Kishore Borra

Mr Kishore Borra holds dual Masters in Physics and Energy Systems with gold medals. He is a father of two boys, husband to a superwoman. A lecturer turned software Engineer, now Managing Director of a successful and fast-growing IT company. He is also a Leadership Evangelist and a certified member of John Maxwell Team (JMT) of Coaches, Speakers and Trainers.

Eagle & Crow

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Eagle & Crow

The eagle is the king of the bird kingdom. The only bird that dares to peck an eagle is the crow. The crow sits on the eagle’s back & bites its neck. However, the eagle doesn’t respond or fight with the crow. It simply opens up its wings and begins to fly higher in the sky. The higher the eagle flies, the harder it is for the crow to breathe, and the crow eventually falls due to lack of oxygen.

We need to stop wasting our time with the crows of life. Not all battles we need to respond to. Not all arguments, comments, or critics need our attention. A lot of times, we need to keep raising our standards. The crow represents all the challenges in life and the people you don’t want to have in your life or team. You can choose to fight everything wasting your precious energy and getting nowhere, or you can soar higher like the eagle and watch all of your challenges fade away slowly.
    • When people criticize you, go higher.
    • When life challenges, you go higher.
    • When endless problems are pecking at you, then go higher.
    • Go higher by getting better – by learning more, doing more, being more, and becoming more.
If you do so, when the crows of life appear, they won’t be with you for so long because they can’t breathe at your level. Problems will only disturb you only when you are not good enough to handle them. When you improve, your life improves. So when life challenges you today, try to be an eagle and go higher.

#leadtip #dontcoast #borra #getleaderized #eagle #gohigher

MLRITM Graduation Day – 2021

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It’s a great honor and a humble experience being the Guest of Honour at the Graduation Ceremony of 500+ BTech and B Pharmacy graduates at Marri Laxman Reddy Institute of Technology and Management, Hyderabad. Best wishes to all the students !!

About 20 years ago, I was standing on the other side as I received my post-graduation (M.Sc Physics) certificate and Gold Medal from the then Vice-Chancellor of Acharya Nagarjuna University, Dr. L. Venugopal Reddy, and Governor of the combined state of Andhra Pradesh, Dr. C. Rangarajan.

 

Atomic Habits

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I have taken ten days’ vacation during the 2020 Christmas break. And at the same time, I have received the Atomic Habits book from a secret Santa in my office. This book was on my to-do list for a very long time. It might be because of Internet pressure or because I have read many reviews about this book over the last year.  I went ahead and studied the book and was blown away by the wisdom, tips, and tricks provided in the book by the world’s renowned habits expert James Clear. It is his first book, and he sold more than three million copies within the first year of releasing the book.
In any organization, employees look forward to organizations’ interest in investing time and effort in contributing to their personal and professional growth. As part of this initiative, EnergyTech Global has a platform called the “EQUIP – People & Possibilities” Talk Series. It is a monthly interactive session presented by different teams to share their day to day activities, learnings, tools & technologies. Sharing is caring, and adding value to others is the essence of equipping each other. This time, it was my turn to add value to people through EQUIP series, and I decided to share my newfound knowledge about Atomic Habits. In this video, I have given a detour of the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. I am sure that you will feel good for investing an hour of your time and watching this video.

 

Five Big Ideas

1. Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. – 1% tiny improvement every day. 

2. If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead. – Goals Vs. Systems. 

3. The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve but on who you wish to become. – Outcome-based habit Vs. Identity-based habit.

4. Priming your environment will help you shape your good habits quickly and break your bad habits.

5. The 4 laws of behavior change is a simple set of rules we can use to build better habits. They are (a) make it obvious, (b) make it attractive, (c) make it easy, and (d) make it satisfying.

Ask Stupid questions !!

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Let’s discuss stupid questions in this week’s blog post. In my opinion, there are no stupid questions, only stupid people who don’t ask questions. From my own experience, I was surprised to know that most of our colleagues generally won’t hesitate to help when we ask a question even if it seems embarrassingly obvious to us. I’ve discovered something over the years that many times my best learning has come from someone else’s question. Think about it; you don’t know what you don’t know. And that includes asking specific questions. Sometimes you don’t know the question to ask. But someone else. Who is at a higher level of awareness may just ask a question that is like a lightbulb moment for you. Have you ever experienced that before?

“Asking dumb questions is a lot easier than fixing dumb mistakes.“

One of the biggest problems that I noticed in my professional career is that people refrain from asking questions on their minds for fear of coming across as stupid or for fear of being judged by others. The next time you’re in your team meeting, and a silly question crosses your mind, don’t be afraid to ask it. I assure you that at least one other person in the room is probably contemplating the same question. You never know. Next time when you think about it, remember that you’re not the only one thinking of stupid questions. You just need to have the courage to ask these questions out loud.

I often noticed that people in the room are glad you asked, as they were too fearful to ask themselves. Also, when the first person asks a question, everyone else in the room starts asking questions. Here is why asking dumb questions considered to be good for your career.

  • Proof that you have been paying attention: However stupid your question may be, it will establish the fact that you are listening and very much interested in the conversation. Asking a question is always a lot better than wondering whether to ask or not. Chances are there for the so-called stupid question was not being so stupid after all.
  • Gain more insight: By asking right or wrong questions, you understand the topic at hand to the best of your ability. It will position you better when you need to talk about the same topic with other members of your team.
    • What if you were to mess up big time just because you had the chance to ask that stupid question, but you didn’t?
    • What if getting the answer to that question made things clear for you and saved you either from wasting hours finding the solution or making a blunder?
  • Avoid errors and improve the quality of work: By asking questions, you will enhance your chances of making fewer mistakes when processing the work item related to the topic because your understanding reflects in your work.

