i-TFTD #307: What Mature Leaders Do

#307-1. Longing for the ideal while criticizing the real is evidence of immaturity; Settling for the real without striving for the ideal is complacency; Whereas maturity is actually living with the tension.
-Rick Warren

#307-2. To be a leader is to take responsibility for outcomes... good, bad or indifferent. This, more than any other characteristic or trait, is the mark of a leader.
-Thomas D. Willhite

#307-3. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
-John Quincy Adams

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"Don't be idealistic" dismissively advises my pragmatist colleague.

"Think beyond the current reality" exhorts my boss.

My brain churns out inspiring visions while a pile of immediate To Dos stare at me and the same brain finds reasons why something is impractical when an eager subordinate suggests a new idea.

The first quote above brilliantly explains the contradictions—no easy resolution.

The second and third quotes highlight important attributes of leadership: sense of ownership and positively influencing other people. These have very little to do with one's position, title, age or experience.

i-TFTD #42: Avoid the 99 Club

Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious lifestyle, was neither happy nor content. One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked.

This fascinated the King; why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much. The King asked the servant, "Why are you so happy?"

The man replied, "Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don't need too much -- just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies."

The king was not satisfied with that reply. Later in the day, he sought the advice of his most trusted advisor. After hearing the King's woes and the servant's story, the advisor said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has not been made part of The 99 Club."

"The 99 Club? And what exactly is that?" the King inquired. The advisor replied, "Your Majesty, to truly know what The 99 Club is, place 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant's doorstep." When the servant saw the bag, he took it into his house. When he opened the bag, he let out a great shout of joy... so many gold coins!

He began to count them. After several counts, he was at last convinced that there were 99 coins. He wondered, "What could've happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99 coins!" He looked everywhere he could, but that final coin was elusive. Finally, exhausted, he decided that he was going to have to work harder than ever to earn that gold coin and complete his collection.

From that day, the servant's life was changed. He was overworked, horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping him make that 100th gold coin. He stopped singing while he worked. Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled. When he sought his advisor's help, the advisor said, "Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined The 99 Club."

He continued, "The 99 Club is a name given to those people who have enough to be happy but are never contented, because they're always yearning and striving for that extra 1 telling to themselves: "Let me get that one final thing and then I will be happy for life." We can be happy, even with very little in our lives, but the minute we're given something bigger and better, we want even more! We lose our sleep, our happiness, we hurt the people around us; all these as a price for our growing needs and desires."

That's what joining "The 99 Club" is all about!

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The idea is not to stop aspiring or working to achieve something but the way we proceed towards it. I decide to go on a long drive to Lonavla, a hill station near Mumbai accessible through a comfortable expressway, but throughout the way if I complain about the traffic, worry about the rising prices and generally feel miserable, the original higher objective -- enjoying time out in scenic surroundings -- is lost.

i-TFTD #26: You are staring at your blindspots

I don't know who discovered water, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a fish.
-Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980), media critic & writer

Something to consider:

Just like a fish can't see the water it's swimming in, you can't see the world immediately in front of you. It takes someone with a different perspective to point it out. These people can see opportunities that you can't see. They can see pitfalls that you can' t see. They can see them, ironically, because they aren't staring at them every day.

Something to try:

1. Sit down with a sharp person from another industry (or department or role).
2. Describe the details of a project you're working on (include your challenges).
3. Ask them to point out opportunities you might be missing.
4. Switch it up and do the same thing for them.
5. Recognize that someone else can often see the opportunities/challenges in front of you a lot easier than you can.

(Excerpted from the You are staring at your blind spots post by Doug Sundheim found in the Fastcompany blog archive.)

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A similar thought is expressed by the quote: The expert misses the obvious. I have often found that an "innocent" question from someone who is a novice in an area could throw up interesting new perspectives to explore.

Talking of novices, I also believe that our expertise in a subject is measured by whether we can successfully explain the basics of that subject to an absolute layperson. A favourite example I like to imagine is my explaining, say, user interface design as a career to my (late) grandmother.