In the business world – what you say and what you do are the only 2 things that matter. Nobody really cares how good or bad you are from the Inside.

Remember that once you say something, you can never take it back. If you are upset and you tell your subordinate that he is a worthless Idiot – telling him later that you didn’t mean it, won’t repair the damage done. Once you say something it stays. Irrespective of whether you mean it or not – words once uttered cannot be taken back.

Be careful of what you say when you are in a bad state of mind. One thing said could damage a relationship you have built over years. The scare you put on that relationship would be a lasting one. The good deeds you have done through the years will be sidelined and the few nasty words you said would take focus.

Professionals usually lose their cool on people they believe they can afford to lose their cool on – like their small customers, their subordinate etc. The Manager would usually blow his top at his team and yet not do the same with his own boss since he knows the repercussion would be detrimental to his own career. That is proof that all professionals can keep their calm and control their emotion even if they are seething from the inside.

The difference between a good professional and a bad one is one’s ability to soak work pressure and not pass it on to the other people. Eg. If you are at the receiving end of a chiding from your boss – you should not go and download the same to your team. This passing on of anger & frustration in business is called Emotional Leakage. Pass on the message. Do not pass on the use of nasty words because it may not help the cause. The same is true with dealing with the customer. You could have had a tough interaction with one customer which could put you in a bad state of mind. But if you pass on your frustrations build up due to one customer on another customer, you have created bad blood with both customers.

Are you not going to be in a bad state of mind when at receiving end of a customer/boss/colleague that looses their cool? You definitely will. However, the key to being a good professional is your ability to control your cool right at that time by being totally conscious of your behavior. Take a walk outside if that helps. Do the stuff that puts you in a good state of mind. You may have to act like you are normal even if you are not.

The higher you go in any organization, the more pressure you will have. Your responsibilities will increase manifold. The frustration & problems will mount too. One of the keys to being a good manager/professionals is your ability to maintain you’re cool.

You are a product of your environment. So choose the environment that will best develop you towards your objective. Analyze your life in terms of its environment. Are the things around you helping you towards success – or are they holding you back? W. Clement Stone

Our lives are shaped and influenced by the environment we choose for ourselves. Some of the factors that make up our environment are totally out of our control. Like the family we are born into. Or the parents we have. The neighbours. But beyond that I believe every other influence is a choice we make. And that choice shapes our personalities and the careers we have.

Most people believe they have very little control over these things. I believe otherwise. For eg. The school you go to is something that may not be in your control. But who you befriend at school is a choice you make.

How do we create a positive environment for ourselves?

Be conscious of your environment – As a starting point, be completely aware of the environment you create for yourself. This is the first and most important step towards influencing yourself positively.

Who do you hang out with? This is the make or break factor. We tend to become the sum average of 5 people that we associate with the most. When I am with friends whose approach towards work is causal, my drive to produce good work tends to blunt. On the other side, when I meet friends who are in the pursuit of excellence, it inspires me as well.

What are you reading? Books have been one of my biggest influencers. Irrespective of what our surroundings are, we have the choice to expose ourselves to the right books. What you read is who you are. I would read autobiographies of entrepreneurs and businessmen ever since I was young which shaped my thoughts on business and life. When I went through a rough phase in business, my thoughts went back to how so many of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs bounced back from worse situations. Hence read positively.

What are you watching and surfing? We are lucky to live in an age of unlimited access to information. The Internet has the world information at your finger tips. Are we using that resource well? One of my big influences of the Internet has been TED.com. In the comfort of a bedroom I have access to the world’s thought leaders talking passionately about a subject and broadening your mind with brilliant concepts.

Seek varied experiences – There are so many conferences, seminars, talks, etc. that happen in your city. These are great forums to meet interesting, like minded people and also to get exposed to great ideas and get inspired.

In each of the elements above, ensure that you bring in some diversity. Read something light to break the monotony of Business Biographies. Meet different people (who may be totally unlike you). The sheer exposure to different kinds of people will help immensely in your understanding of human dynamics.

To excel in life, to be able to work with optimum use of our potential, it’s important that we create an inspiring and a high learning environment for ourselves every day. It is not something that can be done just once in a while. So work towards it every day, starting today.

The truth of the matter is: To optimize your productivity, you need to focus on one task at a time. You need to Mono-Task!

As Timothy Ferriss said: “Multi-tasking is dead. It never worked and it never will. Intelligent people love to sing its praises because it gives them permission to avoid the much more challenging alternative: focusing on one thing.”

