Thought Leadership

What Not To Do is More Important Than What To Do We do many actions in life which seems like doing work. But they are not purposeful work. They are simply waste of time and energy. We do not achieve success out of those works Do purposeful work  Successful people concentrate on doing the purposeful works. They know the art of weeding out the non purposeful works from their activities. That is why they are focused and engaged. Smart leadership prioritize things to do  Great leadership are adept at prioritizing their actions in life. They chose works that are visionary and futuristic. They do works that provides productive values to the anticipated and desired goals. Be like the hairdresser who inspite of insistence from the rich man did not consider fit to do such purposeless work. The rich man offered to pay him more if he did that work. Still the hairdresser refused. In order to make the rich man realize the futility of the work he cut off his whole beard and asked him to pic...

Romancing the Destitution   The French called it the “ La Sensibilita ” which meant being very near to the emotions. Nowadays we may call it as Romanticism in intellectual thoughts. This trend started in the early 18th century among philosophers in France. It became famous after Rousseau, the philosopher, used it in his writings. Too much Romanticization is diversion  Some believe that Romanticization is akin to diversion of the problem. It is a euphemism for tokenism. The problems rather than being solved is actually loved and regarded as a virtue. This in turn becomes a vicious cycle and it circulates through ages. Poverty is an apt example Leadership is not Tokenism of emotion  Showing too much of emotions to any problems such that solutions itself becomes elusive is what Romanticization process is all about. We as humans must find solutions to problems rather than fantasize, glorify and romanticize distress. To satiate the hunger of our emotional senses we indulg...

Like Father is obviously not the son Pompey is a colossal figure in Roman history. He was a fine General and a leading statesman of the Roman politics of his time in the 1st century B.C. The rivalry between Pompey & Julius Caesar is legendary Pompey's father was a general himself but with a very bad reputation. Once his father massed his troops and camped outside the city to attack his rival. Pompey also accompanied him. But due to his haughty attitude, administrative inabilities and confused policies, the troops declared mutiny. They wanted to kill Pompey's father and defect to the rival camp. Morning shows the dawn  Pompey, then only 19 years old, immediately took control of the situation. He went to the main entrance and delivered his famous speech and said "over my dead body if you will". His speech was powerful & ultimately convinced his troops to return back. The troops withdraw the mutiny. The troops got the leadership they wanted This is perhaps the mo...

Freedom is an illusion You may be free from inside but not outside Rules of your engagements are mostly written before you are even born Your Large connections are already established even before you interact You way & style of communication is already decided before you spoke Your Do's & Don'ts are existing in the environment before you even act Someone has already tied you to your Belief & cultural moorings before you prayed Your Culinary taste has already been decided before you ate anything Your name is Just waiting to be registered before you are even called by your name You are already labelled socially before your personality arrived But still inspite of all this You have power to shape your destiny Within this illusionary freedom You still can have your freedom But remember always one thing Everything is Relative and some is deceptive

Alexander's tutor must be above suspicion We all know that Caesar's wife must be above suspicion. But we must also know that Alexander's teacher should be beyond suspicion too Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher, was the teacher of Alexander the Great. It was he who gave Alexander the formal education of those days The mysterious death of Alexander Alexander's death is mysterious and suspicious. He remained in complete ill health with high fever. He showed all signs of poisoning and died 12 days after falling ill The greatest suspicion fell on Aristotle for poisoning Alexander. People believed that Aristotle took revenge for his nephew who was executed by Alexander for opposing his adoption of Persian cultural practices. Aristotle was closest to him and had all the resources and opportunities to poison him. After Alexander's death Aristotle fled Athens Alexander was perhaps the first multi-culturist. He adopted culture of places he conquered and encouraged inter ...

If AI is biased ?  I remember reading a news item about a beauty contest that was judged by the Artificial Intelligence(AI). The result was that all the winners were from one particular skin & color type The AI was biased because the algorithm & data was biased of what constitutes beauty. Whether the data was fed by accident or by design we do not know. But we know its decision were biased The importance of Technology Leadership TL This brings us to an important aspect of leadership. In the age of AI it is must for technology experts to be well versed in leadership than anybody else. They must have high level of leadership to prevent such biases from occurring Imagine such algorithmic bias in our justice, education, welfare system etc . The society will suffer beyond imaginations specially the poor, marginalized & the disadvantaged That is why PHL is so important That is why the teachings of Philosophy, History & Literature (PHL) is necessary for Technical Lead...

