Vidya Nand Garg: My Guiding Principles in Professional Life

Vidya Nand Garg: My Guiding Principles in Professional Life:               It is easy to talk about a principled life but as one  chooses to work in the real world , full of contradictions and parad...

Vidya Nand Garg: Personal Philosophy, Covenantal Relationships and ...

Vidya Nand Garg: Personal Philosophy, Covenantal Relationships and ...: So many books have been written about leadership that it is natural to feel bewildered.Some books have long staying power, and have influe...

Vidya Nand Garg: From Self-organization to Self-mastery

Vidya Nand Garg: From Self-organization to Self-mastery: To organize self we have to be caring towards self .It means weeding and destroying what is not needed and will not be needed in futur...

Vidya Nand Garg: Freedom from Prejudice:The Cornerstone of Leadersh...

Vidya Nand Garg: Freedom from Prejudice:The Cornerstone of Leadersh...:           A leader must be value oriented and socially sensitive with tolerance and respect for diversity , and lead her/his organiz...

Vidya Nand Garg: Obstacles faced by true Leaders

Vidya Nand Garg: Obstacles faced by true Leaders: Why do we have very few true leaders , who can excite or inspire us? While there is a crying need for leaders in India and the world in...

Vidya Nand Garg: The Top Ten Leadership Skills

Vidya Nand Garg: The Top Ten Leadership Skills: Why leadership is critical for success in any organization , is a subject which deserves separate space .But if you accept this as a given ...

A life in Learning , Curiosity and Leadership

 "Love in the time of Cholera" by  Gabriel Garcia Marquez  tells us about  the enduring power of true love, that the need to love and be loved stays with human beings till they die .Now Warren Bennis, 85,  tells that  wonder and  curiosity stays with us  till we die ."I see the world with the same wide eyed  wonder because every thing is different than it was 25 years ago.Or 50.Or 75.I can't wait to find out what happens next .Every day I look around , and I'm still surprised." The most fortunate old people don't lose the curiosity , energy , playfulness and joy they had when they were young .

I first  knew about Warren Bennis  when Stephen Covey quoted  him in the "Seven Habits of Effective People".I quote:"In the words of both Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis,"Management is doing things right;leadership is doing the right things"(Page 101;The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People:Simon & Schuster, Great Britain , 1992 edition).If you dont know who Warren Bennis is and why he is famous , this book "Still Surprised:A Memoir of a Life in Leadership" by Warren Bennis with Patricia Ward Biederman,will tell you .It tells how a leader grows and struggles , continues to learn and maintains optimism .His memoir is uplifting .The book was published by Jossey- Bass, a Wiley Imprint in 2010 and has 236 pages and 9 chapters.                   
                     Warren BennisReading Still Surprised, you learn not only about leadership but also about yourself.You will admire and respect him .

  Warren Bennis  had a good stay in India:"In 1964 , I was asked to become co-director of Indian Institute of Management , Calcutta. . . . That year Erik Erikson was in India on sabbatical from Harvard, working on his "Gandhi's Truth", which later won a Pulitzer and a National Book Award.Erik spent a good deal of time at IIM Ahmadabad which is close to Gandhi's birth place  of Porbandar."

               If Peter Drucker was the father of management , Warren Bennis is the father of leadership."In my bones, I knew how important leadership was and is.The very quality of our lives depends on it .We need and seek honest , competent leaders in every area of our lives-government , the work place, social organizations , schools."Leaders are needed in all fields -social , cultural , business as well as political .

Bennis was born on March 5, 1925 and grew up in Westwood ,NJ.Douglas McGregor(of The Human Side of Enterprise fame) was his mentor till McGregor's early and sudden death in 1964 .Bennis  says about mentors:"The mentor puts his or her reputation on line with every good word dropped about the mentored to people in power, every recommendation made..In that sense , mentoring is an act of faith."Doug was 44 and Bennis was 23 when Doug became his mentor.He remained his mentor for about 14 years till his sudden death in 1964...Bennis has a great quality of mentoring others."Today I urge students to identify great teachers , with great minds and sign up their courses.But at Antioch , I tended to choose courses in which I was certain to get an A".This remind us how we chose our subjects of study at university level.Bennis gives us a glimpse of how other great minds worked ."As he(Doug) said in his fairwell speech, he had tried to be non-authoritarian adviser to his campus constituents but had discovered in the end that the leader must lead:"I finally began to realize that a leader cannot avoid the exercise of authority any more than he can avoid responsibility for what happens to his organization."