Given that Mono-Tasking has worked wonderfully for me, I would like to share some tips on how NOT to multi-task:

1. Set up a block of time to work without interruption: You might try one-hour blocks, or half-hour blocks, depending on what works for you. Or 40 minute blocks, with 20 minutes in between them for miscellaneous tasks.
2. Stay away from distractions: Turn off all other distractions. Shut off email, and the Internet if possible. Don’t sign on to Twitter or Facebook. Shut off your cell phone or put it on silent. Try not to answer your phone if possible. Focus on that one task, and try to get it done without worrying about other stuff.
3. Make a list and cross off items accordingly: To do lists work wonders for the multitasker. Mono-task using the list. Cross one item off at a time. As each item is crossed off, the day’s outlook is better. When focus is needed, return to the to-do list and start with the top item – and don’t stop until you can cross it off.
4. Take care of your most important task first: First thing in the morning, work on your Most Important Task. Don’t do anything else until this is done. Give yourself a short break, and then start on your next Most Important Task. If you can get 2-3 of these done in the morning, the rest of the day is easy. Otherwise it will always be on your mind taking your attention away from your current assignments.
5. Make a schedule: Schedule time for all the routine tasks. Schedule email time, time to return phone calls, lunch, time for networking and all the other little things that eat into your day. By scheduling a certain time and a certain amount of time for each, you won’t have to do it at the same time as your important assignments.
6. Don’t get up until a job is done: It’s that simple. Sit down, finish the task and then get up.
7. Don’t try and take on more work than you can handle: If it’s hard for you to juggle multiple tasks, don’t accept so much work. If you have so much you can’t focus on one thing at a time, maybe you have too much work. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.
8. Delegate: Share tasks with your colleagues. There’s no shame in delegating.

Finally, it’s good to remember that we’re not perfect. Every once in a while it might be OK to allow for a little multitasking.

But if we are serious about producing better results at work, then we not only have to start doing a few things differently but also STOP doing several things — and multi-tasking is definitely one of them!

There are some concepts & ideas that apply across everything that you do. Going the extra mile is one of them. Whether you are dealing with your customers, your colleagues, your subordinates or your boss – going the extra mile definitely brings results.

What is the extra Mile?

The Extra mile is any extra efforts put in by a person for another person. The extra mile is difficult to define as it means different things in different situation. Remember, that the extra mile must be visible and felt by the receiver of it. As people, we tend to remember only the extra that someone does for us. The regular is taken for granted.

Examples of Extra Mile

A Customer Service Executive working after hours at office to help his customer out; Delivering something to the Customers residence when it is not part of standard procedure; Taking an extra effort at your end to sort a customer problem in a huge company. The list is endless.

Types of Extra Mile

You can go the extra mile proactively and reactively. Proactively going the extra mile means doing something extra for the customers without him asking for it. For Eg. At the Taj Gateway Surat for the first time I was staying there, Post dinner, the Bakery Chef came to my room with a free desert. Two years after having stayed there, I still remember how the chef looked. I stay in a Hotel almost every day of my life and I don’t remember my stay at any other place so distinctly. The Pastry cost the hotel Rs. 15 -20. But they created a raving fan for a long time. Companies should figure out ways to proactively go the extra mile for their customers. Make it a part of their process to do so.

Reactively going the extra mile is about doing something extra when the customer asks or requests for it.

Going the extra mile in both ways is very important.

How does the extra Mile help?

Going the extra mile forms a long lasting relationship with customers. It helps build loyalty and delights the customer. Going the extra mile leads to the customer forgiving you if you make a mistake while servicing him.

What to take care of while going the extra mile?

Don’t let people exploit you. Go the extra mile but don’t let someone take you for a ride. There could also be a tendency among people to try to exploit the fact that you are willing to do something extra.

Secondly, don’t let it become the norm. When the extra becomes the norm, it becomes a problem. Hence it’s important to ensure that you make sure that the person you are going the extra mile for is aware that you are doing so and does not take you for granted.

Going the extra mile is something that takes more effort & sincerity. When you do something extra for people, most people want to do something extra back for you. You help them meet their goals and objectives and they help you meet yours. It’s just about the only way to succeed as a Business or person. So don’t shirk off that extra effort when it needs to be put in. More than anyone else, it’s you whose suffering.

Most celebrities, politicians & high achievers start losing the plot because they have a coterie of yes-men around them. People who don’t tell them the truth because they are scared of the consequences. This often leads to their downfall as they start believing what they want to believe, which may be far from the on ground realities.

