3 Less-known attributes of truly Successful people
There is a billion dollar industry of books, seminars and workshops on making people become more successful. There are also hugely successful people in our own spheres of life, people whom we meet regularly - senior members of large/great organizations, self-made enterprenuers and so on.
What are the things that distinguish successful people from the run-of-the-mill folks like me? This was what got me interested, when I found people in senior leadership roles, but had not yet crossed 40. Of course, education, luck and the simple aspect of being the one available may have taken them there, but without “stuff”, you cannot stay there for long.
I started observing such people and so far, I have found 3 attributes - passion, genuine interest in people and the ability to understand subtle communications. You will notice hard work is not in here - surprisingly, not all of them work 16 hour days!
Passion
This is a no-brainer, but many people unconsciously set limits on their passion for work, either by limits on time or simply by the distance they are willing to go to get things done. Passion is ownership, passion is about finding ways to get things done, even if it means not going by the book sometimes (I am not referring to the non-negotiable rules like ethics, just the systems that organizations or societies setup). Passion is standing up and being counted when things are in a crisis. Passion means going beyond your defined role and responsibilities and ensuring that the overall team goals are achieved.
To have real passion, you have accept that sometimes, other things in life have to play a secondary role to your work life [This means you never talk about work-life balance - even if you go home on time usually]
Genuine interest in people
Passion can only take you so far. If you don’t have or develop a genuine interest in people and how you can harness their immense potential, you cannot become a successful person. Great relationships means word-of-mouth praise, which I find is the most effective way of marketing yourself. A word of caution: Do not try to manipulate people - you may be unpleasantly surprised about how many people can easily read this. Understand genuine concerns, show empathy and try to truly help people.
A successful track record is of no use if people under you refuse to give their best, due to some unconscious anger at you. You will have uncooperative people, who will balk at every work that you assign, delay their tasks and as a result, you end up doing all their work.
One other benefit of being able to interact with people well is that you become naturally good at networking. You will not need to fake things when asking for help - on the other hand, people will feel it an honor to work with you.
Ability to understand subtlety
You can call it reading between the lines or know the flow or oh whatever, but I have found this to be one of the most underrated secrets of successful people. This could be a situation or a person talking to them or a set of numbers being thrown at them. They can analyze what the situation is and come up with an answer that is simply awesome.
I really can’t explain this, but I am sure you can connect with the idea.
The obvious question at this stage is, can we develop these attributes? I haven’t found my answers completely. Have you? Let us know in the comments. If you have noticed other things which you feel are common among successful people, those are also welcome in the comments.
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The 3 Pillars of Financial Planning
In these days of financial troubles everywhere, I am thinking a lot on improving my financial situation and hence you may see most of the posts are on personal finance
“Insure your Child’s Education AND SAVE TAX”
“An insurance Plan for your golden years”.
These are the headlines screaming from Billboards on the way to work. I can’t help, but cringe when I think that I have fallen for these ads earlier in my career. One day, it struck me that there are 3 components to managing your money in the short and long term. I call these the “Pillars of personal financial management.”
Wealth Creation
By Wealth Creation, I mean creation of a corpus for all your major needs in life This includes planning for an Emergency Fund, Children’s education, lifestyle improvement (home/vacation), retirement etc.
Insurance
Insurance is a de-risking strategy that allows your dependents to maintain the same lifestyle if, God forbid, something happens to you. When I say insurance, I am talking of pure risk cover with no (or very less) money-back policies.
Tax Planning
Planning for saving tax simply frees up more money for you to spend - either on yourself, for wealth creation or for insurance.
How they are related
Tax savings can lead to wealth creation or insurance. Wealth creation, such as investing in PF or mutual funds and Investing in insurance can provide tax savings.
Experts advise to keep these three separate, but as I said, most financial products try to combine these options. By itself, that is not bad, but these products are linked to the market, which means you are putting your money at risk! If you retire and there is a recession like the one we are in now, all your savings are lost unless you have chosen the most conservative option. If, like me and most others, you have not actively managed your risk option inside these products, you are liable for a shock.
Only a good financial planner will help you assess your financial state, expectations and create a comprehensive plan that will maximize your wealth, while saving you taxes and de-risking you through appropriate insurance.
Disclaimer: I am not an expert on finance - information and tips here are for sharing my experience and your understanding only. Please consult a qualified financial planner for any financial decisions.
