Arun Sarathy

Vision is vital to any leader, regardless of their stand, their group’s size, and their perspective. Without a powerful vision into the future, no leader can steer clear of his/her current problems, convert them into opportunities, nor cross-over their limitations.

If the vision is pigeon-holed, so will be the future, full of dependence and opportunities underused.

If the vision is beyond their current realm of rule/leadership, engaging in (social circles outside of their comfort zones) mutually benefitting relationships, enabling trade (of thoughts, resources, people (team members)), then the people being led under their leadership will not only flourish but will also stand firm in their support to the overall good that they seek.

 

Cheers and good luck.

– Arun

Being misunderstood is the first spike shown in any relationship-related disorder. Re-assuring words and actions are like the first-aid to this damage in relationships, wherever it is, be it at the workplace or at home.

You might have a set of beliefs and principles which make you, you. Similarly, others will also have their own set of principles which makes them, them. This changes over time, however, people around you won’t necessarily know that your beliefs are now changed. This triggers resentment, misunderstanding, and silence between people.

It is our job to find such silenced relationships, friendships, family ties and re-ignite with reassuring words, kindness, and casual small-talks.

Regular catch up goes a long way in maintaining a healthy relationship with anyone. If you are a fan of maintaining spreadsheets to track your expenses, why not consider maintaining another one to list all the people you know in your life, who matters to you, and start keeping a schedule of connecting with them regularly? (you could as well list their important dates, likes and dislikes and use it to surprise them while connecting next time).

If at any time your set of characteristics and beliefs about you change, big or small, be prepared for some initial mockery, teasing, confrontation from those around you. This is normal because you’re not the same they’re used to and more often than not, this change may conflict with their own set of beliefs, at least about you.

They still care about you, but just want the old you back. If you acknowledge this expectation from people around you and act to build bridges in communication, especially when you sense a change in your belief system, it will tremendously help you in maintaining healthy relationships.

Cheers, and good luck!

– Arun

People tend to pay more attention to others’ signs of approvals more often than they realize.

These are more pronounced in social media and other online social circles, in the forms of social approval indicators such as likes, followers, subscribers, comments, and mostly anything that can be quantified. In workplace, this comes in the form of any intranet blogs and SFW (Safe For Work) Social Media websites.

Ratings and reviews on Amazon and other e-commerce platforms can be cited as one of the best examples where, in one way it helps to read them before making purchasing judgments and doubly acts as a barometer for a product’s quality from the people who use them directly. However, on the other hand, they are not quite effective and come with loopholes and back doors. The main loophole being the fact that such quantifying metrics could be manipulated in many ways – skewing the numbers, portraying percentages instead of real numbers, depicting values under extreme conditions instead of a real random sampling, to name a few.

When people blindly rely on such measures to make decisions, it marks the beginning of complexity and jeopardizes the act of real value creation.

What’s the solution, then?

Well, knowing how to read and translate such approval indicators, leaving some room for benefit of doubt with a 20% here and there trying as best as one could, and to be as close to the person or product in question as possible, helps to a greater extent.

To conclude, please don’t fall for such indicators and factors alone and try to make educated decisions wherever such social approvals matter – this matters more in professional situations such as recruiting.

Recommended Reading: The Art of Social Media – Power Tips for Power Users, by Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick

Cheers, and take care!