                     Bennis worked with NTL(National Training Laboratory) founder Kurt Levin and Abraham Maslow (Hierarchy of Human Needs).  Bennis worked as the president of The state University of New York at Buffalo , the University of Cincinnati , the University of Southern California.He also worked at IIM, Calcutta (India) , Boston and Harvard.

               At the age of 55, as a professor of business administration and chairman of Leadership Institute at the university of California in Los Angeles , he wrote a  number of landmark books.The themes were"the nature of leadership , the importance of creative collaboration , how organizations and other groups work, how to effect change, the need to reinvent oneself periodically and how to create cultures of candor ."His first book "The Planning of Change" was published in 1961 and is remembered for popularizing the term"change agent"."Leaders:Strategies for Taking charge" was coauthored by Burt Nanus and was published in 1985."On Becoming Leader" was published in 1989 ande became a best-seller ."Organizing Genius:The Secrets of Creative Collaboration" was coauthored by Pat Ward Briederman., "Geeks and Geezers"(2002) coauthored by Robert Thomas, "In Judgment(2007) , coauthored by Noel Tichy,"Transparency:How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor"(2008) coauthored by  Jim O' Toole, Dan Goleman , "The Essential Bennis:Essays on Leadership(2009)  coauthored by  Patricia Ward  Biederman."Still Surprised" is his 30th book.

                   Bennis attributes his success to hard work:"And all you did was work hard , get lucky and stay alive."

                   Bennis had a series of not so happy relationships and marriages , which indicates that he is an imperfect human being .

               The book explains how Bennis chose to be a writer."It was heady stuff that convinced me writing was something I would be doing more of."

Bennis stresses the importance of his habit of reflection ."Analysis (psycho-analysis) had changed me in a fundamental way .It had given me a great gift , the habit of reflection ."

                     He points out  the bias against women in management world:"MIT's Sloan School of Management didn't accept its first woman student until 1966.Columbia didn't accept women undergraduates until 1982."

              He feels that there is a strong relationship between proximity and power.;"Proximity leads to access, which leads to power.To have a seat at the table, you first have to be in the room ."(I have my strong doubts on this , from my experience.)

                      As President of the University of Cincinnati, "I decided to open my office for three hours every Wednesday afternoon to anyone on campus who wanted to see . . .I decided after a few years to end them.They were a fascinating but inefficient way to get things done."

                     "We know something about time that younger people don't.It is finite.That makes every good moment that much more precious.And we are no longer the driven strivers  we once were." "I resist the urge to advise others on how to manage their lives , including coping with age."'Because my workplace is a campus, I spend time almost every day with students young enough to be my grand children".
               Warren Bennis is a self made leader who redefined leadership and made it a house hold word and concept .His memoir  tells us  that life is full of insights , inspiration , hard work and pure wonder .I have enjoyed reading this book .It has reconfirmed many of my beliefs and impressions about life and leadership .I recommend you to read it .

A life in Learning , Curiosity and Leadership

Saturday, 1 September 2012

A life in learning , curiosity and leadership

 "Love in the time of Cholera" by  Gabriel Garcia Marquez  tells us about  the enduring power of true love, that the need to love and be loved stays with human beings till they die .Now Warren Bennis, 85,  tells that  wonder and  curiosity stays with us  till we die ."I see the world with the same wide eyed  wonder because every thing is different than it was 25 years ago.Or 50.Or 75.I can't wait to find out what happens next .Every day I look around , and I'm still surprised." The most fortunate old people don't lose the curiosity , energy , playfulness and joy they had when they were young .

I first  knew about Warren Bennis  when Stephen Covey quoted  him in the "Seven Habits of Effective People".I quote:"In the words of both Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis,"Management is doing things right;leadership is doing the right things"(Page 101;The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People:Simon & Schuster, Great Britain , 1992 edition).If you dont know who Warren Bennis is and why he is famous , this book "Still Surprised:A Memoir of a Life in Leadership" by Warren Bennis with Patricia Ward Biederman,will tell you .It tells how a leader grows and struggles , continues to learn and maintains optimism .His memoir is uplifting .The book was published by Jossey- Bass, a Wiley Imprint in 2010 and has 236 pages and 9 chapters.                   
                     Warren BennisReading Still Surprised, you learn not only about leadership but also about yourself.You will admire and respect him .

