tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58110323244211937712024-03-13T23:35:29.001+05:30Dassalessons @ dassaonlineLife is a journey where you learn everyday. Not just what we read but every experience teaches us. I'll try to capture that.Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-62448637781100287152014-11-21T09:25:00.001+05:302014-11-21T09:25:55.517+05:30 Happy People Deliver Great Service - UL 309 07th November 2014 <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Being a regular traveller on Srilankan Airlines, national carrier of Sri Lanka and several other airlines 20 -25 times a year I have come across all sorts of air hostesses. Irrespective of the promise many airlines make about their "legendary" service levels, on air it is suffice to say "they do their job" as required and nothing more. </div>
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In almost all airlines they come in standard configuration! Very polished, very well dressed (won't call them immaculately dressed though!), walks about with air of confidence (may be arrogance), do what they are suppose to do exactly (meaning from safety demos where applicable to food and drinks rounds and duty free etc). However I've mostly found them to be very formal, talk to many first time flyers with sense of sarcasm when questioned on a basic matter such as pressing the "attend" button mistakenly, mostly with a straight face (poker face at times!). What really takes the cake is the complicated, put up accent they talk to passengers! (Probably they take pride in their complicated pronunciation that most don't understand). </div>
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However UL 309 SIN-CMB on 7th November 2014 was different. At least for those of us at the Economy Cabin. We were serviced by two Sri Lankan Air hostesses, "Kylie" and "Ashani". They were not the most eloquent or elegant that I have come across. But they went about their tasks with such lucidity and in a friendly manner it brought about a smile in almost all who experienced the two of them. They were genuinely enjoying their tasks and they had fun in doing it (just between the two of them). When serving food there were several occasions that they ran out of the popular food in their trolly. They were quick to replenish but the beauty was the manner in which they took the shortage, attended to the same and put a smile in the passengers face. On the face of things they did not look veterans in the industry, contrary they looked quite the opposite!</div>
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Towards the end of the flight I did walk up to the chief stewardess and paid a compliment regarding the two who served us. Surprisingly I found here to be more friendlier than the others as well. (My bad I forgot to take down here name). Even the Purser was a friendly gent.</div>
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Kudos to the UL 309 team on 07th November. Hope Srilankan will be able to infuse that sort of energy to more crew members! </div>
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Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback on this posting under the comments column</div>
Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-32610350506483853932014-02-24T14:41:00.002+05:302014-02-27T09:37:06.860+05:30Everyone should have a plan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Over the weekend I was conducting couple of sessions for professional students on "Individual Development Plan". I was amazed as to the number of people not having an individual development plan. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Come to think of it, many people spend much more time in planning and strategising purchasing assets such as selecting a motorbike or a car (sometimes even clothes!!!) Even a weekend trip takes lot more planning. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Here's the thing. Imagine you want to build a house. Anyone with a proper sense knows the process starts with finding a good architect, sharing your requirement and getting the architect to draw up a plan. You would provide feedback to him, make alterations to fine-tune the plan according to your liking. Only then you think of building the house. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Lot of people tend to take this aspect for granted when it comes to their 'lives', probably the most important plan one would ever make! Most approach this all important task in the most hap hazard and casual manner. Some allow it the fate. Most tend to have a vague idea as to what they want to achieve of course with minimum clarity. If you ask them they'll probably say they want to be a "CEO", "a manager","a doctor" etc. Beyond that they rarely have a plan to achieve it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This is absolutely disastrous. It's almost like building a house without an architecturally drawn up plan. Surely one will end up with a building. But it will never be a proper home. What amazes me most is the number of people who approach life without any proper plan. That number is a lot more than what we think. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Even those who have drawn up a plan have drawn that up several years ago with no active monitoring and revising the plan on continuous basis. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Here's the thing. Simply having a plan will put you with top 5% of the people in the world. But just like any corporate plan if you work on it without actively reviewing it you'll end up somewhere totally different than your intended destination. Plans should be reviewed on regular basis. At least several times a year if not on monthly basis. Just like corporate plans become irrelevant based on external environmental changes (which by the way happens all the time and much more frequently than before) personal plans too become irrelevant over time. After all who said individuals are immune to market volatility! </span></div>
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Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback on this posting under the comments column</div>
Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-87770387200566916572013-10-12T19:12:00.001+05:302013-10-13T22:18:07.303+05:30Celebrating failure<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Recently I had the good fortune of attending the LBR LBO CFO forum in Sri Lanka. The theme of the forum was Middle Income Challenge for Sri Lanka.</div>
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Among topics discussed was, what specific skills development would be required for Sri Lanka to emerge from the so called "Middle Income Trap" . Whilst most speakers focused on the technical competencies, it was Udena Wickeremasoriya, Group Director of Brandix who said that their focus was on making people more entrepreneurial. He emphasized on the fact that the most important mind set change required was the ability to "celebrate failure.'</div>
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As a student and practitioner of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) this was wonderful to hear. Further, it argues well for the country when the largest apparel exporter vouches on such statement. It is the primary difference in mind set between those who achieve things in life and those who don't. </div>
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Many people do not know that each individual has the same number of neurones. Non of the leaders be it political, religious or for that matter any other who has made a mark in this world has a different type of a brain. We are all born with the same number of neurones, one billion, billion neurones at that! the difference amongst ourselves comes in the form of the neuro connections we make! </div>
