Professor M. S. Rao&#8217;s Vision 2030: One Million Global Leaders

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Wednesday, 3 July 2024

Solitude is the Key to Fortitude—The Father of “Soft Leadership” & International Leadership Guru

“We live in a very tense society. We are pulled apart... and we all need to learn how to pull ourselves together.... I think that at least part of the answer lies in solitude.” —Helen Hayes

Life is becoming more complex with the rapid changing technology. Stress levels among the people are rising at alarming rates with the rising aspirations and expectations of the people. Companies demand a lot from their employees to beat the stiff competition which is possible only by being innovative and creative in delivery of goods and services. In this process, employees undergo fatigue at the workplace resulting into higher stress levels. Employees also want to prove and survive themselves by going extra mile. It is in this context, solitude is the need of the hour to break stress, anxiety monotony and boredom.

What is Solitude?

“Inside myself is a place where I live all alone, and that's where I renew my springs that never dry up.” —Pearl Buck

People often confuse between solitude with loneliness. In fact, it is not so. Solitude is a state of being alone for a short-term where in there will not be any physical contact with others. It is like taking a break once in a week by totally avoiding the routine work. It is also like taking a short leave for vacation. As people go for fasting without taking food for giving rest to the internal system, people also go for solitude for giving rest to mind for sometime.

Loneliness versus Solitude

“We enter the world alone, we leave it alone.” —James Anthony Froude

Often loneliness and solitude are interchangeably used by people. However, there is a thin line separating these both. Loneliness is a negative state whereas solitude is a positive state. Solitude helps in engaging oneself internally with a healthy thought process as a companion. Loneliness reflects missing something in life. It represents isolation. Loneliness depletes mind and body while solitude restores. Loneliness is bitterness while solitude is sweetness. To put it succinctly, solitude is chosen while loneliness is imposed.

Merits of Solitude

“True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.” —William Penn

It is the best way to get to know about yourself.
It removes the clutter and purifies your mind thus enhancing your concentration.
It helps in beating stress levels.
It helps you dig deep within and brings out the best.
It helps in better self-awareness, self-control and self-discipline.
It helps in recouping the lost energies. Besides, it builds fresh energies, enhances creativity and innovation.
It helps in exploring yourself analytically thus improving your personality for all-round success.
It replenishes your energies and helps you move further and forward with confidence and optimism.

Solitude is Fortitude

“No man should go through life without once experiencing healthy, even bored solitude in the wilderness, finding himself depending solely on himself and thereby learning his true and hidden strength.” —Jack Kerouac

When you do routine things you get bored. Then, it is time to go for solitude for self-analysis and introspection. When you want to do things differently, it is time to go for solitude. People go to beaches and spend time in solitude in the sounds of sea waves as it provides solace and strengthens will-power.

History reveals that several great leaders preferred solitude whenever they were in distress. In the epic Mahabharat, at the fag end of Kurukshetra battle, Duryodana underwent inside the water to remain calm for sometime and also to take in fresh energies. It was a kind of solitude. Saints and sages go for solitude to search themselves internally. They go to a serene place and enjoy in a state of solitariness. Therefore, solitude is fortitude.

Conclusion

“Solitude shows us what should be; society shows us what we are.” —Robert Cecil

People should spend sometime in solitude everyday so as to stay healthy physically, mentally and spiritually. It should be treated as an investment and expense of time. Few companies provide sabbatical leave to their employees who work for some period. It helps them to unwind themselves and get back to work with recharged energies. To sum up, it is essential for individuals and institutions to go for solitude regularly keeping in view of the growing uncertainty and complexity due to rapid technology.

“The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude.” —Voltaire

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“Things You Don’t Know about Professor M. S. Rao” http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com/2015/10/things-you-dont-know-about-professor-m.html

Read my ‘Vision 2030 One Million Global Leaders’ URL: http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com/2014/12/professor-m-s-raos-vision-2030-one_31.html

Note: I had COVID. I had a brain hemorrhage. I was in bed for five months. My right hand is paralyzed. I am recovering. Thanks for understanding and empathy. https://youtu.be/BFJrSRLHPUk

Life is great!

Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D.