  Warren Bennis  had a good stay in India:"In 1964 , I was asked to become co-director of Indian Institute of Management , Calcutta. . . . That year Erik Erikson was in India on sabbatical from Harvard, working on his "Gandhi's Truth", which later won a Pulitzer and a National Book Award.Erik spent a good deal of time at IIM Ahmadabad which is close to Gandhi's birth place  of Porbandar."

               If Peter Drucker was the father of management , Warren Bennis is the father of leadership."In my bones, I knew how important leadership was and is.The very quality of our lives depends on it .We need and seek honest , competent leaders in every area of our lives-government , the work place, social organizations , schools."Leaders are needed in all fields -social , cultural , business as well as political .

Bennis was born on March 5, 1925 and grew up in Westwood ,NJ.Douglas McGregor(of The Human Side of Enterprise fame) was his mentor till McGregor's early and sudden death in 1964 .Bennis  says about mentors:"The mentor puts his or her reputation on line with every good word dropped about the mentored to people in power, every recommendation made..In that sense , mentoring is an act of faith."Doug was 44 and Bennis was 23 when Doug became his mentor.He remained his mentor for about 14 years till his sudden death in 1964...Bennis has a great quality of mentoring others."Today I urge students to identify great teachers , with great minds and sign up their courses.But at Antioch , I tended to choose courses in which I was certain to get an A".This remind us how we chose our subjects of study at university level.Bennis gives us a glimpse of how other great minds worked ."As he(Doug) said in his fairwell speech, he had tried to be non-authoritarian adviser to his campus constituents but had discovered in the end that the leader must lead:"I finally began to realize that a leader cannot avoid the exercise of authority any more than he can avoid responsibility for what happens to his organization."

                     Bennis worked with NTL(National Training Laboratory) founder Kurt Levin and Abraham Maslow (Hierarchy of Human Needs).  Bennis worked as the president of The state University of New York at Buffalo , the University of Cincinnati , the University of Southern California.He also worked at IIM, Calcutta (India) , Boston and Harvard.

               At the age of 55, as a professor of business administration and chairman of Leadership Institute at the university of California in Los Angeles , he wrote a  number of landmark books.The themes were"the nature of leadership , the importance of creative collaboration , how organizations and other groups work, how to effect change, the need to reinvent oneself periodically and how to create cultures of candor ."His first book "The Planning of Change" was published in 1961 and is remembered for popularizing the term"change agent"."Leaders:Strategies for Taking charge" was coauthored by Burt Nanus and was published in 1985."On Becoming Leader" was published in 1989 ande became a best-seller ."Organizing Genius:The Secrets of Creative Collaboration" was coauthored by Pat Ward Briederman., "Geeks and Geezers"(2002) coauthored by Robert Thomas, "In Judgment(2007) , coauthored by Noel Tichy,"Transparency:How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor"(2008) coauthored by  Jim O' Toole, Dan Goleman , "The Essential Bennis:Essays on Leadership(2009)  coauthored by  Patricia Ward  Biederman."Still Surprised" is his 30th book.

                   Bennis attributes his success to hard work:"And all you did was work hard , get lucky and stay alive."

                   Bennis had a series of not so happy relationships and marriages , which indicates that he is an imperfect human being .

               The book explains how Bennis chose to be a writer."It was heady stuff that convinced me writing was something I would be doing more of."

Bennis stresses the importance of his habit of reflection ."Analysis (psycho-analysis) had changed me in a fundamental way .It had given me a great gift , the habit of reflection ."

                     He points out  the bias against women in management world:"MIT's Sloan School of Management didn't accept its first woman student until 1966.Columbia didn't accept women undergraduates until 1982."

              He feels that there is a strong relationship between proximity and power.;"Proximity leads to access, which leads to power.To have a seat at the table, you first have to be in the room ."(I have my strong doubts on this , from my experience.)

                      As President of the University of Cincinnati, "I decided to open my office for three hours every Wednesday afternoon to anyone on campus who wanted to see . . .I decided after a few years to end them.They were a fascinating but inefficient way to get things done."

                     "We know something about time that younger people don't.It is finite.That makes every good moment that much more precious.And we are no longer the driven strivers  we once were." "I resist the urge to advise others on how to manage their lives , including coping with age."'Because my workplace is a campus, I spend time almost every day with students young enough to be my grand children".
               Warren Bennis is a self made leader who redefined leadership and made it a house hold word and concept .His memoir  tells us  that life is full of insights , inspiration , hard work and pure wonder .I have enjoyed reading this book .It has reconfirmed many of my beliefs and impressions about life and leadership .I recommend you to read it .