The equation of life  Everything exists to self destruct itself one day into oblivion. Nothing is eternal. Everything is ephemeral. Certainty of Permanence is antithetical to the existence of creation. The sun which sustains life on Earth is also destined to extinguish itself one day just like the lamp in the highway winds. Sun is nothing but a fading lamp of time. When our realities are not permanent our experiences also cannot be perpetual. High & Low are the processes of the ultimate equation of decay. When we understand the "Equation of Life" we acknowledge the solutions inherent in it Great leadership understand life  Great minds & exceptional leadership understand the Constants & Variables of the Equation of Life. They do not chase success nor do they understand failures. They only try & think about imprinting their ideas, thoughts, actions, behaviors etc on the impermanent canvas of their existence. They understand the limitations of the realities of th...

The Hunter & Prey Mindset Our way of looking at success & failure is primordial. We are still trapped in the Hunter and the Prey Mindset ( HPM). We visualize success as a prey that has to be hunted down through strategy & tactics . But this model is uni dimensional and severely individualistic in processes & effects Zero sum game model  Success & Failure has two dimensions. One is the somewhat Zero Sum Game Model (ZSGM) and the other is something like the Exponential Growth Model ( EGM). In ZSGM if someone has to win then someone has to lose. This is the individualistic personal development model. This model is purely the HPM scenario. We are more obsessed with this model The Exponential Growth Model  The EGM is the mass benefit model. It is a collective enterprise. In this the success is exponential and belongs to all. If vaccines & medicines for Covid19 are successfully discovered it will be the EGM of success. There is nothing wrong with the ZSGM per...

The 5 qualities of "Change Leadership" In my organisation & beyond I have observed successful leaders & their attributes specially their implementation of “Change”. The five qualities that were common among them to successfully implement change were 1. They have immense levels of conviction about the change they are bringing. They are well prepared, researched and do not fumble for response when asked about it. They are more than willing to take questions about it from every quarter and do not hide from the cynics 2. They have the ability to communicate effectively their vision of change to the last person in the organisation. Such leaders ensure the last mile connectivity as a priority 3. They fully engage with all the stakeholders and inform them continuously about the changes being brought. They clearly spell out the incoming benefits accruing to the different stakeholders 4. They start training their cutting edge workforce especially in mindset change from the fir...

It is the glow from inside that makes you fly high and yet keeps you stable. The whole journey is to get that "Glow" within ourselves. We all have Potential Glow inside us. But it needs some kind of spark to lighten the embers again. Let's search for that spark and start the Glow which enlightens you and all Sometimes that spark comes in the form of leaders and their leadership style. A leader is the one who stokes that glow of hope inside us.                                               Video credit: Taryn Elliott from Pexels

What makes a successful Leader different from the rest They too are mortal and prone to influence from the common ecosystem They also face difficulties what we all face The one quality that separates great Leaders from the rest is this.... They wear their "𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡" and that is why they can see their goals which others cannot Their sight becomes their "𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡" That is why they are called " 𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗬"                                                    video credit  by   @ sound on at Pexels

Let us be bewitched... Let us be bewitched with Humanity It is in the nature of everything to fade & wither away into oblivion if not taken care of Every beautiful things exists because it is nurtured with love & kindness Relationships & our social existence Sits on the principle of Nurturing So, Nourish yourself with Tender Emotions Shower everybody with benign feelings Water the tree of humanity With Compassion Then see the Magic happen The musk of the flowers of togetherness will spread far & wide into the distant hearts & minds etched forever as memories " The Bliss in Solitude" by Shahnawaz Qasim                                                    Video credit  by  u_rjjehevu from Pixabay

𝗪𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 History is the formal and structured way of story telling based on verifiable facts. It is a form of story telling which has engaged us for thousand of years. Historians are trained story tellers The greatest stories  But the greatest stories are not buried in the history books. It lies in the consciousness of everyone. The common man is the greatest story teller. Billions of human stories lies unheard of from millions of such people Stories of love, emotion, faith, despair, hope, war, peace, turmoil, bond, separation, success, failure, life, death etc are all part of our common human heritage. We do not exist only to hear & celebrate stories of triumph. We are not here to gloat the achievements of few over many. We live to speak and converse about the stories of the ordinary. It is the ordinary wherein lies the spirit of extraordinary. We must tell the incredible untold stories of the common man Leadership tells hope s...