Leaders & Professionals who produce great results in the long run often encourage their Inner Circle to contradict them and tell them things as they are. Hearing & knowing the truth in the right spirit is a key factor to one’s professional success. Here’s how we can get started:

Step 1: Ask people the truth

Encourage people to tell you the truth about yourself. If they say something nice, great – but encourage them to tell you the negative & the improvement areas. People love giving opinions and will give enough if you ask with an open mind. Appreciate your truth tellers for being honest with you.

Step 2: Having the gumption to LISTEN to the truth

This, most of us can’t handle. Listening to the truth when it’s not nice-sounding. We run away from it. We counter people’s opinions with justifications instead of just listening. Tell ourselves it’s not true. Get defensive. All of this instead of listening and probing for more feedback.

Step 3: How to use the Truth?

The problem is there is no one truth. It often is an opinion/interpretation which is highly subjective. If 3 people report to Manager – each will have a different truth [opinion/feedback] about the Manager which in their mind is the absolute truth.

If the manager wants to improve her performance, it’s important she heeds their feedback and starts dealing with each one slightly differently based on how they see the truth.

Is the people’s truth always accurate? Not at all. But remember that you are using their truth to improve. To make necessary modifications & become a better professional. People are entitled to have opinions. In the end, you need to try to do as much of an impartial assessment of yourself based on the people’s “truth”. Then take the required improvement action, because you know your situation best – they do NOT. Use the truth as others see it, don’t be a slave to it. Make it your slave.

The higher you go the more risk you have of not hearing the truth or dismissing it. Nothing stops you more from hearing the truth than success. That’s why very few people last at the top. For your own sustained success, stop doing that. Trust me it’s never too late to start hearing the truth about yourself.

Swapnil Kamat is one of India’s leading Training Consultants and heads Work Better India. Contact him at swapnil@workbetterindia.com

A man approached JP Morgan, held up an envelope, and said, “Sir, in my hand I hold a guaranteed formula for success, which I will gladly sell you for $25,000.”

“Sir,” JP Morgan replied, “I do not know what is in the envelope, however if you show me, and I like it, I give you my word as a gentleman that I will pay you what you ask.”

The man agreed to the terms, and handed over the envelope. JP Morgan opened it, and extracted a single sheet of paper. He gave it one look, a mere glance, then handed the piece of paper back. And paid him the agreed-upon $25,000.

The Paper:

1. Every morning, write a list of the things that need to be done that day.

2. Do them.

The most important thing as far as execution is concerned is how you go about managing your Diary AND your TO – DO lists. As a professional, are you fanatic about how you manage your diary??? Trust me on this, your diary is what can take you from being a mediocre professional to a very successful one.

Of all the professionals I know, there are two people who are really particular about their Diaries. Richa Singh [my super ex-boss] and Ruchira Karnik [my partner at Work Better Training]. Both of these Women are amongst the best at getting the job done.

Using the Diary as a Manager/Leader: Richa would sit with me on my TO – DO list every Monday morning. Discuss what I had to get done [not what I meant or planned to do] for the week ahead. She would give me an extra day beyond what I would ask for, to complete the task. She would write that in her Diary and ensure that I wrote on mine. On each day, she would take an account of what each one of her team members had committed to deliver. [Remember, she had given us a day extra, so there were no excuses]. If there was something that was pressing, she would remind us of our own commitment on that day. This process helped all of us get better at executing.

What does the mediocre manager do? He sets deadlines for his people in meetings. Does not write them down himself. Forgets about them. The team member forgets OR does not take the deadline seriously knowing that his leader will forget himself. WHY? Because he didn’t write it down. And that’s what leads to poor execution.

Using the Diary as an Executive: Ruchira’s Job at Work Better is to drive Sales. She operates more or less by herself. Ruchira will write just about everything down on her diary. So, if she’s supposed to call Customer X on Monday morning, she will call Monday Morning. If he is busy and asks her to call in a couple of days, she will turn the page and write that down on her Wednesday Page [Along with the time and what she is supposed to discuss with him]. If the client asks her to call 2 Months down the line, since there is no business right now, she will turn her diary to January 1^st Week and write it down there. Then more importantly on Wednesday or January 1^st week – She will Call and remind the client that he asked her to call. This is how our small little training company has managed to work with some of India’s biggest organizations. When professionals do this consistently – when they stick to the small little commitments they make, it builds trust which in turn leads to business.

Its simple. But not easy. For some people it comes naturally [like Ruchira] and for some people it does not [me]. Irrespective, its hard work and a must for your success as a professional. It will take some practice and getting used to. Remember, ‘The faintest of the Ink is more powerful than the strongest of memory’.

