Ten Tips for budding leaders Leadership, says the writer, is not rocket science, and comes up with practical tips for the workplace

Ten Tips for budding leaders

Leadership, says the writer, is not rocket science, and comes up with practical tips for the workplace

It was the year 2011. By then I had lived in the United States for 14 years, and the desire to return to my motherland only kept getting stronger by the year. I was, however, clear that I will only relocate to India when I find the ‘right’ opportunity. One fine day, I got a call from a head hunter that there was a company looking to hire a Director to build an ‘Analytics Centre of Excellence’ in India, to service its global clients. 

The very nature of the role appeared to me as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I pursued it. What followed next was nine gruelling rounds of interviews over the next few weeks, post which I took the giant leap of faith and landed in India in April 2011 along with my family.

I have recently completed my third anniversary in this company, and as I recall my journey over these three years I would like to think that I have largely been successful in standing up to the entrepreneurial challenge I signed up for. Today, as I sit in the front of my computer, sipping my favourite latte at a coffee shop, I thought I should convert my experiences into 10 tips that I hope, will inspire others. Here we go.

Tip 1: It's all about the mission statement (vision) — but that cannot be static. 

Within the first month of my job, I had carved out a mission for what we would accomplish by 2011. Every thought, every risk, every action henceforth centred around that mission statement. Every year then on, we set a newer mission for ourselves, that we would go all out to achieve. Be prepared to adapt and carve a new mission for your team each year, or risk becoming outdated.

Tip 2: Authority and autonomy — the leader's ammunition:A leader without authority and a reasonable level of autonomy will never be able to take the right risks and make the bold moves that a situation demands. One of the first things I asked for when I joined was to have my own budget which I would spend on things I believe are right for the growth of the practice. My recommendation to people who are unfortunate enough to be a part of a company where authority and autonomy are frowned upon: update your resume and move on.

Tip 3: A bridge is only as strong as the foundation that supports it: Go all out in picking your A-players. Invest time in grooming them further, and getting them to understand and share your passion for the practice mission. Over time, add more pillars to further bolster the bridge. Pamper them (within your existing means), but at the same time challenge them to push beyond their comfort zones year after year. By doing so, you would have fortified the bridge (your practice) for a long time to come. 

Do realise though that the nuts and bolts of a bridge will need to be replaced more frequently. In other words never aim for 0% attrition. People who cannot associate themselves with the team for a longer duration will naturally move on. Let them go and re-hire. Remember that fresh talent brings in a fresh perspective. Embrace it.

Tip 4: Let go, but don’t be blind: Once you have identified your key lieutenants, give them the needed authority and autonomy as well. Understand that no one likes to be micro-managed. However, your eyes and ears need to be always tuned to catch any signals of distress from the broader team. You should be prepared to act swiftly when such a need arises. This is a very real but tricky situation that you cannot avoid. You will go through phases of being popular and being unpopular in this journey. 

Tip 5: Frameworks are the key to success: It’s nothing but a process/methodology which, once in place, allows you to solve a repeating problem faster. For our team, it was all about establishing frameworks for ‘hiring’, ‘training’ and ‘delivery’ very much tailored to our analytics domain. Definitely invest the needed time in developing the frameworks that are relevant for your line of business, and keep revising them as needed.

Tip 6: Let your eyes resonate the message from your lips:This simple tip is all about being totally and absolutely sincere about what you convey to your team. A leader who cannot convince the team that he means what he says can never take the team along with him. This applies equally to situations where you need to convey a positive as well as a negative message.

Tip 7: A ‘Centre of excellence’ is all about ‘excellence’: The name says it all. If you want to call yourself and more importantly want others to perceive your team as one, every deliverable that your team produces should fall nothing shy of being excellent. Invest the needed time in setting high standards for excellence and in training the team to deliver as such. Excellent work is the only way to achieve exponential organic growth.

Tip 8: Leadership by influence versus example: We have all heard that it is great to lead by example. My take is that while it is good to lead by example in some instances, it is better to lead by influence in many others. 

