“A goal should scare you a little and excite you a lot.” “A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.” “If a goal is worth having, it’s worth blocking out the time in your day-to-day life necessary to achieve it.” “Set a goal that makes you want to jump out of bed every morning.” “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” “Goals are like an address we punch into our navigation system that tells us which direction to go.” “Seeing your goal written in ink, on paper will have a powerful effect on your mind.” “Decide what you want. Decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your goals and go to work.”  Share one GREAT goal you’re looking to achieve this year with the rest of the community in the comment section below! Take print-outs using the print friendly icon in the share buttons. The Five Golden Rules Set Goals that Motivate You Set SMART Goals Set Goals in Writing Make an Action Plan Stick With...

My take on a leader:  L – Lead by Example E – Empower People A – Aspire D – Dare Devil Driver E – Empathy R – Responsible...

Strategies to Tide Over Competition Distinctive Competence: is nothing but a set of unique capabilities that certain firms possess allowing them to make inroads into preferred markets and to gain advantage over the competition. Human brain is the greatest think tank and it evolves new methodologies of business management from time to time in order to sustain as well as win the race. Planning is the key factor that decides the rise or downfall of a business empire. “Where we are?” and “Where we want to be in the next few years?” is how every business leader’s basic thought process must be, without which he cannot proceed further in the competitive corporate environment. If we call planning as the basement of a building, then it should be very precise, clear cut and robust so that the business empire built on this basement will never collapse and it will also serve as a role-model for everyone who aspires to set his foot in the corporate business world. At the corporate level, strategic planning helps to establish the Purpose Mission and Objective for the firm as a whole and “outlines the overall plan to attain them.” Strategy is nothing but a unique set of action plan that will distinguish you from your competitors and make you have an edge over them. Likewise strategic planning is nothing but thinking out of the box to” CREATE YOUR OWN NICHE MARKET” in the business environment. STRATEGIC COMPETENCE takes you to the top of the ladder; but to withhold your position you need to formulate innovative ideas to tide over the challenges in the market. Strategic planning facilitates this process by giving you time frame to complete your short term objectives and long term goals.   Infographic Courtesy: The 4 key sources to seek insights for marketing planning Planning for SBU’s: Business level planning is done for the enterprise’s STRATEGIC BUSINESS UNITS or SBU’S. These are individual” cash cows” that makes your business noteworthy and also brings in constant revenue to run your other units successfully even in periods of recession or if a particular product is not that successful as you might have expected it to be. I shall compare a business plan to a travel plan. Both involve planning, resources, capital, marketing and so on. . . Both have starting points but a business plan and its objectives never end and you can never come back to the starting point in a business as that of a travel, because you only expand and grow to greater heights in a business provided your plan is pucca. And also the strategy seeks the integration and control of marketing, finance, production and human resources at the functional level. Strategic Plans at different functional levels: Strategic plans at different levels must be integrated to ensure that they work in tandem and reinforce each other, thereby contributing to the corporate level strategy adopted for the entire corporate group. I would call strategic planning as” INTELLIGENCE DESIGN CHOICE ACTIVITY “adopted by a corporate and it has become an inevitable feature in the directory of the business world....

Motivation- Process and Theories “We can take a horse to water but cannot make it to drink”, so goes a saying. A motive is the inner drive or desire that causes a person to act. What is the importance of motivation in management? Well, I will say motivation is “the thing” and understanding human motivation is crucial in managing people. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory with 10 Free Motivational Quotes Some definitions on motivation: 1. This is a total system of study which analyses human needs, motives, drives which cause a person to act or behave in a particular manner he/she does. 2. It is the stimulation of any emotion or desire operating upon one’s will and prompting or driving it to action-Guillerman 3.”Motivation represents a satisfied need which creates a state of tension or dis-equilibrium causing the individual to move in a goal directed pattern towards restoring a state of equilibrium by satisfying the needs.”-Herzberg It has been accepted by psychologists world over that all behavior is motivated and revolves around a desire for satisfying certain needs. Motivation process:   NEEDS->DRIVES->GOALS THEORIES OF MOTIVATION:  Theories of Motivation are classified into · Content theories and · Process Theories CONTENT THEORIES: A. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs B. Herzberg two factor theory C. Theory ‘X’ and Theory ‘Y’ D. McClelland’s achievement motivation theory E. Clayton Alderfer’s ERG theory PROCESS THEORIES: A. Vroom’s expectancy model B. Porter-Lawler’s model C. Adam’s equity theory Content theories seek to determine what motivates people at work. Priorities are taken into consideration backed up by incentives or goals. Maslow Need Hierarchy Theory (1943) Abraham Maslow postulates that human needs can be organized into a hierarchy of prepotency with the physiological needs at the bottom and self-actualization at the top. He states that as each need gets satisfied the person gets motivated to reach the next higher level. As the person moves up the hierarchy, one finds that esteem needs and self-actualization are more of internal in nature and it solely depends on the individual’s drive. Basic needs -85 % Security or safety needs-70% Social needs- 50% Esteem needs-40% Self-actualization-mere 10% This is the statistics that represents the percentage ratio of satisfaction and once a need is satisfied it “CEASES TO BE A MOTIVATOR.” · PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS-Basic needs for the maintenance of body processes such as hunger, thirst, sex and sleep. When these are satisfied, the higher order needs emerge, which dominate a person’s behavior. · SAFETY NEEDS– Needs like freedom from physical harm, need for orderly life and economic security · SOCIAL NEEDS– These emerge when the basic needs are satisfied and denote love, affection and belongingness. · ESTEEM NEEDS– Needs referring to strength, achievement, adequacy and also needs which pertain to recognition, appreciation and achievement. Man values self esteem based on one’s own abilities on one hand, and recognition and reputation on the other. · NEED FOR SELF–ACTUALISTION– When all the above mentioned needs are satisfied the need for self actualization arises. This need is described as the need to become everything that one is capable of becoming. CRITICISM: · There is little empirical evidence to support this theory though it is very popular. · This theory talks only about the needs from an individual’s perspective and does not link it with organizational...