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3 steps to avoid “Money Leaks”
Sometimes, it is necessary to step back and revisit the focus areas - be it in life or in a blog. This blog is dedicated to helping people better their quality of life by making small improvements in their lives. Work, finance, self-development are usually what I write upon. The timing of these usually tends to parallel the area where I am working on, so that it is also a chronicle of my efforts in becoming a better person today.
Do you have a situation where you are left wondering where you spent that Rs. 5000 ($100) and finally put it under the GOK heading? Then this post is for you.
GOK=God only knows
In many countries around the world, cash is still king. I am not talking about Business Strategy, but at a more personal level. While plastic has become the de-facto method of transacting, cash is still important, especially for purchases and deposits below a certain amount.
In India, for example, you cannot use a card for payment, except for fuel purchases, unless the bill comes to INR 300 ($6). Therefore, when making multiple small purchases like a can of coke or stationery, you have to use cash, typically drawn out from an ATM. This can lead to “money leaks” - a state where you cannot account for money when you are looking at your monthly statement.
In 5 easy steps to find out where your money is going, we looked at going through your bank and credit statements and then setting up categories for your spending. This is possible only when you know what you spent the money for! If you have a series of cash withdrawals, without any corresponding attribute/bill, you cannot effectively track your money. Meaning, you cannot budget effectively.
Here are some tips to help you prevent such money leaks:
1. Add a “payment method” column
Add a column to your budget tracker named “payment method.” As the name suggests, you can put in how you are going to pay this item - through card, cheque, bank transfer or cash.
2. Consolidate Cash items
Withdraw enough cash to cover all the total cash items and divide them using the Envelope Accounting method. This will prevent you making ad-hoc withdrawals from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) during the month. Once you pay the bill, mark it in your budget-tracking system.
3. Track your micro-purchases
This is possibly the most difficult part - tracking your small purchases - the coffee with a friend, the quick pizza while waiting for a train types. Don’t sweat the small stuff, though, unless you are penny pinching!
In your mobile or in a pocketbook, jot down the expense under broad categories for the expense, such as food/fuel/book/transport etc. Transfer this to the budget as soon as you get your computer.
Remember to plug this information back into your analysis of spending, to get an idea of such expenses.
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6 quick tips to keep your career on track
The recession is taking a heavy toll on us, with massive job cuts and reduced pay being reported across the world. Everyone still holding a job is feeling tense - who knows when the axe will fall on them!
It is better not to give into negative thinking, but plan and prepare for such an eventuality. Here are some quick tips to help you. These are not new, but they are exactly what I did to find a different role in my organization.
1. Network like crazy
Network with all your contacts in your entire career. Yes, your entire career.
Dig out those old emails and make a list of people with whom you have more than a passing acquaintance. Send them a “hi, how are you doing?” email. No pitching for any jobs at this point. With those who respond, have a more detailed conversation and renew old ties. Please remember, there has to be a genuine connection, otherwise you risk being labelled as a person who remembers them only in times of distress.
2. Face time with people who matter
“Out of sight is out of mind” is probably a cliche, but true nevertheless. Know who the movers and shakers in your department are and initiate closer interaction with them. Go out for lunch with them or at least the coffee machine. It is easier to recommend someone whom you see every day than someone who may be more talented, but is not seen!
3. Establish your expertise
Nothing establishes your reputation like published papers. Write a few whitepapers and send them for external publication in conferences and workshops. Become a panel discussion member or a speaker at such conferences. They can add a lot to your credentials (and your credibility in the eyes of your cutomers!)
4. Keep looking for jobs
A job in hand is better than two in the bush - to paraphrase the old saying. Don’t let this stop you from constantly looking out for another one. It may be an internal role or outside the company, but never assume your job is permanent.
5. Work like crazy
Although there is no guarantee that workalohics will not be laid off, it may make a difference when you are competing against others for jobs. A workalohic will appear passionate about giving his all to the company when it is in a tough situation. This is also the moment to forget about Work-Life Balance. Indeed, in my blog series on Work-Life Balance, I had referred to situations where you may have peak and down periods of effort. This is one of those times!
6. Reduce your Cost to Company
If you are considered costlier to the company vis a vis the benefit the company gets from you, you are in danger. This is all the more true if you are a senior person in the company. Get a feel (or an actual quote from your manager, if you can!) on what is the cost/benefit ratio for you in the company. Take steps if possible to minimize that. For example, you can reduce telephone, fuel, electricity and other “perk” costs. Proactively forego raises or the company car till the company is back to normal.
