A son and his father were walking in the mountains. Suddenly, his son falls, hurts himself
and screams: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!! … why did that stump trip me?"
To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain:
"AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!! … why did that stump trip me?"
Curious, he yells: "Who are you and why did you put that in my way" He receives the
answer: "Who are you and why did you put that in my way". Angered at the response, he
screams: "Coward!"
He receives the answer: "Coward!"
He looks to his father and asks: "What's going on?" The father smiles and says: "My son,
pay attention." And then he screams to the mountain: "I admire you!" The voice answers: "I
admire you!" Again the man screams: "You are a champion with unlimited power!" The voice
answers: "You are a champion with unlimited power!"
The boy is surprised, but does not understand. Then the father explains: "People call this
echo, but really this is life. It gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is simply a
reflection of our thinking.

Your Leadership Style Check

Low relationship behaviour

Low task behaviour

Followers are both able and willing or confident

Delegation style (4)

High relationship behaviour

Low task behaviour

Followers are able, but unwilling or insecure

Supportive (participating) style (3)

High relationship behaviour

High task behaviour

Followers are unable, but willing or confident

Coaching (selling) style (2)

Low relationship behaviour

High task behaviour

Followers are unable and unwilling or insecure

Directing (telling) style (1)

Every moment is different from the last one and this dynamism of nature and hence life poses permanent challenges in us. Nevertheless, these dynamic nature is what nurtures our effectiveness. Based on these background and how they respond, people can be categorized into two - 

1. Those who Embrace 

2. Those who Repel.

People who embrace are the ones who do not conclude or fix their response to this external or stimuli at different times. The other set of people are the ones who reject change by fixing their response to all challenges similarly. Hence people who expect challenges at all times have more progressive ( not restrictive) questioning ability than the ones who reject - because people who reject dynamic nature of life do not invent newer methods of responses and are stuck. They have lost their ability to interrogate, ponder, handle confusion, work and be effective despite chaotic environments, vibe with diverse people & situations etc etc.... People who Embrace Challenges may not come with clique-shaped responses but would deal with them more dynamically and more often dont take their solutions seriously as they are prepared for even contingencies or further moves.

Now, if your dealing with a person on a business/personal situation, first try to understand whether he is an E or R. An R's questions are the same as the E's, but the tone, attitude and the expressions are Restrictive in nature. Remember, a Repel is Restrictive, Repeats & Rebuffs and an 'Embracer' is Eager, Excited, & Elevates.

It is not bad to be an R and very good to be an E. The understanding only helps handling yourself better in a dynamic environment.

The management of Will.....

Recently I had an opportunity to interact with a set of managers to understand their performance issues. As usual I had it non-formally wanting to give everyone a chance to catch things that they think to be apt & required.
The problem was that everyone works harder & does more activities but in vain. Expected results are far far away from anyone. Why? This brought us to question ourselves the basics of performance - Will or Skill?
What should be managed in a team ? Will or Skill?
We endeavored into the individual values and why's of things making it a thoughtful session instead of an interactive one. 


I some how always believed that the Will wins over the Skill - the layman language of 'are you willing' than the management's language of 'can you'. Willingness is more about objectivity & CAN is subjective to one's belief. We have seen people with Will  (here Skill is limited to required basics) doing better than the ones with Skills-without-Will. 
Way back I had a very strong will to sell high priced Encyclopedias door to door that got me the national award for selling & recruiting. Today, the answers to Can I sell and Do I want to sell are Yes & NO. 
The skills that we acquire will take more time to vanish than our will to use them. That's when we outgrow the job. Some people outgrow their activity too fast - like me. Most of them are 'stable' or keep the will to use their skill longer. But either way, we are bound to lose our will one day. 
The idea of a strong will with basic skill sets can deliver superior results brings us to the importance of hiring Will. The will can easily be killed while a skill can not be developed easily. Hence keeping the will of the team & giving time to develop skill could be a better option for productivity.
Today in the world of capsules, we also want to look for some one who had "performed earlier" to come and translate his performance. With the increase in the available job options & narrowing of sectoral gaps in the skill sets, the performer mentally outgrows his performance much sooner than we expect him to. Is it a solution to hire him in the same capacity? Certainly we don't agree.
While what sustains the Will is a subject of an unending debate, its the manager who sustains the will of his team produces results. Here, the constant is the rule of the game.
Skill can be the means and the Will is objectivity. In a changing business environment the means of business keep changing yet the means to protect the Will doesn't. Its all time constant - Human Touch.
Human Will precedes business intelligence. What is its value if we were to buy it? How much we lose if we  don't have that as our business ingredient? New ideas, superior talents, technology driven supports and the like have come handy today, besides human will ....... and nothing can take the place of a human will. How often do we perform a Will Check in our organisations?

1. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to
her and say: “I am very rich.
“Marry me!” – That’s Direct Marketing… ”

2. You’re at a party with a bunch of friends and see a
gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and
pointing at you says: “He’s very rich.
“Marry him.” -That’s Advertising. ..”

3. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to
her and get her telephone number. The next day, you
call and say: “Hi, I’m very rich.
“Marry me – That’s Telemarketing. ..”

4. You’re at a party and see gorgeous girl. You get up
and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour
her a drink, you open the door (of the car)”Marry Me?” -
That’s Public Relations… ”

5. You’re at a party and see gorgeous girl. She walks
up to you and says:”You are very rich!
“Can you marry ! me?” – That’s Brand Recognition. ..”

6. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to
her and say: “I am very rich. Marry me!” She gives you
a nice hard slap on your face. – “That’s Customer Feedback…”

7. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to
her and say: “I am very rich. Marry me!” And she
introduces you to her husband. – “That’s demand and supply gap…”

8. You see a gorgeous girl at a party
. You go up to
her and before you say anything, another person come
and tell her: “I’m rich. Will you marry me?” and she
goes with him – “That’s competition eating into your market share…”

9. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to
her and before you say: “I’m rich, Marry me!” your
wife arrives. – “That’s restriction for entering new markets…