Recently at a training program, I met a participant who refused to acknowledge any benefit from the workshop. He didn’t see any progress happening in his career either. He had decided that his organisation is bureaucratic and his boss – a dictator. No new concepts will be entertained at work. Only the favourites get promoted. Given the economic scenario, he didn’t want to attempt a change of job. He had a similar tale to tell about his previous organisation.

That got me thinking. How often do we blame the outside world? Blame our boss, our colleague, family, the government, the world, even God and the stars for the issues we face.

Or do we decide to take charge of the situation and try to work out a solution?

Each of us has had that colleague in office who always has a solution to everything. Is it because he is plain lucky? Observe him closely. You will notice a lot of important factors which help him ‘create’ lucky!

Some traits I have noticed in such ‘lucky’ people:

• Perspective: The thing that differentiates good professionals from the average is their attitude towards work. What’s your perspective in life? Do you think almost every damn thing is in your control? Or do you blame the world for everything? The better professionals believe they can find a solution.

• Take 100% Responsibility: Can you always change everything you want to – most definitely not. To start making any progress, take 100% responsibility for yourself. Usually people look at everyone besides themselves as the reasons for the problems. The attitude is – I’m ok. THEY are the problem.

Ignore the factors you can’t change – Who your boss is & how he behaves with you? Focus on aspects in your control – How you react to your boss, how you take criticism?

• Add Value Everyday: All the good professionals thrive on this formula. They add value to themselves everyday. We have all had atleast one boss we didn’t get along with. Do you then go to office just to clock the 8 hours and do mundane work? Or do you say, I can’t change my boss. However, I can upgrade my knowledge & skill everyday to better my future prospects.

Irrespective of how talented you are – if you want to perform at the best of your ability – stop making excuses. Does not mean you argue with your boss everytime or try to change company policies. Keeping the limitations in mind, what can you do to find an answer & excel at your workplace? Does it always work out? Surely not. If the situation is too hot to handle, you have the choice to move out & start afresh.

No successful professional in any organisation has a perfect job, a perfect boss and a perfect set of colleagues. What they have is their attitude towards their careers. Like my grandfather Sadguru Wamanrao Pai would say, only you can decide whether you want to continue giving excuses or you want to take responsibility for yourself & your progress. Cause You are the Architect of Your Own Destiny.

The reasons why a Business or a professional succeeds or fails are based on the decisions taken. And not on how smart or stupid the people are. Business requires decisions to be taken at all times. Some work in your favor, some don’t. We as Business professionals are always hoping that we get more decisions right than wrong and the ones we get wrong don’t end up sinking our businesses and careers.

A few thoughts:

1. Every decision taken by a person [whether on marriage or a business deal] seems like it’s the right one at that time. With time we figure out whether the decision worked well or not. This is true both for really big decisions [like starting a new business, acquiring a new company] and the small ones [transacting with a certain new client, hiring a new person]. No one ever makes a decision expecting it to be wrong. In hindsight we are able to analyze our decisions much better. Often we look stupid. But the key is to learn from decisions that have gone right and even more from those that went wrong.
2. No two decisions are ever the same. It’s difficult to apply the same yardstick or learning from one decision on to the next one. For instance, if one new client transaction has gone wrong, it’s silly to say we will stop working with new clients. Instead, study what specifically went wrong and take more informed decisions in the future.
3. Don’t celebrate or curse yourself too much when it comes to your decisions. In business the outcome also depends upon a lot of external factors that are out of your control.
4. Don’t be scared to take decisions. I personally hate inaction. Whether you are an entrepreneur, boss, subordinate or a CEO, you will not make much progress if you are indecisive and sit on issues indefinitely.
5. Calculate the downside of your decisions. It is difficult to have a formulaic calculation for each of your decisions. But make sure you research and analyze in detail and estimate the damage it will have on your bank account.
6. You never really know whether the decision you have made is the right one. I was a marketing professional at a Fortune 50 company, then decided to turn travel entrepreneur and finally found my calling in the Executive Education space. Who knows whether the decisions I have taken are the right ones? There will never be a perfect answer to that question. So don’t look for one. Concentrate on what you believe is the right thing to do at that time.

As a Business person, you will never get all your decisions right. It’s impossible. But some people rue, cry, crib about a few bad decisions and go into a shell they never come out of. Like a person failing at a Business venture and then never trying again. On the other hand, there are people that fail, get beaten black and blue in business and yet decide to boldly take new decisions – hoping that this time they would be right.

Decide which of the two you want to become. Cause that’s a decision only you can make.