An example of leading by example is allowing your team to work on a flexible schedule when you yourself would like to do the same. However, if you want the junior members of your team to, say, clear a professional certification, does it mean that you would have to clear the certification yourself? Probably not the most relevant thing to do for your job role. You can and should, however, influence your team on the benefits of them being certified. A leader should work towards building an aura of charm/influence on the team. 

Tip 9: If you don’t look out for your team, nobody will: This is all about empathy and a personal ambition to both reactively and proactively address the concerns of your team. Concerns adapt various flavours but from my experience, the top two areas of concern are “fair compensation” and “nature of work” in that order. On the matter of compensation, I think a leader should not only address the concerns of his vocal team members who raise a genuine concern about their compensation, but also proactively assess and address the same as it pertains to the complacent/quiet members of his team. 

Tip 10: Celebrate success but allow for failure: This tip stems from an inspiring quote I heard from a great leader, which resonates well with my belief. Even highly successful leaders sometimes forget that being recognised for a job well done is the fundamental want of a human being. A good leader should never shy from dishing out a lavish and public appreciation of his team members. A simple smile you put on the face of the person receiving the appreciation can do marvels in terms of the future productivity of that person. At the same time, remember that life is not about being always successful all the time. While there is no need to celebrate failure, there is an overwhelming need to allow for failure. 

Conclusion

Over the years I have had my fair share of highs and lows. By no means do I claim to be a master of any of the 10 tips I mentioned above. Based on what I have learnt from my seniors, my colleagues and my juniors apart from my own personal experience, I have been attempting to practice these tips myself. To all the future Captains, “Your success is only limited by your imagination. Go Conquer.”

Source | Business Line | 27 August 2014

Ten Cyber Security Tips to Protect Your Identity

This summer, the largest hacking incident in history was exposed as security analysts reported that a Russian cybercrime ring had collected well over a billion username and password combinations and more than 500 million email addresses. The analyst group that reported the theft confirmed the data was stolen from major corporate websites as well as small sites.

The Russian hacking incident is the largest ever reported, but it’s only the latest to make headlines. The Target data breach that involved 40 million customer accounts is still causing headaches for the retailer and its customers. Snapchat, Yahoo, Zappos and CNET are other popular online destinations that have experienced widely covered hacking incidents.

Given the prevalence of cybercrime, it’s not unreasonable to assume that virtually everyone will have their identity stolen at some point during their lifetime. If you manage a business, you’ll want to make sure you and your employees carefully guard client data. Here are 10 ways you can operate more safely online – whether you use the Internet for business, pleasure or both:

1. Use strong passwords only. Many hacking incidents begin with cracking a weak password. Make sure you create passwords that use upper and lowercase letters and incorporate numbers and special characters. Passwords that use multiple combinations of letters, symbols and numbers are harder to hack. 
2. Never use personal information in your password. Although using a favorite sports team’s name as your password makes it easy to remember, it also makes it very easy to hack. This information is often available in seconds via a Google search of your name, and adding your birthday to the end doesn’t make it much stronger since that’s online too. 
3. Set passwords and PINs for mobile devices. Today’s smartphones and tablets function as mini-computers, with people making online purchases and conducting banking via mobile apps. And yet too many leave their devices completely unprotected. Always set a password or create a PIN to protect your data if your device is lost or stolen. 
4. Use unique passwords for each website. A strong password is a good start, but it’s also important to make sure you use different passwords for every registered site you visit so that if one site is hacked, your data on other sites won’t be compromised.
5. Change passwords every 30-60 days. Hackers often steal data in bulk and sell username and password combinations to third parties. If you change your password frequently, you’ll have a better chance of shutting a third-party purchaser out of your accounts before they ever have a chance to log in. 
6. Use a “burner” email address. These days, many merchants and online app downloads require an email address. To avoid being inundated with spam – and to protect your identity – create a “burner” email address with a free account from Gmail or Yahoo.
7. Change email settings to display text only. One hacker trick is to embed an image that automatically displays when you open an email so that they can gain information. Set your email to display text only, and then click to open images only if it’s from a sender you know and trust. 
8. Update your operating system software whenever prompted by your system. Your OS provider sends out updates that frequently contain security improvements and patches, so it makes sense to install updates as they become available. 
9. Don’t store an unencrypted password list on your device.Since it’s important to use strong passwords and change them frequently, you may be tempted to keep track of them on a spreadsheet or in a Word document, but that would be a mistake. If a hacker did manage to breach your system, the password list would compromise all of your accounts. 
10. Close your browser when you walk away from your computer. Even if you’ll just be gone for a minute, it’s always a good idea to close your browser when you leave your computer unattended. It would only take seconds for someone to steal your login information.  

