“Don’t become an entrepreneur, unless you know how to smile.”

Sounds strange and yet do I see you smile? May be you are sarcastic, but this article will wipe out the skepticism armed with nothing but ‘smile’ as the message.

Human endeavor doesn’t rest scratching the surface, but extends beyond the possible and to that effect, we all aspire to accomplish as much – just that some venture far off and way beyond and make a difference. Now read that as Entrepreneur – those who dare to tread on the path least walked. Entrepreneur and smile – what’s the connect?

it takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 to smile. We should just smile because it’s simpler.
Smile is simple yet powerful. There is a lot smile teaches an entrepreneur – that Solutions too should be simple to a problem yet powerful. That’s one lesson.

A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.  ~Phyllis Diller
Smile has a lot of power - to attract, the power to deal with the challenges; just a smile and the whole perspective of the situation is made definitely positive. Entrepreneurship is a challenging journey, and only when you are challenged the best of you comes out. Knowing there are challenges, one of the best armor for an entrepreneur is a smile.

The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.  ~William Shakespeare, Othello
You can win hearts by a smile, and the way it connects people is a compelling contact. As a serial entrepreneur, been associated with entrepreneurship,  someone asked me “what’s is CEO to you? Is it power, passion, position?” I pondered for a moment and collected my thoughts “for a CEO, it’s all about responsibility – the responsibility to put a smile on the faces of my stakeholders – Customers, Employees, and Owners (CEO). Put a smile on your employees face, they will make the customers happy, and that in turn makes the owners happy. After stating this, I smiled!

Whenever there is a problem, there is an opportunity. To look into the face of a problem and smile calls for courage which also connotes confidence. It’s all about recognizing the problem, ability to convert that as an opportunity and encashing it – is the core objective of an entrepreneur. Smile states implicitly ‘here is the opportunity’.

It takes a lot of work from the face to let out a smile, but just think what good smiling can bring to the most important muscle of the body… the heart.  ~Author Unknown
Smile. It helps. Perception matters. Impression matters. You will realize that you don’t have all the time to make an impression. More often, it’s the 30 seconds space clients are willing to provide as audience – that’s often referred as the  ‘elevator pitch’. And nothing connects like a smile. It’s like a handshake; and goes beyond as heart shake,…two smiles is a heart shake and when the hearts are connected it creates a wonderful opportunity for the brainwave to connect. So when thought is backed by a plan and followed by action is when you can expect results – this is a sustainable model for working together.

This powerful tool called smile in the physical form changes the aura of the workplace – can convert hostility to hospitality and hospitality is divinity. Whoever said that ‘A smile is something you can’t give away; it always comes back to you’ coined it beautifully.

“Smile is the simplest step to start which can pave way towards success” - Naveen Lakkur

Every day in life is a race…all of us has been running and many a times it’s a non-stop running.  Everyone desire to win in their race, it’s also possible to win and succeed. Winners are those who are well grounded. The advantages of being grounded are profound for success.
Many in this World are interested on joining the entrepreneurial race. History shows that during the slowdown time entrepreneurship increases.  If you are in that space, I recommend that you verify that you are grounded well. It provides path to success.
Are you well Grounded? – is a personal assessment technique to get well grounded. Thus providing you a platform to have access to great results. Follow the link and Get Set to Go in your Entrepreneurial Race.

Everyone in this World requires help. Take any aspect of life; it operates on the principles of Help - Give and Get.

Did you know that, when you REALLY need help, you will SURELY get it! That’s the law of nature. But the usual thought process that accompanies each one of us is that – in our moments of need we always turn towards people whom we had lent a helping hand in the recent past. This fallacy clouds our judgment. They may not at all be the right people who can help us for that particular task, but we aren’t able to look beyond them. They may not be at all equipped to help us in the manner that we want and therefore no help comes from their quarters. In such a scenario we even risk losing the personal relationship built over a period of time as it’s a set of wrong expectations.

