Growing With Books

A few months ago, a colleague opened, “I am worried. It appears that I might not meet my numbers this year. We have the sales review presentation with the head of our division next month.” There was a palpable sense of diffidence in her body language.

Upon enquiring about why she felt that way, I discovered that one of her clients who had committed to offering a huge volume of business, was filing for bankruptcy. Now there was a gaping hole peeping back at her from the account books.  

Let’s face it.

Aren’t we likely to feel trapped by our own insecurities when the outcomes are not in our favour? Aren’t we all anchored to some extent to extrinsic outcomes, that in many cases are beyond our control? What if there was a way to draw energy from our intrinsic drive to continue hustling for new opportunities?

When a situation like above arises, what if we asked ourselves a few questions? “How do I bridge this sales gap?” instead of being side-tracked by our fear of not meeting expectations. Having acknowledged the problem, we can now move on to the next question, “What opportunities can I convert from my pipeline within the defined time frame?”. The next question is shouting at us, “What resources do I need to fulfil this requirement?”. The last but not the least question “Who can help me obtain these resources?”

Dan Millman in “The Art of the Peaceful Warrior” recommends the one thing that we need to let go is control. If we remain fluid to the outcomes that are thrown at us, don’t we have a better chance at navigating change?

Haven’t we all reeled under an anxiety questioning the presence of any special talent? Haven’t we all had cravings to succeed in an area that we believe we’re not so good at? Don’t we sometimes regret working towards something that we don’t truly have the passion for?

Welcome to Episode #6 of Growing with Books by Shekhar Srinivasan, where we will discuss Rod Judkins’s The Art of Creative Thinking. Judkins has lectured universities on the subject of creativity  and is an innovation consultant to numerous private companies around the world.

Is creativity a skill or a mindset? Do you seek expertise in one area or do you like to dabble with a range of pursuits?  Do you dread making mistakes or co-exist with them comfortably?

Haven’t we all desired to speak in front of an audience only to find a shudder run up our spine and go blank within seconds of appearing on stage? Haven’t we always desired to conquer this mind-numbing fear that is keeping us from reaching our highest potential?  Haven’t we experienced scattered flashes of peak performance, without being able to sustain them? His performance primer offers the perfect blueprint to enhance the sustainability of this peak performance. While burnout has been cited to afflict peak performers, it happens more so on account of their inability to relax and recover.

Imagine you are hiking in the Himalayas and a snow leopard appears out of the white. What is likely to be your first knee jerk reaction? Most likely, you might experience a sudden tightness in your muscles and a queasiness in your gut, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t all your attention now be directed towards the cat? Don’t we naturally pay attention to something that scares us? The Eureka moment in Steven’s book lies in treating fear as a compass for directing our scarcest resource that is, attention. If there is an element of fear in any activity, attention naturally comes with it, for free. One of his eye-opening statements is, “Going in the direction that scares you the most amplifies attention and this automatically translates into flow.”

"Diamonds in the Dust" presents a compelling argument on why equities are one of the best financial instruments to generate long term wealth, as opposed to real estate and fixed deposit schemes that appear to be, in hindsight - value drains.  It debunks several myths about equity investing in general and stock selection in particular. It opens our eyes to certain principles that anybody can use to structure their investment portfolio.

If you were given a choice between attending an IVY League business school and being personally mentored by the CEO of a conglomerate, what would you choose?

What would be your state of mind when you are handed over the reins of a business one day and a catastrophic event pulls the carpet from right under your feet, the next day?

Such was the fate of Jeffrey Immelt, former CEO of the global conglomerate General Electric, who assumed office on 10th of September 2001, a day before the twin towers of the World Trade Center vaporized. GE’s shares tumbled by 20% eroding more than $80 billion within a day. Did he relent? Let’s find out.

In this episode, we’ll review two books in one that are based on a similar and related theme of #career progression.

In his book “Get Better at Getting Better”, Chandramouli Venkatesan, the author of his first best-seller “The Catalyst”, hashes out an actionable #model for #upskilling oneself.

In the age of data abundance and #content overload, there is never a scarcity of reading material, #learning #tools and #digital platforms. The decision on what content to read is the very first dilemma that we need to address.

Speaking of career #dilemmas, here's another best-seller “The Right Choice” written by a distinguished #professional, – Shiv Shivakumar. “The Right Choice” is peppered with real-life examples of many accomplished #professionals, #entrepreneurs and the decisions that have shaped their career trajectories. One of my favourite and impactful #quotes from Shiv’s book is, “A career is lived forwards but understood…backwards”.

In his second book, best selling author Michael helps us tap into our inner curiosity to resist the temptation to offer advice while improving our future self. He has meticulously brought out the clear distinction between coaching and feedback. He recommends that we remain curious, humble and lead with an objective of empowering the advice seeker, by helping them discover their own solutions.

Some salespeople tend to avoid getting into icky situations like disputes, arguments and disagreements. They believe that these put client relationship at risk. But, do they really?

As high as 83% of buyers are seeking something of value. Yet, aren't we guilty of labeling them as price seekers as we rush into closure? Does the buyer care more for creating a sustainable competitive advantage for their offering or merely a discount in price? Come find out in this podcast.