Thought of the Day!!!

"The best leaders are those most interested in surrounding themselves with assistants and associates smarter than they are. They are frank in admitting this and are willing to pay for such talents." -Amos Parrish

Thought of the Day!!!

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it." - Theodore Roosevelt

Attention Please READERS!!!

Goodmorning everyone,

We hope you all had a great weekend.Well, we would request you all to browse a little on wikipedia,encyclopedia or any other sources of information about the different people whose quotes,poetry,stories,articles,message from blog etc. we update and present in front of you all.We are sure that among all of these people you must be knowing about most of them.But,we aim at covering all the work and ideas from varied fields like ,bussiness tycoons, authors, poets, senators, politicions, etc. except anonymous.Such is the need of updating all this because it is best to read what a person had written only after having a little bit idea about what and who the person was.This will help you to better relate the quotes and all by keeping yourself in the shoes of the person.For example once we mentioned a quote from Adolf Hitler( You all read it ,were motivated and all was good and fine.But,someone who does not have even a slight idea about who Hitler was,he or she will never understnad the drive and real passion with which Hitler told those words.) So,that is what the Team Abhiyan wished to convey and what we wrote above was just an example.We hope you all like what we are updating here,and a lot more will be there once the fresh academic year strarts from July 16th, 2011.A lot of updates regarding activities,book club,and a lot of updates about the campus.So please cooperate.One man's show can never be much successful to a great extent.Its all in the team that helps in real accomplishments and glorifies the task.Every member of School of Management comprises the Team Abhiyan.These words are representing all of them.Many say to keep less expectations,but NO we believe in having Great Expectations from us itself.So please expect from urself and see to it that you just give your 100%, rest success is assured if not now then,surely in this lifetime at your individul and personal fronts.So here we conclude and have a great day ahead.

Come What May Come;

Will Never Quit Playing The Game;

Beause The Fear Adds To The Fun. -Anonymous

Thought of the Day!!!

Theme of this Still- "personal power"

"Obstacles can't stop you. Problems can't stop you. Most of all,other people can't stop you ONLY YOU can stop you." - J.Gitomer

A Logo Is Not A Brand

Lots of organizations come to our company, Advertising for Humanity, asking for "a new brand." They typically mean a new name, or icon, or a new look and feel for their existing name. Lots of people think that brand begins and ends there — that once we shine up the name they can stick it below their email signature, pop it on their website, and, voila, they have a new brand. Much of our work consists of disabusing people of this notion.

Brand is much more than a name or a logo. Brand is everything, and everything is brand.

Brand is your strategy. If you're a consumer brand, brand is your products and the story that those products tell together. Ikea's kitchen chairs' tendency to fall apart after two years is part of the company's brand. If you're a humanitarian organization, brand is your aspirations and the progress you are making toward them. Share Our Strength's audacious goal to end child hunger in America in five years is its brand. The work the organization is doing to get governor after governor on board is its brand. Its seriousness is its brand. Back in 1969 NASA didn't have the best logo. But man did it have a brand. It has a nicer logo now — but the brand no longer stands for anything. If you don't know where you're going or how you're going to get there, that's your brand, no matter what fancy new name you come up with.

Brand is your calls to action. If Martin Luther King had offered people free toasters if they marched on Washington, that would have been his brand. Are your calls to action brave and inspiring or tacky? Are they consistent with some strategy that makes sense? Getting more Facebook "likes" isn't a strategy, in and of itself. If you're a humanitarian organization, the things you ask your constituents to do are your brand.

Brand is your customer service. If donors call your organization all excited and get caught up in a voicemail tree, can't figure out who they should talk to, and leave a message for someone unsure if it's the right person, that's your brand. It says you don't really care all that much about your donors. If they come to your annual dinner and can't hear the speaker because of a lousy sound system, that's your brand. It says that you don't think it's really important whether they hear what you have to say or not. If the clerk at your checkout counter is admiring her nails and talking on her cell phone, she's your brand, whether she's wearing one of the nice new logo caps you bought or not.

Brand is the way you speak. If you build a new website and fill it with outdated copy, you don't have a new brand. If the copy is impenetrable — a disease of epidemic proportion in the humanitarian sector — that's your brand. If you let social service jargon, acronyms, and convoluted abstractions contaminate everything you say, that's your brand. If your annual report puts people to sleep, that's your brand. If it's trying to be all things to all people, that's your brand.

Message is a central part of your brand, but message alone cannot make a great brand. How many times have you encountered a product or service that didn't live up to what the copy writers told you about it? That disconnect is your brand.

Brand is the whole array of your communication tools. Brand is the quality of the sign on the door that says, "Back in 10 minutes." It's whether you use a generic voicemail system with canned muzak-on-hold, or whether you create your own custom program. The former says you are just like everyone else and you're fine with that; the latter says you are original. You might have a pretty sale banner that adheres to all the right visual standards, but if it's sagging and hung up with duct tape, that's your brand. It says you don't pay attention to the details. Can you imagine seeing a crooked banner with duct tape in an Apple store? Never. And that's their brand. It says that the motherboard in the Mac isn't hanging by a thread either.

In the digital age, user interface is your brand. If your website's functionality frustrates people, it says that you don't care about them. Brand extends even to your office forms, the contracts you send out, your HR manuals. Do you rethink traditional business tools or default to convention? The choice you make says a lot about how innovative your brand is.

Brand is your people. Brand is your people and the way they represent you. Having a good team starts with good hiring and continues with strong and consistent training and development. No matter how well your employees adhere to your new brand style guide, if they couldn't care less about the job they're doing, that's your brand.

Brand is your facilities. Are the lights on, or is your team working in darkness? Is the place clean and uncluttered? Does it have signage that's consistent with your visual standards? Does it look and feel alive? Your home is your brand.

Brand is your logo and visuals, too. A great brand deserves a great logo and great graphic design and visuals. It can make the difference when the customer is choosing between two great brands. But these alone cannot make your brand great.

Ultimately, brand is about caring about your business at every level and in every detail, from the big things like mission and vision, to your people, your customers, and every interaction anyone is ever going to have with you, no matter how small.

Whether you know it or not, whether you have a swanky logo or not, you do have a brand. The question is whether or not it's the brand you really want

-Dan Pallotta

Thought of the Day!!!