Founder of MSR Leadership Consultants, India

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/M.-S.-Rao/e/B00MB63BKM

Vision 2030: https://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/professormsrao

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See the Light in You: https://www.amazon.com/See-Light-You-Spiritual-Mindfulness/dp/1949003132

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Elevating our Soft Skills

Tuesday, 2 July 2024

Emphasize the 4Ps of Business Philosophy: Passion, Purpose, People, and Profit—The Father of “Soft Leadership” & International Leadership Guru

"Who are businesses really responsible to? Their customers? Shareholders? Employees? We would argue that it's none of the above. Fundamentally, businesses are responsible for their resource base. Without a healthy environment, there are no shareholders, no employees, no customers, and no business." —Yvon Chouinard, Founder of Patagonia

There is a myth that businesses are run basically about making profits. The truth is that businesses are run basically about adding value to customers and clients with an emphasis on ethics. When you look at entrepreneurs including Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk, started their businesses with fire in their bellies. They did not start businesses with the sole intention of making money. They wanted to impact and make a difference in society. For them, passion is more important than profit, purpose is more important than profit, and people are more important than profit. Steve Jobs was passionate about technology and founded Apple which changed the lives of people globally.

A Global Shift in the Business Philosophy

“The idea that business is about maximizing profits for shareholders is outdated and doesn’t work very well, as the recent global financial crisis has taught us. The 21st Century is one of ‘Managing for Stakeholders.’” —R. Edward Freeman, Father of The Stakeholder Approach

Previously the business philosophy was ‘customers first and employees second.’ Currently, the business philosophy is ‘employees first and customers second.’ In my award-winning book, 21 Success Sutras for CEOs, I implored business leaders to adopt the philosophy of ‘employees first, customers second, and shareholders third.’ When employees are respected, they are motivated leading to improved productivity and performance. They add value to the customers and clients leading to improved organizational bottom lines. Satisfied customers and clients bring more business to the organizations leading to improved shareholders’ value. This philosophy works well especially in the post-coronavirus world and in the future world. Therefore, organizations must consider adopting this business philosophy.

The ‘4 Ps’: Passion, Purpose, People, and Profit

"The future of business is not really just being able to make a living for people, and make more money, and go public, and all those kinds of things. But it's actually the possibility to make a difference in the world." —Eileen Fisher, Founder, and CEO of Eileen Fisher

Keep purpose as an end-product and profit as a byproduct to excel as an ethical and inspiring entrepreneur. When you keep purpose over profit, you succeed in the long term. When you keep profit over purpose, you succeed in the short-term but you are tempted to cut corners to survive in the business. With the changing times and technologies, it is ideal to shift the focus from profit to purpose and from profit to people. As individuals search for meaning, organizations must search for meaning by emphasizing passion over profit, purpose over profit, and people over profit. To summarize, keep passion over profit, keep purpose over profit, and people over profit to excel as successful entrepreneurs and make a positive impact in society.

Explore the Business Philosophy of ‘4 Ps’

"Passion is like the electricity in the car, but purpose is the direction that the car is driving. You need the passion. You need to be passionate about purpose, otherwise, the car won't get going. But you also need to know where you are going, and what you are trying to achieve." —Debbie Haski-Leventhal, Professor of Management and CSR

Money is finite while human resources are infinite. Elon Musk’s global wealth ranking fluctuates every day based on his decisions and comments on Bitcoin. When businesses are run by passion, purpose, people, and profit in the pecking order, they achieve short-term productivity and long-term performance. It is ideal to follow the 4Ps in the pecking order—passion, purpose, people, and profit to build a business world that is ethical, encouraging, and inspiring. To conclude, entrepreneurs must identify the biggest global challenges and explore solutions to resolve them with a business philosophy of 'passion first, purpose second, people third, and profit fourth' to build a better world.

"Don't start a business, start a crusade. Businesses fail. Businesses die. Businesses fade into oblivion. Revolutions never die. So start a revolution, not a business." —James Watt, Founder, and CEO of Brewdog

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“Things You Don’t Know about Professor M. S. Rao” http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com/2015/10/things-you-dont-know-about-professor-m.html

Read my ‘Vision 2030 One Million Global Leaders’ URL: http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com/2014/12/professor-m-s-raos-vision-2030-one_31.html

Note: I had COVID. I had a brain hemorrhage. I was in bed for five months. My right hand is paralyzed. I am recovering. Thanks for understanding and empathy. https://youtu.be/BFJrSRLHPUk

Life is great!

Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D.

