and enjoyed, I realized that each of us have a lot to learn from the artists, as individuals and collectively. Key Lessons  For Full Post Refer LINK Image Source

11 September 2013 In Change, Character, Coaching, Emotions, Employee Engagement, Habits, Integrity, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

“Resilience” And You

“Everything will be all right in the end. If it’s not all right, then it’s not the end.” Unknown For me this quote is a gentle reminder of building resiliency. Resiliency and character is built through tough time and adversities. Resilience draws from strength of character, from a core set of values that motivates you to make efforts to achieve your vision. It helps you to overcome setbacks and bounce back on the path of success. You need to be self-aware, have self-control and acknowledge there is a set back and be willing to persist. In an organizational capacity, resilience is the ability to pick yourself up despite the hurdles because you are responsible for others and see yourself as a support to others. In several organizations and in the political arena of many countries, you hear statements like the growth will be maintained amidst numbers consistently proving otherwise. You continue to hear positive futuristic statements and that it is “business as usual”. However, reality is that no effort is being made to review, examine, critique and change the path to achieve the goals or work towards promoting the economy of the country or the growth of the Company. The internal structures and policies

7 September 2013 In Communication, Conflict Leadership, Emotions, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life By Lalita Raman

Leadership Lessons From The Movie “42″

Life offers the strangest twists and turns for some of us. Some of these challenges agonizes you, tortures you and you are left wondering what did you do wrong? Why “me”? I’ve always considered life’s challenges as a way to learn and when I get into a negative mode, I realize that negativity pulls me down further and I need to bounce back from that thinking. In my journey to date, I have been inspired by my parents, some of my friends, my family, people whom I’ve read about or met, books that I’ve read and some of the movies that I’ve watched. I saw the movie “42” recently. 42 tells the story of Jackie Robinson and, under the guidance of team executive Branch Rickey, Robinson’s signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers to become the first African-American player to break the baseball color barrier. The story focuses mostly on the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers season and somewhat on Robinson’s 1946 season with the Montreal Royals. Drag your thoughts away from your troubles…by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it. – Mark Twain Jackie Robinson, despite support from Branch Rickey and later from some of his team members, was not without troubles and hardships. His color

6 September 2013 In Character, Communication, Habits, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Organizational Leadership, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Are You Walking Your Talk?

“I’ll get that done by tomorrow morning.” “Just leave it to me, I’ll help you get that website of yours up and running by the end of this weekend.” “Hey, you’ve often said that you and I should collaborate together on a topic of common interest where we can work together. You have been interested in leadership workshops and speaking sessions. How about we collaborate on that and see how it goes? Are you interested? You always say that you are interested and then despite several follow ups’ from me, you don’t revert on how we can work together. You make statements on how we should think about working together and yet there is zero follow through!” How many times have you been in one of the above situations where your friends or business partners or acquaintances commit in words to do something yet there is no follow through action? Our desires dictates our priorities which in turn shape our choices. Our choices in turn determine our actions. Thoughts translate into feeling, feeling to words and/or action, actions become habit, and habits crystallize into character. The formation of a good character, therefore, is largely dependent upon the right unfolding of thoughts and feelings. A

6 September 2013 In Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

What Michael Jackson Teaches Us About Leadership and Life?

Last Sunday, I watched the Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour show by Cirque Du Soleil. I’ve always been a big fan of Cirque Du Soleil. There is a lot to be learnt about life and leadership from their shows, which I shall cover in a later post. Watching the show, I couldn’t help think about the impact that Michael Jackson made through his music and his songs. His songs had and have a lot to offer on love, life, leadership, humanity, team spirit, togetherness, leaning in, and every little things that matters in life.  Despite several criticisms, if you look at the legend that this man was, you will realize that Michael Jackson expressed his charisma, hope, humanity, compassion, sincerity and love through his music. Some of my favorite Michael Jackson quotes are: “Hope is such a beautiful word, but it often seems very fragile. Life is still being needlessly hurt and destroyed.” ― Michael Jackson In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe.”

3 September 2013 In Character, Emotions, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Does Your Behavior Reflect Who You Are or Desire To Be?

→ How often are you inspired by a person whom you meet or read or hear about? → What is it about them that makes you listen or to follow what they are doing or learn a lesson or two from them? A friend of mine, Carole called me last week saying she wanted to meet me. Carole is one of the most cheerful person I know and on that call she sounded hassled, frustrated and dejected. I know she had suffered a huge financial loss recently having trusted someone she thought was a friend. The trust that she had placed on this person was misused, mishandled and every aspect of her belief and friendship was broken. I had learnt from her that she was making efforts to get her money back and the process had been none too easy. When I met her that day, she shared with me her experience with a person whom she had met with regard to getting her money back. This person whom she met is wealthy, well-connected and this is a known fact among most people in the city we live. Now you would think, this person would have some class and it is not necessary for him to