“Life is a tragedy for those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.” -Horace Walpole

Determination and Persistence: Never-Say-Die Attitude!

This is a real life story of engineer John Roebling building the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, USA back in 1870. The bridge was completed in 1883, after 13 years.

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was also injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to talk or walk.

“We told them so.” “Crazy men and their crazy dreams.” “It’s foolish to chase wild visions.”

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built.

In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever. He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task.

As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.

It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.

He touched his wife’s arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife’s arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man’s indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.

Keep Your Dream! : Learnings from a Story

I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro. He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money for youth at risk programs.

The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, “I want to tell you why I let Jack use my horse. It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy’s high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.

“That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch."

“He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, `See me after class.’

“The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, `Why did I receive an F?’

“The teacher said, `This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you’ll have to pay large stud fees. There’s no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher added, `If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.’

“The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, `Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.’ “Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all."

He stated, “You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.”

Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, “I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace.” He added, “The best part of the story is that two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.” When the teacher was leaving, he said, “Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up on yours.”

“Don’t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what.”
- Anonymous

Thought of the Day!!!

"I never played with a runner in my entire life, even in schools, because only I know where the ball is going and how hard, when I hit the ball, something my runner will never know about.At least with me, the match starts much, much earlier than the actual match.I want to give my six hours of serious cricket on the ground and then take whatever the result.And that is the reason why this victory is great, because different players have made contributions to the win." -Sachin Tendulkar

Thought of the Day!!!

Theme of this Still- "follow your heart"

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." — Steve Jobs

OPPORTUNITIES!!!!!!!!!!!

"Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You will have opportunities beyond anything we've ever known."

Ronald Reagan

So,you think you have great as well as innovative ideas ,learnings to share with the world out there???Well,lets see what the world can do about it!!!!!!Here we bring infront of you an opportunity via The Hindu(One of the leading newspapers in INDIA).Please read ahead


HR Managers,here is an opportunity to ASSERT your opinion.

Tell the world about the team building events you've conducted,how you deal with problems like attrition and even the buzz on industry movements.No one knows the industry better than you.SO,have your say!!!!!!!Just write in to HinduHRNews@cnkonline.com

In the EDUCATION industry, have your say.
Contribute the editorial content in opportunities and tell the world what you have to say.From sensitising employees at large to training students to be future ready.Here is your platform to be heared.All you need to do is write in hinducampusnews@ckonline.com

Note : Source being The Oppotunities from The Hindu (15/06/2011)

Thought of the DAY!!!

"If you want to shine like sun, first you will have to burn like it." Adolf Hitler

Meet Venkatesh Prasad, the Man Who’s ‘Wiring Up’ Ford Vehicles

Ford’s ‘what’s next guy’ is scripting a future where cars will compete with PCs

At Ford, the secondbiggest carmaker in the US, Krishnaswamy Venkatesh Prasad is called the ‘what’s next guy’. It’s a nickname he acquired as a founding member of Ford’s nextgeneration research team responsible for creating a smart phone and Internet-like experience inside cars. Prasad has patented over 16 solutions that help the driver do things like search out a friend’s location in real time, listen to Internet radio, browse through favourite music and even get alerts on diabetes and obesity. He is the brain behind Sync, Ford’s incar digital solution that helps passengers figure out the best traffic route, read email messages, perform web searches and even tweet and shop online, all through an eight-inch touchscreen. Over a million Ford cars have already been shipped with Sync — the solution developed by Prasad along with other engineers, worldwide. Ford’s ‘what’s next guy’ is helping it make one of auto industry’s biggest shifts — from manufacturing pure mechanical machines to making intelligent cars that use as much brain (software) as brawn. “Alan (Ford CEO) says Ford is a technology company — infotronics is at the centre of 12th floor corner room discussions in the company now,” says Prasad. Last year, during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Alan Mulally said the Sync system will soon do inside a car, anything a computer or a smartphone could do outside it. Over the next five years, Mulally wants 80% of Ford’s US cars to have Sync features. The market for Sync-like tools will touch $40 billion in 2016, up from $6 billion last year, according to research firm Gartner. By bringing in high-end software into car cabins to create intelligent applications, Prasad is trying to make the best of this opportunity. With more applications bundled into cars, Ford is trying to do to cars what Apple did to phones and computers. “Our stories (Ford and Apple) are quite similar; it’s a good analogy, except that we don’t own any operating system,” says Prasad. Sync, developed jointly by Prasad’s team and software maker Microsoft, was first released in 2007. Nearly 60 million people born between 1981 and 1995 — or Generation Y — have grown up on the web. Prasad’s efforts to offer seamless social media connectivity, on-demand music and other features are helping Ford woo younger buyers. The ‘Last Inch’ Problem
This February, nearly three years after Ford launched Sync, rival General Motors rolled out a similar system called MyLink that uses a seven-inch LCD screen. GM had actually launched OnStart — that offered text and email messaging inside cars — in 1996. But Sync overshadowed it.
An engineering graduate from the Madras University (1980), Prasad went to the US in 1987 for a course in computer engineering from Washington State University. He followed it up with a PhD in computer engineering from Rutgers University, New Jersey.
“I got into cars almost by accident,” he recalls. When he first received a call from Ford for a job in 1996, Prasad was working with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When asked if he knew anything about cars, Prasad answered in negative. That’s why we need you, the interviewer told him. Ford, which had 15,000 automotive engineers then, wanted computer professionals. At that time, Ford was trying to redefine itself by researching on solutions that could woo back young customers and help the carmaker regain some of the lost ground. Over the years, Toyota and GM had been aggressively launching new variants, and it was critical for Ford to start architecting the next generation of cars.
“We are entering the automotive era of ‘connected vehicles’ which allows consumers to connect their digital media, services and applications to the automobile using their mobile devices and the cloud,” says Gartner analyst Thilo Koslowski. “The goal is to enable content consumption, creation and sharing in the vehicle so that consumers can extend their digital lifestyles into the car.”Going forward, over the next 18-24 months, Sync will try to solve problems of delivering social media and other experiences at nearly 70 miles an hour inside a car, a challenge Prasad describes as the ‘last inch’ problem.
Solving the ‘last inch’ problem also forced Prasad to look beyond Ford. Last year, Prasad involved a few students at the University of Michigan who developed a location-based service called Caravan Track, which informs motorists about their friends’ locations in real time. The service has already been tested on Ford Fiesta 2011 model named ‘American Journey’, or AJ, that even tweeted experiences throughout a trip undertaken between Ann Arbor Michigan and San Mateo California last year.
“We are taking a good look at social media and gaming among other potential capabilities in the future,” says Prasad. Prasad is looking forward to a NASA trip later this month. “Next week, I’ll get a chance to be a 10-year-old once again, I’ll be spending two days at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre at Houston, Texas.”