Do you have any such tips that you have used? Share it with us in the comments.
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Make working from home work - tips to telecommute and save money (Part 2)
In Part 1 of this series, there were 5 tips on how to prepare for telecommuting. Here are more tips on telecommuting once you have permission from your organization.
Before I start, let me briefly summarize the tips from Part 1:
- Identify the activities that can be done from home - Most jobs have some part that does not need you to be in office. Identify them clearly
- Allocate time at home - Set apart a few hours every weekend for work at home. This is only for the preparation phase where you are checking for feasibility
- Plan and set up a work environment at home - A separate place to work can give you the concentration you need. All infrastructure and tools you need must be setup in this place to simulate your office
- Log all activities done from home - This gives you a sense of accomplishment and motivates you to continue the process. As a side benefit, it may give you evidence when you initiate a discussion with your manager
- Discuss with your manager - Propose your telecommuting strategy to your boss and present a “win-win” argument. Depending on your company’s culture, you may want to start with specifying why you need to work from home before describing the benefits for the company. Be up-front about any challenges or additional costs you expect
Once your managers are comfortable and give you the go-ahead, you can start the pilot phase. You have done this as part of preparation, but this is the “formal” pilot to give the organization the confidence that you can pull it off.
1. Agree on outcome-based work
A primary cause of resistance to telecommuting is that it leads to lack of accountability. This may not always be true, but after generations of working in an office, it is hard for people to accept that work can be done at home by responsible people with the same quality and on time. I stress “responsible”, since if you don’t feel the same amount of accountability when you work from home, then you might not be able to sustain it for long.
I need not tell you that if one person in a department fails to work effectively while telecommuting, he/she screws the pitch for everyone else!
One way to avoid ambiguity on responsibility/accountability is to agree on outcomes (also called “deliverables”). I say outcomes, since not all work results in a concrete product. “Draft presentation ready for review by Thursday” is an outcome, while “Interact with relevant people and create draft for departmental presentation” can be an activity.
[Those who are familiar with Work-Breakdown structures vs Product Break-down structures will know what I am talking about!]
When negotiating on outcome based work, don’t forget to discuss acceptable standards on quality, format, layouts, and maybe even content
2. Attend office 2-3 times a week
The best telecommuting strategy is one where you are not missed on the days you are not in at the office! Face time has been important always and will become even more important today when “teamwork” is the new mantra. Make sure you attend all meetings - be seen and be listened to. Volunteer for additional work, if you must.
Schedule meetings on the days when you are at office, but if you have a meeting on of your off-days, do agree. After all, getting work done is more important, so don’t bicker. If the organization has been flexible, you also need to show some flexibility.
3. Keep lines of communication open
Related to the point about being in office is the fact that you must be available at all times for contact from your office. Of course, this is not to say that you work 24×7, but at least within normal office hours. There is nothing more frustrating that not being able to reach someone for a critical piece of information (when you know the person is supposed to be working from home!)
Another aspect of keeping the lines open is to constantly communicate with your boss, your peers and your subordinates. You may have to follow-up a little more than usual, but if you do it politely, it should work.
4. Provide frequent progress updates
Keeping your manager updated on progress is very important. You can call him to report briefly on what you have accomplished, followed by an email that may be a little more detailed. This is especially significant in the early days of telecommuting, so that your manager doesn’t feel you have disappeared from the face of the earth!
5. Avoid interruptions at home
One of the most common (and annoying!) challenges is interruptions from family - of the “can you switch off the microwave and look after the baby while I run to the corner shop for a minute” variety! Granted, this may be the reason why you are telecommuting, but those minutes can easily become hours. Sometimes, a programme on the telly might distract you or the neighbours may drop in for a chat.
You SHOULD avoid these distractions. Firmly tell your family that office time is inviolate - close the door shut if need be and any phone calls from them will be rejected, unless it is an emergency. They have to treat it as if you were really at office.
If you have a situation where you are telecommuting to help out at home, then mark those hours strictly. Remember, once you lose your credibility at office for not delivering, it is almost impossible to get second chances!
6. Get feedback
Once you have successfully worked for sometime from home, its time to ask your boss (and co-workers, if need be) for feedback. Has your performance been to the same level? Is there anything you are doing that might affect your credibility, raises, promotions etc? Does the managers above think positively about me?