India's Energy Crisis:Some thoughts on Economic Growth,Energy, Environment , Ecological Intelligence and Leadership

     On August 23 , 2012 , I got an opportunity to chair the inaugural Session of SN Tripathi Memorial  Lectures  2012, on the subject of "Climate Change , Water & Energy Crisis"  organized  jointly by  Swayam Siddha ( A reputed NGO), in collaboration with Indian Railways Institute of Transport Management(IRITM) and Lucknow Management Association  at Lucknow , UP , India.While Sri Nitya Jacob, Environmental Journalist and Programme Director( Water ), Centre for Science and Environment , New Delhi gave the Key Note address on water pollution under the heading :Shades of Blue" , Professor Shyam R. Asolekar of Centre for Environment Science & Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology , Mumbai gave the second Key Note address on "Water Crisis:What is in it for a Common Person".Sri Prem Ji Bhai, Veteran Social  Activist, Vruksh Prem Sewa Ashram , Rajkot , Gujrat gave his address as Chief Guest on "Redefining Green:New Models:One Man Sows Billion Seeds of Hope".I chaired the session and also spoke on "Climate Change &Energy Crisis.In what follows , are my thoughts on energy crisis and climate change , which I shared  during the talk .

                While we must accept that there is scarcity , depletion of ground water and pollution of both surface and ground water , the perception  is that water problem has yet to take the shape of a crisis , while energy crisis has already knocked at our door .The fact that there was recently a  complete blackout in 15 states of India due to failure of grid , is enough to prove that there is a crisis of energy in India.When we heard the Minister of Power saying that Chief Secretaries of States  will be arrested if any state is found to be overdrawing power from the grid , it revealed a deep  crisis of governance  and a crisis of  leadership crisis.Our  electricity supply , our gas supply , our oil supply is highly  inadequate. As a nation ,we have low energy security .
                           On a somewhat different note, a large number of Genes commonly found in people with Autism reflect vulnerability to environmental stress and inflammation .For kids with Autism and with spectrum of Autistic disorders, it takes less environmental stress to reach a tipping point into illness.   Diseases of Civilization like Auto Immune disorder, multiple Sclerosis, Cancer , diabetes are on the rise due to toxic and industrial chemicals.                  

             Where does the solution to energy crisis and climate crisis lie?

With present strategy of economic growth , higher growth requires higher energy consumption .So there is a need to evolve growth strategies which require lower energy consumption .At present , global energy demand is growing @ 2.2% per annum .Every village in India wants to have electricity supply .We must bear in mind  the fact that nearly 300 million persons   in  India are trying to survive each day on what we spend for a cup of Cappuccino.We need electricity to improve the living conditions of these people .There is every reason to believe that we need more energy , as the aspirations of people grow.

                    Not only energy consumption is increasing , it is  mainly fossil fuel based , increasing  carbon foot print , pollution and contributing to global warming . This is a catch 22 situation Energy efficiency in domestic consumption can be achieved by use of LED, CFL, rated fans , AC's , refrigerators, geysers and washing machines .People need to be made aware and ecologically Intelligent .Ecological Intelligence is just like  any of the multiple Intelligences  put forward by  Howard Gardner , says Daniel Goleman.We need to  correct the information assymetry of market .This needs more information and eco -transparency  to the consumers.This will make markets efficient  and will also help the  sale of ecologically intelligent products. By using our ecological intelligence,we need to incentivize business to make positive changes by voting with our dollars .We  should consume and purchase only those products which are produced by eco friendly industry , even if these are a little costlier .

                     Energy star ratings on appliances can be deceptive.An energy star rating on a Lap Top may show it highly energy efficient .But if we go deep , the overall impact of a laptop can be different."90% of the environmental impact comes during manufacture and disposal and not use."A Lap Top made in China  from a factory which used electricity from coal, can have a high negative energy impact, even if its use is rated highly energy efficient.

Not only that our energy supply is inadequate .Our fossil fuel  supply is also low and depleting .India has the world's fourth largest coal reserves but the demand supply gap has been consistently increasing, with domestic production unable to keep pace with demand .We have been unable to exploit our coal reserves due to governance problems.

         India holds just 0.7% of the world's proven oil reserves but accounts for 3.9% of the global oil consumption thus importing nearly 75-80% of its oil consumed .

              Similarly India has 0.8% of the world's proven gas reserves but accounts for 1.9% of the world wide gas consumption, thus importing nearly 20% of its natural gas consumed through LNG.

