Know how by Ram Charan
(Reviewed by M Amulya) Ram Charan is a very highly acclaimed speaker. He is the author of What the CEO Wants You to Know and many other books. He has worked for more than thirty five years behind the scenes at companies like GE, Bank of America, KLM, Novartis, EMC, Home Depot, Du Pont and Verizon, helping them to develop, shape and implement their strategic direction because he is expert in making business strategy and he has also coached some the world’s most successful CEOs This book “know-how” talks about the skills of people wh o know what they are doing. Know-How is a book that does a nice job by showing the eight skills which lead to success as a business leader. The eight know-hows are the fundamental leadership skills needed for success in the twenty-first century, things you must "know how" to do to be effective KNOW-HOW: The Substance of Successful Leaders : Know-how is something which separates the leaders who perform —who deliver results from those who don’t. It is a symbol of leader who knows what they are doing. Every leader has a quality like i ntelligence, self-confidence, presence, the ability to communicate, a nd having a vision. But personal attributes are something which is very important for any leadership, and their value is greatly diminished without know - how, the eight interrelated skills that bring leadership into the domain of profit and loss. Know-How is about what you must do and be to lead your business successfully In today’s environment of lightning fast change and transparency, leaders who lack substance get discovered sooner, but the damage they do in the meantime can be greater. Successful leaders learn the things and practice, and the most important refine the know-hows until they become natural because nobody can be a master without lots of rounds of practice. Leaders who do not practice these know-hows will be less effective than those who do. Author also talks about the leader that he should have a basic understanding of each in order to know where his strengths and weaknesses lie. The Foundation: Make Money: Positioning and Repositioning the Business to
In this chapter, the author talks about the positioning. He says positioning is the central idea for any business and he also says that real world is the best way to test your positioning.. Knowing how to position and reposition a business is among the most demanding requirements of the twenty -first cen-
tury leader. While all eight know-hows that make up this book are important. The know-how of repositioning needs you to be on constant vigilance to detect early warning signals and interpret them correctly, whether they ind icate a change is an opportunity, or a threat. The main purpose of the know-how of positioning is to know when a change needs to be made. To be a successful leader psychologically, you have very active and open in searching for the clue that the business is being shifted or needs to be. BEFORE THE POINT TIPS: Connecting the Dots by Pinpointing and Ta king: In the third chapter, the author talks about the Pin pointing. Author says that know-how of pinpointing external change enabled you to make a correct judgment about the world and where the world is going. Opportunities make no sense for those people who are ahead of the curve and able to take a ction ahead of the competition. The know-how of pinpointing enabled a leader to take action according to the change in the external environment and this is one of the most important skills which make a leader master in their job . One way to become effective in the know-how of seeing emerging patterns is to be an active listener who continually searches for what is new and different. What is changing and for whom? Where is the opportunity in that change and for whom? It’s a simple way which helps you to detect patterns from these observations and what they mean for variou s businesses and industries. According to the author’s observations, a leader should go beyond traditional thinking about an industry and need to what is going on outside the indu stry. HERDING CATS: Getting People to Work Together by Managing the Social System of Your Business: Every company— has a social system, the term the author uses to describe the various ways people come together to do their work. Leaders have be able to determine what critical decisions and trade -offs must get made in order to accomplish their business goals. And a leader should design disciplined routine, regularly scheduled meetings to bring the right people together at the right frequency with the right information to make those dec isions links to results. In short, leader has to actively design and lead the social system of their business. Know-how in diagnosing, designing, and lea ding the social system is how some leaders are able to mobilize people to d e-
liver results and transform an organization. If the people are not having the right discussions in them or behaving in the right way, it’s you r job to correct those behaviours. The know-how of managing the social system involves once leadership in building operating mechanisms at critical intersections. HOW LEADERS ARE MADE: Judging, Selecting, and Developing Leaders : The leader ability depends on how well and how consistently they grow other leaders. But it takes know-how to judge people accurately, judging a person’s potential. The leader then must take the initiative to provide opport unities for them to not only contribute to the organization, but als o to be tested and hopefully expand. The know -how of selecting leaders and helping them reach their potential means focusing on people first, not jobs . The leader have to develop and improve its judgments on people, which means spending time and energy on it daily, weekly, monthly, not just during once-a-year talent reviews. You have to create a view about the person’s competence in the know-hows, but also look at him more broadly to see what makes him tick- what he loves to do, how he thinks, how he behave s around others. Then you can match the leader to a job in which that person will shine and strengthen business performance . UNITY WITHOUT UNIFORMITY: Molding a Team of Leaders : The centrepiece of this know-how is getting your team to understand, focus on, and commit to the total business. The leader has to help them create a common picture of the business in its external context and mold people’s behaviour as well. Most of the work of molding a team happens in group meetings, which may require that you change the way you lead. You can’t just work with your direct reports one to one, setting their budgets and goals in private and coaching them individually as you shift your attention from one part of the business to another. You have to help the group create a picture of the total business. A team of leaders starts being molded when everyone is on the same page. It the entire team needs to know what you know. THE BUCK STARTS WITH YOU: Determining and Setting the Right Goals: Goals are the destination. Goals align people’s energy, and when they’re linked to rewards, they have a powerful effect on people’s behavio ur. The goals have to be of the right type and magnitude, both achievable as well as motivational. The best way to judge the quality of any leader’s goals is by the quality and rigor of thinking that underlies them. There’s a know -how to setting the right goals, in the right combination, with the right time frame, and at the right level.