If you get a negative feedback, especially from a manager that was supportive of your idea to telecommute, revisit your plans and drop the work from home part immediately, unless being at home is critical to you. In that case, you must take additional steps to resolve the danger signals like spending more time office, clarifying issues with colleagues etc.
A final word of caution - while telecommuting may save costs, in some organizations, you may be at risk if you ask for this option. Even though the company talks about flexitime in its brochures, they may remain primarily a recruitment tool and frowned upon. So be careful about this option and do it only when you are absolutely sure the organization has no problem with it.
Are you working from home? Do you have any tips on telecommuting that you would like to share? Do so in the comments.
[For other ways to balance Work and life, you can see the 3-part series starting here - Part 1 ]
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Make working from home work - tips to telecommute and save money (Part 1)
As another cycle of recession is upon us, everyone, from mega-corporations to individuals have to find ways to save and have cash on hand. Telecommuting is a good way to save time and money, while also providing a host of benefits.
However, the % of people telecommuting is not very significant, except in a few countries. While technology may be part of the reason, a major barrier for organizations is that managers feel that “office-time” is important. The common complaints against telecommuting are around “productivity is lowered, people don’t have the same sense of urgency, people are not disciplined to work at home” etc.
Before I start, however, I must emphasize that working from home is not for everybody. The nature of work dictates whether your job can be done from home effectively or not.
Photo: Courtesy Lynac
1. Identify activities that can be done from home
[I am going to assume that at least some part of your job can be done outside the office]
Before you can even talk to your manager about it, you must convince yourself that:
- Work can be done at home
- You can do that work from home
- You can do that work as you would have done at office
To take this test, identify the activities that can be done without being in office. Paperwork (like reading or writing contracts, software requirements), Planning, Design, and even software coding can be done outside the office.
2. Allocate time at home
Initially, you can start working on afternoon in the weekends, when things are a little quiet. Once you can concentrate and finish work, you can bring more work home. Remember, the weekends are a bonus and not a substitute for regular office hours at this stage.
Set aside the time you have planned and tell family members not to disturb you unless there is an emergency. You may have to be firm when starting, as folks at home need to realize that your work place is off-limits for them when you are “working”
3. Plan and setup work environment at home
Setting up a home office may seem a daunting and expensive proposition, but it need not be so. Eschew any notions of a grand desk - that old computer desk will do for now. There are a few things, however, that you need to keep in mind.
- The environment must insulate you as much as possible from distractions, such as the telly, neighbours and even the kitchen. This might be difficult for those of us, who live in cramped apartments, but if you have a spare bedroom, that should do
- While home equals comfort, the home office must not offer you any comfort - it is there as an alternative to your work place, so no sofa to nap. A comfortable chair, good lighting, filing system, stationery and a book case may be sufficient to get started. You may also want to invest in a Thermos flask for coffee and some jars for some snacks, so that you are not tempted to go to the kitchen
- Set up needed infrastructure such as an exclusive telephone line, Internet, Webcams for video-conferencing etc. You may want to get some redundancy in your network, like an additional Internet connection in case your job needs you to be connected at all times
The idea is to simulate the office environment as much as possible - lounging by the fireplace and listening to music while working might seem attractive, but it only lowers productivity and may even send you off to sleep.
4. Log all such activities
A very important point that people who telecommute forget to do - maintain a list of deliverables/activities that you completed away from office. This is the evidence that you can present to your boss and show him/her that you can still deliver when working from home. This is especially true, when you have not told your boss about working from home.
Saying “Boss, I can definitely work from home without loss of quality/time. For example, I finished this report at home, without staying late” is a good way to demonstrate your capacity to work effectively. Be warned though - your manager may see this in a negative way - that you are showing off or worse, ready to work from home too!
In any case, having a list of things you have accomplished gives you the satisfaction of being disciplined enough to work from anywhere.
5. Discuss with your manager
Once you have a few weeks of experience working from home, you might want to broach this topic of telecommuting with your manager. It is better to be honest and explain why you want to telecommute. You can then lay out what is the benefit for him in this - by allowing you to work from home twice a week, the company is saving on running costs while making you more productive (since there is no travel involved). You also must demonstrate that you have the resources to make this work.
The best way to convince the organization is to propose a pilot (officially, that is). For 3 months, you will telecommute twice a week and be in office the rest of the time. Meetings can be scheduled during those days and you will definitely be available for emergencies.
