By PK Narayanan
The podcast currently has 52 episodes available.
We always are in search for getting the right answers. But often the right answers don’t come and present themselves in front of us.
When we ask the ‘right questions’, the chances of getting the ‘right answers’ are high.
During the early days of space exploration it was a challenge with ink pens, as normal ink-pens didn’t work in space due to zero gravity.
Teams were formed to invent a special ink-pen that would work in space. After months of research and spending thousands of dollars, the attempt remained unsuccessful.
Another leader joined the team at this juncture and asked the team ‘how we could write in space’? One of the team members answered ‘we could use pencils’.
When we ask the ‘right questions’, the chances of getting ‘right answers’ are high!
Are we asking the right questions?
My name is PK Narayanan
Wishing you the best, Thank you.
#ceo #scaleup #leadership #business
What we focus on, expands.
Whatever we focus on, expands. It’s therefore
For example if we focus on challenges,
What we focus on, expands.
Focus drives actions and outcomes.
As a leader, what should I focus on?
A single answer that fits-all may not exist for this question. Also an answer may not hold good for all the times. Yet, the awareness ‘what we focus on, expands’ could lead us to choose the right areas to focus on.
In a way, our priorities drive our focus. In that sense it’s important to get our priorities right!
What we focus on, expands. Being conscious of where to focus on, making conscious choices on what to focus on,
My name is PK Narayanan
Wishing you the best, Thank you.
Does every team member in our business know what’s expected of them? Are their individual roles clear?
Not knowing what’s expected causes hesitation, indecisiveness, anxiety, insecurity and stress to the team members. For the business, it causes uncertainty, chaos, gaps, under-utilisation of resources, and below-par performance.
Globally only one in two employees know what is expected of them at work, says a recent Gallup report. This means half the employees worldwide are unsure about their roles. These employees, the authors of the survey note, are anxious and stressed - even losing their sleep - because they don't know what their Managers want from them. And these employees don't know whether they're succeeding or failing.
Lack of clarity on roles causes damage at multiple levels - for the employees, and to the business.
Providing clarity on each one’s role, and how it rolls-up and fits into the overall business objectives, and setting clear expectations from each role, contribute immensely for improved business outcomes and well-being of team members. This is essential and fundamental for enhanced business performance and business growth.
Does every team member in our business, know what’s expected of them? Are their individual roles clear?
My name is PK Narayanan
Wishing you the best, Thank you.
#ceo #scaleup #leadership #business
Shaping organisation culture is considered one of the most important things a Business Owner does - consciously or
Organisation culture is invisible, yet felt by all - every moment. It takes time to set-in. Once set, normally outlives the leader who has been instrumental in creating it; Often playing an empowering role in theorganisation reaching its goals.
The good news is that as Business Owners we have the possibility to create a healthy, constructive organisation culture!
3 things to keep in mind while shaping an empowering organisation culture are:
1. Leadership is about inspiring high performance; It’s also about making people feel safe and secure. For eg: adversity is something usual to businesses. A leader remaining composed while facing the storm puts those being led also at ease - where one doesn’t feel threatened or panicky - leading to creation of a safe and secure workplace culture.
2. Often feedback is given to people in an accrued, cumulative way. It’s given, rather the need is felt, only when something significant happens, or is done or not done. Alternatively one could encourage a culture of offering feedback more often, in small doses, for the so called 'lesser significant things' as well; for, those little things add up to becoming a significant thing. Such a culture also prepares everyone to start giving and accepting feedback and feed-forward.
3. As a leader, one is visible - always. Actions, and inactions are seen, felt and discussed by people. This means the Leader needs to model the culture that they want to create. For eg: being on-time for meetings oneself consistently, before insisting and telling the team members to do so.
An organisation culture created and curated consciously goes a long way in achieving the purposes of the organisation.
My name is PK Narayanan
Wishing you the best, Thank you.
#ceo #scaleup #leadership #business
The best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing - said Theodore Roosevelt.
It’s the actions that change the world - not the ideas, not the thoughts. Not even decisions.
People become who they are, because of what they do.
It’s interesting that, though many may have similar ideas, thoughts, and many may decide to do chosen things, only those who act upon them move.
There exists a gap between the thoughts and actions, the decisions and the doing. And it’s pertinent.
The question therefore is - Am I actioning enough on the things that I decide to do, things that I want to do, things that I need to do, to reach where I want to reach?
My name is PK Narayanan
Wishing you the best, Thank you.