- The Economics Times(14/06/2011)

First Movers Take on Fast Movers

Challenger brands upset global stars’ launch plans

Last week, oral care giant Colgate announced the launch of Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief toothpaste for tooth sensitivity. Did that mark the opening up of a new category of business? Not quite.

Early in the year, an associate company of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) had launched Sensodyne toothpaste in the same space of pain relief and is today in the process of taking the $750-million brand national.
Two months before Cadbury Kraft India launched its global best-selling Oreo biscuits in March, rival Britannia Industries stole its thunder by launching an exact me-too product called Treat-O. Although Kraft immediately sued Britannia for ‘trademark and copyright infringement of intellectual property rights,’ Treat-O has managed to take away category exclusivity and is selling as much as, if not more than, Oreo. Both are chocolate-flavoured sandwich cookies at similar price points and the advertising for both products is similar.
Globally Oreo may be generating revenues of over $1 billion annually but, in India consumers are confusing it with Treat-O. The world’s No 1 biscuits brand had just been ambushed.
Hitting Below the Belt

• January 2011: Kraft Foods sues Britannia for trademark & copyright violation of Oreo cookies. Says latter’s Treat-O is a copy

• June 2011: Colgate-Palmolive launches Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief toothpaste GlaxoSmithKline, which launched Sensodyne toothpaste a few months ago, starts offering ‘chill tests’ to users at modern trade stores Colgate retaliates with 1+1 free offer

• Early 2010: GSK rolls out Horlicks Foodles. HUL follows with Knorr Soupy noodles. Nestle launches Maggi’s multi-grain variant Pressure on the Leader
A clutch of brands across categories like biscuits, noodles, toothpaste and soaps is upsetting the applecart of established ones by getting to market first. “The first-mover advantage is an awesome weapon; it’s perfectly legitimate and at times can work really well for challenger brands,” says Shashi Kalathil, who runs management advisory YFactor Marketing, which consults various consumer products firms. Kalathil should know –he has been former marketing director at cola maker PepsiCo at a time when the war with Coca Cola in India was at its peak in the early 2000s.
Ambush marketing isn’t a new arrow in a marketer’s quiver. A year ago, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) pulled the rug from under bitter rival Procter & Gamble’s (P&G’s) feet by gate-crashing a carefully-crafted campaign to launch a new version of shampoo brand Pantene. A few days after P&G splashed Mumbai with hoardings that promised the launch of a “mystery shampoo,” HUL stole the limelight with a campaign that countered: “There is no mystery. Dove is the No 1 shampoo.” P&G had presented HUL with an opportunity on a platter to promote the shampoo it had launched in 2007. Ambushing with an ad campaign is one thing, but doing the same by launching a brand itself is quite another matter. GSKCH and Britannia might have anticipated – by doing its bit of market espionage – the impending launch of Colgate Sensitive Pro-relief and Oreo, respectively. But it’s not always that a marketer gets a chance to react so fast. Often, the reaction comes after the launch. But the reaction more often than not does come.
When Horlicks maker GSKCH rolled out instant noodles nationally under the Horlicks Foodles brand early last year, HUL followed suit by launching Knorr Soupy noodles. Pioneer and leader in the category for decades, Nestle with Maggi, had little choice but to attempt to play spoiler – it did so by launching a multigrain variant of Maggi backed by high-decibel advertising. The pressure is always on the leader to protect its turf. Without getting into specific examples, GSKCH vice-president (marketing) Shubhajit Sen says: “In such cases, consumers suddenly have two choices instead of one; it’s one brand versus the other; and a lot depends to what extent the leader is willing to up the ante.” Sen adds that such battles are especially intense in the first six months; after that, he says, the brands settle down and find their own spaces.
GSKCH and Colgate are currently still slugging it out. However, even as the launch strategies of Colgate Sensitive were being fine-tuned in Colgate’s boardrooms, GSKCH was already running ‘chill tests’ in modern trade stores across the country and giving consumers a chance to get themselves tested for dental sensitivity.
The counter of the country’s leading oral care maker is that its newest launch is the ‘first and only toothpaste clinically proven to provide instant and effective long-lasting relief from sensitivity.’
Sensitivity is a condition of a sharp pain experienced on consumption of hot or cold foods and liquids. Says Colgate-Palmolive MD Mukul Deoras: “Tooth sensitivity is an oral condition that affects up to 57% consumers worldwide and Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief is a one-of-its kind remedy that can provide instant relief.”
GSKCH’s advantage is that not only did it arrive first, it can now ride on the marketing muscle of Colgate and shift most of the burden of category creation on the leader in toothpastes. After all, for GSKCH, Sensodyne is just one of the many brands in its portfolio, and toothpastes just one of its many categories.
Such ambush gambits can also result in market leaders having to up spends on advertising & promotions, thereby eating into their margins. “The other effect plays out in the trade – dealer margins have to be increased if the leader wants to protect its share,” says GSKCH’s Sen.

- Economics Times(13/06/2011)

Best of 'CHANAKYA NEETI'

Chanakya Neeti

1. A wicked wife, a false friend, a saucy servant and living in a house with a serpent सर्प in it are nothing but death.

2. Do not inhabit a country where you are not respected, cannot earn your livelihood, have no friends, or cannot acquire knowledge.

3. Do not stay for a single day where there are not these five persons: a wealthy man, a brahmin well versed in Vedic lore, a king, a river and a physician.

4. Test a servant while in the discharge of his duty, a relative in difficulty, a friend in adversity, and a wife in misfortune.

5. Do not put your trust in rivers, men who carry weapons, beasts पशु‌ with claws नाखून or horns , women, and members of a royal family.

