As part of the goal setting environment, feedback becomes paramount and integral part of the system! In this video we take a look at the third question : When can one give feedback? Is Open Feedback simple & straightforward as it sounds?
In case you were able to relate to the post & it helped you improve, it is a token of happiness for us. Do go through our other articles which might help you further:
Leadership comes associated and loaded with multiple thought processes, and along with come free of charge, a lot of myths. We try to focus on the seven most relevant, and perhaps predominantly seen/experienced. You can also alternatively, watch these seven myths through the playlist available on our YouTube Channel.
Myth#1: Leadership is about holding hands & showing the way till the finish line
The first and most important myth perhaps of them all – The necessity to hold hands and always show the entire way!
Probably we all grew up thinking as a leader (in former times manager), had to guide our young team members through every situation fully. Yes, probably in the past it was also not the case. However with the ever changing world scenario, the emphasis to break this myth becomes even more important today. Yes, it is important to guide a young team member. But, it can be done also by pushing them in the swimming pool with a float and ask them to swim. This way, they learn a lot more perhaps and in their own unique way. What must you do as a leader then? Sit down and assure them that you are always available as a lifeguard (just as you see on the beaches and the big swimming pools), ready to jump in when the situation gets out of hand. With this assurance, you can lead more effectively, and also instill leadership qualities in your team members.
Myth#2: To be a leader, team must win/succeed every single time
Many of us think that leadership always requires a title, a position close to the CEO of an organisation. How wrong we all are, regarding this thought. Leadership does not require a title. On the contrary, the great leaders are those who do not demand for a title. To be leader, you need to exhibit consistently a few characteristics without any inhibition or a second thought. You need to inspire while innovating with wisdom, have a vision which encapsulates passion, and commitment, while exhibiting compassion, and staying vigilant. You can only inspire when you have the endurance and stamina to run the marathon. Leadership is not a short 100m sprint, or even a 42km marathon, it is much longer and goes much deeper. So, if a title is what is stopping you from displaying leadership at the work place, stop what you are doing right now, and go lead.
Myth#3: Leader must always stay back and provide exposure for team
Another myth associated with leadership that can damage morale of the team more than any other myth associated with leadership. A popular myth is that a leader must always stay back and provide exposure to the team. Unfortunately, many weak leaders interpret this in the wrong way. Yes, leaders must stay back, and allow for the team to be noticed. However, when facing dire situations where a stressful project or situation is faced, the main role of a leader is to stand in front of the team, and to protect them. A leader is the first line of defence and the last line of attack. When you fail to protect the team in such situations and allow them to take the blame, you damage their morale completely. The willingness to take a risk the next time completely diminishes, and their output is never going to be 110% when situation demands. Next time, you suspect that they will face heat from the management, stand in front of them and take the fire. This does no harm, and as a leader, this is part of your responsibility, and you set a great example for your team members on how to lead a team.
A leader is the first line of defence and the last line of attack.
Sanjeev Bhushan
Myth#4: Employee growth is not responsibility of a leader
An area that is very important to your team: Growth of employees. One popular myth is that as a leader, you are not responsible for the growth of your employee, and that the employee must take responsibility to chart their own careers. Wrong! As a leader, one your primary missions is to identify the capabilities of your employees, their strengths, and their areas of interest, and then discuss with them on their career path. As a leader, you must remain in constant dialogue with your employee to understand their wishes, their goals, and be an enabler to their growth. As with breaking Myth#1, you do not have to stand next to them every single time through their development, but it does not mean you are not responsible. Also provide time for discussions not only for technical topics, but also for personal development topics. And be an enabler.
Myth#5: Leadership requires a title
One of the myths surrounding recognition is also associated with leadership. Many of us think that leadership always requires a title, a position close to the CEO of an organisation. How wrong we all are, regarding this thought. Leadership does not require a title. On the contrary, the great leaders are those who do not demand for a title. To be leader, you need to exhibit consistently a few characteristics without any inhibition or a second thought. You need to inspire while innovating with wisdom, have a vision which encapsulates passion, and commitment, while exhibiting compassion, and staying vigilant. You can only inspire when you have the endurance and stamina to run the marathon. Leadership is not a short 100m sprint, or even a 42km marathon, it is much longer and goes much deeper. So, if a title is what is stopping you from displaying leadership at the work place, stop what you are doing right now, and go lead.
Myth#6: Employee growth jeopardises our role as a leader and will threaten our position
One of the most dangerous risks and egoistic myths: Many weak leaders believe that when their team members grow, and start getting recognised, this will jeopardise their position. The myth might sound very funny at first for most, however, believe me, such leaders exist. Unfortunate as it might sound, such a leader is the most dangerous component in a team, and the organisation.
