According to the new book 'The India Way: How India's Top Business Leaders are Revolutionising Management', there are 4 key practices common across the leading companies in this exploding market.

1. Holistic Engagement with Employees

In a nutshell, 'people are viewed as assets to be developed, not costs to be reduced; as sources of creative ideas and pragmatic solutions; and as bringing leadership at their own level to the company'. Employees are frequently consulted on strategic direction, and have a long-term future with the company. Investment is huge - the larger organisations often invest up to 12 weeks' training in the first year of any employee joining, even after graduation.

2. Improvisation and Adaptability

India's red tape and bureaucracy is well-known, and demands India's entrepreneurs and business leaders to improvise and be immensely flexible. India's business leaders 'think broadly and act pragmatically, setting grand agendas and then testing through trial and error what works and what does not'. According to Hindustan Unilever's CEO, India's business leaders 'have a much greater ability to cope with uncertainty, they don't get disturbed by uncertain events, and... tend to be more creative as a result'.

3. Creative Value Propositions

India's business leaders have 'of necessity' learned to be highly creative in developing their value propositions. For example, 'customer centricity' is different to the way it is in the West, where the 'best' customers are those that deliver the highest profit margins. India's largest retailer Pantaloon, defined their competitive advantage as being driven by the customer experience, which was tailored to the strict social hierarchy. Nothing too radical there, except that all effort was invested in ensuring this aspect of competitive advantage was driven through every aspect of the business - all staff in each retail outlet was taught to think of the customer 'at the caste and community' level.

4. Broad Mission and Purpose

Personal values, 'a vision of growth' and strategic thinking was at the core of every business researched. But more interesting is the word 'broad' - meaning the sense of pride that India's business leaders take in not just business success, but also in family prosperity, regional advancement and national renaissance. A core driver in the business is broader 'societal purpose' as well as financial reward.

I love these four principles of creating businesses that are highly successful, while also putting employees, customers and society at the heart of their purpose. What can you learn from them and start to implement in order to set your business apart from the rest?



 

Nick Williams is the author of several books, including the bestseller 'The Work You Were Born to Do'; as well as running a fantastic community and power-house of ideas, speakers and support for people wanting to fulfill their purpose through work - www.inspired-entrepreneur.com.

Needless to say we had a lot to chat about, and this video is just one of five! We discuss the first element of what I call 'Worthwhile Work' - looking at the foundation of purpose (our natural gifts), the nature of flow and the role of vocation.

Ignore 'customer engagement' at your peril.

As it happens I scored high but not the highest. The club still gave me a free week for sheer perseverance! Comment below on your thoughts, and how you're addressing this issue.

There was a time, many moons ago, where I was able to go out mountain biking for 3 - 4 hour arduous rides, at least three times a week.

These days my rides are a little gentler, but I still get so much out of them. This weekend, I pondered the many parallels I could see between off-road biking and living work-life 'to the full'.

1. Know where you're going: Needless to say, when you're in a huge woodland area one track can look very much like another, if you don't know how you're going to 'get out' you'll be lost for quite a long while. So - have a vision. Where's your life taking you?

2. Keep one eye on the horizon, another on what's right in front of you: Now obviously what you're doing is glancing up every now and then to anticipate the hill so you know when to change gears, or to check there's no obstacle such as a fallen tree trunk on the path... but you also have to look right ahead of you, to navigate the tree roots, the dips and the turns. As it is with life - it's important to have a vision, and to keep your eye on it - but being able to respond appropriately to what's happening right now is just as critical.

3. Go with the flow, and maintain momentum: As my biking buddy once said, 'brakes are over-rated'. Mountain biking is easier when you lean into the corners, use the speed from the downhills and avoid 'panic braking' - you can fall off the bike! Go with the flow - trust your instincts, make sure that 'planning' doesn't paralyse your progress, and when you're 'on a roll', keep going with it - if it feels effortless and easy, you're probably on the right track!

4. Focus and be present: As I learned the hard way, whilst riding along pondering these metaphors, if you lose focus you can crash! Focus is the ability to invest all your attention and resources into one activity at a time. That doesn't mean there's nothing else happening at the same time. On the contrary, our sub-conscious is processing information and cultivating the right conditions for us to generate results, even if we're not consciously focusing on them at the time. But when we consciously focus on what we're doing (called mindfulness in some spiritual traditions) we ensure that we are offering ourselves fully to the task at hand - which usually means quicker and better results.

5. Smile and have fun!: Love life! It truly is a gift, and although it is a cliche, life really is too short not to make the most of every day. What makes you smile? Do you enjoy your work, or is work a 'drag'? If it is, look at what changes you might need to inject some meaning, joy and purpose to 'bring it to life'. 

