Business and Professional

Skills for excellence

New Age Skills for Executives

(Necessary for Achieving Excellence)

Creative Insight: Always ask the right

questions
Sensitivity: A sense of understanding
Vision: Creating a Future
Versatility: Anticipating Change
Focus: Implementing Change
Patience: Have a long term
perspective

Creative Insight

 Insight (Meaning): The capacity to

gain
an
accurate
and
deep
understanding
of
someone
or
something.
Insight helps a person to solve
problems by penetrating through
their
confusing
symptoms
and
reaching their core aspects.
Insight helps in selecting a successful
strategy

Creative insight means the in depth

understanding of an individual about a
issue/ phenomenon which helps him to
develop different perspectives about
that
issue
(through
a
creative
thinking).
Creative thinking helps a person to
find viable solutions to problems,
identify opportunities, create new
opportunities, and formulate new ways
of performing tasks for enhanced
efficiency.

Creative insight can be achieved by an

individual If he gains a full understanding about
a phenomenon.
If he carefully considers all its
possibilities from a variety of points
of views (from different angles)

Features of Insight
To gain insight, a series of questions
needs to be raised form different and
far-ranging point of view.
Helps to find solutions to complex
issues which may initially appear to be
simple.
Helps
to
opportunities.

identify

strategic

Features of Insight
Helps to take advantage of strategic
opportunities.
Creative insight requires a mind
capable of concentration, which can
think creatively and is capable to
adopt a variety of perspectives.
Insights depends upon experiences
and observations. (Observations and
experiences
helps
to
develop

Insightful Approach helps in

IdentifyingOpportuniti
es

Insight
ful
Appro
ach
Strengths

Advantag
es

Creating an insightful
approach
Thinking abstractly
Holding discussions among associates
and subordinates (encouraging
creativity)
Collection of facts, data and information
Generalizations from concrete data
Experiences and Observations
Meditation: To think or reflect, especially
in a calm and deliberate manner.

How to become an insightful

Executive? (Steps)
1. Recognizing Insight
2. Removing the Blinders
3. Using Meditation and Conceptual
Frameworks to Ask Right Questions

Sensitivity: Doing Unto

Others
The Executive should treat his
employees in a way in which
he would like to get treated
by others

Features of Sensitivity
Sensitivity Initiates Strong Cultures
People are organizations greatest assets
The new age managers must understand
how to bind them together in a culture
wherein they are motivated to achieve
goals.
A manager must identify, understand and
act upon the needs and expectations of
the organizational members. Only then
the employees will pay back with
enhanced efforts and productivity.

Sensitivity: Features
Sensitivity creates an environment of trust and
faith
Every
strong
culture
is
derived
from
managements sensitivity
Without managements sensitivity, employees
feel unmotivated, underutilized and even
exploited.
Insensitivity is unhealthy for the organization
Every excellent company displays sensitivity
Those companies whose executives have
insightful strategy but lack sensitivity, will
probably fail in future because their efforts lack
support of sensitive approach towards human
resources

Indicators of Sensitivity: That nurtures strong cultures

(Aspects of sensitivity)

Face-to-face communication,
on-going training and development,
creative incentive programmes,
job security

How to become a sensitive

executive?
3 steps
Step 1: Recognizing Sensitivity
Step 2: Mastering Five Levels of Sensitivity
Step 3: Doing Unto Others

Step 1: Recognizing Sensitivity

Identify executives who have a high level of sensitivity

Recognize dignity of all people
Use resources for common good
Acknowledge
that
employees
share
talent,
competence, experience, efforts and best parts of their
life towards organizational success.
Recognize that employees have a right over companys
profits and success
Recognize unique qualities in employees
Remember- people change and improve. With time they
acquire new knowledge, skills, technical expertise, and
increase their abilities, judgmental skills and
competencies. Track employee progress and give public
recognition to special improvements and achievements
Dont have bias opinion about others

Step 2: Mastering Five Levels of

Sensitivity
1. Sensitivity to security - expectations and
needs
2. Sensitivity to belonging - expectations and
needs
3. Sensitivity to recognition - expectations and
needs
4. Sensitivity to Quality of Work - expectations
and needs
5. Sensitivity to self actualizationexpectations and needs

Step 3: Doing Unto Others

Treat others the way you would like
to be treated, assuming you had
their unique set of expectations and
needs
For this, try to understand others
who may be entirely different than
yourself

Step 3: Doing Unto Others

Satisfy those needsWhich are justifiable,

Will help in building strong culture,
Will motivate employees to perform
better,
Is not against companys interest,
Which will not have a negative effect on
employee performance, commitment,
competence and productivity.