While depriving his team members of actual growth, they might even start demotivating by stating how hard their job is. In reality, being a leader is a privilege. A privilege where one can influence the entire careers of other professionals, young and old alike.
This myth destroys the root of what leadership is about: enabling others to grow and exhibit leadership traits. An employee growing faster than their leader is to be appreciated and motivated to strive for more. Next time, you come across such leaders who believe in this myth, remind them of their primary responsibility of fostering growth and a positive environment for all.
Myth#7: Leading a young, inexperienced team is difficult
As we grow older, we tend to see a lot more young professionals coming into the team. A myth associated with this hiring process is that leading such a young and inexperienced team is difficult. In fact, leading a young team is a blessing, and gives one a lot more freedom to operate. The young minds provide a new dimension to the thought process, your brainstorming sessions will throw out ideas you would have otherwise not had. A young mind, a fresh mind is uncorrupted by corporate practices and unsaid rules. When you give these minds space to express themselves, they can produce the most radical ideas and probably innovative solutions to problems.
Executing such dynamic ideas will inject much needed enthusiasm and dynamic thinking process into the team. Existing team members who have experience will also be motivated to think innovatively.
Every team needs a fresh injection of thoughts every now and then, don’t we. In the end, just as in The Three Musketeers, remember, All for one, One for all. Stand behind the team, support diversity, inclusivity, and fairness.
Breaking these Myths
On our journey to being better leaders, and hungry leaders who lead change, we must strive to break stereotypes, break myths, and create an environment for everyone to thrive. As a leader or an aspiring leader, our only goal and purpose is to foster a environment conducive to learning, leading change, and constantly evolving. And, as we evolve, we become better, together.
And on that note,
Stay healthy, stay safe, stay motivated, and let us keep the world moving.
In case you were able to relate to the post & it helped you improve, it is a token of happiness for us. Do go through our other articles which might help you further:
As we head out to finish the first day of the new year 2024. As 2023 wound down, the final hours of what have been probably the first complete year since 2019 to be devoid of any restrictions for people movement, or interaction, it is time to step into a new year with time to pause, reflect and realise. Pause is a powerful tool and contains keys to secret chambers which you never knew existed, but always wished they had. SanKom Mind Spa wishes you and your families a very happy, and healthy start to 2024.
What is an expectation?
As per Oxford Dictionary, it is defined as “a belief that something will happen because it is likely” or “a hope that something good will happen”. Whenever we place a hope or belief that something will happen (irrespective of whether it is good or bad) without any influence of the probability of it happening. More often than not, as Oxford Dictionary captures it, we tend towards the likelihood of it happening than not. The human mind has the power to think with a higher level of positively when the outcome benefits self. However, some of us prefer to keep our hopes low- in scenarios with the belief that we do not deserve the best outcome. This is also in a way, an expectation. When someone is performing a task that has one or more outcomes that influences the activities we will take up, the human mind also interprets the situation, and predicts outcomes to prepare for. This is also a form of expectation.
Mind Spa by SanKom has been on a long hiatus thanks to a period of self-reflection that included lot of inputs for self-improvement, and a journey towards being better than yesterday. Upon staying away for a long period, clearly, there is only one conclusion, everyone who has a everyday routine must take a break, detach from the routine, introspect for avenues to improve, and then rejoin the journey with a vision to keep improving. A monotonous routine never made anyone better.
Hope that everyone has stayed healthy in the time that SanKom has been away. If you are reading this on LinkedIn Newsletter, this would be the first article posted through the Newsletter. Please feel free to visit my LinkedIn profile page to read previous articles posted between March 2020 and August 2021 or visit our blog to read articles posted since August 2021. Do subscribe to the LinkedIn Newsletter or the Blog depending on your preferred mode of reading.
If you could pick only one of the options defined on the list, what would you choose:
Trust that you and your loved ones are staying healthy. There has been a long gap since the last topic on Mind Spa by SanKom. Kindly accept our apologies for the long break. Several aspects of our lives are undergoing a drastic change. Recently, SanKom moved over to a new country for work reasons, and following up with local processes, new culture, setting up things has occupied most of our time.
Imagine a colleagueC1 with whom you share a cordial relationship where respect, exchanges, support, feedback, and retrospective actions happen mutually on a regular basis. Imagine also a colleagueC2 who likes the way you are, but you do not share a cordial relationship with them. You also have several such relationships within the same organisation/mutual personal circles. During interactions with several members, you get to hear that some aspects of you need to change and could lead to an overall improvement in your character traits. Being a good listener, and a person who adheres by Smart Trust, you evaluate the feedback received, and prepare a change plan – A plan to change 🙂
Trust that you are keeping well amidst the growing case loads from CoVid and MonkeyPox. Please exercise extreme caution while heading out of your house and socialise. Kindly follow all safety protocols in public places for the wellness of your family, yourself and also other public.
