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Throughout history, wars have left an indelible mark on human psyche. Serious debates have been held on the morality of and the strategic necessity for war. And yet, like every dark cloud that has a silver lining, wars too at times leave a society wiser. India is no stranger to wars. And there are many lessons to be learnt from each of those battles -- management lessons, to be precise. Here we present the fourth in a series of articles on management lessons drawn from Indian history. This one looks at the Battle of Plassey. Read on. . . The Battle of Plassey (1757 AD) Mir Jafar, alias Sayyid Mir Muhammed Jafar Ali Khan, is to India's history what Benedict Arnold is to that of the United States. Mir Jafar came to Bengal as a traveller and took up a job in the army of Ali Vardi Khan, then Nawab of Murshidabad (near Kolkata). He fought many successful battles for the Nawab. This earned him a promotion and his career saw a meteoric rise under Khan. Apart from showering many favours on...

1. Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity, and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigors of the mind. 2. The color of the object illuminated partakes of the color of that which illuminates it. 3. He who possesses most must be most afraid of loss. 4. A good painter has two main objects to paint, man and the intention of his soul. The former is easy, the latter hard as he has to represent it by the attitude and movement of the limbs. 5. Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art. 6. One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself. 7. Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master. 8. Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind. 9. You do ill if you praise, but worse if you censure, what you do not understand. 10. Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer sin...

Behind a three-storey white house in this village north of Paris, a rickety garden table, its top painted red, is preserved from the elements in a glass cage. Battered and scarred, it is one of the world's best known pieces of furniture, immortalised in Vincent van Gogh's portrait of Dr Paul Gachet, the most expensive painting ever sold. Now Gachet's house and gardens have been opened to the public to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Van Gogh's birth, a key event in the multi-million-pound industry surrounding the penniless Dutch painter. Gachet posed for two near-identical portraits. One now belong to Paris's Musée d'Orsay and the other to a Japanese businessman who paid $82 million (£51.5m) for the version in which yellow books obscure much of the table top. A few days after the paintings were completed, Gachet was called toVan Gogh's bedside as he lay dying at the village's Auberge Ravoux from a self-inflicted bullet wound. Yet Auvers was until rece...

When Albert Einstein was making the rounds of the speaker's circuit, he usually found himself eagerly longing to get back to his laboratory work. One night as they were driving to yet another rubber-chicken dinner, Einstein mentioned to his chauffeur (a man who somewhat resembled Einstein in looks & manner) that he was tired of speechmaking. "I have and idea, boss," his chauffeur said. "I've heard you give this speech so many times. I'll bet I could give it for you." Einstein laughed loudly and said, "Why not? Let's do it!" When they arrive at the dinner, Einstein donned the chauffeur's cap and jacket and sat in the back of the room. The chauffeur gave a beautiful rendition of Einstein's speech and even answered a few questions expertly. Then a supremely pompous professor ask an extremely esoteric question about anti-matter formation, digressing here and there to let everyone in the audience know that he was nobody's fool. W...

"When you are in the valley, keep your goal firmly in view and you will get the renewed energy to continue the climb." - Denis Waitley " Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities – always see them, for they’re always there." - Norman Vincent Peale "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." - Nelson Mandela "Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results." - James Allen "You can give in to the failure messages and be a bitter deadbeat of excuses. Or you can choose to be happy and positive and excited about life." - A.L. Williams "Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success." - Dr. Joyce Brothers "Very often a chan...

There’s an old story of a young lady who was taken to dinner one evening by William Gladstone and then the following evening by Benjamin Disraeli, both eminent British statesmen in the late nineteenth century. “When I left the dining room after sitting next to Mr. Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England,” she said. “But after sitting next to Mr. Disraeli, I thought I was the cleverest woman in England.” Disraeli obviously had a knack for making the other person the center of his universe, if only for the evening. If you practice attentiveness to others, you’ll find it does wonders. They will enjoy it, and so will you. You will accomplish much more. Make a conscious effort to focus on others—their opinions, experiences, and stories—before you share your own. Then train yourself to focus on what unites you, rather than on what separates you. William James, the father of psychology said, “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” If you focus on other...

Nicolo Paganini (1782-1840) is still considered one of the greatest violinists of all time. One day, as he was about to perform before a sold-out house, he walked out on stage to a huge ovation but felt that something was terribly wrong. Suddenly he realized that he had someone else’s violin in his hand. Horrified, but knowing that his most prudent choice was to begin, he started playing. That day he gave the performance of his life. After the concert, Paganini was in his dressing room speaking to a fellow musician and he reflected, “Today I learned the most important lesson of my entire career. Before today, I thought the music was in the violin. Today, I learned that the music is in me.” Let us foster this kind of thinking in our students.

Itzhak Perlman, the prodigy violinist who contracted polio as a child, was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor. He is considered the classical world’s most accessible virtuoso and, although he had no intentions of conducting, he found later that teaching and conducting were very important to him. He believes that the most important thing is listening—really listening. Because he listens better now, he has more of an awareness of what he is doing. This is particularly important to him in his teaching as well. He related how his first teacher would tell him what to do because if he didn’t she would “chop his head off.” His second teacher had a totally different way of teaching. When the violinist would play something for her, she would ask, “What did you think of that?” Perlman responded, “What do you mean what did I think of it? I’m here to follow your orders.” His teacher prompted him to think about what he was doing. At his famous teaching academy, Itzhak Perlman teaches his students in t...

