Your Image

It's really hard to get away from political news these days. Be it USA, who recently elected it's new President or India, which is getting ready to elect it's next cabinet. So, what does it take to be a leader?

To me, there are as many definitions as there are leaders in this world. I firmly believe that leadership can be learned with excellence. We can read various elaborations in leadership books authored by people including Jack Welch and Robin Sharma. I have referred a few characteristics in my prior posts, but I want to reiterate the "IMAGE" acronym that Robin pointed out in his talk with CBC News.

'IMAGE' as Robin pointed out, stands for the following:
1. Innovation and Imagination (Think hard, Think twice and Out of the box)
2. Merchant of WOW (Raise standards, Always surpass expectations)
3. Authenticity/Transparency (There's no one in this world like you)
4. Guts (Need to take tough decisions even if they do not make you likable)
5. Ethics and Excellence (Integrity, Shun Mediocrity)

Living or Existing?

Are you actually living your life or merely existing? There's a difference. In these days, it's really hard to take some time out to play with your kid. You know what, you better do. Life is one glorious bird that flies by without telling any one. I was dumb struck when I came to know about the legacy that Randy Pausch left behind. Incredible man, incredible story.

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who was dying of pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed auditorium. In this moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals. Only to find out later that the speech really was meant for his 3 kids.



I am up to read Randy's best selling book "The last lecture".

Carmel

We finally did the "17-mile drive" in Carmel last weekend. Although we shelled out ~$10 for the toll ticket, it was worth every single penny. Enjoy the pictures.

Revolutionary city in India

Ever wondered how a future city in India would look like? Sabeer Bhatia (founder of Hotmail) talks about his vision in this video. Considering that 70% Indian population is still living in tier-2 cities or villages, the project looks revolutionary, promising and ambitious. I commend the immense thought that has been put behind this mega-project and do hope that projects like these transform the way local government bodies think while planning for future infrastructure projects.