If you have made the preparation and proposition correctly, you should gain approval at least for the pilot. After all, the organization would like you to succeed when it can also win!
What do you do when you have permission to telecommute? The basic strategies above work, but there are a few things you need to sort out, which I will discuss in the next post. Before bidding you adieu, a couple of important things - firstly, this will work only if you have some credibility in the organization and a genuine reason why both you and the organization will win and secondly, you need to balance your home life with your work. Your family definitely does not need your home to become an extension of your office.
The point about working on weekends is for the initial period only - when you have official sanction, you don’t work weekends!
(For more tips on Work-Life Balance, see my 3-part series here - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3)
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Separate your expenses with multiple bank accounts
…And save yourself mental clutter
Most people I know hold a single bank account or at the most 2 accounts - out of which 1 is a salary account. This account is used for all financial transactions in life -
- Regular expenses like groceries, electricity, phone etc
- Irregular expenses that do not occur every month but at specified times in a year like insurance, car service etc
- Miscellaneous expenses for items such as eating out, movie tickets (or indirectly to credit cards)
Image source: Vangelis Thomaidis
Why having a single bank account is bad for you?
A single inflow and outflow box for your financial transactions does not make sense. Here’s why.
Difficult to set a budget and track against it
- If you make a rough budget, you apportion it to major categories such as groceries, electricity etc. However, your transactions don’t happen in a nice, single purchase. Most often, they are distributed over the month, making it difficult to track against the budget, especially if you do not track at a granular level.
- Also, if you are like me, you withdraw cash at ATMs for payment towards many of the expenses. This appears in your bank statement as withdrawals, making it difficult to allocate it to the appropriate category.
- For some tips on tracking your expenses, see my post on 5 easy steps to find out where your money is going
Limit impulse purchases
I have not yet reached the stage of setting limits for entertainment/eating out/impulse purchases (music, food, movies), since I can’t seem to reliably predict those expenses. You may have budgeted for it. In both these cases, it is easy to go overboard and spend more (since you have the money now).
Security issues
With almost every service provider offering the option to pay bills online, it is fast becoming the method of choice for bill payment as well as purchases. However, using the same account for online transactions may increase your exposure to security issues. With ATM/Debit cards, there is limited liability even when you complain, as the money removed from your account cannot be recovered.
Funds not available for irregular expenses
When the bills for car insurance renewal, annual premium payments or other expenses that do not occur monthly come up, you may find yourself with a shortfall in funds. You then have to dip into debt sources to fund these payments.
Low interest rates
Your savings account, even if you have a lot of spare cash in it, will earn you a measly 3.5% interest rate. Income Tax returns, sale proceeds and other spare cash tends to lie in such accounts waiting to be spent (and does vanish into GOK accounts!)
Solution: Create separate accounts
Regular Bills
Setup specific accounts for regular and irregular payments. With most banks allowing online payment, regular bills and operating expenses such as fuel, vegetables etc can be bought using the regular account. This regular account can be the pay-linked account provided by your company.
Irregular Bills
Total all irregular income for the year (planned) and divide by 12, to get the amount for each month. Set up separate account for the irregular expenses and pay from that account.
Target accounts
If you have other financial goals and you have budgeted for it, either keep a separate account or use the irregular expense account.
For investments such as payments to mutual funds, use a separate account for inflow and outflows. This also makes it easier to find out your tax liability for short-tem capital gains and pay accordingly. [It also makes it easier to get a TDS certificate for such gains]
Note: In India, ICICI Bank, for example, allows you to link your accounts, so that you can transfer money between your investment account and savings account easily.
The Smart Account
For irregular and any target accounts, choose a smart money account where after a defined threshold is reached, any extra money is put into a separate high-yield account (with Fixed-Deposit rates). This account has full liquidity and you can take everything out if you need.
Note: In India - ICICI, HSBC, Citibank, HDFC Bank are among the many banks that offer this type of account.
Diversify
Ok, this is a word of caution I added after the recent chaos in the banking industry. Like any portfolio, it would be wise to spread your accounts across banks.
Choose your Account type carefully
All banks generally offer different types of accounts with different facilities, minimum account balance (MAB) and charges. Choose very carefully among these accounts to avoid unnecessary charges since you may not need to use all the features of a full-fledged account. For example, many banks offer a no-frills account with zero MAB, a basic ATM card and access to online banking for little or no annual charges. Choosing different banks allows you to avoid putting all eggs in one basket
Having separate accounts allows you to plan efficiently and avoid the mental clutter when dealing with different expenses that arise at different times.