6. Separation from the wife, disgrace from one’s own people, an enemy saved in battle, service to a wicked king, poverty गरीबी, and a mismanaged assembly: these six kinds of evils, if afflicting a person, burn him even without fire.

7. Trees on a riverbank, a woman in another man’s house, and kings without counsellors go without doubt to swift destruction.

8. Friendship between equals flourishes, service under a king is respectable, it is good to be business-minded in public dealings, and a handsome lady is safe in her own home.

9. Of a rascal दुर्जन and a serpent सर्प, the serpent is the better of the two, for he strikes only at the time he is destined to kill, while the former at every step.

10. Give up a member to save a family, a family to save a village, a village to save a country, and the country to save yourself.

Difference Between A GROUP And A TEAM

Many people used the words team and group interchangeably, but there are actually a number of differences between a team and a group in real world applications. A number of leadership courses designed for the corporate world stress the importance of team building, not group building, for instance. A team's strength depends on the commonality of purpose and interconnectivity between individual members, whereas a group's strength may come from sheer volume or willingness to carry out a single leader's commands.

It is often much easier to form a group than a team. If you had a room filled with professional accountants, for example, they could be grouped according to gender, experience, fields of expertise, age, or other common factors. Forming a group based on a certain commonality is not particularly difficult, although the effectiveness of the groups may be variable. A group's interpersonal dynamics can range from complete compatibility to complete intolerance, which could make consensus building very difficult for a leader.A team, on the other hand, can be much more difficult to form. Members of a team may be selected for their complementary skills, not a single commonality. A business team may consist of an accountant, a salesman, a company executive and a secretary, for example. Each member of the team has a purpose and a function within that team, so the overall success depends on a functional interpersonal dynamic. There is usually not as much room for conflict when working as a team.The success of a group is often measured by its final results, not necessarily the process used to arrive at those results. A group may use equal parts discussion, argumentation and peer pressure to guide individual members towards a consensus. A trial jury would be a good example of a group in action, not a team. The foreperson plays the leadership role, attempting to turn 11 other opinions into one unanimous decision. Since the jury members usually don't know one another personally, there is rarely an effort to build a team dynamic. The decision process for a verdict is the result of group cooperation.A team, by comparison, does not rely on "groupthink" to arrive at its conclusions. An accident investigation team would be a good example of a real world team dynamic. Each member of the team is assigned to evaluate one aspect of the accident. The team's expert on crash scene reconstruction does not have to consult with the team's expert on forensic evidence, for example. The members of a team use their individual abilities to arrive at a cohesive result. There may be a team member working as a facilitator for the process, but not necessarily a specific leader.Group building can literally take only a few minutes, but team building can take years. Individual members of a group often have the ability to walk away from the group when their services or input become unnecessary. A team member's absence can seriously hamper the abilities of other team members to perform effectively, so it is not uncommon for individual members to form an exceptionally strong allegiance to the team as a whole. An elite military unit such as the US Navy SEALS or the Army Rangers could be considered examples of team building at its best.

" Success is not a Long jump nor a High jump, its a Marathon of Steps":Tete-e-Tete with Shri Ratan TATA

A news reporter asked Ratan Tata as to why Tatas are not making as much money as Reliance. He was said to have replied, “We are industrialists. They are businessmen.

What TATA did to 26/11 Mumbai victims?

(A must read Topic for all Indians)

LET THE WOR LD KNOW WHAT IS "CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY"?


THE NEWS WE DO NOT KNOW! The Tata Gesture
1. All category of employees including those who had completed even 1 day as casuals were treated on duty during the time the hotel was closed.

2. Relief and assistance to all those who were injured and killed

3. The relief and assistance was extended to all those who died at the railway station, surroundings including the “Pav- Bha ji” vendor and the pan shop owners.

4. During the time the hotel was closed, the salaries were sent by money order.

5. A psychiatric cell was established in collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences to counsel those who needed such help.

6. The thoughts and anxieties going on people’s mind was constantly tracked and where needed psychological help provided.

7. Employee outreach centers were opened where all help, food, water, sanitation, first aid and counseling was provided. 1600 employees were covered by this facility.

8. Every employee was assigned to one mentor and it was that person’s responsibility to act as a “single window” clearance for any help that the person required.

9. Ratan Tata personally visited the families of all the 80 employees who in some manner – either through injury or getting killed – were affected.

10. The dependents of the employees were flown from outside Mumbai to Mumbai and taken care off in terms of ensuring mental assurance and peace. They were all accommodated in Hotel President for 3 weeks.

11. Ratan Tata himself asked the families and dependents – as to what they wanted him to do.

12. In a record time of 20 days, a new trust was created by the Tatas for the purpose of relief of employees.

13. What is unique is that even the other people, the railway employees, the police staff, the pedestrians who had nothing to do with Tatas were covered by compensation. Each one of them was provided subsistence allowance of Rs. 10K per month for all these people for 6 months.

14. A 4 year old granddaughter of a vendor got 4 bullets in her and only one was removed in the Government hospital. She was taken to Bombay hospital and several lacs were spent by the Tatas on her to fully recover her.

15. New hand carts were provided to several vendors who lost their carts.

16. Tata will take responsibility of life education of 46 children of the victims of the terror.

17. This was the most trying period in the life of the organization. Senior managers including Ratan Tata were visiting funeral to funeral over the 3 days that were most horrible.

18. The settlement for every deceased member ranged from Rs. 36 to 85 lacs [One lakh rupees translates to approx 2200 US $ ] in addition to the following benefits:

a. Full last salary for life for the family and dependents

b. Complete responsibility of education of children and dependents – anywhere in the world.

c. Full Medical facility for the whole family and dependents for rest of their life.

d. All loans and advances were waived off – irrespective of the amount. e. Counselor for life for each person

B. Epilogue How was such passion created among the employees? How and why did they behave the way they did? The organization is clear that it is not something that someone can take credit for. It is not some training and development that created such behavior. If someone suggests that – everyone laughs It has to do with the DNA of the organization, with the way Tata culture exists and above all with the situation that prevailed that time. The organization has always been telling that customers and guests are #1 priority The hotel business was started by Jamshedji Tata when he was insulted in one of the British hotels and not allowed to stay there. He created several institutions which later became icons of progress, culture and modernity. IISc is one such institute. He was told by the rulers that time that he can acquire land for IISc to the extent he could fence the same. He could afford fencing only 400 acres. When the HR function hesitatingly made a very rich proposal to Ratan – he said – do you think we are doing enough? The whole approach was that the organization would spend several hundred crore in re-building the property – why not spend equally on the employees who gave their life?
This is NOT COVERED BY Any NEWS CHANNELS
Like JOKERS RUNNING AAJTAK, ZEE NEWS , IBN These People Busy SHOWING DOGS CATS and cricketersForward to all people who you know to show what Ratan Tata DID for his Employees and other Indians. PASS ON TO YOUR FRIENDS! LET THE WOR LD KNOW WHAT IS "CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY"?