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What that means is that if an individual can achieve something, any other could achieve the same result without any doubt. ITS ONLY A QUESTION OF strategy. </div>
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According to NLP there are three types of people in this world, depending on how they view failure. </div>
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1. Those who view failure.... as failure! After one attempt they decide that they are not good at it. They simply give up. It becomes worse when they logically justify why they cannot achieve something. Common excuses include factors such as genes, ability, was never good at it etc. </div>
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2. The Second Group is better than the first. They might get knocked down, but they get up again. They dust themselves up and try again. They do the same thing hoping perseverance shall prevail! Unfortunately with this group it is only a question of time before they throw the white towel. Some give up as early as the second or third attempt. </div>
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3. The Third Group views failure, very differently to the other two. For them, failure simply<span style="text-align: left;"> </span>means "feedback". Feedback on the strategy that was adopted to achieve success needs correction or fine tuning! Each time persons of this group make an attempt and get "feedback" they review their strategy and take corrective action on that particular strategy .They continue to revise the strategy until they achieve success. Edison fine-tuned his strategy 9,999 times before succeeding in inventing the light bulb!</div>
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So go ahead, be an achiever. Remember, there are no failures, only feedback. </div>
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Other articles you might like, </div>
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<a href="http://www.dassaonline.com/2013/03/everyone-needs-to-have-ricky.html">Every one needs to have a Ricky -</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.dassaonline.com/2012/10/peddling-down-road-less-travelled.html">Peddling down the road less travelled</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.dassaonline.com/2012/09/racing-your-way-through-life.html">Racing your way through life</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.dassaonline.com/2012/04/what-evening-swim-could-teach-you-about.html">Swimming without goggles</a><br />
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Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback on this posting under the comments column</div>
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Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-45956757281120663432013-09-26T15:14:00.002+05:302013-09-26T15:14:30.526+05:30Champion Monsters<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="text-align: justify;">How often does organisations grow champion monsters within their ranks who eventually might be the biggest hurdle for the growth of the organisation? This is a crucial question many leaders fail to address in a timely manner. Repercussions could be far reaching and non reversible that any subsequent changes could be painful for the entire organisation. </span></div>
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To elaborate this point let me take Information Technology domain in a normal brick and mortar organisation. When the organisation is at a relatively primitive stage, "John" joins the company as the sole IT resource person. Being very high in IQ and ambitious John goes about automating the organisation. Results are both encouraging and extremely useful. The company continues to expand and grow and John too grows within the ranks of the organisation and now he becomes a Department Head with his own team of IT professionals. John continues to add value with more and more meaningful contributions to the business functions bringing IT to a level of a business driver. He continues to grow in stature within the organisation. He creates a fortress around himself and rather than becoming a facilitator who unleashes business potential through relevant information sharing he becomes the judge and jury on whats relevant and necessary. Given his clout in the organisation many people give up at the first sign of resentment. With time many staff members ascertain there is no point seeking information through him. Some gets frustrated and leave the organisation. Others simply manage within the existing status co. </div>
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Over time the company reaches the scale that is of a top player in the industry. Value provided by John is limited to the best of his ability or several of his deputies. John does some research on his own and try to incorporate best IT practices. However he is driven by the sense of individual accomplishment and would do everything within his power to justify his view point. It's natural that he feels that he knows whats best for the organisation. Usually at such a point John will reach a level where he feels that his intellect is above all solutions out there. To his credit he has developed groundbreaking systems in the past.Thus he logically dispels outside solutions mostly citing cost and justifying to the management that he could develop something bespoke for a fraction of the cost. With a myopic view on cost management cede to John. He becomes stronger and stronger in the process. </div>
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A scenario where John receiving a better break and moving out of the organisation could be a blessing in the disguise for this company. For starters they will be able to instil new blood to the position who could bring in a fresh perspective. Usually such personnel would rarely leave an organisation or for that matter the position. They become so comfortable with the environment they resent any change. And why should they? They enjoy themselves and the company certainly takes care of them. Greater danger for the organisation lies in the continuation of John in his current capacity. With its myopic view the organisation has reached a point of stagnation in terms of the potential of their systems as it is limited to John's thinking. They fail to understand that outside, third party solutions are fine-tuned based on thousands of customer feedback around the world thus incorporating industry best practices which are evolving on a daily basis. The fail to recognise the fact that best in class solutions do bring industry best practices to the organisation. Any progressive organisation understands that "our way of doing things" is not the best way!</div>
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Further the organisation would at the mercy of John with such level of dependency! Certainly not the risk mitigation strategy that would be to the liking of any board of directors. </div>
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Over a period of time a progressive leader might recognise this issue and may take corrective action. But the question is, whether it would be too late then. </div>
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On a different note John too may suffer professionally if he is forced to look for job outside of his current organisation. At his level companies expect "John"s to partner with business and proactively see how they could add value to the process. They would rarely expect John to spend valuable time in reinventing the wheel. </div>
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Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback on this posting under the comments column</div>
Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-46676938213456001242013-05-03T19:04:00.001+05:302013-05-03T19:04:49.532+05:30When e-government initiative fails to deliver results<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Providing government services to its citizens via the web is one of the most progressive moves by any government and the government of Sri Lanka and its ICTA agency should be commended for its effort to bring some of the citzen services such as revenue license renewel and EPF services. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">However the efforts become futile when the government machinery is unable to bring on board data from all Insurance companies that would enable the citizen to utilize the said services. Afterall being such a regulated industry, Insurance companies should be able to share such data with key government initiatives. Private sector companies should take equal responsibility to make such initiatives sucessful for the common good of the citizen. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback on this posting under the comments column</span>Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-6182350047291297562013-03-21T06:30:00.003+05:302013-03-21T06:30:26.415+05:30Everyone needs to have a "Ricky" <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Recently I was on a personal development program where I was part of a group which had a volunteer coach. His name was Ricky.<br />
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While I always appreciated the true value of a coach, initially I was skeptical about the value my coach might be able to impart on me other than smoothly coordinating assigned group work.<br />
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In many ways Ricky was unassuming and one of the most down to earth people I have come across. He was a soft spoken and relatively quiet.<br />
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On the second day during one of the field activities, he walked up to me, took me to a side and gave one of the most valuable insights I have ever received. In essence, he told me that I was very vocal, cheering my my team mates, but never present at that moment!<br />
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I was stunned, though I wasn't surprised with the feedback. I myself knew that I was "acting". My shock was due to this person's ability to pick that up when all the others thought I was an ace team man who was very involved.<br />
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That was a powerful message that hit hard on me. I was consciously 'present' thereafter throughout the program.<br />
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Subsequently there were several other chats we had which allowed me to realize few other ground realities in life!<br />
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Many misunderstand the role of a coach. A coach is not necessarily someone who is better than you technically, neither is s(he) a person who should have experienced life more than you. that's what is expected out of the role of a mentor.<br />
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A coach is someone who will consciously observe you and tell you when you are moving off course. He will ask you the hardest questions. Help you discover the answers yourself. All tennis players including Roger Federer and Rafael Nada who are the best out there have a coach who goes on tour with them. Not that these coaches are anywhere close to the skills and talent of these top players. But they know there success depends on their coach who is able to give candid, valuable and thought provoking feedback.<br />
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So go find your own "Ricky". Because "Ricky" rocks!!!!!<br />
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This is a personal tribute to Dr. Ricky Chua, who was my coach for several days during a life transforming program. Thank you Dr. !<br />
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Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback on this posting under the comments column</div>
Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-57925554798783839862012-11-12T17:40:00.001+05:302012-11-12T17:40:06.499+05:30Self Development - Do something unusual <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Recently I attended a sales training program in Singapore. It was striking to note that there were many ladies (and few gents) pin their very much mature years attending the program. </div>
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Some of them were making career changes while others were completely out of the box, meaning they were housewives. There were quite a few who have just started their careers as real estate agents. </div>
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Leaving their demographics aside, key thing that struck me was their hunger to learn. Many of them diligently took down notes and took serious trouble to understand complicated and interesting topics such as buyer psychology and rapport building. Given the kind of questions they were asking it was obvious that they mean serious business! </div>
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Hats off to these ladies for taking a path which is not typical. In fact I volunteered to help these ladies to set up things such as blogs, twitter and FB accounts. Yes, they are very keen on being engaged in Social Media. </div>
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I certainly expanded my horizons on the subject and our coach was a fantastic person! Leroy you were great! </div>
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There is a powerful lesson in all this. In life unless you explore certain new things you really don't know what the water feels like. </div>
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To those who are taking the roads less travelled! I salute you! </div>
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Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback on this posting under the comments column</div>
Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-57612009609676139502012-10-08T09:50:00.002+05:302012-10-08T09:55:12.457+05:30Leadership Secret Number One -- Pure Energy!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I am reproducing this blog article from Anthony Robbins. Great read. After watching yesterday's World Cup T 20 Final you can relate to this even better! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Leadership Secret Number One -- Pure Energy!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">October 03, 2012</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Seven Core Qualities is not a complete and perfect list, but rather designed to show you the common qualities of successful leaders that I’ve worked with over the years. How many of these qualities do your favorite leaders embody? How can you strengthen these qualities within yourself to enhance your ability to lead? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The first quality we’ll look at is PURE ENERGY.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Change, transformation, and results all require enormous energy. Many people fail to achieve what they want simply because the mind is willing but the body is weak. Their mind says, “let’s go get ‘em” and their body says, “I can’t get out of bed.” Whenever you think of someone who has charisma or impact, isn’t it true that they also have a significant amount of psychological, emotional, or physical energy? Of course, there are many different styles of energy. Some are external in their style of communication and intensity, but everyone who is successful somehow brings energy—a physical, emotional and spiritual energy—into their environment. Being able to tap into that energy even when you are exhausted, even when things aren't going your way, often separates those who achieve and lead at the highest level versus those who fall short.