Founder of MSR Leadership Consultants, India

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/M.-S.-Rao/e/B00MB63BKM

Vision 2030: https://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/professormsrao

Meta: https://www.facebook.com/Professor-MS-Rao-451516514937414

See the Light in You: https://www.amazon.com/See-Light-You-Spiritual-Mindfulness/dp/1949003132

Monday, 1 July 2024

Be Aware, the Leaders of Red Oceans! It is Time to Shape Up or Ship Out—The Father of “Soft Leadership” & International Leadership Guru

Do you have any apprehension that your business will become obsolete? Do you think that you are in the rat race? Do you intend to do something different and be innovative? Do you like to stand out from the pack? Then the answer lies in three simple words, “Blue Ocean Strategy”.

The slogan sounds strange, right? It is very simple. It dwells at length about entering new domains and areas where there is no room for competition. The only thing it demands is your creativity and innovation. You need to do a lot of research first to find out the uncharted territories to pursue this strategy. It is always the trailblazers who stand out from the pack as they enter uncharted paths, touch, try, and test thus leaving a mark behind.

As we have Type A and Type B personality and Theory X and Theory Y categories, we also have two strategies—the Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) and Red Ocean Strategy (ROS). As people are different in their styles and temperaments as per Type A and Type B and Theory X and Theory Y, the business leaders and entrepreneurs are also different like BOS and ROS.

What are BOS and ROS?

‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ is a book written by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne where it outlines the strategies to create new markets and products free from competition. It speaks about unconventional methods of building profitable businesses, products, and services. On the contrary, the 'Red Ocean Strategy' focuses on the conventional means of building business and beating competition. It is like getting into the rat race.

In ROS the companies endeavor to grab the share of others unlike in BOS where the companies innovate and create new spaces and places for promoting their businesses. In ROS, it is a 'dog eats dog' world with meager profits. It is more of high high-volume and low-margin business. In contrast, the BOS is more of a low-volume but high-margin business.

In BOS the companies enter into non-existing areas and establish themselves. They enjoy huge profits as there will be none to compete with them. The moment others enter their territory they smartly exit to other orbits and create space for themselves. These companies often bank on knowledge workers who remain the backbone of BOS.

ROS versus BOS

It is all about niche strategy. ROS focuses on the existing market and potential. It calls for innovative strategies to grab the existing market share of others. Sometimes it innovates within a narrow range in the same stream. However, BOS focuses altogether on different strategies of venturing into untrodden paths to explore, establish, and exploit the market's products and services. In ROS there will be unhealthy competition among the enterprises and ultimately consumers will benefit from it. However, in BOS there will not be any competition and customers have to pay the premium amount as there are no competitors and no yardstick to measure the profitability of producers. Over some time the BOS may become ROS as companies imitate others easily.

Due to the growing services sectors and knowledge workers, there will be premium services with premium prices that may deliver premium results for everyone.

Fathoming the blue oceans is more difficult than red oceans where you need to tread untouched, untested, and untried waters. You need to dig deeper to find out what is new. It requires a lot of patience and perseverance. Sometimes you may not get immediate results. But the efforts are worth it when you innovate and achieve new.

BOS Leaders

Instead of competing with contracting markets, these leaders search for space to stand out with innovative products and features. They continuously encourage research and line up their new projects in the pipeline. They spend heavily on research and consultancy. They are different and bank on knowledge workers.

Currently, there is a financial downturn. Business leaders are beset with several challenges such as erosion of margins, sales and ultimately drop in share prices. Blue Ocean leaders can attend and address all these issues through BOS.

The current complexity uncertainty and cutthroat competition call for blue ocean leaders to take forward humanity successfully for better living and prosperity.

Recession and Red Oceans

Recession is a boon in disguise where the leaders of red oceans can reinvent themselves and evolve as leaders of blue oceans. Several companies sprang up during the great depression such as Wal-Mart. Similarly current recession will pave the way for shedding excess flab and innovating new avenues and areas for growth and prosperity. It is the time for leaders of red oceans to think out of the box and create and occupy space as the leaders of blue oceans.

Be aware, the leaders of red oceans! It is time to shape up or ship out. It is time to evolve as leaders of blue oceans or to sink into the red oceans of competition.

Conclusion

The book ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ has redefined the concept of competition. It differentiated blue oceans from red oceans. It emphasizes value innovation for profitability and growth where it needs the support of knowledge workers coined by Peter Drucker.

Whether you are an entrepreneur leader or manager small businessperson or job seeker you must understand and appreciate Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS). It helps the employees convert into employers. It encourages you to dare and dream big like entrepreneurs.

