Loud Thinking

Archive for August, 2013

Behind every great fortune there is a crime.

Honore de Balzac
French realist novelist (1799 – 1850)

“Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; from discord find harmony; in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

— Albert Einstein

“Prefer a loss to a dishonest gain; the one brings pain at the moment, the other for all time.”

Chilon of Sparta –
Philosopher

Find Your Authentic Self

No one likes to work with someone who is a fake. For people to trust that you’re being genuine, they need to know where you stand. Here are two ways to be sure you’re being true to yourself and connecting with others:

Have a point of view.

Know your stances on major work issues and be open and willing to engage in conversations about them. To have leadership presence, others need and want to know where you stand — they don’t want to have to guess or be blindsided midstream.

Be transparent about your position.

Know the difference between navigating the political waters of your organization and actually becoming the politics itself. Get support for your initiatives but be clear about what you are doing, why you are doing it, and how you are doing it.

Adapted by HBR from “To Be Authentic, Look Beyond Yourself,” by Amy Jen Su and Muriel Maignan Wilkins.

Explain Why You’re Making a Career Move

Your decision to shift careers is often hard to translate to others. People may question whether it’s too risky to leave your current company or if you’re really qualified to enter a new field. But you can address the skepticism of potential employers, colleagues, and others by doing these three things:

Connect the dots. Make it clear you’re not starting from scratch. Link the skills you used in your previous roles to what you’ll be doing in the future.

Tell a story. Create a coherent narrative of your career trajectory. People will understand more easily if they see the move as a logical extension of the past, rather than a rupture.

Focus on the value you bring to others. People sometimes view career transitions as a sign of narcissism or a midlife crisis. Don’t reinforce that by making it all about you. Instead, focus on the value you bring to the new position.

Adapted by HBR from “How to Explain Your Career Transition,” by Dorie Clark.

If You Want to Lead, Start Now

To become a leader, don’t wait for the fancy title or the corner office. Here are three things you can do now, even if someone else is calling the shots:

Demonstrate your potential.

Raise your hand for new initiatives, especially ones that might be visible to those outside your unit. Look for opportunities outside of work, too. You can sit on the board of a local nonprofit or organize a volunteers’ event in your community.

Support your boss in reaching her goals.

Find out what keeps your manager up at night and propose solutions to those problems.

Find role models.

Look for people who have the roles you want and study how they act, communicate, and dress. Identify behaviors that you can emulate while being true to yourself.

Adapted by HBR from “Act Like a Leader Before You Are One,” by Amy Gallo.

Yes we can, we have not one but two persons, who can deliver to the nation and the world even more than Steve Jobs, provided they are given the government patronage, proper atmosphere and opportunity for R&D in IT sector; and they are Mr. Umar Saif, world renowned IT genius guru and Chairman PITB and Mr. Jibran Asghar, an IT (software) genius of Pakistan, working for the last 10 years in Bern, Switzerland.

If we watch the Movie “Jobs” which is based on the story of Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computer Inc., is a life story of how the Apple Computer Inc. came into being.

It is a story of a man driven by his brilliance. It was as if he knew his life was short and he was given this gift and ordered to fulfill it.

In that quest he failed to make friends, gave up old friends, did not amass wealth, lived a simple life, took some controversial actions that were wrongly interpreted. Yet, he managed to create an enterprise that was valued as the most valuable company in the world.

In that process he made thousands of Millionaires and lifted hundreds of families from abject poverty to a life of affluence.

His mantra was simple, give the people something that they have never used but be honest when you offer that. The net result was he generated an unparalleled following.

Apple sold less cell phones than most of the worlds brands, but made many times more revenue than any other cell phone company. The reason, people trusted Apple to provide the best. Then sacrificed (some even sold their body organs) to obtain their product at any price. Apple delivered what it promised.

That is how legends are made.

Give us 10 reasons for investing in Pakistan, says Danish envoy

My reply to the Danish Ambassador in Pakistan

I will put up few reasons for the Danish envoy and businessmen which will be heavier than 100 ordinary reasons to invest in Pakistan explained as below:

– Pakistan is perhaps the ONLY country in the world from where a foreign investor can repatriate 100% PROFIT of its investment back to his country.

– Pakistan is perhaps the ONLY country in the world where a foreign investor can take back his 100% INVESTMENT.

– Pakistan is perhaps the ONLY country in the world where there is TAX FREE on independent power producers (IPP’S).

Best wishes to any foreign investor in Pakistan.

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad

Pak troops making serious mistake by violating ceasefire, Indian Army warns

A TOI Report

RAJOURI: Sending a strong message to Pakistan over repeated ceasefire violations and BATattacks, a top Army commander on Sunday warned it was making a “serious mistake” and said a befitting reply would be given with “full force” at the time and place of its choice.

“You (Pakistan) are making a serious mistake (with regard to ceasefire violations and BAT attacks)- do not do it,” General Officer Commanding (GOC) 25 Infantry Div, Major General VP Singh told reporters here.

He was replying to volley of questions about what strong message he wants to convey to Pakistan with regard to increase in ceasefire violations, cross border firing and Border Action Team(BAT) attack on forward Indian posts along LoC in Poonch.

India has blamed BAT, which is a mix of Pakistani special forces personnel and terrorists, for the brutal killing of its two soldiers in January, one of whom was beheaded, and killing of its five personnel along Line of Control in Poonch sector.

“…what you are putting across – it is not going to affect, deter us or weaken our resolve,” General Singh said.

He further said that the Army is here to respond to each and every act of Pakistan in which ever way it feels so.

Regarding Army’s strategy in the wake of the BAT attacks engineered by Pakistan, Gen Singh said “as far as BAT action is concerned, we are absolutely aware what kind of response it is going to get – that response will be delivered”.

“It will be delivered in our own time and at the place of our own choosing and with full force, that you shall see.

“It is a military matter – as and when the response is delivered – you will see”, he said, adding “the response would be delivered– we will select our time and place to give a befitting reply to Pakistan with full force,” he said.

Gen Singh said the Defence Minister and the Chief of Army Staff have given his command clear directions that violation of ceasefire or any other act of infiltration from acros LoC will be met resolutelywith power and full force.

“As far as I am concerned, those directions are with me – we are responding and retaliating to the situation as per the requirements with full force”, Gen Singh said.

He further said that Army Chief had also made it clear that Army is free to reply and respond to the BAT attacks as per opportunity and strategy.

“As per opportunity and situation, what is to be done – everybody knows it and reply accordingly will be given.”

At another media briefing at Bhimbher Gali in Poonch sector along LoC, Brigade Commander, 120 Infantry Brigade, Brig A Sengupta said Army has inputs about Pakistan trying to engineer more BAT attacks along the border.

“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”

— Pope John XXIII