Finally... is there an activity or sport that you're passionate about? Look at why you're passionate about it, and see if you can find your own 'life metaphors' to help you live more fully. 

When was the last time you attended a management or leadership course that had a module dedicated to ‘Trusting your Intuition’? I’ve certainly never come across one - intuition is typically seen as one of those ‘fluffy’ soft-skills subjects best left to the realm of personal and spiritual development.

But what’s the cost of not developing your intuition, and being aware of when it’s working either for or against you?

Here’s an example of the potential cost. According to a recent survey conducted across 553 line managers in the UK, and 1,002 workers: The research found that nearly four in 10 line managers rely mainly on gut feel when making personnel-related decisions, but a major factor in their making the wrong one was the mistaken belief that they really knew their staff. Almost half of staff actively distrust their line managers' decision-making instincts in relation to both their own and colleagues’ futures, while three quarters of managers admit that they would change their verdicts if given their time again.*

The above study is focused exclusively on the impact of using ‘gut-feel’ in relation to people-related decisions. In this case the managers’ ‘gut feel’ was a foe - not just because it led to the wrong decisions, but because it wasn’t challenged. As long as intuitive feelings remain unconscious, there is not just a huge capacity for error in judgement, but equally a huge opportunity to miss out on the possibility for greater insight, a more ‘holistic’ view in systems thinking, and more ‘flow’. In other words, intuition can be a friend as well as a foe.

On May 15th I’m running a workshop in London dedicated to ‘Working with Intuition’. In collaboration with Edgewalker Group International, this one day experiential workshop will give you the tools to ‘tune in’, discover how your intuition speaks to you, how to use it safely in decision making, and how to communicate effectively when using intuition as a guide. Click here for more info - it will be a powerful way to explore this little understood business issue in depth.

And if you want a fascinating insight into the power of what Malcolm Gladwell (author of ‘The Tipping Point’) calls ‘thin-slicing’, I cannot recommend highly enough his last book ‘Blink’; examining the power of ‘snap judgements’ - when they work, and when they don’t. And more importantly, why.

*For details of the above survey, see: http://www.hrzone.co.uk/topic/staff-distrustful-line-managers-instincts/101122

Over the past two days I've been looking at how to take your yoga or spiritual practice into your work-life - covering the energetic commitment needed, and the physical/emotional practice of using breath to re-connect with the peace and joy of stillness, even in a chaotic working environment.

Thirdly - the mental level. Mentally speaking calming words while you inhale and exhale is a great way to become 'present'. In yesterday's post (scroll down) I included a very short verse from Thich Nhat Hanh that is short, simple and very effective.

Affirmations are also a wonderful way to remind you of your intent. Write your own affirmations - positive declarations of your intent to bring the Truth of your practice into your everyday work experience. For example, if you are experiencing conflict with a particular colleague, and struggle to communicate with Love, the following could be useful: ‘I am mindful of every thought that crosses my mind, and every word that passes my lips. I speak from a place of Truth, knowing that it is not just what I think and say, but how it is said that determines the outcome of this situation’. If you mentally repeat your affirmation throughout the day, it acts as a reminder to hold on to what you have prioritised as your intent, rather than the story and the drama distracting you.

These three exercises - intent, breath-work and affirmations are all tools to help you integrate your spiritual practice into your work-life. It takes commitment and practice, the rewards are subtle on a day-to-day basis, but in the long-term make a difference between a miserable work-life, and one filled with purpose, joy and fulfillment.

In yesterday's blog post - looking at how to take the love, peace and occasional bliss from your spiritual practice into your work (scroll down), I talked about the importance of an intention to integrate your spiritual practices into your working life. This is the starting point - the energetic piece of the equation. One thing is to 'wish' you could, another is to commit to it.

The second level of integrating your spiritual practice with your work-life is to physically take the practice off the mat and into the office. No, this isn’t about suddenly stretching out into ‘triangle’ pose in the middle of a meeting, or standing in ‘tree’ pose to regain your balance!

Breath-work is not only extremely powerful to calm the emotions, it’s also non-intrusive and virtually indistinguishable to anyone else in the room. My favourite breath exercise is that of breathing in through the nostrils for 3 counts, and exhaling for 6. If you can stretch to 4 - 8 or more, that’s great - it’s about doubling the exhale to calm down the nervous system. Great for stressful conference calls, when you’re running from one meeting to another or after rushing for a train. If you are on your own, then simply shutting your eyes while doing the exercise, standing up and stretching out, or gazing out of a window to look at the horizon will also help you re-connect to your ‘being-ness’.

Finally, here is a fabulous prayer by Thich Nhat Hanh which you can use in conjunction with breath. It's so quick and subtle nobody at work will notice you doing it. And yet it's power lies in its simplicity.

Tomorrow is the final part of this series - the mental aspect of integrating your spiritual practice with work.