Sunday 22 November 2015

Free Sample Chapter - “Soft Skills: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Overcome Workplace Challenges to Excel as a Leader”










Dear friends,

Here is the sample chapter of my book titled “Soft Skills: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Overcome Workplace Challenges to Excel as a Leader.” It is published by Motivational Press, USA. I appreciate your comment and share with your connections. 


Treat Your Failures as Experiments to Excel as a Leader
“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

In 2014, I was invited as a keynote speaker by an eminent educational institution. I treated it as an opportunity to share my vision to build one million students as global leaders by 2030 URL: http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.in/2014/12/professor-m-s-raos-vision-2030-one_31.html and to inspire students to dream big.

The students belonged to engineering and management education. I was so amazed at their enthusiasm in the campus. I recalled my past when I worked as a professor in various educational institutions, and delivered my speech as follows:

It is essential for every individual to fail in life. If you don’t fail, you have not tried enough in your life, and you have not explored anything in your life. People have various kinds of fears - fear of criticism, fear of ill-health, fear of old age, fear of poverty, and fear of failure. Among all these fears, the ‘fear of failure’ is the biggest stumbling block for human growth.  Although most people are ambitious and aspire to rise high in their lives, they are scared of failures. They are scared of what others will think if they fail. They also have apprehensions that who will hold their hands if they fail.

We all have one life, and we must explore and experiment maximum to unlock our potential. It helps us lead a satisfying life leaving this world without any regrets. At the same time, we must learn lessons from each failure. We must treat each failure as an unsuccessful experiment, learn lessons for the reasons of failure to explore and experiment better next time. Such attitude and approach paves the way for success. Hence, what everyone must do is to list out the failures they encountered during their lifetime. They must also find out the reasons for those failures. What lessons they learned from such failures. What corrective action they can take in future to minimize their mistakes and maximize their success. Having such a systematic and scientific approach helps people overcome the stigma associated with failures, and to achieve success in life. Remember, to fail is not bad, but not to learn lessons from failures is bad. Hence, treat your failures as experiments; learn lessons; explore and experiment regularly to unlock your hidden potential to achieve an amazing success in your life. 

"The leader wonders about everything, wants to learn as much as he can, is willing to take risks, experiment, try new things. He does not worry about failure but embraces errors, knowing he will learn from them." - Warren G. Bennis


Never Give Up. Be an Optimist

"Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality that guarantees all the others." - Winston Churchill

There are several leaders who did not give up and lived like legends during their lifetime. They inspired the world with loads of optimism. They provided hope for many people across the world. Here are the three great leaders who were held captive but escaped with their tact, intelligence and courage.

In 1899, Winston Churchill headed to South Africa as a newspaper correspondent to cover the Boer War between British and Dutch settlers. He was captured by Boer soldiers. He escaped by climbing the prison wall when prison guards turned their backs on him.  He walked in the night with hopes of finding the Delagoa Bay Railway. He jumped onto a train and hid among soft sacks covered in coal dust. He went to the home of John Howard, British who helped him to escape. Finally, he reached Durban in South Africa and became a hero.

Shivaji, the great Indian Maratha leader was at war with Mughuls. He met Emperor Aurangzeb in Agra and was insulted in the court. When he questioned, he was jailed along with his son, Sambhaji. He pretended sickness for a few days. He along with his son concealed themselves in two of the baskets covered with flowers and slipped out of the gates of the house and out of the walls of Agra.

Subhas Chandra Bose, fondly known as Netaji, was India’s freedom fighter. During the Second World War in 1939, he mobilized Indians to fight against British rule. He was jailed by British and subsequently kept under house arrest. He grew beard and escaped his house dressed as a Pathan to avoid being identified by British. He founded Indian National Army.

Ordinary people would have given up their hope under those circumstances. But these leaders escaped and provided a ray of hope for others. Life is full of challenges. Face them squarely. Never give up. Remember, faith is the force of life. Have faith in yourself. Be optimistic to take on the challenges to come out with flying colors.


“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and the oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” - Winston Churchill

Reference

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