Passwords will remain the first line of defense for identity theft protection for the foreseeable future, so the most important thing you can do to protect yourself online is to make sure you use strong passwords and change them frequently. Password management software is a good option if you don’t want to deal with the hassle of creating and updating your own passwords; a password management solution can handle this for you securely and automatically.

But no matter which tactic you choose – creating and managing your own passwords or seeking automated support – make sure you follow these 10 cyber security tips to protect your identity. With each mass hacking incident, it seems more likely that everyone will fall victim to hackers at some point, but by using good cyber security practices, you can improve your odds.

Source | http://www.techzone360.com/

The Empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on food has decided to lift the ban on onion exports, bowing to pressure from agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.

Apart from the NCP supremo, Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had also asked the Centre to allow onion exports, citing protests by farmers across the state.

The decision was taken at the EGoM meeting chaired by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on Tuesday. Keeping in mind the domestic situation, the government decided to review the decision on a weekly basis. Mukherjee and home minister P. Chidambaram, also a member of the EGoM, had visited Maharashtra recently.

"The EGoM has decided to lift the ban on onion exports. We will review the situation if there's any fluctuation in the domestic prices," food minister K.V. Thomas said.

The meeting was also attended by Pawar and planning commission deputy chairman M.S. Ahluwalia. The government had banned onion exports to check its spiralling prices which touched Rs 25 a kg in retail. The minimum export price (MEP) of onions has been fixed at $475 (Rs 22,671) per tonne.

Sources said Chidambaram and Thomas raised certain issues before the panel. Chidambaram reportedly told the EGoM to ensure that onion is not hoarded by traders to artificially inflate the retail prices.

Thomas, providing pictures, argued that at least eight lakh tonnes of onion were kept by traders in various storages across Maharashtra.

Sources said the government was trying to placate the onion farmers, but was eager to see that retail prices do not increase ahead of the festival season.

Retail onion prices had touched Rs 100 per kg at various markets last year.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would leave for

New York on Wednesday for a six-day visit to attend the

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Summit.

Away from domestic troubles, Singh would focus on international affairs over the next few days. Even before he leaves, the prime minister has showed that no one could dictate terms to him in international engagements. He was assertive in deciding his bilateral meetings on the sidelines, which has been creating ripples.

Apparently, despite protests from within the ministry of external affairs (MEA), Singh's meeting with Iranian President Mehmoud Ahmedinejad on the sidelines of the summit has been firmed up. Some in the ministry had reservations about the venue of the meeting -- the United States.

However, former diplomat Lalit Mansingh said, "I'm not aware of these reservations but I'm surprised there should be any such reservations at all. The prime minister can meet whoever he likes wherever. On the agenda with him will be a lot. Most important... situation in Afghanistan."

Singh would address the UNGA on the morning of September 24. Security and terrorism would be the thrust of Singh's address to the UNGA.

Apart from that, India would make a spirited pitch for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). It is manoeuvring at the 193-member UNGA that would help India garner the votes.

The economist prime minister would then also talk about the precarious global economic situation.

Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said, "We will raise the issue of counter-terrorism and try to ensure that all nations cooperate in our issue of counter-terrorism."

There was speculation that Singh would meet US President Barack Obama and Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. However, both the meetings have not worked out.

Singh would, however, hold bilateral talks with Nepal Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and South Sudan President Salva Kiir.

'Tell Me O Khuda' set for Diwali release, Hema unperturbed

It's not as if people would want to watch only one film during Diwali, says Hema Malini who has decided to release her daughter Esha Deol's relaunch Tell Me O Khuda with Shah Rukh Khan's sci-fi RA.One.