Share if you care!

“Things You Don’t Know about Professor M. S. Rao” http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com/2015/10/things-you-dont-know-about-professor-m.html

Read my ‘Vision 2030 One Million Global Leaders’ URL: http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com/2014/12/professor-m-s-raos-vision-2030-one_31.html

Note: I had COVID. I had a brain hemorrhage. I was in bed for five months. My right hand is paralyzed. I am recovering. Thanks for understanding and empathy. https://youtu.be/BFJrSRLHPUk

Life is great!

Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D.

Founder of MSR Leadership Consultants, India

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/M.-S.-Rao/e/B00MB63BKM

Vision 2030: https://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/professormsrao

Meta: https://www.facebook.com/Professor-MS-Rao-451516514937414

See the Light in You: https://www.amazon.com/See-Light-You-Spiritual-Mindfulness/dp/1949003132

Thanks for reading!

Kindly share your thoughts and comments below, I’m sure someone out there will find your story useful.

Sunday, 30 June 2024

How to Boost Your Self-Esteem?—The Father of “Soft Leadership” & International Leadership Guru

“Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish.” —Sam Walton

Boosting self-esteem is very easy when you know what is all about self-esteem. Having self-esteem enhances the prospects of a successful personal, professional, and social life. It is an essential component of success in everything right from childhood, to adolescence and adulthood. Before we look at boosting self-esteem let us find out what is all about self-esteem.

What is Self-Esteem?

When you feel bad about yourself from time to time you have low self-esteem. In contrast, when you feel good about yourself constantly you have high self-esteem. Self-esteem means having pride in oneself and self-respect. It is a state of thinking where one feels good about oneself. Self-esteem is all about feeling good about oneself every time whether in success or failure.

Self-esteem should not be confused with self-confidence which is related to self-belief and a sense of being able to do something successfully. Self-esteem should not also be confused with self-efficacy which is related to certain abilities, capabilities, and competencies to move towards future performance. The concept is believed to have been coined by John Milton. Self-esteem is one of the important ingredients for success. We can value ourselves. It is the overall opinion we have about ourselves. When you think that you are competent then you have appropriate self-esteem i.e. high self-esteem and when you think that you are not competent then you have inappropriate self-esteem i.e. low self-esteem.

Self-esteem comes from a sense of our worth. It is based on true awareness of our strengths and weaknesses, combined with the acceptance that human beings are, by nature, a mixture of such qualities. We are living in a society that is continually being impacted by the symptoms and side effects of low self-esteem.

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist, developed a hierarchy of needs where after fulfilling one level of needs, human beings will be motivated to reach the next higher order of needs. For instance, human beings look basically for meeting physiological needs like food, clothing, shelter, sex, etc. While working, employees look for rest periods, work breaks, lunch breaks, etc., The second higher level of needs is the safety and security needs where human beings like to be free from fear of physical, psychological, and financial needs. At the workplace, employees look for job security, pension benefits, insurance, etc., to secure themselves. The third higher level of needs is the social needs where they crave love and affection and affiliation with their communities and groups. While working in organizations, they like to work in groups by forming teams which is the right example for social needs. After fulfilling these needs they crave esteem needs such as they expect respect and recognition from others. Hike in their pay and perks, promotions, and having a company car can promote their self-esteem needs. The highest hierarchy of needs is the self-actualization needs where they want to have the freedom to be creative and innovative and want to pursue their passionate areas of interest. When the employees are encouraged to take up higher roles and responsibilities they enjoy accepting the challenges as they derive immense pleasure out of it. From these hierarchy of needs, we find that self-esteem has a place for itself which is an indication of its importance in human motivation and needs.

Causes

“Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in the world." —Helen Keller

Nobody is born with low self-esteem. Parents, educational institutions, and society are responsible for creating low self-esteem among people. When our thoughts constantly rotate and revolve around deficiencies, shortcomings, weaknesses, and insecurities, we tend to develop low self-esteem. Besides, frequent failures and criticism by others may lead to self-doubt resulting in depression and anxiety. Inferiority among the people may give rise to low self-esteem. When people are not good looking they tend to think low of themselves resulting in low self-esteem. Parents are also responsible to some extent for low self-esteem among their children when they have unrealistic aspirations and expectations of their children.