You need to have faith and work with open mind to sense the help which might be your way from a source you least expected…

If you are wondering how true this could be…Let me HELP you with the HELP of this famous poem ‘I Had a Dream’

One night I had a dream
I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets
of footprints in the sand,
one belonging to me
and the other to my Lord.
When the last scene of my life shot before me
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
There was only on set of footprints.
I realized that this was at the lowest
and saddest times in my life.
This always bothered me
and I questioned the Lord
about my dilemma.
“Lord, you told me when I decided to follow You,
You would walk and talk with me all the way.
But I’m aware that during the most troublesome
times of my life there is only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why, when I needed You most,
you leave me.”
He whispered, “My precious, precious child,
I love you and will never leave you
never, ever during your times of trial and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints
It was then that I carried you.”

- Margaret Fishback Powers

Like the above powerful analogy, we will receive help even without knowing, we are doing so. All we have to do is to keep our heart open.

Keep GIVING when others need it. You will GET it when you really need it – Naveen Lakkur

This quote is a famous one and suite well for a leader or want-to-be a leader. So, the question is how a leader commands respect.

One needs to cover all the four directions to command respect.

# Walk the Talk – Signifies East (indicates ‘Forward Movement’) The Thoughts, Speech and Action are all aligned.
# Lead with Passion – Signifies North (indicates ‘Growth’) Passion takes you Places. The leader’s temperament is very contagious on the team.
# Love the Team – Signifies West (indicates ‘Past Investments’) The best investment a leader can make is LOVE. The more the investment, the better is the follow through.
# Be Selfless – Signifies South (indicates ‘Giving’) Think of a mother, the best leader because she is all about giving.

The way ahead is the way to success…To Lead the Way, you need to first cover the ground in all the directions.

We invest our money in shares, fixed deposits, mutual funds, etc., so that we can grow our wealth. This is part of our financial planning program, where we realize that in order to get good financial returns we HAVE to necessarily invest our money. I would like to extend this concept to one of the most important components of our life – our careers. It’s important to realize that in order to have a great career, we need to invest in it! Have you invested anything for your career?

I consider some of the following items as investments for career growth:

# Continuous acquisition of knowledge
# Skill development to apply knowledge
# Building a network of contacts and connections
# Hard Work and Perseverance
# Sacrifice (At times in order to get something, we may have to sacrifice something else).
# Helping others to make them better and achieve something in their life
# Participating in social welfare programs-The learning here is not only an investment but also realization about life itself!

We can add many more items to this list. The point is to realize that only when we invest we get some returns, be it finance or career.

Investments in career should be like a recurring deposit, we need to periodically and continuously invest to get good returns later.

Your investment in career is an insurance policy for your financial investments…

When you are in love the following is something that happens naturally:

$ You prepare very well for it.
$ You present yourself very elegantly with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm.
$ Your discipline and punctuality is impeccable.
$ You connect and communicate very effectively.
$ You are at your best and nothing less than the best

Is this not true?

When you analyze the best performances in your life (work or business or sports or any activity), all the above points would be true and you will discover that you have always excelled when you did what you have loved, thus producing great results along with loads of satisfaction.

This is because when we love what we do, we connect with our heart directly. This is what that great leaders and entrepreneurs are made off. They are intensely in LOVE with what they are doing. Their LOVE is undying and unconditional and their passion helps them surmount any obstacles and challenges they face.

All eminent leaders have followed this attitude towards their work and this is what makes them great. They also love and motivate the people they work with.

Tim Sanders has written a bestselling book on this very topic “Love is the Killer App.” The book’s premise is that we will find success in business by helping others grow, by sharing our knowledge and by loving the work we do and the people we work with.

True leaders realize that Love is the basis of everything in life. The sooner you adapt to this, the easier it is to be more successful.

“Fall in Love with whatever you do, others will think its luck” - Naveen Lakkur

This is the Valentines Day effect…

Relationship Management is close to my heart because my personal and professional life has been built on the wonderful relations that I have shared with others.