Share with us your strategies for keeping track of different expense categories, specifically variable and irregular expenses. While you are it, please take a moment to participate in the poll below.
POLL:
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Why language skills are important to your success?
And what you can do about it…
What do great leaders have in common? Charisma, passion, hard work - yes, these qualities come to mind readily, but what 
about the ability to communicate to your superiors, peers and juniors effectively? To communicate effectively, you need to have a better-than-average language skills.
After reading a book called Rules of Work, I listed some managers in my organization who were considered potential leaders and started observing them in great detail. I found that the best managers in my organization, regardless of their seniority tend to be the ones who can speak effectively and efficiently.
Are you a good with your language?
Everyday, we demonstrate our ability through our interactions with others. Emails, Phone calls, meetings, presentations, talk near the water cooler and even informal toasts provide perfect opportunities for our superiors and peers to judge us.
Take a moment and think about how you are perceived by your colleagues in your ability to communicate effectively. Are you the person they turn to for sudden presentations (and luncheon toasts!)? When you speak, do they listen closely or interrupt you frequently?
The keywords when it comes to language is “Clean and Clear”
Below are some techniques to improve your language skills and tips on using them.
The Lost art of Precis Writing
Precis Writing is a technique where you are given a long text and are expected to summarize in a defined set of words. You must be able to condense verbose text into something that is easy to understand.
Tip: Use this to improve your email-writing ability
Email is the most widely used communication tool in business today. However, this generation has not been trained to write effectively with the result that most emails are either incomplete or ramble so much as to leave the reader confused on what he is supposed to do.
Note: Email etiquette is a bigger subject, which I will not get into here. Here are some links for you to find out more on it:
http://www.sideroad.com/Career_Advice/business-email-etiquette.html
http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/dec99/pirillo1.htm
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/636/01/
Play JAM
JAM or Just-A-Minute is a game where you have to speak for one full minute without pausing on a given topic. The original JAM is a BBC Radio game, with many rules and interpretations. For our purposes, just the “without pausing rule” is sufficient. If you are not used to this sort of quick thinking, you can spend one minute thinking and framing your speech.
Select a topic from your daily newspapers, spend a minute thinking and then use a timer to speak for one minute. If the topic is something you feel passionate about, then you will find words come easily. To add to the excitement, choose a boring subject or a single word!
Tip: Use this to become an engaging talker in informal gatherings
Note: I also find JAM to be quite entertaining for a party at home with family or close friends.
Join a Toast Masters club
Once you have some experience of speaking, join a ToastMaster club near you. In addition to plenty of opportunities for speaking, you get other many other benefits:
- Speak in front of an audience of strangers
- Listen to others and learn techniques from them
- Learn to speak the right way - with tonal changes etc
- Tip: Use this to overcome your stage fear and speak in front of an audience of people you do not know.
Learn correct grammar
I don’t mean you should spend a lot of time with grammar books learning the difference between sarcasm and satire, but you should know correct pronunciation, use proper sentences and have a decent vocabulary.
There are hundreds of courses online, but often, the cheapest source is either your own organization’s training department or the local library.
http://esl.about.com is a good online source for learning the finer points of English. While it is focussed on people with English as a 2nd Language, it has something for everyone too. There are many links to other resources (since it is on the About.com site), which may be useful.
Here is a site which shows the common mistakes made by people - http://www.learnenglish.de/mistakes/CommonMistakes.htm
Tip: Ensure you don’t make basic mistakes. It also impresses people when you can talk and write flawless grammar.
Note: Bad spelling, pronunciation and incorrect grammar can confuse and irritate many people, especially for those who do not have English as their native language. They have taken the trouble to learn it correctly and they expect you to do the same.
Use the old ways - Voice recorders, mirrors
When I was in school, I used to participate in speech and debating competitions. One technique taught by my old teachers was to record myself using a tape recorder and listen to it a few times. Natural pauses, ‘umms’ and other blanks needed to be identified and worked on. The first time I did this, I was shocked - I was using these fillers a lot!
Another good way to study your body language is to stand before a mirror or better still, ask a close friend or family member to critique you.