Like your job? Want to keep it? Here are some simple things you can do to make the boss happy, feel good about yourself, and perhaps keep you out of trouble. 1. Show up for work on time - You would think this is obvious; but you have no idea how many people do not understand how important this is. People create an image or perception of you based on your ability to show up on time. No matter how hard you work or how many hours you might give to the company during the week, regularly walking in the door late sends a bad message. Set your alarm clock to ring earlier; or do what my friend does...............his staff call him every morning to make sure he is out of bed. 2. Offer to pick up a loose end for someone else - It's happened; you look up from your desk or away from your computer monitor and everyone is walking out the door. Everyone but you. You've got just one more thing to do; one more thing that would take half the amount of time if someone was nice enough to stick aro...

Know your employer. Decide if you are working for a company that has a motto or standard that you are comfortable with, and if the company goal is something you believe in. If you are working for an honorable establishment, then you will be treated with respect due to your position. Behave professionally. This is a business, not a playground. Learn to take criticism gracefully. It will provide you with valuable ideas about what people expect from you, any weak areas, and what you need to work on first. Learn to do your job, and do it well. Whether it's menial and tedious, or tough and high-paying, learn how to do the job, regardless of how difficult you think it might be. Salary is most commonly based upon years of experience, tenure with the company, and your educational background. Keep a clean job history. Do a good job, show up on time, keep a good attendance history. Be ready to provide references from past employers. If your present employer wishes to contact your previous em...

Learning to be less quick to comment has saved me from engaging in a great deal of unnecessary or untimely conversation . Without question it saves me time ,energy and probably more than a few arguments . Many of us are quick to comment on practically everything . We’ll gladly comment on someone else’s comment ,their opinion ,or a mistake that we perceive may have been made . We’ll comment on the way someone looks ,behaves ,or seems to think . Sometimes our comments are critical in nature ,other times they are complimentary or engaging . Most of our comments are probably useful , helpful , necessary or simply entertaining . Sometimes our input can help solve a problem ,come up with a solution , a better way of doing something ,or contribute in some meaningful way . Terrific .Keep commenting . Invariably ,however ,some of our comments are at best unnecessary and at worst counterproductive . They arise out of habit , a knee-jerk reaction ,or some unexplained need we have to comment . Som...

Have you ever seen your most important tasks being put off until later and then later and later, while you are getting busy with many not so important activities? Did you hope that you may have more time and better mood in the future to start the task and do it properly? Does an approaching deadline mean a crisis for you? Do you keep hesitating every time you make a decision? If you often see yourself in such low productivity situations, then there is a big chance that your life got under control of the procrastination habit. And those situations are only the most explicit symptoms. A basic definition of procrastination is putting off the things that you should be doing now. This happens with all of us time after time. Yet, what makes a big difference for your success is your ability to recognize procrastination reasons and expressions in their different forms, and to promptly take them under control, before this bad habit steals your opportunities, damages your career and pride, or de...

Recently I received an email from a renowned marketer. Boy was it a rant! I couldn't help but be pulled in and I could see the point of view that he was trying to put across. Ultimately, though, I can't avoid the fact that the rant was unproductive and didn't particularly help anyone make money. In fact, it probably just got a few people worked up. What was the topic of the email about? Well, the marketer was complaining about forced continuity and the use of deceptive words in the email subject line of an email he got. He could have just unsubscribed from the list and moved on if he was unhappy at the deceptive tactics but instead he chose to send an email to his subscribers list about it. Is that productive? It certainly isn't! The point it, grumbling never helped anyone get rich. You get rich by being productive! By taking action! Spending your time grumbling will not make you money. It will just spoil your mood. Do productive things. The way to make money is by focu...

Our life is shaped by the experiences we live and how we deal with our emotions and circumstances. Two people could have the same thing happen to them and have a different outcome according to their reaction to it. One could be crushed while the other is propelled to look for new ways to overcome their situation and create something positive. Emotions are powerful and they are meant to stir in us a sense of being alive, they move us to act. They can make us feel happy, sad, compassionate, and enthusiastic. The person who is unable to let their emotions flow is usually an unhappy individual, their emotions build up to the bursting point unto the surface of their daily life like an exploding volcano. The way we approach challenges and changing circumstances shape the magnitude of the impact it will have on our emotions. The mind is the one that begins to form the ideas that will help us act later on to make it a reality. In dealing with emotions and circumstances it is important to know ...

Many people complain about their non-creative position or yearn for a more interesting job . You actually might have a choice regarding any job that you consider to be non-creative . You can dread each day , count the minutes , remind yourself again and again as to how boring the job is , complain and whine and wish it were different . Or you can remind yourself “it is what it is “ and go ahead and make the best of it . You can smile , be enthusiastic and have a positive attitude . You can find ways to make the job as interesting as it can possibly be . You’ll be at work for the same number of hours either way .In a year’s time , you will likely have worked 2000 hours even more . There’s a story about 2 bricklayers who were interviewed by a reporter . The reporter asked the first worker how he spent his day . He replied in a resentful tone : I spend hours in the hot sun picking up the stupid bricks and putting them on top of each other .Leave me alone .” The reporter turned to the sec...