It is very important to ask stupid questions without sounding stupid. In 2007, during my first international travel on a work assignment to Alberta Department of Transportation Edmonton, Canada, I avoided drinking coffee during the first two weeks in the new office because I don’t know how to use the Espresso coffee machine. Whenever I fail to resist my urge to drink coffee, I keep an eye on my team members’ movements towards the vending machine. Yes, you are right; I am dependent on the coffee-making skills of my team members. After a week, I had to suck it up ask an embarrassingly easy question: “So, how do you brew a new pot of coffee?” Irrespective of your level of experience, you will encounter similar situations frequently in your life. Sometimes you don’t quite understand something how your co-workers can do effortlessly. You’ll have to begin by asking some “stupid” questions.

  • Observe First: Sometimes, we can find the answer to our question without asking verbally but by simply observing. Therefore if time is not of the essence, then you can try first by observing someone who mastered the skill. When your manager asks you to do something. First, google it. Even if you do not find step by step solution, but you will gain some insight. You will be able to ask more meaningful questions, and you will be able to position yourself better to understand the answers.
  • Ask with Confidence: Asking “stupid” questions won’t damage your career. When you phrase them the right way, you’ll demonstrate that you’re competent and, more importantly, not afraid to ask for whatever you need to get the job done. At the same time, you need to refrain from keeping asking the same question over and over. Think whether or not it’s something that you could have easily found out with some quick research.
“There are no stupid questions.

Stupid people don’t ask questions.“

It certainly seems daunting in the beginning, and just like anything else, it gets easier the more you do it. It’s ok even your question gets a bunch of laughter before it’s answered. You should be okay with that, as long as it gets answered. You never know that your stupid question might have brought some happiness to somebody. It’s ok to emerge as a winner in the end by delivering better results at the risk of being sounded like a dumb.

During my first software job, my manager told me that some of my questions are so stupid, but I still asked him because the alternative would be to stay puzzled and make a mistake because I wasn’t clear. So, to have peace of mind before asking the question, I remember requesting my manager to allow me to ask five stupid questions in a week. It worked for me, and him too. I was at peace before asking the question. However, I would like to remind you that certain questions will be classified as stupid questions. For example, what if you were not listening and paying attention and asked the same question that is already being answered. It is stupid, isn’t it?

 

 

Before you go…

If you enjoyed this post, you would love my book, “Don’t Coast: Accelerate Your Personal and Professional Growth.”

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Make 2021 Your Best Year

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Dear Friend,

I’m thrilled that you have decided to spend a few minutes of your time reading this article on my blog. I promise to add value to you and help you grow in 2021, provided if you can stay for a few more minutes and complete reading this article till the end. 

I am now forty-three years old, and I am more certain about a few things than I was at thirty. I am now getting a better handle on my growth and what matters the most. I have realized that growth happens daily but not in a day. Ever since I learned this concept, I have started teaching this to people working with me as the first cab of the rank activity. 

My mentor John Maxwell once said that if he could come to my house and spend a couple of days with me, he would tell me whether I would be successful and what direction my life is headed. He is right because,

–> Growth happens daily, not in a day.

–> We will never change our lives until we change something we do daily. 

–> We overestimate what we can do in a day and underestimate what we can do in several days.

–> We overestimate the event and underestimate the process.

–> We fail to realize that either pay now and play later or play now and pay later. But either way, we are going to pay. In other words, if we work hard now, then we will receive rewards in the future.  

–> We underestimate the compounding effect of consistency. If we get one percent better each day for one year, we’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time we’re done. Conversely, if we get one percent worse each day for one year, we will decline nearly down to zero.

Our success lies in the daily decisions that we take on daily practices that we make. Every fulfilled dream occurred because of dedication to the process. Neither success nor failure doesn’t occur suddenly in someone’s life. It happens as a result of what we do daily. 

My mentor taught me how to set aside some time to review my past year every year. He told me that it’s a habit that he has developed over the years, and it’s one of the biggest in terms of setting him up for his success. I started practicing it for a couple of years and started seeing results in my life. 

I strongly encourage you to ask yourself these questions:

–> What wins do you need to celebrate from the last 12 months?

–> Can you write an inventory of your success, wins, achievements, and special moments during the last 12 months?

–> What are the three best lessons you learned from the past 12 months?

–> Which relationships are helping you grow and which ones aren’t?

–> What outcomes did your choices produce during the last 12 months?

–> What activities deserve more of your time and fuel, and what deserves less during the next 12 months?

–> What are your top 5 goals for the next year?

–> What is your detailed plan to achieve your top 5 goals identified for the next year?

I know that 2020 was a difficult year for most of us due to the pandemic, and I am glad we sailed through it. I am positive that 2021 holds great things for all of us. Why the hesitation in listing what you want to achieve in 2021 and the kind of systems and habits you would like to develop to reach your goals? Once you understand the power of consistency in building habits that make you a better person, you will stop asking how long it will take and start asking how far I can go? 

–>The goal is not to read a book; the goal is to become a reader.

–>The goal is not to run a marathon; the goal is to become a runner.

–>The goal is not to learn an instrument; the goal is to become a musician.

–>The goal is not to lose 10 Kgs in the next 12 months. The goal is to regain your health for the rest of your life.

This year, focus on the identity that you want to build for yourself. If so, I encourage you to spend time to reflect, review and design your plan for 2021. I’m excited for you as you begin this review process, and I guarantee you’ll make 2021 a better year in your life!

Your friend,

Mr. Kishore Borra

Before you go…

If you enjoyed this post, you would love my book, “Don’t Coast: Accelerate Your Personal and Professional Growth.”

Grab your copy from the below links:

Please subscribe to my social media channels: