Two lessons in Wartime leadership

I first came across this phrase while reading the book- "The Hard Thing About Hard Things" where Ben Horowitz articulates a clear distinction between a Wartime and a Peacetime CEO. It is one thing to read about Wartime leadership & entirely a different one seeing it in action.

Sharing two of my learnings by observing recent events:

1. Be honest and transparent with your team:

Seems like a fundamental thing to do, but it is often the most difficult in times of crisis- when you don't have all the answers.
Mariott CEO Arne Sorenson addressed his employees https://bit.ly/34TXzGs after the impact of Covid19 on his industry became apparent. This 5 minute speech is a case study in compassionate, authentic leadership. He presents himself as vulnerable yet fully in control of situation.

2. In times of crisis, Speed trumps Perfection:

Dr. Michael Ryan, an authority in handling epidemics https://bit.ly/3blGzLE said something profound-

Be fast, have no regrets. You must be the first mover. The virus will always get you if you don’t move quickly. Perfection is the enemy of the good when it comes to emergency management. Speed trumps perfection.
Be fast, have no regrets. The problem in society we have at the moment is that everyone is afraid of making a mistake. Everyone is afraid of the consequence of error. But the greatest error is not to move. The greatest error is to be paralysed by the fear of failure. If you need to be right before you move, you will never win. Speed trumps perfection. Perfection is the enemy of good when it comes to emergency responses.

What did these times teach you about #leadership ?

Sketchnote summary:

LinkedIn post:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/anujmagazine_authenticleadership-leadership-activity-6657631316349157376-CM1p

Twitter Post:
https://twitter.com/anujmagazine/status/1251884838514122753?s=20

[Sketchnote] The Top 10 Deliverables of Product Managers

One could argue, without much disagreements, that most professions (if done right) are hard. So what's so specific about Product Management ? Probably one of the aspects that make it hard is the open-ended nature of the job.

I loved going through Sachin Rekhi's post (https://lnkd.in/fU6imaN) on the subject where he delved deeper into the role of Product Managers and positioned it around the 10 key deliverables. These deliverables are split into 2x2 with each quadrant representing Vision, Strategy, Design and Execution. And these deliverables are:

1. Vision narative
2. Product Walk-through
3. Product/Market Fit Hypotheses
4. Customer Discovery Insights
5. Product Roadmap
6. Product Requirements
7. Metrics Dashboards
8. Team OKRs
9. Decision Rationales
10. Product Wins

Do you agree with this list ? or Is there more to the role? Please share.

For more:
- Blog: https://lnkd.in/fU6imaN
- YouTube: https://lnkd.in/fBeBR_p

Sketchnote summary:

LinkedIn post:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/anujmagazine_productmanagement-productmanagers-metrics-activity-6656235985556336640-N6a-

Twitter post:
https://twitter.com/anujmagazine/status/1250474778428768257?s=20

Virtual Book Club: "The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure"

(reproducing the article that i wrote for Citrix newsletter, with some changes)

With the unprecedented times of today demanding that all of Citrix work from home, it’s been a great relief and at the same time a challenge too. A relief because staying at home lends safety not only to us but also for our families and everyone else in the society. It’s a challenge because all of us have been fast-tracked into learning a new skill i.e. how to effectively work from home.

So, what can we do to best simulate the face-to-face interactions and ease of engagement while being at home?

Looking around the slack channels and some related updates, it is evident that the teams are coming up with some great ideas in this context. In my team, Steve Wilson (Vice President, Products) launched a unique initiative called as ‘Virtual Book Club.’ The premise of this initiative was simple- Steve suggested two books to his entire org to read through (both books relevant to team’s charter) and promised a book discussion forum inviting whole of his org. The two chosen books were-The Power of Habit and The 10x Rule.

The one that I took to reading and lead the team discussion was "The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure" (referred to as ‘The 10X Rule’ hereon) and I provide the summary of the same below.

Let’s take a look at some of the stories to begin with:

• One of my favorite stories from the Olympics is that of an Hungarian shooter named Károly Takács. He was the first shooter to win 2 Olympic gold medals (1948 & 1952). Though winning an Olympic gold is an achievement of highest order but his claim to greatness was not just that. In 1938, when his shooting career was on the rise he lost his right hand (shooting hand) in an accident. Rather than playing a victim, he went back to where he began & started practicing with his left-hand. He continued relentless practice & slowly made his left hand as skillful as his right hand earlier was. Years later won the Olympic glory.

• Colonel Sanders, who created Kentucky Fried Chicken, pitched his idea more than 80 times before anyone bought the concept.

• Walt Disney was laughed at for his idea of an amusement park, and yet now people all over the world spend $100 a ticket and save up their whole lives just to have a family vacation at Disney World.

These stories are remarkable examples of human grit, single-mindedness pursuit of excellence but how would you dissect the success that Károly Takács, Colonel Sanders, Walt Disney achieved?

I found an answer in the book ‘The 10X Rule’ duly authored by Grant Cardone.

About 10X Rule:

·        Simply put 10X Rule is: 10X Rule = 10X Goals + 10X Actions

·        You must set targets that are 10 times what you think you want and then do 10 times what you think it will take to accomplish those targets.

·        Average goal setting cannot and will not fuel massive 10X actions.

·        Think massive and broad when setting your goals.

·        Over-commit and Over-deliver: Why not overcommit in your promise — and then exceed by over delivering as well.

About 10X Actions:

·        When it comes to actions, your four choices are:

·        Do nothing

·        Retreat

·        Take normal levels of action

·        Take massive action

·        Compare your actions to having to carry a 1,000 - pound backpack that you will wear every day into a 40 - miles - per - hour wind on a 20-degree upward slope. Prepare for massive, persistent action, and you will win!

·        How do I know if I am doing enough action? If you don't create new problems, then you're not taking enough action.

Pointers to inculcate the 10X Rule:

·        Massive thoughts must be followed by massive actions.

·        Never reduce a target. Instead, increase actions.

·        The extent of desire or hunger to do something:

·        Regardless of what you want to do or be, whether it is to lose 10 pounds, write a book, or become a billionaire

·        Your desire to reach these points is an incredibly important element of doing so.

·        Never act like a victim:

·        The 10X Rule refers to massive amounts of action taken persistently over time.

·        In order to make good things happen more often, you cannot afford to act like a victim.

·        Once you start to approach every situation as someone who is acting — not being acted upon — you will start to have more control over your life.

·        Success is a moral obligation

·        It is our ethical obligation to create success for self, family, company, and our future.

·        Successful individuals approach success as a duty, obligation, and responsibility — and even a right!

·        Success is not something that happens to you; it's something that happens because of you and because of the actions you take.

·        10X Rule and Luck

·        Luck is just one of the byproducts of those who take the most action.

Sketchnote summary:

LinkedIn post:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/anujmagazine_excellence-success-book-activity-6653651942813855744-kk7A

Twitter post:
https://twitter.com/anujmagazine/status/1247568439381647367?s=20

Two Lessons from a Long Distance Run

Last Sunday, I had the privilege of hashtag#running and completing Tata Ultra 35 Km run at the beautiful city of Lonavala near Mumbai/Pune. A tough run with mighty inclines (3000ft+),hot weather and the fun added by cutoff times (and sweeper buses ). Lessons: 1. Run (Work) Healthy: It was pleasing to see event organizers stressing on running healthy (taking care of hydration,nutrition,avoiding falls).How many times do we talk about 'Working Healthy'.Mukesh B. in his book 'No Limits' talks about the role diet, sleep and fitness takes in helping us reach peak hashtag#performance at work. In our quest to improve at work,do not let diet, sleep and fitness take a back seat. 2. Path to success isn't linear: The phases I roughly went through during the run- 0 km: I know I can do it. 8 km (incline): It's getting painful. Did I make the right choice choosing to do it? 20 km: Why the hell did I start? 32 km: I think I can push a little 35 km: Never experienced a high like this Does this cycle sounds familiar with anything insurmountable you have attempted? Quoting legendary ultra-runner Dean Karnazes- "Running always leaves you better than when you started. No matter how temporarily bruised your body is at the end of run,its the spirit that's uplifted."

LinkedIn Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/anujmagazine_running-performance-activity-6639869901764956160-sLbH

You can either progress or make excuses

This story is about the growth-mindset anti-pattern. I have been fascinated by Carol Dweck's work on the mindset. I just love the thought that any human being is capable of doing anything he or she aspires to, with a growth mindset. I find the thought that our abilities are not limited as quite liberating. Embracing growth mindset means that our successes and failures are born out of our minds.

The story of John McEnroe is quite interesting in this regard. I had known this a long ago but it got refreshed in my memory when i recently read in Mukesh Bansal's book- "No Limits". Here it goes:

John McEnroe is one of the most iconic tennis players of all time, but he is also known for his misconduct on the court
During matches, he has insulted umpires and broken rackets among other outbursts. He has even been booed by spectators.
And despite being a brilliant and resourceful player, his story is a lesson in mindset. He always believed that he had immense talent, and when he did win, he credited his innate gift or talent for the victory. But when he lost, he always blamed some external factors-from someone in his box leaving during a match to the noise from a cameraman's headphones. He went through his entire career with this fixed mindset. Does this inability to take ownership for failure sound familiar to you? He later admitted that his fixed mindset held him back from achieving his true capabilities. Convinced that he was born to play tennis, he believed that talent was everything. Imagine how much more he could have achieved if he had realised his actual problem earlier in his career, taken more ownership for his results and adopted a growth mindset.

In a nutshell, growth mindset isn't for the lesser mortals. Even the ilk of supremely talented people can underachieve their potential if they look for excuses every time they fail.

I write this when New Zealand has handed India a 2-0 drubbing in test matches. The India team with it's underwhelming performance has nowhere to hide. One positive sign is the captain Virat Kohli standing up and owning the outcome and not hiding behind excuses.

Virat Kohli: "It was a matter of not having enough intent in the first game, and not closing out here. We didn't bowl in the right areas for long enough. They created a lot of pressure. It was a combination of us not executing well enough and New Zealand sticking to their plans."

Though it is a difficult situation for the team but with this growth mindset, i am sure the team would rise from this experience and be more competitive and win the future test series.

Image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/578782989588401044/

WHEN THE WHY IS CLEAR, THE HOW IS EASY

This insightful hashtag#story is based in Japan (adapted from the book- ICHIGO ICHIE) For many arts and traditions, there is no school where one can learn the skill. The knowledge is transmitted from the master to apprentice. One such case is of people who make Katanas, a form of Japanese sword. With only 300 active swordsmiths left in Japan, the swordsmithing knowledge is imparted via apprenticeship. Forging a good Katana is mighty hard. hashtag#Why ? Because the best Japanese sword blades contain only 1 to 1.2 percent of carbon. It is extremely hard to attain such levels of carbon. Apparently, it happens only after blade is 3 days straight in fire at a temperature range 2200 and 2800 degrees. There is no ornamental significance about the Katanas but it symbolizes something bigger- strength, hashtag#perseverance, and simplicity. Chasing these rare virtues provide determination to the swordsmiths to go through the grind and a myriad of repetitive work to produce the sword. If there was a weak hashtag#purpose, the swordsmiths would have produced the swords lacking any distinctiveness, just like any routine effort would have produced. With a stronger hashtag#purpose, they put in the best effort to eliminate the unnecessary to get to the essential. In essence, WHEN THE WHY IS CLEAR, THE HOW IS EASY.

LinkedIn Post:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6636304268108369920/

Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted, counts

(Story shared via WhatsApp)

The importance of perspective and intelligent analysis...

During World War II, numerous fighter planes were getting hit by anti-aircraft guns.

Air Force officers wanted to add some protective armor/shield to the planes. The question was "where"?

The planes could only support a few more kilos of weight. A group of mathematicians and engineers were called for a short consulting project.

Fighter planes returning from missions were analysed for bullet holes per square foot. They found 1.93 bullet holes/sq. foot near the tail of the planes whereas only 1.11 bullet holes/sq. foot close to the engine.

The Air Force officers thought that since the tail portion had the greatest density of bullets, that would be the logical location for putting an anti-bullet shield.

A mathematician named Abraham Wald said exactly the opposite; more protection is needed where the bullet holes aren't - that is -around the engines.

His judgement surprised everyone.  He said "We are counting the planes that returned from a mission. Planes with lots of bullet holes in the engine did not return at all."

Debrief

If you go to the recovery room at the hospital, you’ll see a lot more people with bullet holes in their legs than people with bullet holes in their chests.  That’s not because people don’t get shot in the chest; it’s because the people who get shot in the chest don’t recover.

Remember the words of Einstein - " Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted, counts."

Story source

From the book - "How Not To Be Wrong" by Jordan Ellenberg