One of the latest tirades from Donald Trump was against Lebron James. I have been thinking of his style of functioning and that of the “traditional” style of leadership. All the books that I have read on leaders, all the leaders that I have seen, are more or less, role models. At the very least, they offer words of wisdom and speak what I like to call, “The Universal Truth”. Take Barack Obama – I am no expert on his policies or the impact that he had on the economy of the United States or that of the world. I was always impressed with the way he carried himself and the way that he spoke. His handling of particularly volatile situations seemed to always be in a calm and measured method. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, comes across as very petty, impetuous and pusillanimous. Trump is the President of the United States of America. Arguably, one of the most prominent
Lost in Shangri-La – Outdated and insipid
Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff is a story of the survivors of an American plane crash. Set towards the end of the 2nd World War, in Netherlands New Guinea, it recounts the tale of a fun sortie that went pear shaped for all the travelers. Originally published in 2011, I had the opportunity to read it only recently and I found it quite insipid and unlike many other survivor stories that are so awe-inspiring. When survival against all odds comes to mind, I think of the 127 hours – a movie by Danny Boyle. This is definitely not even remotely in that league. The 3 survivors of the plane crash were all in the military, albeit one was part of the Women Army Corps and not a trained soldier by any stretch of the imagination. Nevertheless, following the plane crash, the three of them manage to haul themselves to a place from where the Search and Rescue planes are
Transforming a company
Having been part of a mid-size Multi National Company for the past many years now, I have had the incredible opportunity to grow and understand the decision making of the leaders within the organization. More and more, I have come to appreciate the dynamics that go into taking key decisions and how they eventually impact the direction that the company takes. We have had many different CEOs over the years – at least 4 that I can think of right away. Each and every one of them has had a distinct style and method of execution and decision making. As part of the R&D org, most of the changes over the years have been through the offices of different leaders of the Business Units, Engineering heads and now obscure titles that were created at the time for different reasons. It is quite telling that change has been the one constant factor over time. It probably reflects on the overall revenue
Rituals
Coming from a Hindu family, rituals have been a constant through my life. Not necessarily happening with any defined frequency, these ceremonies take up different forms and ways. My father was never a person who necessarily believed in God, or at least he did not make his feelings known to us. My mother, on the other hand, is as pious as they come. Her ultimate, argument-ending dictum on every topic where we push her to do something is “If He is willing, it will be done”, or “I have put my faith in Him. He will make it happen”. Once that is said, there is no force on earth that can budge that immovable stone of faith. So, in all the cases of rituals and religious ceremonies, my mother has been the driving force. She, of course, firmly believes that she does not know enough to perform one, so she would simply say, “whatever we do, is for Him”, thereby
Travel – then and now
My earliest memories of travel outside of the city involve bus and train rides. Bus rides would be in the ubiquitous “Red Bus” or “Semi-Luxury” or “Super Deluxe” out of the city. In those worry-free days, the travel plans were out of our hands and minds, as was packing and logistics of the journey and destination. We were expected to show up, stay in sight and out of trouble. I never had a problem with meeting those expectations (at least as far as I can recall, my mother may have a different story to tell). The Red Bus journeys were the most adventurous – finding a seat and retaining it was always atop priority. As a kid, I was happy to help. Squeeze in among the rush to get inside, put a handkerchief on a seat and spread the hands out wide as far as I could, waiting for the family to join in. I can only imagine the thoughts
Mithun's Musings 