GURU WON D ER

I wrote this article to be posted on Nov 13th to commemorate the Jayanti (birth anniversary) of one of the greatest emperors in Indian history, Sher-E-Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780 - 1839 C.E.), but was unable to complete it in time. I suppose any day is a good day to remember a great hero. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a rather unattractive man with pock marked face caused by small pox infection during his infancy. Never formerly schooled, he did not learn to read or writ

When visiting factories in Japan in the 1980s, I noticed that in every meeting there was always an individual who never participated in the meetings. He just sat there listening attentively, taking notes. Later I learnt that the person's role was to simply observe and provide critical feedback to the team on the dynamics of the meeting based on verbal and non verbal interactions of participants. The person usually did not even have expertise nor great knowledge of the subjec

Organisation structures need to be designed to cater to current needs of tactical planning and future needs for implementing the organisations strategic plans. Succession planning is key for every organisation and every family business. The organisation's leadership should have ready at all times a succession plan for each critical position in the team. Even then the best of plans can fail so we need to keep ready plan 'B' in the eventuality that the successor groomed is unab

We often take competent, capable, sincere individuals and assign them to do things or take up responsibilities without preparing them for the task? As a consequence we land up harming both the organisation and the confidence of the individual concerned. This is the story of how we accidentally hurt Derek, our number 2 team member without even meaning to when we promoted him to top slot. When Derek's boss the Works Manager resigned, we had to fill up the position fast. So we p

"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors." ~ Plato Contrary to public perception, successful politicians have to be incredibly hardworking. What they may be working hard on is another matter. Politics like war is a messy, ugly affair. Inspite of that, the public and the media draw a lot of entertainment from politics. It is certain that, one can always trust the political establishment with the help of t

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If one observes this photograph of a pack of wolves, it reveals a very interesting and powerful message. The first 3 are the old or sick, they give the pace to the entire pack. If it was the other way round, they would be left behind, losing contact with the pack. In case of an ambush they would be sacrificed. Then come 5 strong ones, the front line. In the center are the rest of the pack members, then the 5 strongest following. Last and alone, is the alpha male wolf. He cont

We often ask, why can't they see the obvious. What is obvious to us, is not necessarily obvious to others. A man is usually stretched between two women, both who who desire to monopolise him. The mother and the wife. The affection they have for the man is of different types, but yet he must belong to them both. Both women are right but not entirely. This is because we recognise things, events, relationships and experiences through the window and filter of our mind. We like to

It was in 1502 C.E. that the egotistic mayor of Florence (Italy), Piero Soderini was under great pressure. He had appointed a novice to work on a giant piece of beautiful marble to make a sculpture under his guidance. Typical of many bosses Soderini had overestimated his own capabilities and by drilling a big hole in the middle of the block of marble, Soderini and the novice had ruined it. Soderini had to find a solution, and finally commissioned Michelangelo to do a sculptu

Many people express a desire to be world-class . Delve a bit deeper and one can discover good intentions and a lot of rhetoric. My own experience might be helpful. What is World Class? Means an organisation or entity that delivers products and services superior to or equal to the best in its field of activity in the world. In 1985 the directors of purchase and quality of Bendix Corporation, a leading American company at that time, visited our manufacturing facilities. Impress

From my seminar on 'Achieving Success' Success is made up of many ingredients, awareness and approach are two traits that can be developed. To facilitate development of these and other traits, Guru Wonder conducts a one and two day program on 'Achieving Success' Contact : Telephone:  +91 957 951 0353 Email: Guru Wonder Facebook - Twitter - linkedin - SikhNet #ability #achieving #effective #fear #failure #factor #Guru #GuruWonder #Gurvinder #improve #leader #problem #success

The recent elections threw up interesting lessons, mostly on how not to respond to failure. To find lasting solutions and bounce back from a failure, its essential to attack problems not people. The easiest, but also the worst way for leaders to respond is, to blame others and find scapegoats. Blame may quench our anger, by hurting someone else for our failures, however it is almost always counterproductive. By distancing ourselves from the problem we eliminate the possibili