Tip: Use this to correct your tonal modulations, posture and hand-waving when you speak - especially when you are speaking about something passionately.
Practise, Practise, Practise
There is no substitute to the real world. Grab any opportunity to speak before an audience. Just ensure you don’t bore them with long monologues and everything will be fine. This is especially true if you are not in the “prime speaker” mode, e.g., in a party. Keeping the conversation flowing by active listening is an important skill and better left for another post.
If you are in a position to plan your presentation or speech, ensure you know every aspect of it fully, so that you don’t get rattled by any questions.
Tip: There is no tip for this 
Important Note:
All your efforts will be in vain if you cannot carry them off. Confidence is the important ingredient - confidence in your thinking ability, postures and language.
Summary
Your ability to speak and write well contributes to maintaining a successful image, reduces brain clutter and makes conversing with you a pleasure.
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5 easy steps to find out where your money is going
You know that feeling - no money left in the bank, but you are not really sure where it has all gone. Oh, you might be doing a bit of budgeting and have paid off all your regular expenses. What about the rest?
Once I got started on this, I expanded the question: Where do I spend my money? Is there some "GOK" account into which my money is leaking?
Step 1: Download your account statement for the last 1 year
To understand where I am spending my money, I downloaded my bank statement for the last 18 months in MS Excel format. Citibank, where I have my account, does not give an easy-to-use download format, at least in India. If your bank offers a way to download in some other format, such as MS Money, you may find it easier to do this analysis in MS Money itself.
Step 2: Remove inflow transactions
Once I had the Excel set up the way I wanted, I removed the "Credited" column, as my goal was to analyze my expenses. I have a stable job and the inflows are pretty constant. I also removed some superfluous transactions such as cancellations, fuel surcharge reversals etc.
Step 3: Categorize your transactions
I then categorized each transaction based on a pre-defined set of tags. For example, purchases at a music store would go towards Music while purchases at a supermarket would go towards Groceries. Of course, there might have been instances where I bought some music at a supermarket, but I had no way to get that data.
I tend to use cash a lot (primarily because plastic is not so common in India as in the US and Europe), so there were a lot of ATM withdrawals.
This was an eye-opener for me, as I realized could have done anything with those withdrawals. I might have bought groceries, fuel, music or any other expenses. I did not have that level of granular data! As I wanted to get to the end by now (!), I simply clubbed all of them under household expenses.
Step 4: Analyze results
Once the transactions were categorized, I used some formulae to sum the transactions under their respective categories. A pie chart seemed the best way to show the transactions by volume, so I made a pie chart of my top expense categories.
The first category was the "household expenses" as expected. The second largest category was a one-time mortgage payment. Events, Food and Travel expenses were the next set of expenses.
Step 5: Create Goals and Make a Plan
This is all very well, but what is the use?, you may ask. Based on the data, I am not able to really see the opportunities for cutting the flab. I decided there were a few things I needed to do:
- Keep a more granular track of ATM withdrawals. I decided to log each day’s transactions in an Excel and treat the money with me as a sort of cashbox. While I need to be vigilant, I decided to adopt a balanced approach and track major expenses. Minor ones would be a sort of miscellaneous category.
- Increase use of electronic transactions in places where a Debit card is accepted. My bank does not charge me on any debit card transactions, so I should start keeping less cash.This would create a more granular transaction list.
- Keep a separate track of discretionary expenditure. I will keep the bills when we eat or go out for movies etc.
- A stretch goal would be to identify impulse purchases when we go shopping to the supermarket. While we do make a shopping list, we tend to pick some other times which we think might be good to enjoy. I am not probably going to cut those impulse purchases out, but at least know how much I spend on them.
I will redo this exercise 3 months later to see if I can identify areas of improvement. I have also promised myself that any savings I see would go into the Emergency account, which is dangerously lean these days.
Do you track your money using Excel or other methods? Share your comments, tips and tricks with us.
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Book Review: Know-How by Ram Charan (Part 1)
We all know of charismatic, well-educated CEOs brought in to change the fortunes of floundering companies, but nevertheless could not make that turnaround possible.
What is it that distinguishes successful leaders? There are thousands of books published every year that seek to identify the core set of "tricks" which will make every leader successful. Very few "get" it.
Ram Charan is probably one of those few authors who manage to isolate that core traits of a successful leader without having actually being a leader himself. This he does, being a Harvard Scholar, consultant to Fortune 100 companies and in his own words, "I have had a front-row seat" at the senior management level.
