Interesting Management Lessons

The best weekends for me are generally the ones that allow me to indulge in my passion; watching movies. This weekend I was truly refreshed to see a great movie that I would recommend to all those who manage people, are in situations where they have to think “out of the box” or have to make tough decisions with a lot of constraints. The movie 'moneyball' is a sports drama based on a real life event and takes place when Beane (played by Brad Pitt) who is the GM of Oakland’s Athletics seems to be running out of options on wanting to run a successful baseball team. He starts losing his star players Damon, Giambi & Isringhausen to competition and the owner of his team ( Stephen Schott) is not willing to lend additional funds to him to pick up fresh start talent from the market. As Beane is struggling to overcome this hopeless situation and work within the constraints he meets & decides to bring on board Peter Brand (played by Jonah Hill) who comes up with a statistic...

Having spent a short while in the army and also by the virtue of managing people as a line manager for over 15 years now, I do pride myself in understanding the concept of leading from the front. Leading from the front has often been described as 'to show the way or to guide or direct the course'. It also means never asking someone to do any thing that you cannot do better (or yourself) and also willingness to being in the thick of things and leading the team by example. Recently , my father, who was a 3 star general (Lieutenant General) in the army, and held many command & staff positions in the army as well as went on to join the board of multi-billion dollar companies during his service &   post his retirement , explained a very interesting concept to me. Since he is one of those rare personalities who have proved his prowess, in both the fields that need high leadership skills to rise to the top (military & business), I found his concept extremely thought ...

Anna Hazare’s campaign against corruption has caught the country’s imagination. For a generation that never had a chance to see how Gandhi managed to single handedly bring down the British government, this is a live history lesson. Though I personally have my own opinions around how our society can become more honest & forthright, I certainly admire the raw guts of Anna to take on the proverbial Goliath for bringing in the Jan Lokpal. While as a citizen I feel a sense of pride through this movement; for the manager in me, this brings a huge inspiration on many levels. The first and the most important lesson for me is the fact that this movement is all about Cause & Inspiration. The fact that People know they are fighting for a cause that is much greater than themselves brings them together. Ordinary citizens know & realize that what they are fighting for will probably determine what kind of society their children inherit and will significantly improve the daily experien...

The most memorable films that I have seen are almost always set against the backdrop of great historical events and/or have great story lines which showcase the human spirit under demanding circumstances. The Oscar winners (and this is my personal theory) are the ones that combine both of the above (Gone with the Wind, Dr Zhivago, Titanic, Enemy at the Gates; the list is endless). However, there is a certain genre of movies that do not have great story lines, nor do they showcase the triumph of the human spirit. They are not set against backdrop of any memorable events and yet are classics because they have one key character that holds the entire story line (however absurd it may be). This character makes the story believable, compelling and most of all it is this central character’s presence & performance that makes this movie a super hit or a classic. While these men & women do not have any superpowers, they however possess a certain trait that attracts us to them…they are ...

Movies thorough the years have echoed the realities, thoughts, fashions, fears & histories of our times. While the movies have always had a lot of lessons to offer about leadership, humanity, friendship, love and even hatred, very seldom does one come across a motion picture that has something in it about salesmanship. The movie I saw recently is a take-off on Osama bin laden look alike and a small town reporter, Ali, who crafts a fake interview to meet his aim of going abroad. In his endeavor, Ali is faced with the difficult task of getting different personalities needed to make this interview a reality, see the goal as one. However, realizing that, he does not possess all the capabilities himself; he works on getting their buy-in and in the end creates a sell-able tape of the interview. He learns early on, that to succeed in his goals; he needs to lean on his colleagues & his client (Osama look alike poultry farmer). In reality a lot of, sales professionals, try to run oppor...

The first thing that strikes you about any Indiana Jones movies is the adventure sequences and the clever story lines. Being a big Jones fan and having watched all his movies (multiple times), I always wondered what drives Indy into such crazy adventures. He is obviously not a very materialistic man. The only real possessions that he seems to have are his hat, his whip, his jackets, a revolver & his collection of books. In most of the movies he ends up taking the assignments to return the recovered artifacts to either a museum or the government. So what really makes him put his life & limb in danger while fighting off the tribes, the bandits, the communists, and the Nazi’s, and sometimes all of them together in a single movie (imagine the odds of that happening in real life!). Recently I came across the definition of the word Passion. Pash-uhn is defined as an emotion that traces its origins to the bible which uses it to define the suffering on the cross. It is defined as an ...

The four key lessons that I learnt from a movie I saw recently are, I believe, the most important in anyone’s work life. This film is based on a true event that took place during World War II. It was drawn from failed attempt on the life of Adolf Hitler. The movie revolves around the main protagonist (Colonel Claus Von Sauffenberg) and the plot he masterminded to carry out the assassination. This officer, despite being part of a rigid system or an organization, takes a stand for what he believes is right & for the good of the country. The opinion’s & belief of the majority of his peers & superiors doesn’t stop him from taking the stand that was eventually proved right and he was recognized as a hero in his country post the end of World War. While we know of many heroes in the annals of history who stood for what was right, but seldom do we come across someone who fought the system from within. He, against overwhelming opposition and at the risk of damage to his brillian...