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">There are certain fundamental things that people do to increase their energy regardless of how much sleep they’ve had or where their blood sugar is. We’ve all had tough days where in spite of the circumstances something inside snapped us into a state where we took off and made something extraordinary happen. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">What was it that shifted? Our energy and our psychology, because they are tied together. Virtually everyone knows someone whose psychology is so poor that they can walk into a room and suck the energy out of the building. And, we also know there are others who do the complete opposite: they bring energy to any environment they live in. People gravitate towards them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The scary part is when the person in the position of leadership has no energy. We all know what that does to the momentum of an organization. Look, it’s no secret that we’re living in tough economic times. Your ability to find a competitive edge—to tap your capacity and the true capacity of your team—often will be based on your ability to shift your energy and the emotions of those around you. I’m not talking about some naive approach to life where you delude yourself through positive thinking that everything will be just fine. I’m not talking about BS’ing yourself. The type of person I’m talking about is someone who can make the tough decisions and take the necessary action to turn things around in spite of the challenge. In other words, a real leader…someone who can talk about the real issues, get everyone to face the challenges, and have enough energy to find the solutions necessary, even in the most dire of circumstances. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Without energy, nothing moves—nothing changes. But with energy, anything can be expanded or transformed. It is important to remember that there are multiple ways to expand your energy. One is to physically take care of yourself—to train your body so that you have that expanded sense of energy and endurance. But you can also find energy (even when you’re exhausted) by tapping into a vision, a sense of purpose, which brings energy not only to yourself but to your team as well. Often, people feel exhausted not because they’re not in great physical shape or don’t have a vision, but because they have inner conflicts. They are trying to meet two different “masters” that don’t support each other, so their energy becomes divided. Finding and unifying vision and purpose is what has given power to so many great leaders. Steve Jobs was famous, or in some cases “infamous,” for his relentless intensity. It came from his undivided focus to create the greatest products and the greatest company in the world. Similarly, the standard that Steve Wynn holds for himself and for every member of his team creates an energetic momentum that not only affects him personally but everyone he has the privilege to lead. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The important distinction here is you can’t manage what you don’t measure. How would you rate your level of energy on a consistent basis (especially when things are not going your way)? What would you give yourself on a scale from 0 to 10? If the number is not high enough for you to be an effective leader, what could you do to improve it? On a scale of 0 to 10 where would you rate your energy? We’ll touch on some of the simplest and most powerful ways to increase your energy in a future blog and video.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback on this posting under the comments column</span></div>
Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-51679681846599680622012-10-05T11:11:00.000+05:302012-10-05T11:53:29.123+05:30Peddling down the road less travelled<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Recently I peddled from Colombo (from Parliament grounds) to Hiru Villas Maggona which I am told is 57 KM . It took me almost 5 hours for the journey. If not for my new found riding mates Dirk and Gareth I would have never made the journey. During my peddling journey I passed some of the beautiful scenaries inclduing paddy fileds, large ponds etc. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The route we took was not the main road but one that was suitable for mountain biking. Hence the route was unfamiliar and I have not personally travelled on that route before. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXMSDDsRrF-FGUyL7cYjK2awKl7QadmN1rtqRLaZEsipAsyf-su1qV6tKp3Y-wBBtTBt_V_q5EVE1XBSxGHw4kUcJlNTV39oUkSlw5-e6CIENiGJ6EOxR3RfzKMT8Nppr4M0mrbtXDTs_S/s1600/View+from+Hiru+Villas.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" mea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXMSDDsRrF-FGUyL7cYjK2awKl7QadmN1rtqRLaZEsipAsyf-su1qV6tKp3Y-wBBtTBt_V_q5EVE1XBSxGHw4kUcJlNTV39oUkSlw5-e6CIENiGJ6EOxR3RfzKMT8Nppr4M0mrbtXDTs_S/s320/View+from+Hiru+Villas.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">To make matters worse, iOS 6 upgrade had made sure we were without any form of reliable mapping help that we were so use to! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">However I had a general sense of direction and that was</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> all that was required. We started pedding around 5.15 in the morning and yard by yard, kilometer by kilometer we moved in the direction we were suppose to go. By sunrise we had reached a decent distance (10+ KM, I was the weakest and holding the other two guys back). Junction after junction, we peddled past without knowing much about the territory. Our focus was on the immediate few meters ahead of us. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQxX7SGjUtG3IvdHqDYmNmmCFFoPm7JKqRa1bNObd0Q2O6zIubyhnHrxrKlq45wQ8BMDi7yXyh5iTxIDIAgB0IbkmnoQ0PGnmV0QKTp3_VBCGuDcBFBoC2UU_tncgOyy37gYvHafEpeQqX/s1600/Riding+Buddies+Gareth+and+Dirk.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" mea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQxX7SGjUtG3IvdHqDYmNmmCFFoPm7JKqRa1bNObd0Q2O6zIubyhnHrxrKlq45wQ8BMDi7yXyh5iTxIDIAgB0IbkmnoQ0PGnmV0QKTp3_VBCGuDcBFBoC2UU_tncgOyy37gYvHafEpeQqX/s320/Riding+Buddies+Gareth+and+Dirk.jpeg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The terrain was indeed challenging. There were puddles of water, pot-holes etc, but we navigated our way thorugh all of that. Our focus was on what was lying ahead of us. That's it. Then there were plenty of 'hilly' areas. The general view is that, when you climb a mountainous stretch you have a nice down hill. It wasn't the case in this ride. When you give all what you've got to ascend, you come to a flatter stretch and then you have another ascend to conquer!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Despite all of that, we did make it thorugh to Maggona!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The important lesson over here is the fact that I did not know the complete route till the end. All that I was focusing on was the immediate few meters ahead of me. In the end, I still reached the destination! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I beleive it was Jack Cranfiled who said in life you don't need to have clarity of the entire path that it takes to reach your destination. As long as you know you are in that direction all what you need to know is to how to navigate the immediate steps just ahead of you. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">If you do that, like me, you'll rech your final destination may be even after 5 hours! Trust me, when you reach there, the feeling is worth every drop of sweat! </span><br />