Thought of the Day

O wise man! Give your wealth only to the worthy and never to others. The water of the sea received by the clouds is always sweet. -Chanakya

Six Common Misperceptions about Teamwork!!!!!!!

Teamwork and collaboration are critical to mission achievement in any organization that has to respond quickly to changing circumstances. My research in the U.S. intelligence community has not only affirmed that idea but also surfaced a number of mistaken beliefs about teamwork that can sidetrack productive collaboration. Here are six of them.

Misperception #1: Harmony helps. Smooth interaction among collaborators avoids time wasting debates about how best to proceed.

Actually: Quite the opposite, research shows. Conflict, when well managed and focused on a team's objectives, can generate more creative solutions than one sees in conflict-free groups. So long as it is about the work itself, disagreements can be good for a team. Indeed, we found in our earlier research on symphony orchestras that slightly grumpy orchestras played a little better as ensembles than those whose members worked together especially harmoniously.

Misperception #2: It's good to mix it up. New members bring energy and fresh ideas to a team. Without them, members risk becoming complacent, inattentive to changes in the environment, and too forgiving of fellow members' misbehavior.

Actually: The longer members stay together as an intact group, the better they do. As unreasonable as this may seem, the research evidence is unambiguous. Whether it is a basketball team or a string quartet, teams that stay together longer play together better.

Misperception #3: Bigger is better. Larger groups have more resources to apply to the work. Moreover, including representatives of all relevant constituencies increases the chances that whatever is produced will be accepted and used.

Actually: Excessive size is one of the most common--and also one of the worst--impediments to effective collaboration. The larger the group, the higher the likelihood of social loafing (sometimes called free riding), and the more effort it takes to keep members' activities coordinated. Small teams are more efficient--and far less frustrating.

Misperception #4: Face-to-face interaction is passé. Now that we have powerful electronic technologies for communication and coordination, teams can do their work much more efficiently at a distance.

Actually: Teams working remotely are at a considerable disadvantage. There really are benefits to sizing up your teammates face-to-face. A number of organizations that rely heavily on distributed teams have found that it is well worth the time and expense to get members together when the team is launched, again around the midpoint of the team's work, and yet again when the work has been completed.

Misperception #5: It all depends on the leader. Think of a team you have led, or on which you have served, that performed superbly. Now think of another one that did quite poorly. What accounts for the difference between them? If you are like most people, your explanation will have something to do with the personality, behavior, or style of the leaders of those two teams.

Actually: The hands-on activities of group leaders do make a difference. But the most powerful thing a leader can do to foster effective collaboration is to create conditions that help members competently manage themselves. The second most powerful thing is to launch the team well. And then, third, is the hands-on teaching and coaching that leaders do after the work is underway. Our research suggests that condition-creating accounts for about 60% of the variation in how well a team eventually performs; that the quality of the team launch accounts for another 30%; and that real-time coaching accounts for only about 10%. Leaders are indeed important in collaborative work, but not in the ways we usually think.

Misperception #6: Teamwork is magical. To harvest its many benefits, all one has to do is gather up some really talented people and tell them in general terms what is needed--the team will work out the details.

Actually: It takes careful thought and no small about amount of preparation to stack the deck for success. The best leaders provide a clear statement of just what the team is to accomplish, and they make sure that the team has all the resources and supports it will need to succeed. Although you may have to do a bit of political maneuvering to get what is needed for effective collaboration from the broader organization, it is well worth the trouble.

Note:This post is part of the HBR Insight Center Making Collaboration Work.

J. Richard Hackman is the Edgar Pierce Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Harvard University and a leading expert on teams. The misperceptions that are summarized in this post are explored in greater depth in his new book Collaborative Intelligence: Using Teams to Solve Hard Problems (Berrett-Koehler, 2011). He is interviewed by HBR in "Why Teams Don't Work" (May 2009) and is the author of Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances (Harvard Business School Press, 2002).

Thought of the Day

“In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours” -Ayn Rand

So,How about Some POSITIVE THINKING!!!!!!!!!

Read this, and let it really sink in.................. Then, choose how you start your day tomorrow...

Jerry is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant.
The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.
I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes, it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gun point by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.
I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. “The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live.""Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Jerry continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man.'
I knew I needed to take action." " What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'"
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

Positive thinking the the first step towards a happy life.
Attitude is everything
If everyone applies just these, the whole world will live in happiness and would be better able to pursue their DREAMZ!!!!Have a nice day.

Note:Sources internet.

A Million Dollar Lesson

A cab driver taught me a million dollar lesson in customer satisfaction and expectation. Motivational speakers charge thousands of dollars to impart his kind of training to corporate executives and staff. It cost me a $12 taxi ride. I had flown into Dallas for the sole purpose of calling on a client. Time was of the essence and my plan included a quick turnaround trip from and back to the airport. A spotless cab pulled up.
The driver rushed to open the passenger door for me and made sure I was comfortably seated before he closed the door. As he got in the driver's seat, he mentioned that the neatly folded Wall Street Journal next to me for my use. He then showed me several tapes and asked me what type of music I would enjoy.
Well! I looked around for a "Candid Camera!" Wouldn't you? I could not believe the service I was receiving! I took the opportunity to say, "Obviously you take great pride in your work. You must have a story to tell." "You bet," he replied, "I used to be in Corporate America. But I got tired of thinking my best would never be good enough. I decided to find my niche in life where I could feel proud of being the best I could be.
I knew I would never be a rocket scientist, but I love driving cars, being of service and feeling like I have done a full day's work and done it well. I evaluate my personal assets and... wham! I became a cab driver.
One thing I know for sure, to be good in my business I could simply just meet the expectations of my passengers. But, to be GREAT in my business, I have to EXCEED the customer's expectations! I like both the sound and the return of being 'great' better than just getting by on 'average'" Did I tip him big time? You bet! Corporate America's loss is the traveling folk's friend! -----
Lessons:
Go an Extra Mile when providing any Service to others.
The is no good or bad job. You can make any job good.
Good service always brings good return.