While the project started extremely well, at the end of 2 months, the output was not up to my expectations. But the good part was, I probably learnt more than the Intern himself:

1. Every strength can be a weakness too: Our Intern was an Ideas man. I was floored by his ability to ideate in the first couple of weeks. However, with time I realised he had way too many ideas. Every day, he would get distracted by a new idea that would interest him. He would keep the existing work on hold to explore something new. The end result – lots of ideas, very little execution. This is a very common issue with a lot of people. They somehow manage to screw up their strengths by overdoing it in some way. That’s exactly what our intern did.

2. The importance of focus: Everyday at office, there will be a lot of different things that could distract you. But know your priorities and concentrate on one thing at a time.

3. You are not always going to like doing stuff. Yet you have to do it: When our intern first came on board, he was extremely excited about the project at hand. He had been following up way before his scheduled break from college. The level of enthusiasm for the first couple of weeks was very high. But soon after, the interest levels started dropping. During the review session at the end of 2 months, the intern confessed to getting bored on days as the project got monotonous in his mind. When A.R Rahman’s Jai Ho became an international phenomenon, I saw him perform the same track at so many different places. But every time he performed, there was a certain amount of passion that reflected through each of his performances. It must have been monotonous to keep performing the same track – but he did it. Cause that’s how things work. Irrespective of what you do, there are going to be days at work that are going to be frustrating. If you are a Sales professional, you will sell in some way. As a training consultant, I have to talk about more or less the same things every day. But yet you have to do it. And you have to do it well. Have to give it your best and try to get better with every new attempt.

4. Working together is different than knowing each other to know the true match: Irrespective of how much you may like someone as a friend or person, the dynamics of working together are very different. The only way to know if you work well together is to try and work together. Have a clearly stated exercisable exit clause [most companies do] and let the first few months be a test of the same.

5. Being Sincere to the task at hand: Most importantly, being sincere to the task at hand. If you take up a job or an assignment, don’t cheat on it by not giving it your 100%. Being insincere is more about cheating yourself than anyone else.

Our life is a result of the decisions we take everyday. Our Intern decided not to give his best on his 2 month project. Every time you get into a Business Relationship with people or company, concentrate on building trust by doing the best you can. Every positive & sincere performance helps your own Personal Equity in the long run. So give your best to what your doing OR don’t do it at all.

My workshops and writings revolve around one idea – The little things that we do everyday matter more than the huge audacious goals we set at the workplace. Do the little things right, the big goals will take care of themselves.

Execution is always the key. If you get that right, you and your business will grow. If you don’t, you will be the person that had great ideas and wanted to do a lot of things but ended up doing sweet nothing. Good intentions don’t matter, what matters is what gets done.

A few things the best professionals (that I have come across) do day in and day out to succeed at the work place.

1. Fanatic about Diaries/To Do Lists
   1. Write everything down: ‘The faintest of Ink is better than the sharpest of memory.’ This is a quote I use almost every day in my workshops. I harp about it – whether I’m conducting a Managerial Effectiveness workshop or on Sales. Write every small bit down on your diary. If it’s a meeting you have in 3 days OR the commitment to call someone back in half an hour OR an idea about a new project. Make a note of it. Once everything is written down, it frees up your mind to think more creatively about each of the subjects. Otherwise we are busy trying to recollect the things that need to get done.
   2. 3 minutes, 3 times a day: Check your diary 3 times a day for 3 minutes. Once in the morning, before you start the day. Once in the afternoon, before you do Lunch. And once before leaving for the day. Doing this will help you assess the work you have finished and what needs to get done.
   3. Carry stuff Forward: Please ensure that you take the trouble at the end of every working day, to carry what has not been completed on that day, to the subsequent pages on your diary when you would do them.
   4. Keep going Back and Forth through your diary: To constantly check what you need to do in subsequent days – so you can plan now if required. Go back to see if you have missed out on something that needs to be done.

2. Tackling Procrastination: Irrespective of how passionately we feel about the work at hand, ever so often we will get into a mental space where we won’t feel like doing stuff.
   1. Get Started Quickly: There is a certain power in quickly getting started with something you don’t feel like doing. Once you start, the rest usually follows.
   2. Do the thing you feel like: At the work place, we often have multiple tasks to do. If you don’t feel like making that report, quickly knock off something else on your to-do list that you feel like doing currently.

All the things mentioned above seem simple. Some seem like plain common sense. Doing them consistently is the challenge. Happiness for most is about converting their dreams into realities. These simple tools are a few ways to making your dreams come true. One day at a time.