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Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-71808299694219895692012-09-28T22:46:00.003+05:302012-09-28T22:46:36.992+05:30Racing your way through life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"> </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Recently I downloaded a simple car racing game on to my i Pad for my kids to play. The objective of the game is to drive as much distance as possible without meeting with an accident. It's a straight four lane drive with either side having concrete fencing. When you start the game it automatically cruises at a speed determined by the game itself. Vehicles will cut across to your ane from time to time and your task is to navigate the traffic and ensure you don't knock any of the vehicles or the side fencing. As you progress in the game the levels of difficulty will increase as more and more vehicles get on the road along with their errant driving.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Difficulty becomes really tough after 5000m with the environment becoming pitch dark to experience night time driving. When this happens all you can see is few steps ahead, to the extent of the coverage provided by your lights that have to be switched on.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At the initial instances when I played the game I hardly managed to reach 300m. But then I realised something so simple but yet very profound. It became clear to me that I was looking all over the screen when I was playing. There were interesting things to look at such the distance travelled, complete landscape etc. However this was the reason for my down fall. Upon realizing this, I started focusing 100% on the vehicle and what was just in front of me. Amazingly I ended up reaching 3800m. Even then the down fall was due to my eagerness to take my eyes off the car to see my progress!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">With the night fall the need for immediate focus becomes much more important. With the environment being pitch dark your focus has to be razor sharp. In my several attempts afterwards I managed to reach a maximum distance of 14,830m.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While it is a fun filled exercise there is an important lesson for all of us,</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You have to keep your eye on the ball (in this case "car") all the time. You cannot take your eyes off. The moment you do, you stop short of your full potential!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">May be its time you play the same game! More importantly to play it the way it should be played</span></div>
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Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-6331977034135550042012-04-14T22:25:00.002+05:302012-04-21T18:20:58.632+05:30Swimming without goggles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Recently I took my family for an evening swim and had to lend my wife the pair of goggles that I normally wear. While I am not a proper swimmer trained under a watchful eye, I on my own could manage about 20 laps of both free style and breast stroke in a 30m length pool. (probably slow compared to anyone else)<br />
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This day the swim was totally different. I could barely make it to the other end in a straight line. The difference was I simply could not swim with my eyes open. I had to close my eyes. The moment I open my eyes they were smarting way too much! I somehow wanted to give it a persistent try. So I tried six laps. On all occasions I was swimming all over and on two occasions I bumped in to another swimmer. (Dont't think he was amused at all!). Doesn't matter how focused I was to make it right, it was a futile effort.<br />
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It taught me an important lesson.<br />
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At times in life you need necessary focus and guidance to achieve things or reach a destination. Sometimes we feel that we are on the right direction. But we end up reaching somewhere totally different. Best part is throughout we think we were on track.<br />
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There are millions of swimmers who could swim without any goggles or any other supporting equipment. Unfortunately a 'self made' swimmer like me, who took up swimming in my mid twenties, need goggles to swim in a straight line. Goggles allow me to focus and see the path beneath me. It allows me to see the bottom of the pool so I could could focus on a line between three floor tiles and follow that path. That allows me to reach the other end in a straight line.<br />
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In life, when you feel like you have lost focus or not reaching the destination required or 'having smarting eyes' half way through, take a moment to think what equipment (or help) that you need. Sometimes all it takes is a pair of goggles! Reach out and seek out for one. (Ask help from someone!)<br />
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Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback on this posting under the comments column</div>Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-21494618425079920412011-10-08T10:14:00.000+05:302011-10-08T10:14:09.590+05:30The Worst Question a Salesperson Can Ask - Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson - Harvard Business Review<a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/10/the_single_worst_question_a_sa.html#.To_U6QeVmJM.blogger">The Worst Question a Salesperson Can Ask - Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson - Harvard Business Review</a><br /><br />Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback on this posting under the comments columnWelcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-23523433034860273722011-10-06T17:37:00.007+05:302011-10-06T22:38:15.260+05:30The Steve that I understood<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5vk34ps-epwC-0B_y0VHpPGy9ZkF8RC-kPaSfS-FyDxEP6qkO5blmaN6aruiOOMn4FaU_ZWlOg88LuBt3jei9hKFtPG15CP-xgpP-WNCsu6HF_Skwc8H_LwJk2y9p1LV64PpTvi6Xq1Up/s1600/Steve+Jobs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5vk34ps-epwC-0B_y0VHpPGy9ZkF8RC-kPaSfS-FyDxEP6qkO5blmaN6aruiOOMn4FaU_ZWlOg88LuBt3jei9hKFtPG15CP-xgpP-WNCsu6HF_Skwc8H_LwJk2y9p1LV64PpTvi6Xq1Up/s320/Steve+Jobs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It's just amazing as to how a person so remote could have such a dramatic impact on your life. His authority as a visionary has well been documented. We all love the products he invented. For the record he invented the "personal" computer, the GUI, mouse, designed master piece computers (Macs), the iPod, i phone, i pad and i tunes, great software such as Mac OS, iOS and of course the animated movie industry with Pixar. <br />
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To me he was a lot more. He was the best showman of our time. His method of presentation was a game changer. It set the standard for modern presentations. <br />
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He was indeed the Michael Angelo of our time. He was also the Edison of our time. Probably the only man ever to combine both the left and the right hemispheres of the brain to that extent! <br />
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The tenacity in which he pursued his passion has in it's own right created an impact around the world unlike any politician of our time. It was he who was instrumental in the concept of "designed in California and assembled in China". Todate they have a very successful model for this new world order. <br />
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Many say he defied marketing principles. He was famous for saying that consumers do not know what they want. Contrary to the popular belief he was indeed inline with the basic principles of marketing. He was probably the only person who could see, envision and anticipate so many game changing products. No doubt he was the best contemporary marketeer!<br />