"We had a meeting with the distributors and exhibitors on Friday. And we all decided to go for a Diwali release. I was advised against it since RA.One is also releasing for Diwali. But it's not as if people would want to watch only one film during Diwali," said Hema.

"If they like both they'll see them both. I personally think Diwali is a wonderful window for any auspicious film. Some of the biggest successes have happened during the festive season. So why not go for it?"

Hema isn't afraid of the competition. "We've made an emotional father-daughter story. I don't think we need to fear competition from anyone."

Apparently SRK has welcomed Tell Me Of Khuda with open arms into the Diwali release schedule.

"Shah Rukh and Hemaji go back a long way. In fact, Hemaji was the first producer to sign Shah Rukh forDil Aashna Hai which she directed. Ever since then Shah Rukh has had the highest regard for Hemaji," said a source.

Rockstar gets a spiritual music launch at Nizamuddin dargah

Ranbir Kapoor and Imtiaz Ali kickstarted the promotional campaign of their upcoming biggieRockstar on a spiritual note at Delhi's historic Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah on Monday night.

Director Imtiaz officially launched the film's music by placing a CD of the film's soundtrack at the tomb of the mystic Sufi poet Amir Khusro, considered the father of qawwali, and sought his blessings.

Ranbir, Imtiaz and singer Mohit Chauhan then joined the Dargah's famous qawwals to celebrate the conclusion of the four-day Urs of Hazrat Amir Khusro that is held every year. The trio also offered a chaddar at Khusro's tomb.

"The atmosphere was magical. Imtiaz, Ranbir and the unit were keen on the film's music composer A.R. Rahman joining them for the event, but unfortunately Rahman couldn't make it," a source said.

Imtiaz had last year shot a significant scene of the movie at the Dargah. For Ranbir, the Dargah holds a special place because his grandfather, late showman Raj Kapoor, was known for his affinity for the place. RK was known to visit the Dargah whenever he came to Delhi.

"Rahman's music in Rockstar is an unusual fusion of rock, sufi and qawwali. So, the Dargah was an obvious choice for the unit to launch the music album," the source added.

The Nizamuddin Dargah is believed to be the place of origin of qawwali, a reason why Imtiaz has shot a key qawwali sequence at the place.

At the Dargah, the trio were in a musical and devotional mood. Sporting colourful turbans, Ranbir played the guitar while Mohit rendered a few songs from the film. The listeners especially loved the qawwali, Kun faaya kun. Soon, the Dargah's Qawwals joined the film unit.

Imtiaz's new film tells the story of a simplistic young man (played by Ranbir) who gets obsessed with becoming a man of worth after being spurned in love and goes on to become a famous rockstar.

Ranbir has al so been exces sively obsessed with every detail of the filmmaking process. The film was initially scheduled to open on September 9, along with Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, but will now release on November 11.

Salman Khan has stormed the box office again—this time in absentia. Just before the release of Bodyguard, the superstar had to leave for the US—a surgery for trigeminal neuralgia, a nerve disorder of the face, awaited. Recovering in New Jersey, he took time out for a short, late-night chat on phone with Namrata Joshi. Excerpts:

Did you expect Bodyguard to get this huge an opening?

No, I didn’t. I knew we had made a decent film but the reactions of the people have been overwhelming.

What do you think worked for the film?

Every film has its own destiny. We made Bodyguard with dedication, worked on every aspect of filmmaking. It’s nice to know that I am on the same page as the audience, that I am not alienated from them yet. It’s when the audience doesn’t understand you that fear sets in.

Wanted, Dabangg, Ready, Bodyguard.... Does it put pressure on you to deliver a hit every time?

It puts no pressure. It just makes me work harder. We put enough time and effort on a film. After that, it’s just matter of waiting and watching.

There has been criticism that your films depend only on your star persona, nothing else....

I don’t believe that at all. I played a simple, humble man. I wasn’t flamboyant or over-the-top. The Tsunami comic character was as big a crowdpuller as my Lovely Singh in Bodyguard. Five-six characters in the film were given equal importance.

After the so-called multiplex films, you seem to have brought back the flavour of single-screen masala films....