Effects

Low self-esteem prevents you from enjoying life, doing the thing you want to do, and working towards your personal and professional goals. It results in improper interpersonal relations with others. One can observe anxiety, depression, insomnia, substance abuse, and other self-destructive behaviors. It also gives rise to self-doubt and self-criticism. When you have low self-esteem you give in yourself to negative self-talk, like "I am not smart".

Strategies to Boost Your Self-Esteem

Love yourself first. Only when you start loving yourself then you can expect others to love you.
Develop a healthy and positive mindset for boosting self-esteem.
Set smart, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timed (SMART) goals. Right goals take you in the right direction resulting in one success after another success culminating in higher self-esteem.
Pursue your passionate areas of interest. Carefully listen to your head and heart and synchronize the same to build self-esteem.
Take care of your physical, mental, and emotional health. Hit the gym regularly or go jogging swimming or walking to distress yourself. Read good books which provide you with enough mental diet. And balance yourself emotionally.
Concentrate on your strengths rather than weaknesses. Prepare a list of your weaknesses and work on to improve slowly and steadily.
Create a positive circle of friends who respect you and your areas of interest so that you can boost your self-esteem.
Always explore the ways and means to tap your inner talents and also develop skills as the combination of these two will help you to look at the world with a positive attitude.
Always start from where you are strong as it builds your self-confidence.
Attend workshops or seminars that are free or inexpensive as it widens your intellectual horizons.
List out and recall your past achievements. Also, list out positive affirmations and read the same daily when you get up from bed in the morning and go to bed in the night. Once it is done for a month, then you find amazing results.
Substitute your negative thoughts with positive ones. Keep busy with your commitments and goals. It helps in minimizing negative thoughts and maximizing positive thoughts. It will also help you stay focused.
Never compare yourself with others as you are unique and different. Always focus on your unique innate traits and characteristics and also the things you like.
Always compete with yourself and raise your bar gradually.
Take someone you like the most as a role model so that you can draw motivation and inspiration.
Always involve yourself in positive self-talk. Everyone has an inner dialogue. Always think internally that you are born to do great things and you are sure to achieve the same. Constant inner dialogue reinforces positive self-talk resulting in feeling good about yourself.
Learn from failures and move forward. Never underestimate or overestimate yourself.
Don't hold your anger inside. Once anger is held then it would explode like a volcano. Find out what angers you and let go of your angry emotions by expressing them as it relieve your inner burden. Express yourself to close friends what causes you anger.
Care less about others and especially for their unhealthy criticism. Les Brown rightly said, “Someone's opinion of you does not have to become your reality.”
Be kind and helpful to others. When you do so, people respect your positive gesture which in turn raises your self-esteem.
Develop the attitude of forgetting any negative events or experiences in life and forgiving others.
Children should focus on academic excellence and extra-curricular activities and achievements as these promote high self-esteem.
Strive for excellence, not perfection.
Cultivate the hobby of gifting.
Practice smiling as it improves your face value.
Build your inner strengths which helps in enhancing your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual strength.
Do what you love to do rather than loving what you do. There is a thin line separating these two. When you do what you love to do you enjoy every moment resulting in higher self-esteem.
Be assertive – excessive high self-esteem leads to aggressiveness and low self-esteem results in submissiveness. Therefore, it is essential to maintain the average of both behaviors which is possible by assertiveness.
Always be grateful to God for what has been given to you. Develop an attitude of gratitude.

Respect Yourself

Low self-esteem is not a problem by birth. It is injected in various ways and means. In some cases, it is due to parental influence. The faulty social and educational environment also aggravates this problem. The fact is that self-esteem can be learned, taught, developed, and spread. Let us teach kids to feel good about themselves in their childhood so that they grow and live with high self-esteem in the later part of their lives. To sum up, respect yourself, reward yourself, honor yourself, love yourself, and feel good about yourself for boosting your self-esteem.

Share if you care!

“Things You Don’t Know about Professor M. S. Rao” http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com/2015/10/things-you-dont-know-about-professor-m.html

Read my ‘Vision 2030 One Million Global Leaders’ URL: http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com/2014/12/professor-m-s-raos-vision-2030-one_31.html

Note: I had COVID. I had a brain hemorrhage. I was in bed for five months. My right hand is paralyzed. I am recovering. Thanks for understanding and empathy. https://youtu.be/BFJrSRLHPUk

Life is great!

Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D.

Founder of MSR Leadership Consultants, India

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/M.-S.-Rao/e/B00MB63BKM

Vision 2030: https://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/professormsrao