In this book, Ram Charan identifies the "8 Skills that separate people who perform from those who don’t". Weaving a brilliant narrative with lots of examples, he is at once profound and eminently readable. For those of you who think it is another management book, let me assure you it is practical and therefore immediately applicable to any working individual.
You can read more about Ram Charan’s background here.
A deeper look inside the book, as I paraphrase the chapter headings with insights gleaned from the book:
1. Who are you?
Positioning your business is one of the great challenges for any leader. This could be in the marketplace or even within your organization. What is it that you offer? Who is your target consumer? Why should your product be sold?
These are the questions the author poses to every leader. If you do not have sharp responses, you probably are not ready. The examples for this chapter include the relative positioning of Wal-mart and Target - Wal-mart was seen as decent quality at low prices, while Target had better quality with higher prices. Over the years, Wal-mart showed a decline in revenues which was due to two facts - the purchasing power of people had improved and people were becoming more style-conscious. Wal-mart is trying to reposition itself as is every other major chain.
The message is clear. Answer the what, who and why quickly and move to occupy that space in people’s minds. Otherwise you are doomed, like the Dog food company which had a great ‘Vision’ - "To provide our beloved animal companions with high-quality food that is on par with what we humans eat." But, the dogs wouldn’t eat the dog food!
2. External change and what you should do to be competitive
The chapter is interestingly titled "Before the point tips" and discusses the fast-changing world in which we have to run the business. The author makes a strong case for leaders to look at changes in economic, political, social and environmental aspects and identify those changes that could become game changers. This is an inherently difficult subject to write about and so several examples are discussed. Interesting are those of GE looking at emerging markets and alternate sources of energy for future growth as well as the "dream sessions" held by GE chief Jeff Immelt with his customers.
On a personal level, reading up on developments in the world and constantly thinking how it may affect your organization is an effort worth making. For instance, entrepreneurs looking for ideas to invest can profit from the tremendous popularity in "Green" and start businesses in energy efficiency, green products etc.
The author also gives some extremely valuable advice in choosing jobs that help you develop such skills - jobs that allow you to collect and analyze demographics on a large scale.
3. Building a team
A great leader is primarily a person who has formed great teams - that is well-known. In practice, it is not as easy as it sounds. Any bunch of intelligent people are going to have contradicting opinions and even conflicts - the key is to inspire them to work as a team. This is what Ram calls "Herding the Cats".
He argues that one of the fundamental things a leader has to do is to understand the social system of the organization and create conditions to either improve it or change it depending on the situation. This skill has apparently two aspects:
- Understand what are the critical decisions and who would make them and then use this information to bring the right info to the right people at the right time.
- Actively ensure that the organization exhibits behaviours consistent with providing that information. The behaviours could be anything - from withholding information or conflicts in decision-making leading to loss of morale and therefore reduced efficiency.
- Ram goes on to give a lot of examples in different situations on what and how operating mechanisms were used in each situation. For example, Bob Nardelli took over a successful Home Depot and saw that the company needed to go in a different direction fast and to achieve it, the company had to move away from the behaviours and operating mechanisms that it used in the past. It is a measure of the courage that Nardelli had in changing the entire social system of Home Depot, with its thousands of stores and employees.
- 4. Building Leaders
All books on leadership have one chapter on succession planning and on creating a system that identifies and develops leaders at all levels. This chapter stresses on the importance on identifying the qualities that a leader should have and then identifying the people who have those qualities. Often, young leaders may not have all the required skills, so a development path and coaching needs to be built into the system.
This is a great chapter for young leaders to find out what top managers look for and develop those skills. Some of them include the ability to think about positioning, about competition and about pricing.
Some important points are covered in this chapter that are seldom mentioned anywhere else, like the importance of defining and communicating non-negotiable criteria, developing and deploying talented people in the right way.
5. Molding Leaders
This chapter takes off from where the previous one left. Once you have defined the criteria, identified potential leaders and deploying them, you have to spend a lot of time tracking their performance, stepping in for coaching when needed and ensuring they continue to perform. At the end of a defined time, they have to show they have what it takes to move to the next level.
And moving to the next level means working increasingly in teams. People at the top need to see across the company and hence need information across all facets of the organization. This is where having people who are not only individually brilliant, but also work well as a team.
Part 2 will cover the rest of the skills that are essential for becoming a "performing leader".
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