Different leaders faced with the same set of circumstances will make diffe rent decisions about which goals to pursue based on their psychology and cognitive abilities. But Author says that a leader should look on the various factors like psychology, personality, and cognitive skills before he can be sure about the goals are right, or healthy, for the organization . IT’S MONDAY MORNING - NOW WHAT? Setting Laser-Sharp Dominant Priorities: When the priorities are clear and specific, people know what to focus on. The right priorities help a leader to rise above the constant demands that create stress and confusion. They enable you to provide clarity and focus for you rself and the other people in their organization. Without priorities people are apt to try to do everything, wasting precious time and energy on things that aren’t important. When you select priorities you have to choose among four criteria: what is important, what is urgent, what is long -term versus short term and what is realistic versus visionary. If you don’t make choices among them because you want to do everything, the result will be muddled. But if you have the inner conviction that your judgment is right and that you don’t have to be liked by everyone you can make the right choices. There is e normous energy generated inside the organization and among those who work with the organization, such as suppliers, by setting the right priorities. IN THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION: Dealing with Societal Forces beyond the Market: In the twenty-first century, business leaders will be required to deal with i ssues that go beyond the market. We live in an age of “moral liability” that imposes new responsibilities on companies to behave not just legally, but ethically as well. Like all the other know -hows a leader must have, this one requires experience, yet it is the one know -how in which very few leaders get sufficient experience before reaching the CEO’s office. They simply aren’t prepared for the psychological stress and frustration of dealing with the a mbiguities and the lack of control that characterize the company’s relations with such interest groups. You’ll never master the know -how of managing external constituencies if you’re not psychologically willing to deal with the inherent ambiguities and lack of control. The most effective leader is psych ologically open and willing to negotiate. It is very necessary to develop a methodology for dealing with such issues, first in terms of your personal psychology, and second, for the organization. What are your methods for picking up early warning signals of issues that are just emerging or gaining traction? How will you assess the power of va rious causes? Be prepared to exchange information and build ridges with a dvocacy groups to help shape the issues and solut ions. Go on the offensive.
Conclusion: The Eight Know-hows can thus be defined in short as follows: ? ? ? Positioning and Repositioning: Finding a central idea for business that meets customer demands and that makes money Pinpointing External Change: Detecting patterns in a complex world to put the business on the offensive Leading the Social System: Getting the right people together wit h the right behaviours and the right information to make better, faster dec isions and achieve business results Judging People: calibrating people based on their actions, decisions, and behaviours and matching them to the non-negotiables on the job Molding a Team: Getting highly competent, high -ego leaders to coordinate seamlessly Setting Goals: Determining the set of goals that b alances what the business can become with what it can realistically achieve Setting Laser- Sharp Priorities: Defining the path and aligning r esources, actions, and energy to accomplish the goals Dealing with Forces beyond the Market: Anticipating and responding to societal pressures you don’t control but that can affect your bus iness
? ? ? ? ?