Let not the hope go down…. Pent up emotions thriving inside thousand cravings, desires beside days, months & years conjoin in distant world of consciousness alive Let not the hope go down…. Not all wishes would come true Nor all Plans may succeed Even the days can get somber And night will keep you awake Let not the hope go down…. You may desert, many will leave Your some thoughts may scream Fresh Longings, new laments to recite Your heart may seem an alien place to reside Let not the hope go down…. The world your enemy Existence the sorrow Victim mind compels to think Like there is no tomorrow Let not the hope go down…. We are the link to civilisation Carrier of the hope of fraternity The mortal who is destined to write The songs of human immortality Let not the hope go down…. ( By Shahnawaz Qasim )               Photo credit :  Anna Shvets from Pexels

The early morning blues It was an early morning flight & I was getting late. Half asleep, I managed to dress and rushed to the airport I was running towards the allotted gate to board the flight. Suddenly I felt a twist and saw one of the shoe soles has come out I could do nothing but throw it in the dustbin. I wore my bathroom slipper & boarded the flight I called the cab driver and asked him whether I can buy shoes after landing on the way to the guest house. He replied in the negative. My meeting was at 10.30 AM.                                                         Photo credit : Kat Jayne from pexels  The unexpected gift of leadership  After landing I rushed out. The cab driver eagerly came & spoke “sir ji I got 3 pairs of shoes for you from my friends. Pl check which one fits you’’ He saved the day for me. I thanked him...

The audio-video civilization (AVC) The audio-visual content to our brain is simply astonishing. Our eyes & ears are the busiest of all the organs. The brain is simply acting as our dump-yard and not the storehouse. This is the age of audio-video civilization(AVC) Where is the time to process & disseminate the correct information to ourselves also. We are overwhelmed with the audio-visuals sensations to our existence The biggest casualty is the art of thinking  The greatest casualty is the art of thinking. We are no longer the proponents of “Cogito, ergo sum”. We are no longer doubting the things as we should have. We are simply accepting & consuming the information as they are fed to us Once while going along with a friend for dinner, the philosopher Socrates suddenly started thinking on an issue. He thought there standing on the road for hours till his friends brought him home There is no need to think for hours. But we must think for those hours which matters The...

Be the Nomad Within  If you get to meet yourself someday you will behold a fascinating person The more you experience that individual The higher you will know about happiness The more you may know about bliss The extra you may share it with the world So do not wander in waste lands Meander in yourself Be the nomad within #By Shahnawaz Qasim  photo credit :  Tomas Anunziata from pexels 

The Covid Times  This is a time when many we know may have lost their job, losing their business & economically impacted one way or the other. These are Covid  times This is the hour not to be oblivious of our neighbors, friends,colleagues etc. We must connect & ask about their status. In this moment human touch is required more than ever We may not be able to solve all of their problems. We too may be fighting our own battle. But the very essence of talking, conversing & connecting reduces the pain. We never know sometimes the door of opportunities also open up Our leadership is under the test  I feel this is the era where human leadership of each one of us is under test. Every one of us can provide leadership within our own matrix of relationship. Such compounding of leadership can have tremendous mitigating effects Human capacity is limitless. This can be fought if the leadership standards of each one of us are exponentially increased Leadership must give t...

Leadership is influencing Yourself first Classically we understand leadership as the power & influence over others. But I have a different view on the matter & its development stages Actually leadership is the art of influencing & motivating oneself first. We must inspire our own self to accept the responsibilities & the road ahead. There must not exist doubts about our own capacity & mission. We should be a leader to our own self first The influence over our own ideas The 2nd stage is when we have power & influence over our own ideas, vision, goals, directions etc as part of the leadership journey. We must be very clear as to what we intend to do & where we aspire to reach. There must not exist conflicting goals & confused personalities within our own selves The influence over the others  The 3rd stage is when leadership has power of influence & motivation over others. This is the most visible & commonly understood aspect of leader...

The great rain  It was the mid 90s when I was preparing for the civil services exam. I had rented a room in a colony Once torrential rain had started. The whole colony was waterlogged. I was waiting for my dinner box. But it did not come. The reason was obvious. Somehow I had some bread which sufficed The morning was even worse. There was no way to go out. I also knew that the food box would not come today The knock of leadership  I heard some knocks on the door. I opened and saw my landlord standing there with a big food box. Very few times we had met. I was surprised. Before I could speak, he opened up. “ I know it would be difficult to manage as the things would stay like this for the next 24 hours” I thanked him. Before departing he remarked that it is his duty to take care of his neighbor and also his business ethics to take care of his customers Whether it was empathy, compassion, kindness, business ethics or leadership that I could not understand fully at that time...