Note: Sources internet.

Thought of The Day

‎"If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don't have to be pushed. The vision pulls you." - Steve Jobss

Sudha Murthy's Article - A Must Read

It was probably the April of 1974. Bangalore was getting warm and gulmohars were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the only girl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies' hostel. Other girls were pursuing research in different departments of Science.
I was looking forward to going abroad to complete a Doctorate in computer science. I had been offered scholarships from Universities in the US ... I had not thought of taking up a job in India .
One day, while on the way to my hostel from our Lecture-hall complex, I saw an advertisement on the notice board. It was a standard job-requirement notice from the famous automobile company Telco (now Tata Motors).... It stated that the company required young, bright engineers, hardworking and with an excellent academic background, etc.
At the bottom was a small line: 'Lady Candidates need Not apply.'
I read it and was very upset. For the first time in my life I was up against gender discrimination. Though I was not keen on taking up the job, I saw it as a challenge. I had done extremely well in academics, better than most of my male peers... Little did I know then that in real life academic Excellence is not enough to be successful?
After reading the notice I went fuming to my room. I decided to inform the topmost person in Telco's management about the injustice the company was perpetrating. I got a postcard and started to write, but there was a problem: I did not know who headed Telco I thought it must be one of the Tatas. I knew JRD Tata was the head of the Tata Group; I had seen his pictures in Newspapers (actually, Sumant Moolgaokar was the company's chairman then) I took the card, addressed it to JRD and started writing.. To this day I remember clearly what I wrote.'The great Tatas have always been pioneers. They are the people who started the basic infrastructure industries in India , such as iron and steel, chemicals, textiles and locomotives they have cared for higher education in India since 1900 and they were responsible for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science. Fortunately, I study there. But I am surprised how a company such as Telco is discriminating on the basis of gender.' I posted the letter and forgot about it. Less than 10 days later, I received a telegram stating that I had to appear for an interview at Telco's Pune facility at the company's expense. I was taken aback by the telegram. My hostel-mate told me, I should use the opportunity to go to Pune free of cost and buy them the famous Pune saris for cheap!

I collected Rs30 each from everyone who wanted a sari when I look back, I feel like laughing at the reasons for my going, but back then they seemed good enough to make the trip.

It was my first visit to Pune and I immediately fell in love with the city. To this day it remains dear to me.. I feel as much at home in Pune as I do in Hubli, my hometown. The place changed my life in so many ways. As directed, I went to Telco's Pimpri office for the interview. There were six people on the panel and I realized then that this was serious business. 'This is the girl who wrote to JRD,' I heard somebody whisper as soon as I entered the room. By then I knew for sure that I would not get the job. The realization abolished all fear from my mind, so I was rather cool while the interview was being conducted.Even before the interview started, I reckoned the panel was biased, so I told them, rather impolitely, 'I hope this is only a technical interview.' They were taken aback by my rudeness, and even today I am ashamed about my attitude. The panel asked me technical questions and I answered all of them.

Then an elderly gentleman with an affectionate voice told me, 'Do you know why we said lady candidates need not apply? The reason is that we have never employed any ladies on the shop floor. This is not a co-Ed college; this is a factory. When it comes to academics, you are a first ranker throughout. We appreciate that, but people like you should work in research laboratories.

I was a young girl from small-town Hubli. My world had been a limited place. I did not know the ways of large corporate houses and their difficulties, so I answered, 'But you must start somewhere, otherwise no woman will ever be able to work in your factories.'

Finally, after a long interview, I was told I had been successful. So this was what the future had in store for me. Never had I thought I would take up a job in Pune. I met a shy young man from Karnataka there, we became good friends and we got married.

It was only after joining Telco that I realized who JRD was: the uncrowned king of Indian industry.. Now I was scared, but I did not get to meet him till I was transferred to Bombay. One day I had to show some reports to Mr Moolgaokar, our chairman, who we all knew as SM.. I was in his office on the first floor of Bombay House (the Tata headquarters) when, suddenly JRD walked in. That was the first time I saw 'appro JRD'. Appro means 'our' in Gujarati. This was the affectionate term by which people at Bombay House called him.I was feeling very nervous, remembering my postcard episode. SM introduced me nicely, 'Jeh (that's what his close associates called him), this young woman is an engineer and that too a postgraduate. She is the first woman to work on the Telco shop floor.' JRD looked at me. I was praying he would not ask me any questions about my interview (or the postcard that preceded it). Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he remarked. 'It is nice that girls are getting into engineering in our country. By the way, what is your name?'

'When I joined Telco I was Sudha Kulkarni, Sir,' I replied. 'Now I am Sudha Murthy.' He smiled kindly and started a discussion with SM. As for me, I almost ran out of the room.

After that I used to see JRD on and off. He was the Tata Group chairman and I was merely an engineer. There was nothing that we had in common. I was in awe of him.

One day I was waiting for Murthy, my husband, to pick me up after office hours. To my surprise, I saw JRD standing next to me. I did not know how to react. Yet again I started worrying about that postcard.

Looking back, I realize JRD had forgotten about it. It must have been a small incident for him, but not so for me.

'Young lady, why are you here?' he asked. 'Office time is over.' I said, 'Sir, I'm waiting for my husband to come and pick me up.' JRD said, 'It is getting dark and there's no one in the corridor. I'll wait with you till your husband comes..'I was quite used to waiting for Murthy, but having JRD waiting alongside made me extremely uncomfortable. I was nervous. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at him. He wore a simple white pant and shirt. He was old, yet his face was glowing.. There wasn't any air of superiority about him. I was thinking, 'Look at this person. He is a chairman, a well-respected man in our country and he is waiting for the sake of an ordinary employee.'