Vision
Clear Vision Creates the
Future

Features of Vision
Leaders who develop a clear vision can mentally
journey from the known to the unknown
They can create picture of future based on facts,
figures, hopes, dreams, strengths, dangers and
opportunities
By
applying
the
art
of
meditation
to
organizational introspection, one can gain a deep
understanding of business and its environment.
A clear Vision comes from ability to anticipate
and participate in environmental changes.
Vision helps an executive to take advantage of
future opportunities.

Features of Vision

Vision helps the executive to positively respond to

change and also to create change
Visionary executive integrate creative insight and
sensitivity
to
create
strategy
culture
alloy
(combination) and they patiently use versatility and
focus to maintain excellence over long term.
Clear vision invent excellent futures for the firm
Clear vision results form deep understanding of
organization and its environment. an executive needs
to understand dynamics of industries, markets,
competition and must recognize business potential.
A visionary executive motivates the employees to
embrace the vision
Takes or initiates actions necessary to make his
vision into reality

How to become a visionary

executive?
Step 1: Recognizing vision
Step 2: Organizational Introspection
Step 3: Scenario Building

Step 1: Recognizing vision

Before you acquire a vision,
recognize a visionary
Identify his unique attributes and the
factors that made them a visionary
Identify the points you are lacking

Step 2: Organizational Introspection

Be objective and free from bias
Look at self and organization with objectivity
Identify the various factors affecting its functioning,
its flaws and weaknesses. Find out the reasons.
Objective thinking helps to acquire a clear vision as
you then perceive yourself and your organization in a
right manner
A rightful introspection is possible through rational,
logical and analytical techniques supported by
knowledge and experience.
Break the problem in hand into parts/ components
and study each component minutely.

Step 3: Scenario Building:

Mentally creating the future before you create it
physically

4 stages of scenario building

1. Defining vision
2. Determining opportunities and
dangers
3. Listing key success factors
4. Sequencing major events

Versatility
Anticipating Change

Features: Versatility
This is difficult to master
Involves doing something outside the sphere of
your specialty.
Helps to comfortably welcome and adapt to
change.
New age executives take advantage of
accelerated change with versatility and focus.
They do not resist change. They treat change as
an opportunity.
Versatile executives do not fear change. They
seize opportunities to incorporate change in their
personal and professional lifestyles.
Without versatility, response to change is too
slow and too late.

How to become a versatile

executive?
Step 1: Recognizing versatility
Step 2: Pursuing varied activities
Step 3: Previewing Change

Step 1: Recognizing versatility

To face changes, an executive should
Think constantly about new products, develop and
try new ideas, approaches, methods
Monitor the environment, current trends and market
changes
Back new product thinking with prompt investment
Stay close to customers
Keep up with competitors investments and costs
Closely coordinate product design, manufacturing
and marketing
Move quickly
Not be satisfied with small achievement
Seize opportunity with discipline

Step 2: Pursuing varied activities

Undertaking variety of activities at a regular basis
at both personal and professional level.
Try new hobbies at personal level and activities like
developing new marketing strategy, new way of
motivating staff, holding meetings in a different
way etc. at professional or business level. (at least
once a month)
Drop an old worn out ineffective idea, activity or
process. (at least once a month)
New activities form an integral part of new age
executive.
New activities provide the right attitude to
approach change and convert change into
opportunity.

Step 3: Previewing Change

This final step helps an executive to
predict
impending
change
and
thereby prepare himself and the
organization to adapt to the change.
i.e. plan for change and discuss
various alternative course of action

6 steps for Previewing

Change
Set the boundaries of change you want to observe e.g. a
market, a product category, a customer segment etc.
Identify every sign of change within the boundary. (pay
attention even to a minute variation)
Define nature of each change. Group and label the changes
you have observed, look for relationships among them.
Determine the causes for change
Be on the lookout for changes that are lesser or greater
than their symptoms at first make them appear.
Study the causes of change as indicators of further change.

Foundation skills

Adaptive skills

Creative insight
Sensitivity

Versatility
Focus

Helps to lay the

groundwork for
excellence

Helps to make
changes required for
maintaining it.