Relationships are like wine. They get better with each passing day and its the best when it’s old and strong.

My friend Rajesh Setty says, “Relationships are of 2 types, it’s either Long Term or Very Long Term”

Let me take the help of a beautiful story to share my thoughts on ‘Relationship Management’.

Once upon a time, there was a little boy, named Joe, who had sown the seed of an apple tree in his garden. He spent a lot of time watering and nourishing it, till it grew into a huge apple tree. Growing up alongwith, Joe loved climbing  the tree top, eating its apples, and taking a nap under its shade.

One day, Joe came up to the tree and said that he needed money. The tree told its master to pick up its apples and then sell them away to get the money. Joe picked all the apples regularly from the tree and left happily. Joe came again some time later and said that he needed a house for shelter. The tree asked him to cut some of its branches to build the house. The tree was glad to see him happy. After a long time one hot summer day, Joe returned and the tree was so delighted. Joe said, he wanted to go sailing and he could not afford a boat. The tree immediately told him to use a part of its trunk to build a boat.  So Joe cut some part of the tree’s trunk to make a boat and then went away sailing. Many years passed and Joe had grown old with no one to talk to and live with. He came up to the tree and thanked it by saying that it has been his best friend always. Everytime he needed something the tree had always helped him. The tree said it was just expressing its gratitude because Joe was the reason for its existence. It told him to come and rest under its shade. Joe laid down under the tree, embracing its trunk. Both Joe and the tree were glad and had tears of joy in their eyes.

It’s been our practice to learn from stories. With the help of this story, let me sumarize the essence of ‘Relationship Management’:

$ Building and managing a relationship should be based on human value systems.

$ Building strong relationships starts by giving. It could be about giving love, care, time, money, happiness…Universal laws are always true. One of them is ‘What you give, comes back to you in multiples’.

$ Relationships are not built overnight. We have to sow the seed of relationship and nourish it to gain pleasure.

$ Relationships are always mutual (two-way) and should be balanced. Never take advantage of people and relationships, it’s not for granted.

$ Good Understanding and Trust are the founding elements for a strong relationship.

$ The value of any relationship is known only when its lost. Our best effort shoud be to maintain, nourish and strenghten the existing relationships while building new ones.

$ Express your gratitude to people who care for you, before it’s late.

“Relationships are built to last and not to be lost” - Naveen Lakkur

What keeps the leaders going?
It’s the motivation. Motivation is another distinguishing quality of an emotionally intelligent person. Motivation is like a coin with two sides; the two sides co-exist and act as fuel which drives life.

Side 1 - Self-Motivation: Motivating oneself all the time, especially during times when the going is not good. In sports this is called “pumping up” oneself.

Side 2 - Motivating Others: Every action of ours has the potential of inspiring others and making them following us. We know how even a smile can lighten up one’s day.

It’s hard to motivate others if self is not motivated. The book “Tough Times Never Last, but Tough People Do!” by Robert H Schuller helped me pump up when the going was tough.

Let us list down the traits required to fit into these two sides of motivatoin.

SELF-MOTIVATION:
* Always having a feeling that ‘I am good, I am special’ and action following the feeling.
* Self-motivated people have a goal in life. They know which path to take to achieve the goal and also know by when they can reach their goal.
* A high level of enthusiasm in a person shows that they are self-motivated.

MOTIVATING OTHERS:
* Appreciating people’s actions, however small it may be? Even a small pat can make a big difference to a person.
* Helping people to achieve their goals in a way that it will help them reach faster and in a more effective way.
* Sharing the joy of others during their good times and being the source of support to others during their bad times.

There is no “one recipe” for motivation and it is up to us to find out what motivates us and others. The above list is a partial list. If this post has added some fuel to your life, I invite you to join the club by adding your points on “What motivates self and others” in the form of your comments.

Is your emotional quotient dominating over your logical quotient?

Let me help you answer this question by asking a couple more questions.
1. Do stories inspire you?
2. Do you get associated with the story or characters in the story?