Then I saw Murthy and I rushed out. JRD called and said, 'Young lady, tell your husband never to make his wife wait again.' In 1982 I had to resign from my job at Telco. I was reluctant to go, but I really did not have a choice. I was coming down the steps of Bombay House after wrapping up my final settlement when I saw JRD coming up. He was absorbed in thought. I wanted to say goodbye to him, so I stopped. He saw me and paused. Gently, he said, 'So what are you doing, Mrs. Kulkarni?' (That was the way he always addressed me..) 'Sir, I am leaving Telco.'

'Where are you going?' he asked. 'Pune, Sir. My husband is starting a company called Infosys and I'm shifting to Pune..'

'Oh! And what will you do when you are successful.'

'Sir, I don't know whether we will be successful.' 'Never start with diffidence,' he advised me always start with confidence. When you are successful you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must reciprocate. Wish you all the best.'Then JRD continued walking up the stairs. I stood there for what seemed like a millennium. That was the last time I saw him alive.

Many years later I met Ratan Tata in the same Bombay House, occupying the chair JRD once did. I told him of my many sweet memories of working with Telco. Later, he wrote to me, 'It was nice hearing about Jeh from you. The sad part is that he's not alive to see you today.'
I consider JRD a great man because, despite being an extremely busy person, he valued one postcard written by a young girl seeking justice. He must have received thousands of letters everyday. He could have thrown mine away, but he didn't do that. He respected the intentions of that unknown girl, who had neither influence nor money, and gave her an opportunity in his company. He did not merely give her a job; he changed her life and mindset forever.

Close to 50 per cent of the students in today's engineering colleges are girls. And there are women on the shop floor in many industry segments. I see these changes and I think of JRD. If at all time stops and asks me what I want from life, I would say I wish JRD were alive today to see how the company we started has grown. He would have enjoyed it wholeheartedly.

My love and respect for the House of Tata remains undiminished by the passage of time. I always looked up to JRD. I saw him as a role model for his simplicity, his generosity, his kindness and the care he took of his employees. Those blue eyes always reminded me of the sky; they had the same vastness and magnificence. (Sudha Murthy is a widely published writer and chairperson of the Infosys Foundation involved in a number of social development initiatives. Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy is her husband.)

sourced : Lasting Legacies (Tata Review- Special Commemorative Issue 2004), brought out by the house of Tatas to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of JRD Tata on July 29,2004.

A Good Speech:"Writing for CEOs"

Presented by James L.Horton

Jim Horton developed and maintains www.online-pr.com to help public relations and marketing professionals serve clients better, faster and less expensively. He is a principal at Robert Marston And Associates where he serves clients in corporate communications and Internet/online public relations. He has crossed between high tech and corporate/financial relations for his 25+-year career, and he has been an educator in both fields.

What is a good speech? A good speech moves an audience where a speaker wants it to go. Style is not important nor the length nor the parts of the speech, but results are. There are many kinds of speeches and many speakers, some articulate and some barely able to deliver coherent sentences. Both can deliver a good speech, as long as they focus on its purpose and strive to achieve the purpose in the minds and hearts of an audience.

One of the more effective speeches I can recall was delivered decades ago at a high school graduation. In my fading memory, the speaker was one of the wealthiest of cattlemen in South Sacramento County, California, a man who owned square miles of land on which he ran beef. This fellow came to the podium after speeches from a number of educators, politicians and the valedictorian. His remarks were along this line: There have been plenty of speeches already. It’s time to hand out diplomas. And, that’s what he did to the relief of those of us who had heard too much rhetoric already about the potential of the graduating class.

As Aristotle wrote in 350 BC, Rhetoric may be defined as the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion. (Book 1, Part 2). The cattleman persuaded me that his point of view was correct as he started to call names. He understood Aristotle’s idea. How one persuades is at the core of good speeches. Aristotle was partial to a logical approach – a dialectic. He scorned sophists who believed emotional appeals were all that mattered. The arousing of prejudice, pity, anger, and similar emotions has nothing to do with the essential facts, but is merely a personal appeal to the man who is judging the case.(Book 1, Part 1) Aristotle would be uncomfortable with much of what passes for speaking today, as would Plato and Cicero who held the same views. To them, speaking had a moral component, a search for truth, that offsets showmanship. They would recognize and be uncomfortable with orators who are good entertainers, but not necessarily effective speakers.

The measure of a good speech is its effect on individuals comprising an audience. That is certainly true for CEOs who almost always speak for a purpose.

Harvard professor Edward T. Channing, Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory from 1819 to 1851, summed rhetoric in this way: …a body of rules derived from experience and observation, extending to all communication by language and designed to make it efficient. Good speeches, in other words, are efficient communications. They achieve an end with a minimum of wasted energy. Few speeches should be entertaining for the sole purpose of amusing an audience. Some are long because an audience needs to be brought step-by-step to the point of persuasion. Some are short because an audience is persuaded but needs motivation. Some are emotional like memorials, to raise the identification of an audience with a person or event. Most are a mix of logic and emotion to carry an audience with the speaker.

"A key skill of a speaker lies in knowing where the sentiment of individuals in an audience is at any given moment. Content is what a speechwriter is usually concerned with when writing. But content does not exist by itself. Content exists in a relationship between audience and speaker. A hostile audience and a poor speaker are a disastrous pairing, no matter the value of content nor written expression of it. It follows then that the two most important tasks of the speechwriter, even more than creating content to be delivered, is to understand the audience and speaker. A speechwriter should seek answers to a number of questions about the audience. Who are these people? What do they think, if anything, about the topic to be discussed? What are their backgrounds and cultures? Why are they listening to this speech? How does one reach them effectively? Sadly, it is often difficult, even in an internet age to get satisfactory answers, so one writes a generic speech for a generic audience. And, it sounds like it. A disciplined speechwriter interviews members of the future audience, observes earlier speeches given to the audience, listens to individuals’ comments and more. When a speechwriter knows an audience, the type of speech and preparation suggest themselves."