This needs steps towards energy efficiency as well as production and consumption of clean energy.   

                   Energy efficiency  implies consuming less energy for the same  level of output or services.This is  achieved by technology,materials and intelligent designs.In day to day business , executives put profit as the primary driver of strategy.("The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits").this is now replaced by the Triple Bottom Line concept.These three are Planet(Environment) , People(Social Responsibilty) and Profits.Though not everything green is profitable business, we need to find sustainable business solutions which are green as well as profitable.This requires innovation, entrepreneurial genius and smart strategic planning to create wealth.This is eco tranparency and ecologically intelligent  solutions.This also brings in the need for firm enforcement of government regulation related to environment .                 

                  Energy efficiency in commercial buildings , office buildings  can be achieved by LEED certification system.LEED means Leadership in Energy and Environment Design.LEED certificate has become gold standard for green(energy efficient) buildings.LEED standards use new design and materials which can lower costs as well as  energy consumption , thereby upgrading impact on environment .We can also retrofit older buildings with LEED standards.

Adobe Systems retrofitted its headquarters to LEED standards and saved 1.4 million dollars in costs within ten months.Such initial savings lead to a search for more ways to find such gains , creating a virtuous cycle.

                           To maximize their profits , builders/developers set their budgets for building's costs as low as possible.The system provides incentives for bidders in turn to find ways to cut their costs to fatten their profits.The sub contractor for the heating and cooling system has every reason to install the cheapest he can  find that will do the job and just meet building codes, rather than a higher priced one that will save energy and money over long haul for the real customers of the building .LEED creates transparency by revealing the hidden costs.Market forces will drive the LEED movement but people's understanding has to develop that there were better ways to build buildings now.No regulation can be as powerful as the understanding  of the market forces.

                  Energy efficiency in agriculture and irrigation  by using rated pumps , especially solar water pumps.Energy efficiency in industry also can be achieved by using green technology.

                            Clean power can be obtained  in the form of:

a)Nuclear power.

b)Bio-mass based power.

c)Wind power.

d)Solar power.

e)Tidal power.

            

                                    There is  a need to encourage production and distribution  green and clean energy.This requires three fold action:

1)Proper pricing policy  and metering .

20.Quick approvals .

3).Insulation from policy uncertainty due to political changes.

We have become used to management by crisis.

We need 60 different approvals from eight different ministries for undertaking oil and gas exploration .There is no assurance of reasonable returns .Administered price mechanism does not ensure adequate returns to investors.In fact , in oil and gas sector , prices should be largely left to the market forces and and every effort must be made to ensure that there is no cartelization and monopoly pricing .
                  Wind power , solar power and tidal power are not yet scalable while the nuclear power  technology will evolve over time . In France, where electricity comes predominantly from nuclear power, it is cheaper than in England where it comes predominantly from oil and gas.
                      I am inclined to suggest that the solution to energy crisis in India , like in France , lies in producing and distributing Nuclear power. This  is likely to  help us control  and mitigate the intensity  of the climate crisis.We also need to make our people ecologically intelligent and our markets ecologically transparent.Rather than threatening our chief secretaries with arrests , we need leadership which works seriously towards  meeting the challenge of  our energy crisis .

Vidya Nand Garg: Nature , origin and exercise of power

Vidya Nand Garg: Nature , origin and exercise of power: When I read this extraordinary and incisive book "The Politics Of Obedience:The Discourse Of Voluntary Servitude" by Etienne De La Boetie ...

Vidya Nand Garg: Internal Communication and organizational leaders...

Vidya Nand Garg: Internal Communication and organizational leaders...: The proverbial "The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing" is true of most of the large organizations .This adage is cer...

Vidya Nand Garg: Internal Communication and organizational leaders...

Vidya Nand Garg: Internal Communication and organizational leaders...: The proverbial "The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing" is true of most of the large organizations .This adage is cer...

Vidya Nand Garg: The Seven Sins of Indian Bureaucracy

Vidya Nand Garg: The Seven Sins of Indian Bureaucracy: . Functioning of civil service   in  most of the states of India and at centre is becoming increasingly complex , large  , detailed a...

Vidya Nand Garg: 22 Rules Regarding Equalization of Opportunities

Vidya Nand Garg: 22 Rules Regarding Equalization of Opportunities: Recently , I had the opportunity to attend two events organized to support the persons with disabilities.The first was on the occasion of...