Practice concentration by seeing bigger picture:

Story Title : Dog mind, lion mind

This is a very beautiful analogy in Zen.

Picture there is a dog in front of you. And you are throwing bones for it to catch. For every bone you throw, the dog jumps with over-the-top enthusiasm and runs to catch it and get it back to you. Do this 1 time or a 100 times. The dog will treat every bone you throw with the same excitement level.

Now, (for some strange reason), picture a lion sitting in front of you. Throw a bone for the lion to catch. It will look completely disinterested in running behind the bone you throw. Why? Because forget the one or two bones you throw, the lion can see an entire bag of bones in front of it. That is YOU. It does not follow the bones you throw, because it can see the bigger picture in front of it. Its focus is to eat the entire you, not the tiny bones that you throw.

If something, (say, Donald Trump’s weird hairstyle or your friend’s WhatsApp status) catches your attention and distracts you, fair and good. It only proves you are human. It is but natural to get distracted. But it is at this point that you have a choice.

You can either follow and run behind everything that distracts you (e.g. texting and asking your friend why he/she came up with such a break-up type status), like the dog. Or you can choose not to chase trivial things keeping the bigger opportunity in mind, like the lion. Keep your focus on the bigger things. See the greater picture.

Being harsh with your mind and commanding it to focus will get you all the more distracted. Rather explain gently to your mind why finishing this particular chapter you are reading now is more important than browsing through weird selfies of your partying friends on Facebook (even though the latter seems amusing). Concentrate on the benefits of keeping yourself focused on the less interesting task at hand.

Source: Quora Q&A

https://www.quora.com

Stagnant leadership is contagious. Teams mirror the energy at the top:

- *Stagnant leadership* = when the people at the top stop growing, stop making decisions, and the whole org/team gets stuck with them. It usually doesn't look like "bad" leadership at first. It looks like... nothing changing. How it shows up - *No new direction*: Same goals, same meetings, same "we've always done it this way" - *Risk aversion*: Saying no to ideas because "it's not the right time" for 2 years straight - *Low accountability*: Problems get talked about but never actually solved - *Talent drain*: Your best people leave because there's no room to grow - *Culture freezes*: Innovation dies, and people just wait for instructions Why it happens 1. *Comfort*: What worked to get them there stops working to move forward 2. *Fear of failure*: After some success, leaders protect their track record instead of taking bets 3. *No feedback loop*: Nobody tells them things are stale, or they tune it out 4. *Burnout*: They're running on au...

Learn B-school/Business lessons from street vendors:

- Captain Raghu Raman teaches an interesting business lessons from Street vendors. And in the last section he speaks about the after retirement life of young armed forces. Click to watch: About Captain Raghu Raman: Note: The above video is linked directly from youtube. About 'Raghu Raman' detail is received from youtube description.

Effective team management is neither about passive detachment nor rigid control. It is an active, supportive practice of process design and human care:

- The Anchor of Execution: Balancing Process and the Human Face in Workflow Management In any organization, a strategic plan is only as good as its execution. While leadership sets the vision, it is the team manager who serves as the anchor of day-to-day operations. Historically, management frameworks treated this role as purely mechanical—a numbers game of tracking timelines and treating human beings as mere "resources" to be scheduled. However, modern operational research has brought a critical truth to light: you cannot successfully manage the process if you neglect the people. Exceptional workflow management requires balancing the technical mechanics of a project with the neuro-emotional safety of the team executing it. When a manager fails to oversee the flow of work, deadlines slip and quality degrades. But when a manager relies solely on rigid micromanagement, burn-out spikes and team members hide critical mistakes. True oper...

Problems eventually are not that big:

One fine day, a bus driver went to the bus garage, started his bus, and drove off along the route. No problems for the first few stops-a few people got on, a few got off, and things went generally well. At the next stop, however, a big hulk of a guy got on. Six feet height, built like a wrestler, arms hanging down to the ground. He glared at the driver and said, "Big John doesn't need to pay!" and sat down at the back. Did I mention that the driver was five feet three, thin, and basically meek? Well, he was.! Naturally, he didn't argue with Big John, but he wasn't happy about it. The next day the same thing happened-Big John got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat down. And the next day, and the one after that and so forth.! This grated on the bus driver, who started losing sleep over the way Big John was taking advantage of him. Finally he could stand it no longer. He signed up for body building courses, karate, judo, and all that goo...

Focus- The secret to High performance and Fulfillment:

- Click to hear lecture: Summary: Source: The video is directly linked to youtube and the summary is adopted from the comments section of this video.

Eight simple ways to strengthen your brain:

1. Focus on one task at a time. And learn new things one step at a time. Example: Focusing on this article. 2. Exercise/Physical activity might increase the blood supply to the brain and improve links between brain cells. 3. Choose good food and be healthy. 4. Social activities improve your mind. Try to make friends, volunteer and interact with people. 5. Stay calm take deep breath. Live at present. 6. Have enough sleep. Adults need 7-8 hours of sleep every night. 7. People who are more active in mentally challenging activities are more likely to stay sharp. Try to read books, play a game, learn a second language. 8. "Neurobics," challenge your brain to think in new ways. Since your five senses are key to learning, use them to exercise your mind. If you're right-handed, try using your left hand. Drive to work by another route. Close your eyes and see if you can recognize food by taste. Source: Click to see the source :

What can a radical leader do?

Radical leader, can: Prepare oneself Exemplify Moral Integrity Go Beyond Self-Interest Establish Clear Goals Respect Your People Convey an Inspiring Vision Be A Mentor... and in doing so inspire revolutionary teamwork.

Learn to Respond, Not React:

“You have the ability to choose your reactions.” ― Steve Maraboli Click to read the article from source: If unable to open, copy the below link to browser: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/learn-respond-react-dr-marshall-goldsmith

Understanding inner-directed and other-directed focus:

Psychologists tell us that some people are inner-directed and some are other-directed. Inner-directed: That is, some people focus on their own internal guidance system for making choices about how to spend their time and energy. Their own self-interest ranks very high on their list of priorities. “What’s best for me?” is a key guiding principle in determining where they focus their attention and how they make day-to-day decisions. Other-directed: And some people are other-directed, which means that their primary focus is external, not internal. They are primarily concerned with relationships, especially people they care about. “How can I help others?” is a key question in how they spend their time and energy. Building and nurturing relationships with loved ones, family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers is the guiding principle in their lives. Research indicates that, in general, men tend to be more inner-directed, while women tend to be more other-d...

Tokyo Olympics, two sportsmen makes us realise true meaning of joy:

The scene is the final of men's high jump at the Tokyo Olympics. Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi was facing Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim in the final. Both of them jumped 2.37 meters and were on par ! Olympic officials gave three more attempts to each of them, but they were unable to reach more than 2.37 meters. One more attempt was given to two both of them, but Tampberi withdrew from the last attempt due to a serious leg injury. The moment when there was no other opponent in front of Barshim, the moment when he could have easily approached the gold alone ! But Barshim asked the official "if the gold can be shared between the two of us if I withdraw from the final attempt ?" The official checks and confirms and says "yes then the gold will be shared between the two of you". Barshim then had nothing to think about, announces withdrawal from the last attempt. Seeing this, the Italian opponent Tamberi ran and hugged Barshim and screamed ! What we sa...

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