CEO speakers run the gamut from excellent to awful. Some are comfortable in front of a crowd and others shrink in fear at the thought of standing alone in front of a sea of eyes staring at them. Some believe themselves to be good speakers when they aren’t and poor speakers when they are effective. Some know what they want to say and some don’t. I recall one CEO who fancied himself a philosopher and speaker and who did not have the gift of knowing when to sit down. He was notorious for delivering lengthy speeches that were filled with references to various thinkers to prove tedious points late at night after long dinners to tired executives. Then, he wanted the speeches published somewhere. (We were never successful at this.) Another CEO was terrified for much of his career to speak in front of audiences but was, by all accounts, compelling in one-on-one encounters. He was best at being himself and carrying on a conversation. A CEO’s conviction is as important as words the CEO articulates. An audience doesn’t just listen but looks at the whole person and what that person communicates through expression, body movement and confidence – or lack of it. That is why it is important to place words in a CEO’s mouth that a CEO is likely to say in a way the CEO expresses ideas. There is no cognitive dissonance for the CEO and none for the audience that observes the CEO. This, however, can lead to a condition of saying the same things repeatedly. There are CEOs who use phrases like Buddhist mantras. They say the same statements so often that one gets bored writing them and wonders whether audiences are bored hearing them. However, leaders, like parents, know humans don’t hear things the first time or even the third or fourth or fifth time. One has to say the same things over and over until individuals pattern behavior after it. Variability is interesting, but it confuses audiences. CEOs know that even small changes in the way they present concepts can lead to major and unintended shifts on the part of confused employees. (Murphy’s Law applies to speaking as it does to just about everything else.) While an audience dictates how one delivers a speech, a speaker sets parameters of what one can and should say to ensure an effective speech. One can media train CEOs to help their delivery. It assists some in getting over nerves. It improves the mechanics of others, but the make-up of some CEOs resists anything related to effectiveness. With these CEOs, one wishes for adequacy, not mastery. Still, it is better to work with CEOs who know they are bad speakers when they are willing to work on delivery. They are open-minded and less caught up in themselves and their work. A speechwriter learns a CEO intimately and studies a CEO’s delivery and mannerisms. Are there words and concepts the CEO dislikes? Are there sounds the CEO cannot pronounce well? (The current President Bush is vocally challenged by his West Texas accent and often ridiculed.) A speechwriter writes for positive aspects of a person’s speaking style and around elements likely to create problems. Fantasies of developing ringing mnemonic phrases that crystallize a CEO’s thoughts may be just that. Some CEOs have no gift for delivering mnemonic phrases and their plodding delivery all but ruins intent and effect. If a CEO is comfortable with a pedestrian style, that is what a speechwriter should provide – as long as the CEO keeps the audience in tow. Such speeches might not look good in a portfolio, but the key is whether they were effective. In my own speechwriting, I follow one rule. Keep it short. Expose an idea, defend it and motivate the audience quickly, then get off the stage. However, this rule has limits. For CEOs who can indeed charm audiences, asking them to leave the stage quickly is a disservice to the CEOs and their audiences.

"Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan had an orator’s gift, and they often wrote their own speeches because they knew what worked for them. So too did Cicero, one of the greatest orators of ancient times." (The idea that a speaker has a writer to assist him would have horrified Cicero. Few CEOs are gifted writers and fewer still have time to pen speeches. Warren Buffet of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is one of the most widely quoted of CEOs for his blunt but humorous style. More, however, are like a CEO I once served. He fancied himself a writer, but he couldn’t get past commas and semicolons to the intent of the text. He would agonize over words and sentence parts to the distraction of his staff and those trying to get a project done. The majority of CEOs, however, are likely to take what is given to them, make a few tweaks and deliver the speech without thinking much about it. To use a management term, they satisfice. They have better things to do than discuss subtleties of communications with a speechwriter. It is up to the speechwriter to take care of fine points before a CEO ever sees a speech. The importance of a speech dictates preparation. Not all speeches are equal. A CEO might need to give a ceremonial talk to a group of employees who have just reached five years service then deliver a justification for a business strategy to directors and shareholders. While one speech can be impromptu, jocular and homey, the other had better be buttressed with evidence. A speechwriter may supply material for both speeches. In the former case, the speechwriter might list a few bullet points on an index card for the CEO. In the latter case, the speechwriter might work for days with the CFO, the strategic planner and others to fine-tune a document. For a busy speechwriter, it is a question of time management, especially if the writer is serving more executives than the CEO. How does a CEO, or speechwriter, know if a speech has hit its mark? Surprisingly, this is not easy. Most of the time one has to listen to the audience surreptitiously to gauge how a speech has been received. Asking an audience to fill out surveys is practical only in a few cases.

More than likely, one won’t know whether a speech has been well received until days later. Early opinions are often kind but not truthful. Realistic assessments filter in. In ancient times, the result of a speech was a vote for or against the speaker or his proposal. Feedback was instantaneous. Today, a speech is one communication among others: It rarely decides the fate of anything. It is part of a larger act of persuasion. One looks for feedback that indicates a positive regard for what a CEO had to say, if not a change in behavior. Positive regard is a first step in changing behavior.

There are rules for how to structure a good speech, but rules bend to an audience because an audience and the final state of mind of its individuals are what one is attempting to influence. A CEO can speak daringly to someaudiences but not to others. A CEO can be informal with some individuals but must be conservative with others. There is a time for ringing phrases, a time for blunt language, a time for humor and a time for audience interaction. There are guidelines one should consider when writing a speech. The first is to talk to an audience’s level. For an audience that understands a topic well, starting in media res is OK. For an audience that doesn’t understand an issue, the old rule of “Tell them what you are going to tell them. Tell them. Tell them what you told them,” is effective. For all audiences, showing is better than telling because eyes have primacy over ears, but numerous and tedious PowerPoint slides are tiring and defeat the purpose of what one is trying to do. Showing can be telling when one writes for the ear and paints a picture of what one is trying to say. However, this can be deadly if a speaker does not have the skill or energy to deliver such a speech well. Studying ancient rhetoric is useful in learning options one has in presenting and illustrating ideas, but using rhetorical principles without judgment is dangerous. As Aristotle said, one must have the “faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.”

The speechwriter who is unable to do that is of little value to a CEO. Good speeches are never written in vacuums. They fit a place, time, a speakerand audience. Few speeches or speakers ever rise above audiences they persuade at a given moment in time. Speechwriting, therefore, is mostly a practical craft and not one of poetry or expression. Only a few speakers are remembered from any generation for their ability to rise above place and time and to speak across them both. Rarely are CEOs ever called upon to do that.

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