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However his greatest legacy is none of the products he helped invent but probably the greatest institution of our time. Many feel with demise of Jobs Apple will be doomed. However the greatest second act of the history of modern business was all about creating an organization that could think 'Steve Jobs'. He was instrumental in putting together an all star executive team. As an avid Apple follower we know that he put together several initiatives to institutionalize the Apple way of thinking for future generations of Apple employees. <br />
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As always the real test for Apple as an organization will come after 4-5 years when the current lineup of products will see the daylight. <br />
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Steve's ultimate success could be measured on the success of variety of products they might launch 5-6 years down the line. Time will tell. Till then we wait.<br />
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Goodbye Steve. We'll surely miss you!<br />
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(Picture : courtesy of www.wired.com)</div>Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-28110843668401276252011-09-30T11:58:00.002+05:302011-09-30T15:52:51.271+05:30Droping the ball at the most crucial time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You choose a bank for variety of reasons. You become a member of their proviledged banking service with certain expectations. Organizations use marketing communications to reinforce the product positioning in the minds of their target audience. When you are dealing with one of the largest in the world, you expect certain base minimums. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Here's the context. They call themselves the world's local bank! You deal with them thinking that they could offer certain benefits that other local private banks cannot offer because of their own netwrok and reach especially overseas. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">My requirement was simple. I wanted to withdraw certain amount of money exceeding the daily withdrawal limit on the ATM network of the said bank. So I spoke to the Sri Lankan call center which confirmed to me as a special case I could walk in to any local branch of the said banking network and make a request and they would verify my credentials and other formalities with the Sri Lankan branch and honour the transaction. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">However I was in for a shok the next day as I walked in to their local branch! So called Customer Support Executive aftermaking me seated for 15 minutes simply said that I cannot withdraw money over the counter. I requested that I be taken to the manager in charge since it is a special request. The guy simply said that If he cannot solve my issue the manager cannot do either! He even refused to take me to another senior officer! Talking of attitude ! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Then I made a call to the Sri Lankan call center of the said bank and expalined my plight. After asking several questions and keeping me on hold for over 13 minutes I simply gave up on the call. But the best part is after knwoing my plight and knowing that I was stranded in a foreign country and also having my raoming contact details the call center simply did not bother to call back. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I have made a formal complaint on the matter, lets see how they respond this. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">What's the point if they cannot serve you when you need them most! </span><br />
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Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback on this posting under the comments column</div>Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-77529750577273114792011-07-17T12:09:00.000+05:302011-07-17T12:09:44.173+05:30Not knowingly losing customersProbably retail is the industry which has the highest frequency of repeat business and also the one of the highest level of interaction with consumers. In retail, supermarkets focus on two things, basket value and footfall. You improve which ever the variable and you'll improve top line. Product availability is a key for the success of any supermarket because of it's impact on basket size and customer satisfaction.<br />
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Since of late I've come to realize that a supermarket outlet that I frequently use to visit is increasingly running out some of the items that I would shop for on weekly/monthly basis. While these items might not the basic essentials they would fall in to the category of items you would look for in your weekly shopping trips. <br />
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Here's the consequence. After lack of various products for the past several months I have started to go for competition outlets which I have not done for a long long time. I would call myself a loyal customer of the previous chain. However loyalty is bound to have limits. Running out of products, let alone essentials occasionally is not an issue. But when you come across situations where product unavailability on regular basis you would look else where. <br />
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The other danger is that organizations even will not know the parting customers or the reasons for it. There we two others that I know personally who have moved to other chains from the same chain of supermarkets I am referring to. However they have made no attempt to even leave any kind of feedback. I generally do make it a point to provide feedback. Because I believe in brands that I shop with, be it food, clothes etc. But when you don't see much happening after serveal feedback sessions you give up. <br />
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Well my current supermarket has lost it's weekly big basket customer in me, but I will use the place for my top ups. With top ups at roughly 10% of the basket value it's quite obvious the wallet share loss. May be I'm the exception. I only know two other people who have abandon the chain under similar circumstances. Interestingly the initial switch happened not because the competition was significantly better(at least we were not prompted to think that way), but because of the bd 'experience'. <br />
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Best part is that no body in the organization knows that they've lost a customer! <br />
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Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback on this posting under the comments columnWelcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-87027228440638501552011-07-17T08:18:00.001+05:302011-07-17T08:35:33.609+05:30Service Recovery - Traders Maldives WayIn one of my previous posting I wrote about bad service at Traders Hotel Male'. <br />
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http://www.dassaonline.com/2011/03/management-blindness-and-loosing.html<br />
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Upon my return I provided on line feedback on the incident and revved a personalized note from the GM herself assuring me of better service and non recurrence of similar experiences with a request to keep her posted with my next travel plans to Male'.<br />
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Couple of months later I did make another trip to Male and I certainly dropped a note to her about my travel. <br />