If you are not sure, let me help you again. Here is a story…

There was once a boy who was very famous for his short temper and sudden emotional outbursts. At the slightest provocation he would pick up a quarrel with others and people would run away from him. His concerned father wanted to help his son control his emotions and mainly his anger. He told his son to nail the wooden wall in their home backyard whenever he was angry or fought with someone. The son started religiously practicing this advice and after a few months the whole wall was full of nails! But slowly the boy started feeling much better emotionally, as he rarely got angry now and he happily conveyed the same to his father. Appreciating the improvement, father said, you should remove those nails stuck to the wall every time you feel good because you made someone happy. Some time passed and the boy had removed all the nails from the wall. The son called his father to the backyard and said, father I have learnt to control my emotions and now I have made so many people happy that all the nails on the wall are removed. His father on seeing the wall said, you would have removed all the nails but the wall is full of holes.

The same way we make holes in other’s hearts by hurting them and by not controlling our emotions. Heart is fragile, a hole permanently damage the heart and can never be filled. No wonder they said, “ANGER is just short of DANGER”.

The chances are high that your emotional quotient is higher than your logical quotient, if you get associated with the stories or with any of the characters or if you get inspired by stories.

Controlling emotions is all about, the ability to maintain balance and react in the most appropriate way to every circumstance.

Finally, let me share a quote which has been lingering in my mind for many years.

“A left arrow, the passed time and the spoken words never come back.”

It’s common to have problems with your work or at work place or in your life or even at large, in the society. And let me tell you that, “When there is a problem, there is an opportunity”.

When you share your problems, you usually get sympathy. This may make you feel a bit better at that moment. Sympathy according to me is like dangerous drugs which make you feel off your load momentarily, but then it slowly kill your growth. If you are passionate about solving the problem, look for empathy and not for sympathy.

“Passion needs SUPPORT not sympathy” - Naveen Lakkur

Let me illustrate the difference between sympathy and empathy with examples:

• A baby may stumble and fall while learning to walk. By feeling sad for the baby’s fall and carrying the baby is sympathizing. Instead of carrying the child if we understand what the baby wants to achieve and then extend our hand for support and help the baby walk, is empathizing.

• If a sculptor sympathizes with a stone it would always remain a dead object; if the sculptor empathizes, then there is life added to this stone with the stroke of a chisel transforming it into an idol to be admired and worshiped.

Leaders and Managers empathize with their people.

It was a wonderful session on ‘the difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary” by my colleague Rajesh Kannan at Compassites. Any learning which helps you travel an extra mile is always wonderful. With this session, it became very simple to understand the difference between ordinary and extraordinary.

It is just that little ‘extra’ which made the ordinary the extraordinary. Let me articulate my learning in my own way, which is as follows:

* If you are working hard, it’s ordinary; if you are working smart, it’s extraordinary.

* If you are responding, it’s ordinary; if you are communicating effectively, it’s extraordinary.

* If you are blaming others for your current situation in life, it’s ordinary; if you are holding yourself accountable for being the architect of your own life, it’s extraordinary.

* If you have a goal, it’s ordinary; if your action is helping you reach the goal in the most optimal way, it’s extraordinary.

* If you can learn, it’s ordinary; if you can teach, it’s extraordinary.

* If you can acquire knowledge, it’s ordinary; if you can apply it multiple times in multiple ways, it’s extraordinary.

* If you know your strengths, it’s ordinary; if others know your strengths and want to utilize it, it’s extraordinary.

Finally, let me also add that, if you want to start anything, it’s ordinary; if you can lead in the line what you started, it’s extraordinary.

Of-course we all know that this topic is subjective and the difference is always relative…but, the essence of it always remain the same, it’s that little ‘extra’ which makes you a leader…Do you have the little extra in you?