Know-How is something which is not just for the new supervisors, although we know some who’d quickly absorb it, but managers, and executives will find the book reminding them of core truths that they have forgotten. They will also discover new insights that will help to bridge the gap between the wish and the achievement.
doc_662808023.docx
(Reviewed by M Amulya) Ram Charan is a very highly acclaimed speaker. He is the author of What the CEO Wants You to Know and many other books. He has worked for more than thirty five years behind the scenes at companies like GE, Bank of America, KLM, Novartis, EMC, Home Depot, Du Pont and Verizon, helping them to develop, shape and implement their strategic direction because he is expert in making business strategy and he has also coached some the world’s most successful CEOs This book “know-how” talks about the skills of people wh o know what they are doing. Know-How is a book that does a nice job by showing the eight skills which lead to success as a business leader. The eight know-hows are the fundamental leadership skills needed for success in the twenty-first century, things you must "know how" to do to be effective KNOW-HOW: The Substance of Successful Leaders : Know-how is something which separates the leaders who perform —who deliver results from those who don’t. It is a symbol of leader who knows what they are doing. Every leader has a quality like i ntelligence, self-confidence, presence, the ability to communicate, a nd having a vision. But personal attributes are something which is very important for any leadership, and their value is greatly diminished without know - how, the eight interrelated skills that bring leadership into the domain of profit and loss. Know-How is about what you must do and be to lead your business successfully In today’s environment of lightning fast change and transparency, leaders who lack substance get discovered sooner, but the damage they do in the meantime can be greater. Successful leaders learn the things and practice, and the most important refine the know-hows until they become natural because nobody can be a master without lots of rounds of practice. Leaders who do not practice these know-hows will be less effective than those who do. Author also talks about the leader that he should have a basic understanding of each in order to know where his strengths and weaknesses lie. The Foundation: Make Money: Positioning and Repositioning the Business to
In this chapter, the author talks about the positioning. He says positioning is the central idea for any business and he also says that real world is the best way to test your positioning.. Knowing how to position and reposition a business is among the most demanding requirements of the twenty -first cen-
tury leader. While all eight know-hows that make up this book are important. The know-how of repositioning needs you to be on constant vigilance to detect early warning signals and interpret them correctly, whether they ind icate a change is an opportunity, or a threat. The main purpose of the know-how of positioning is to know when a change needs to be made. To be a successful leader psychologically, you have very active and open in searching for the clue that the business is being shifted or needs to be. BEFORE THE POINT TIPS: Connecting the Dots by Pinpointing and Ta king: In the third chapter, the author talks about the Pin pointing. Author says that know-how of pinpointing external change enabled you to make a correct judgment about the world and where the world is going. Opportunities make no sense for those people who are ahead of the curve and able to take a ction ahead of the competition. The know-how of pinpointing enabled a leader to take action according to the change in the external environment and this is one of the most important skills which make a leader master in their job . One way to become effective in the know-how of seeing emerging patterns is to be an active listener who continually searches for what is new and different. What is changing and for whom? Where is the opportunity in that change and for whom? It’s a simple way which helps you to detect patterns from these observations and what they mean for variou s businesses and industries. According to the author’s observations, a leader should go beyond traditional thinking about an industry and need to what is going on outside the indu stry. HERDING CATS: Getting People to Work Together by Managing the Social System of Your Business: Every company— has a social system, the term the author uses to describe the various ways people come together to do their work. Leaders have be able to determine what critical decisions and trade -offs must get made in order to accomplish their business goals. And a leader should design disciplined routine, regularly scheduled meetings to bring the right people together at the right frequency with the right information to make those dec isions links to results. In short, leader has to actively design and lead the social system of their business. Know-how in diagnosing, designing, and lea ding the social system is how some leaders are able to mobilize people to d e-
liver results and transform an organization. If the people are not having the right discussions in them or behaving in the right way, it’s you r job to correct those behaviours. The know-how of managing the social system involves once leadership in building operating mechanisms at critical intersections. HOW LEADERS ARE MADE: Judging, Selecting, and Developing Leaders : The leader ability depends on how well and how consistently they grow other leaders. But it takes know-how to judge people accurately, judging a person’s potential. The leader then must take the initiative to provide opport unities for them to not only contribute to the organization, but als o to be tested and hopefully expand. The know -how of selecting leaders and helping them reach their potential means focusing on people first, not jobs . The leader have to develop and improve its judgments on people, which means spending time and energy on it daily, weekly, monthly, not just during once-a-year talent reviews. You have to create a view about the person’s competence in the know-hows, but also look at him more broadly to see what makes him tick- what he loves to do, how he thinks, how he behave s around others. Then you can match the leader to a job in which that person will shine and strengthen business performance . UNITY WITHOUT UNIFORMITY: Molding a Team of Leaders : The centrepiece of this know-how is getting your team to understand, focus on, and commit to the total business. The leader has to help them create a common picture of the business in its external context and mold people’s behaviour as well. Most of the work of molding a team happens in group meetings, which may require that you change the way you lead. You can’t just work with your direct reports one to one, setting their budgets and goals in private and coaching them individually as you shift your attention from one part of the business to another. You have to help the group create a picture of the total business. A team of leaders starts being molded when everyone is on the same page. It the entire team needs to know what you know. THE BUCK STARTS WITH YOU: Determining and Setting the Right Goals: Goals are the destination. Goals align people’s energy, and when they’re linked to rewards, they have a powerful effect on people’s behavio ur. The goals have to be of the right type and magnitude, both achievable as well as motivational. The best way to judge the quality of any leader’s goals is by the quality and rigor of thinking that underlies them. There’s a know -how to setting the right goals, in the right combination, with the right time frame, and at the right level.