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As expected this time it was different. There were Traders personnel awaiting my arrival at the Male airport. Without any delay I was taken to their speed boat to be transferred to the hotel. At the hotel I was greeted by GM herself, Ester Marcaida who apologized for my precious experiences and assured me of best of service this time around. They gave me a sea view room which was also an upgrade to the usual deluxe rooms we take up. Staff were much more attentive and for all practical purposes they were at my service at the drop of an hat.<br />
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At the room there was this personal note from the GM. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nnof67WZDdHsf8hFEuXPVpLWJMpdf0BMnO6yQMhjOvui8h_ubz3w_kyY-sLuoEkX7W98iiF-RQpT5sBZaau5Ia7oHRo_1hHc4zHMoKIc6kFWkQwmKnzXBlCzuOSjAP1EX1qdaEEfOyvT/s1600/Note+from+GM.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nnof67WZDdHsf8hFEuXPVpLWJMpdf0BMnO6yQMhjOvui8h_ubz3w_kyY-sLuoEkX7W98iiF-RQpT5sBZaau5Ia7oHRo_1hHc4zHMoKIc6kFWkQwmKnzXBlCzuOSjAP1EX1qdaEEfOyvT/s320/Note+from+GM.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
All in all it was quite obvious that they've made a successful effort in recvoring from a service mishap. I suppose it was the initiative of the experience GM, Ester Marcaida which assured them over 15 room nights last time and probably a whole lot more as I have advised all my colleagues to stay at the same hotel. <br />
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Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback on this posting under the commentWelcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-61306282424682504262011-07-16T13:05:00.001+05:302011-07-16T13:05:21.706+05:30Making the most of the situational leadership opportunitiesSome gain leadership positions by context. While they may not be the appointed leader, given the circumstances and their technical competencies it creates a scenario for them to assume leadership roles. <br /><br />However these moments could be an acid test for their true mettle as a leader. Those who observe them will watch them closely to evaluate the softer aspect of their leadership style which is so crucial for the longterm assignment of the leadership roles. <br /><br />Such individuals would do well for themselves if they consciously step out of their obsession on technical competency focus. While technical competency is crucial the leadership in the longer term is really about bringing out the best in others and providing direction, which is much easier said than done. <br /><br />So if you are assuming a situational leadership role be conscious about the true aspects of leadership as well. <br /><br />Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-71188083028164365872011-06-17T23:23:00.000+05:302011-06-17T23:23:26.472+05:30Leadership - You have to earn itHow careful and thoughtful one should be when taking over a team for the first time?<br />
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Simple answer is plenty. <br />
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The level of thinking needs to be much greater if the manager comes from an individual contributor background previously.<br />
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While every manager wants to stamp their authority and mark in the team they need to be very careful in the manner they go about it. Initial interactions are the most critical. If you mess it up initially it is indeed an uphill task recover from that point onwards.<br />
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One needs to be extremely careful in understanding the EXISTING team dynamics prior to making any changes necessary. While changes could be an absolute must in line with new leadership thinking, one needs to get their subordinates buy in to that thinking. A subscribed approach is always good if there are strong existing team dynamics while prescribe or stick approach is also appropriate if the leader has clear set of deliverables. Eitherway communication and regular communication becomes paramount in that regard.<br />
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Even with the stick approach it is advisable that the leader depending on the capacity should have one to one chats with the subordinates where (s)he should understand there expectations out of him and also his expectations for each individual. Many forget to spend quality time in this regard and most of the time those who do it fail to do it sincerely.<br />
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It's paramount that one understands that a leader's success is as good as the success of his/her team! <br />
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Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback on this posting under the comments columnWelcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-6794419784974155692011-04-07T15:24:00.000+05:302011-04-07T15:24:46.145+05:30What magazine purchase can teach you about opportunity scouting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">There is this regular business magazine that I purchase on monthly basis during my shopping trips to the regular supermarket that I shop at. For past 4 weeks<em> </em>I have been on the look out for the March edition of the magazine every time I stood at the cashier counter for the grocery payment. Couple of times I've made casual inquiries and the cashier staff response was "sorry sir it is not available". <br />
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Since it was not one of those do or die things I did live without it till today. However during my usual walks down the crowded streets of Colombo to my surprise I came across a pavement hawkers who was selling newspapers had not only the March issue but also the April issue. I ended up buying both. But reflections on the incident over lunch reinforced an important lesson. <br />
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On most occasions we miss potential opportunities in business and in life because they are not visible from the path we usually take similar to my weekly supermarket trips. While it is the regular usual path we always take it makes lot of sense to deliberately "take a walk down the road less travelled" to identify opportunities. <br />
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Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback on this posting under the comments column</div>Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-68964265272665360532011-03-17T22:46:00.001+05:302011-03-17T22:46:09.135+05:30Be Open to feedbackToday I had my skip level and it was indeed a glimpse of the 'master class' to come going forward. <br /><br />As mentioned during the previous postings, I very much wanted to walk my talk in terms feedback in an industry and in an role where I am a complete beginner. My survival would depend on as to how much I would factor in the feedback I receive. <br /><br />First few months were bit disastrous as I virtually did no sales. Then two of my colleagues did provide me with feedback which was a reality check. <br /><br />While I have not done any wonders since then, I certainly have made decent progress ever since. <br /><br />Given we are 15 days in to the last quarter of the financial year there is so much to do during the next 2 1/2 months. <br /><br />Today's skip level feedback session was indeed very useful in that regard. <br /><br />Let see what progress I make after this. <br /><br />Come first June I'll let you know. Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-14272137612738304262011-03-09T05:55:00.001+05:302011-03-09T05:55:53.828+05:30All the facilities in the world cannot make up for service deficienciesWe were shopping at a newly renovated and expanded supermarket recently. The place looks excellent, it carries the almost the full range we want. We certainly did our weekly shopping at the place but it was obvious that something was not right about the place. <br /><br />It all came together at the point of checking out. It was indeed the service. There were newly recruited cashiers at the checkout counters. The manner in which they punched your bill you lose faith of the accuracy of the bill. <br /><br />Supervisory staff and other staff at the checkout and elsewhere in the store did not have any kind of orientation towards customer service. It was as if that the supermarket chain was doing us a favor by selling goods! The manner in which they look at you, the urgency within which they attend to things such as weighing and finding goods for you and above all the feeling that they show that we the customers are a bother was just extraordinary. <br /><br />Let us draw parallels with another outlet of belonging to the same chain which is smaller in size, carries less range. I've always realized that my basket size is 20% less there but we have no issues in shopping at that place. It is the complete opposite when it comes to service. There is much greater sense of sincerity at every point of customer contact right from the security. <br /><br />Here's the thing. We decided that we would not return to the newly expanded outlet again but will stick to our known location. <br /><br />However in the process the chain of supermarkets will loose 20% of our weekly basket value which will go else where. Given the special counters that they had at the newly renovated outlet such as bakery etc they definitely lost out an opportunity to up sell to our family and increasing the share of our wallet at least by another 5%. <br /><br />Point is that might be smaller absolute amount to have lost out from ours as an individual customer. <br /><br />Just work out the lifetime value that they loose from us. We as a family would continue to shop for at least another 20 years minimum and basket values will continue to grow. <br /><br />Just to work out the math. <br /><br />20years * 52 weeks = 1040 times of weekly shopping! <br /><br />Now multiply that by the amount! <br /><br />I only wish the staff on the ground realize this. <br /><br />Like us I'm sure there were others who would have walked out from the place thinking never to return. <br /><br />Now it's obvious that they have a serious problem. <br /><br /> <br /><br />Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-77957444553231099332011-03-07T18:59:00.001+05:302011-03-07T18:59:58.646+05:30Lessons learned from a Juvenile Correction Centre<br />Recently I was in the Maldives and I was fortunate enough to pay a visit to a close by island which houses a JCC or Juvinile Correction Centre. They've started operations less than a year ago. <br /><br />Children brought to this island (yes it is an island surrounded by the Indian ocean, with depths of 100-600ft deep sea) are ranging from 12 - 18 years. They are the most notorious with criminal background. Largely they do not posses basic literacy.<br /><br />It was heartening to see the skills acquired by these kids in areas such as art and craftsmanship. Some of the oil paintings are of the highest order. Thats after 10 months of training. I was also encouraged to hear that two such inmates have successfully launched a commercial painting career. <br /><br />Here is a successful model that has been puttogether by Police personnel based on a decision taken overnight. <br /><br />It is interesting to see the level of softskills that could be imparted to the future batches going forward. Arme with such skills the inmates would be in a better position to take on different challenges in the real world. <br /><br />Hats off to the police officer in charge of this center for a job well done. Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-31820109145327124922011-03-02T03:19:00.001+05:302011-03-02T03:19:21.678+05:30Management blindness and loosing customersTraders at the Maldives do have customer feedback forms just like any other hotel. But what's the point if you do not act on the feedback. How tolerating the customers would be and for how long before walking away. <br /><br />Not too long...at least only until a proper alternative arrives. <br /><br />Traders at Male in the Maldives offer complimentary speed boat service from Male international airport to the capital Male which is roughly a 5 minute ride. <br /><br />Now imagine this. You make a booking and specifically communicate with the reservations department regarding your flight times and request for a prompt pick up. <br /><br />Situation becomes even more critical when your flight lands in Male at midnight, 00.30 to be exact. <br /><br />Ok, they are not there waiting for you although far away resort islands have sent their boats for pick up. So you call them and remind them that you are there! <br /><br />1.00Am local time they are still not there and you remind them again. You call them again at 1.15Am they still don't make it. What is an hour in the Maldives one might argue. Not if you are on a business trip with morning meetings the next day morning and not of you are the only tourist in the airport! <br /><br />Fair enough, but how did they try to win back me as a customer? <br /><br />Obviously I was mad but the guy who came to pick me up was arguing that I should have come in a earlier flight. The lobby manager and his staff (who were there on 2nd morning) acted so so dumb and clueless and simply said sorry. <br /><br />No recovery plan at all. <br /><br />On my account I have asked the manager who appears to be a career hotelier to speak to me tomorrow morning. Let's see in his capacity as to how is he going to handle my situation. <br /><br />Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-12282256861190669792011-02-16T07:11:00.001+05:302011-02-16T07:11:10.472+05:30Be careful with what you dreamDream is a powerful tool at the disposal of any individual. Many are familiar with the definitions of day dreamers and traditional dreams at nights. <br /><br />On many a occasion night dreams are negative and frightening for most. While I am no psychiatric to decode this phenomena, my guess is that it represent a scenario of a vivid representation of an individuals deep thoughts, hidden in mind. <br /><br />It's a proven fact that human mind cannot distinguish between what's real and whats imagination. Physically we react to vivid imagination the same way we react to reality. <br /><br />While one may think this us dangerous and unrealistic, you can in fact use to your greater advantage as well. <br /><br />Why not use vivid imagination to dream and experience about success you want to achieve in life. If done right with persistence the human body will start reacting to your thought process and you will start making progress in that front. <br /><br />Try dreaming for a different purpose hereafter. But make sure you allow you body to react to the feeling as well. Last you want is your subconscious mind telling you that's not going to work! Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811032324421193771.post-28545556225139915582011-01-01T00:21:00.002+05:302011-01-01T09:41:27.261+05:30Happy and Prosperous 2011!New year rituals are common for most. However goals alone means nothing unless they become an absolute must where we take massive action. <br />
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On most occassions these resolutions are things we wish to have, we think we should have or things which are nice to have. On most occasions they do not become part of what is must to achieve. <br />
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So the challenge is to make a resolution (or few) which is (are) must to achieve this year and work our hearts and souls toward the same. <br />
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May each of you achieve goals setout for 2011! <br />
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Happy new year!Welcome to Dassalessons @dassaonlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843337096466600378noreply@blogger.com0