In the earlier post on Emotional Intelligence, we had seen that self awareness is the first stepping stone in becoming emotionally intelligent. “Know Thyself” is one of the well known ancient adages. A true leader is one who knows themself before they know their followers and leads them. Self knowledge is realizing one’s emotions, feelings, strengths, weaknesses. This self knowledge enables us to concentrate and capitalize on our strengths and manage or overcome our weaknesses. The great leaders of the past have never allowed their weaknesses to rule them; instead they have used it as a tool for self improvement.

Above all, self awareness helps us in making the right choices in life and gives us clarity in decision making, and LEADERS make DECISION.

I attended a WissenDock session by my colleague Vivek Sahoo at our office Compassites (‘Wissen’ in German means ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Dock’ is where the ships get ‘loaded and unloaded’). During this session I understood that, “the success of great leaders is that, all of them possessed high levels of what is called Emotional Intelligence (E.I)”.

First let us know, what is emotional intelligence?

It is a set of capabilities which enables us to cope with different situations. It also decides our reaction to every circumstance. EI in a broad sense comprises of the following:

$ Self-Awareness: Knowing and recognizing our feelings and emotions and discriminating between them.

$ Controlling Emotions: The ability to maintain balance and react appropriately to every situation.

$ Motivation: Propelling oneself towards a goal when the chips are down. This quality is exemplified in the lives of every leader.

$ Empathy: Wearing the hat of the other person to understand his feelings and then taking suitable action.

$ Relationship Management: Focusses on maintaining good interpersonal relationships and networking with people for mutual benefit.

Studies have shown that emotional intelligence is a better predictor of success than other forms of intelligence.

I liked this session very much because it set me thinking, and it struck to me that ‘Intelligence’ is an act of ‘Mind’ and ‘Emotion’ is an act of ‘Heart’ and for a leader it is important to use both Mind and Heart in a BALANCED WAY.

So, the take away for you is that - A Good Leader Has High Emotional Intelligence and it is possible to build one…

True leaders command following. Leaders are followed only if they are known for something, rather one thing or few things. It is all about right communication and action. All leaders must consciously make people aware of what they are best at so that they are famous for it. Otherwise they would be associated with those attributes which do not define them accurately.

Developing a personal brand is an art as everybody’s brand is different and unique. It is also a science because it can be created by a systematic process. The following are the take away from this post:

*  Leaders need personal brands to be effective.

*  The personal brands must portray what the leader is known for. It is imperative for leaders to communicate what they would liked to be known for.

* Brand is not built overnight. With Focus, Motivation and Hardwork, it is possible to build a good brand.

A recent launch of an e-book on “Personal Branding for Technology Professionals” by my friend and mentor Rajesh Setty precisely talks about this. You would find the ideas of the book universal as they are applicable to any professional who wants to be an effective leader having a personal brand. This book is very resourceful if you want to start your journey as a leader or to be more effective as a leader if you are already one…

When I was small I had seen a gigantic elephant being tied with a rope. I was always surprised as to why the mighty beast would never try breaking that small rope. Then I learnt that the mahouts have a wonderful way of doing this.

When the elephants are young, they are bound by rope or chains by the mahout to make sure the baby elephant stays where he decides it should be. The baby elephant tries, with all its might, to break free from the bonds but to no avail because it is small and not that strong enough. The baby elephant tries and fails many times, it will never try again for the rest of its life. That is why rope or chains that they could easily break can bind full-grown, adult elephants. An adult elephant is powerful enough to knock over a building without much trouble but it doesn’t attempt to break the bonds that it failed to break as a baby elephant. The elephant has been conditioned to the mental prison given by the caretaker.

Relating this to our lives the same phenomenon happens to us humans too. We become conditioned to believe that we can only go as far as our chains will extend. We must not become paralyzed and enchained by the set patterns that have been given to us by the world.

If you want to be a Leader, you should know how to make your people break these mental chains in achieving what they want to in their lives. Leaders inspire their people to “Break and move beyond the length of the chains”. The self-forged chains.
We have in ourselves an amazing potential to accomplish greatness in anything we desire. Let’s not chain ourselves with our pre-conceived notions and beliefs.

Go ahead and make a great start without any chains holding you back.