Different leaders faced with the same set of circumstances will make diffe rent decisions about which goals to pursue based on their psychology and cognitive abilities. But Author says that a leader should look on the various factors like psychology, personality, and cognitive skills before he can be sure about the goals are right, or healthy, for the organization . IT’S MONDAY MORNING - NOW WHAT? Setting Laser-Sharp Dominant Priorities: When the priorities are clear and specific, people know what to focus on. The right priorities help a leader to rise above the constant demands that create stress and confusion. They enable you to provide clarity and focus for you rself and the other people in their organization. Without priorities people are apt to try to do everything, wasting precious time and energy on things that aren’t important. When you select priorities you have to choose among four criteria: what is important, what is urgent, what is long -term versus short term and what is realistic versus visionary. If you don’t make choices among them because you want to do everything, the result will be muddled. But if you have the inner conviction that your judgment is right and that you don’t have to be liked by everyone you can make the right choices. There is e normous energy generated inside the organization and among those who work with the organization, such as suppliers, by setting the right priorities. IN THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION: Dealing with Societal Forces beyond the Market: In the twenty-first century, business leaders will be required to deal with i ssues that go beyond the market. We live in an age of “moral liability” that imposes new responsibilities on companies to behave not just legally, but ethically as well. Like all the other know -hows a leader must have, this one requires experience, yet it is the one know -how in which very few leaders get sufficient experience before reaching the CEO’s office. They simply aren’t prepared for the psychological stress and frustration of dealing with the a mbiguities and the lack of control that characterize the company’s relations with such interest groups. You’ll never master the know -how of managing external constituencies if you’re not psychologically willing to deal with the inherent ambiguities and lack of control. The most effective leader is psych ologically open and willing to negotiate. It is very necessary to develop a methodology for dealing with such issues, first in terms of your personal psychology, and second, for the organization. What are your methods for picking up early warning signals of issues that are just emerging or gaining traction? How will you assess the power of va rious causes? Be prepared to exchange information and build ridges with a dvocacy groups to help shape the issues and solut ions. Go on the offensive.
Conclusion: The Eight Know-hows can thus be defined in short as follows: ? ? ? Positioning and Repositioning: Finding a central idea for business that meets customer demands and that makes money Pinpointing External Change: Detecting patterns in a complex world to put the business on the offensive Leading the Social System: Getting the right people together wit h the right behaviours and the right information to make better, faster dec isions and achieve business results Judging People: calibrating people based on their actions, decisions, and behaviours and matching them to the non-negotiables on the job Molding a Team: Getting highly competent, high -ego leaders to coordinate seamlessly Setting Goals: Determining the set of goals that b alances what the business can become with what it can realistically achieve Setting Laser- Sharp Priorities: Defining the path and aligning r esources, actions, and energy to accomplish the goals Dealing with Forces beyond the Market: Anticipating and responding to societal pressures you don’t control but that can affect your bus iness
? ? ? ? ?
Know-How is something which is not just for the new supervisors, although we know some who’d quickly absorb it, but managers, and executives will find the book reminding them of core truths that they have forgotten. They will also discover new insights that will help to bridge the gap between the wish and the achievement.
doc_662808023.docx