I work on films I would want to see as a viewer. I like action-based films with romance and emotion. It’s great if all this can be woven into one screenplay, and not forcibly. Even if I experiment, it’ll be in the genre of entertainment. I don’t like those silent, unmoving, depressing, boring films. Neither does my audience. People want to see heroes on big screen. They want to be like them. They see normal people on the streets anyhow.

When do we see you back in action?

I’m resting a bit now. I’m going to Dublin on September 10 to shoot for Yashraj Films’ Ek Tha Tiger. But I’ve been told not to do action sequences for a while.

Energy Resources

"Energy Resources", the simple way of getting energy by which we generate electrical power.
There are number of energy resources available.Some are listed here-


1.Primary Resources
1.1 Fossil fuels
1.2 Oil
1.3 Coal
1.4 Nuclear Power
2.Renewable Resources
2.1 Hydropower
2.2 Biomass and Biofuels
2.3 Solar Power
2.4 Wind Power
2.5 Geothermal

-> Sun is the biggest energy resource for Earth.
-> Primary resources are limited but Renewable resources can be used in an unlimited way.
Most of the electrical energy is generated by Primary Resources.
Thermal Power Plants use the Primary Resources.The energy is generated in Thermal Power Plants by burning the coal and oil.

Nuclear Power:- Nuclear power is generated using Uranium.It produces about 11% of the world's energy need.It produce a huge amount of energy using less amount of fuel.It is a pollution free process.

HydroPower:- In HydroPower the running water is used for the generation of electricity.

Biomass and Biofuels:- Boifuels include the fuel made from living goods or their wastes like Biodiesel, Bioethanol.


Solar Power:- The energy generated by the light of Sun is called Solar Power.The Sun is 150 million kilometers far from Earth and the biggest energy resource for Earth.The electricity from Sun is generated by
using Solar Panels.

Wind Power:- In this the power of wind is used.In this the Turbine is rotated by the blowing wind and energy is generated.

Geothermal:- In Geothermal Power the heat of Earth is used for the generation of energy.The center of Earth is 6000 degrees Celsius hot enough to melt the rock and few kilometers down the temperature increases one degree per 30-50 meters go down.

There is one more type of energy resource called Tidal Power. In this the power of Tides is used.Tide moves twice in a day and carry huge amount of

water.The barrages are used to store the water and then it is used to generate the energy.

Structure and Working of a Thermal Power Plant

The different sections of a Thermal Power Plant:-
1. Coal Handling Plant
2. Pulverising Unit
3. Boiler
4. Turbine
5. Generator
6. Chimney
7. Water Treatment Plant
8. Transformer
9. Control Room

Coal Handling Plant:-
Raw coal via trains ----> Wagon Trippler ----> Vibrators ----> Crush house (6mm*6mm) ----> Stock Yard
Boilers <---- Coal mills <----- Raw coal feeder <---- Bunkers <--|


Pulverising Unit:-

In modern Thermal Plants coal is Pulverised i.e. ground to dust like size and carried to the Furnace in a steam of hot air.

Boiler:-
Boiler is a place the water is being converted into steam with burning of coal.

Turbine:-
Turbine is a machine in which a shaft is rotated steadily by the impact or reaction of current or steam of working substance.
It convert the PE or KE of the substance into Mechanical Energy by the virtue of dynamic action of working substance.

Generator:-
Generator is a machine which converts mechanical energy into electrical.

Economiser:-
Flue gases coming out of the boiler carries a lot of heat.An Economiser extracts some part of heat from these flue gases and transfer it to the boiling water and thus improves the efficiency of plant.

Cooling Tower:-
A cooling tower has a reservoir at the bottom for the storage of cooled water.Warm water is feed from the top and flows to the bottom.The falling water loose its heat and get cooled.

Water Treatment Plant:-
The principle problem of high pressure boilers are corrosion and steam impurities.To remove these impurities water treatment plants are used.

Control Room:-
In control room various controls are provided simultaneously various measurements are made and relays are provided.Automatic control is provided for combustion,for feed water regulation and reheat temp.

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Thermal Power Plants