#ceo #scaleup #leadership #business
Creating and Keeping Business Fitness is a Key Enabler for Scaling-up. This would mean creating and maintaining People Fitness, Functional Fitness, Market Fitness and avoiding Fat in the belly!
People Fitness happens when we have the Right People in Right Roles. Businesses need to manage the current and emerging role requirements pro-actively, nurturing, developing and acquiring talent in a conscious way.
Functional fitness is making sure that each function in the Business are fit-enough to meet and fulfil Scaling-up
Market fitness is ensuring a proper Product - Market fit for our Products or Services on an ongoing basis.
Often, alongside the Scaling-up - which leads to processing increased volumes across the business - also arises a tendency to accumulate fat, in the form of redundancies, inefficiencies, wastage, and duplication; usually in all wrong places. It’s important that the business keeps a constant vigil to avoid them, and maintain agility, efficiency and effectiveness in all its business operations.
Business Fitness leads to Excellence in Execution.
Creating and keeping ‘Business Fitness’ is thus a key enabler in a scaling-up process.
Is my business fit enough?
My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best! Thank you
#ceo #leadership #scaleup
A lot is said about dealing with Failures. We have also heard 'failure is the stepping stone to success'. Is it so?
Amazon's Jeff Bezos points out that failures are broadly of two kinds - therefore to be dealt with differently.
1. Experimental failure - 'When we are developing a new product or service or experimenting in some way, and it doesn't work, that's okay - that's the kind of failure you should be happy with', Bezos says. 'These are the big, bold bets that move the needle'.
With the learning, it could become the stepping stone for success.
2. Operational failure - 'We've built hundreds of fulfilment centers at Amazon over the years, and we know how to do that. If we build a new fulfilment center and it's a disaster, that's just bad execution. That's not good failure,' Bezos explains.
If we fail in something that we already know or should know how to do, that's not something to celebrate.
In that sense, failure is not quite a stepping stone to success all the time.
Distinguishing the kind of failure may provide us with the insights as to how to deal with them.
My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best! Thank you.
Leaders face criticism.
Overcoming criticism is one thing, overcoming the fear of criticism is another.
Often, it’s the fear of criticism that kills creativity, innovation, and new initiatives. It’s important therefore to deal with the fear of criticism, in a timely manner.
How do I deal with the fear of criticism?
Aristotle once said, ‘There is only one way to avoid criticism: Do nothing, say nothing and be nothing’.
One way of looking at it, is that anything worth doing attracts admiration and criticism. It’s therefore a question of whether I want to be judged or ignored?
Another approach is to see that our hunger for success out-weighs the fear of criticism.
A third approach could be to separate the person from the action - considering criticism as an opportunity to learn and
As a Leader, how am I dealing with the fear of criticism?
My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best! Thank you
#ceo #leadership #scaleup
Scaling up is a dream for many entrepreneurs - Yet, research shows only 4% businesses scale-up successfully.
Every business has two sides - 'what's inside' and 'what others see'.
When we move 'what others see' into 'what Prospects see', magic happens; it paves the way for Scaling-up!
That’s about positioning - choosing 'where to play'.
When you set up your business to appeal to everyone, it ends up appealing to no one, says Laurel Staples.
That's true.
We need to set up our business in a way that appeals to our Prospects – what our Prospects see.
Choosing 'where to play' - in terms of market segment, geography, price point, ticket size…
That's in a way choosing our play arena - narrowing down the market we intend to serve, ie. the population of Prospects, so that we become relevant, we serve better, and we serve more of them. That’s scaling up!
When 'Prospects' start seeing us, the 'pull' also happens in due course, alongside the push.
Scaling-up is a possibility for every business - and choosing 'where to play' is an important part of that process.
My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best! Thank you
#ceo #leadership #scaleup
The swiftest way to grow your company is to grow your people, says Robin Sharma.
As a leader, I need to influence, inspire and enable my team. Alongside, I need to consciously grow them as well!
How do we do that?
To be effective, every role in the business needs to be operated by people fulfilling 3 aspects: Competencies, Capabilities and Cultural alignment.
As a leader, we need to make sure that every role in the business is played by people having necessary competencies to deliver that role, has appropriate capabilities to deliver results in the role, and is culturally aligned to Company’s values, attitudes, behaviours and standards.
Therefore, in a way, growing people means developing necessary competencies in them, enhancing their skills and capabilities, and aligning them towards the company culture.
As a leader, am I growing my people consciously?
What else could I be doing to develop their competencies, enhance their capabilities, and align them towards the company culture?
It’s an essential part of Scaling-up!
My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best! Thank you
#ceo #leadership #scaleup #business
The podcast currently has 52 episodes available.