Whilst we were young and in school, we always had class leaders/monitors who took the responsibility of maintaining order whilst the teacher was away due to personal or official reasons. Now, was it easy to be a class leader/monitor?
Trust that everyone is safe & healthy amidst the growing pandemic situation across the world. Kindly follow all safety protocols that we have closely followed for the last two years to keep everyone safe.
William Shakespeare, fondly renowned to in the literary world as the ‘Bard of Avon’. Amongst his most famous works is The Merchant of Venice which features 5 key characters set in the city of Venice in the 16th Century. Antonio & Bassanio who are friends, Portia a rich heiress, Jessica – Shylock’s daughter & Shylock – a Jewish moneylender.
What relevance does a play written by a Bard who lived in the 16th century have to do with working professionals in the 21st century & millennials? A lot of it in fact. Read on….
Trust that your family, friends, near-dear, and you are staying healthy amidst this growing virus threats that seem to be never-ending. Let us all follow all safety precautions with utmost sincerity & increase the chances of staying healthy.
How many of us have gazed at the open sky and seen hawks/eagles soaring high up in the sky?
I assume the majority of us have done it. So, what does a hawk or eagle have to do with today’s concept?
Trust that as you read this article, you and your loved ones are in good health, and enjoying life amidst the new normal. With heavy rains lashing out in Chennai & coastal districts of TamilNadu all of a sudden, affecting normal life. Trust that the heavy rains or the consequential damages did not affect you & your families. And as we near usual party time in all cities, trust that you will have you best thinking hat on before being part of large social gathering.
Just as I mentioned party, what is an integral part of parties?
Dance?
Drinks?
Food?
Yes, Music. Some nice foot-tapping music is key to any good party along with enjoyable company.
Now, coming to creation of music, how does a music director compose music?
As we move towards the end of the year, and try to look back at our achievements, something that we often miss out is the contribution of our team members.
Trust that as you read this article, you and your loved ones are in good health, and enjoying life amidst the new normal. Deepavali is just a few days away with more and more people confident in their social engagement activities. However, now is not the time to let down our guard yet. Do continue to practice all safety protocols, along with personal judgement over participation in huge gatherings.
Could you think of one common aspect of our lives since we were born up until this day that involved our efforts?
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Trust that as you read this article, you and your loved ones are in good health, and enjoying life amidst the new normal. A lot is going on in India, with Dussehra just concluding and frantic head wind into the grandest festival across India, Deepavali just a weekend away. With last year’s celebrations damped due to CoVid, & already with 70% of nation vaccinated at least once, & 30%+ fully vaccinated, people are more confident in their social engagement activities. However, it is not yet time to let down our guard. Do continue to practice all safety protocols, along with personal judgement over participation in huge gatherings.
In the modern-day working environment, several periodic events occur in each of our lives. Starting with team meetings, Town hall meetings, Launch events, leadership forums/conferences, technical conferences, internal communication meetings, etc. Although each of these involve several stakeholders that participate physically (virtually of late), simultaneously and contribute to the magnitude of success for the event itself, one such periodic event involves only two people physically present in the discussion.
Any guesses on what I am trying to narrow down to?
If you would prefer to proceed with the Podcast of the post, please open below link:
Trust that as you read this article, you and your loved ones are in good health, and enjoying life amidst the new normal. A lot is going on in India, with Dussehra happening, and coming to a conclusion before we head frantically into the grandest festival across India, Deepavali in a couple of weeks from now. Do continue to practice all safety protocols, along with personal judgement over participation in huge gatherings.
Let us consider a small event that happens in everyone’s lives, albeit some of us notice it, and others do not. Imagine you are preparing a cup of coffee/tea/drink for yourself/someone, and take a scoop of sugar in a spoon. Are you sure that all the grains of sugar you picked on the spoon are transferred onto your cup? Not even spilling a grain, every single time? A small grain of sugar falling on the floor is not visible to the human eye on first sight. However, the same grain is immediately pounced upon within few seconds by one of the smallest yet most disciplined creatures living on planet earth – ants.
What makes the grain of sugar not visible to us, the so called, superior beings pacing along the face of the planet?
Hope that you are staying healthy & safe, and have got vaccinated against the Corona Virus.
Today, as we slowly try to regain consciousness after a lazy, yummy, sumptuous food filled Ganesh/Vinayagar Chaturthi, we try to gather some lessons we could learn out of Lord Ganesha.
I would like you to go into a parallel universe & start imagining below scenarios. A parallel universe where your actions do not bear any fruit, nor result in any repercussions. So, let your instincts & imaginations loose. Between each situation, you have to reset your thought process, and if possible, jot down your reactions to the situation before proceeding with the next situation.
Mind Spa by SanKom - Life lessons for a lifetime 
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