The Tao of Success & Excellence

Dr. D. S. Gangwar IASPrincipal Secretary

General Administration DepartmentGovt. of Bihar

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Tao means…

Tao or Dao is a Chinese concept (Lao-tzu) signifying —• 'way’ or 'path' • 'doctrine' or 'principle’• the art of doing something in harmony with

the nature.• Compare it with ‘Zen’--being in the flow of the

universe.

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Success vs. Excellence

• Success is achieving the best in the outside world.

Excellence is becoming better than your best in your inner world, every moment.

It is being in “Flow”-- an optimal state of consciousness where we feel our best and perform our best.

Success Excellence

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“Everyday we have an opportunity to create a living masterpiece.”

– Michael Gervais

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Excellence is a habit...

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

---Aristotle

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What you may be?…

We know what we are, but know not what we may be.

— Shakespeare (Hamlet)

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Think beyond college…

What is your way forward?• Professional goal...what u may be?

• Personal goal…what u may be? How will you like to be remembered at

the end of the day?• A wonderful soul who made the world a better

place to be.

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What got you here… …won’t get you there!

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Learn to lead ...…yourself and others to peak performance

in any field

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3-C Model of Leadership

1. Change agent : • Find your dream and make a change.

2. Character • To provide a moral compass during your

journey

3. Competence: • to convert your dream into reality

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3-C Model of Leadership

1. Change agent : • Find your dream and make a change.

2. Character • To provide a moral compass during your

journey.

3. Competence: • to convert your dream into reality

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1. Change Agent: (1.1) VISION

What is your purpose and mission?• Reverse the habit of ‘What-How-Why’ thinking.• Start with ‘Why’: Take time out to ask ‘Why’ am

I doing what I am doing?

Vision: Have “big picture” of your personal and professional life that drives you to bring change.

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1. Change Agent : (1.2) ATTITUDE

“Mind your Mindset”• Growth Vs. Fixed Mindset• Strong drive and energy to excel• Continuous self-improvement by learning• Positive Mental Attitude• Focus on solutions than on problems :

“getting things done”• Innovation and creativity

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3-C Model of Leadership

1. Change agent : • Find your dream and make a change.

2. Character • To provide a moral compass during your

journey though the VUCA environment. (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity)

3. Competence: • to convert your dream into reality

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2. Character

VALUES & WISDOM Integrity Sincerity of purpose Commitment to duty Sense of responsibility Trust

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3-C Model of Leadership

1. Change agent : • Find your dream and make a change.

2. Character • To provide a moral compass during your

journey though the VUCA environment. (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity)

3. Competence: • to convert your dream into reality

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3. Competence

3.1) KNOWLEDGE :

Technical domain knowledge General management knowledge : the

discipline of getting things done. “Management is doing things right;

leadership is doing the right things.” ― Peter Drucker

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General management knowledge

The Basic Function of Management:• Creating value for ‘customers’ by helping

people to be more productive and innovative in a common effort.

• Price is what you pay; Value is what you get.• The basic questions to ask:o What is our business?o Who is the “customer”?o What does the customer value?o How can we create value?

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…The Essentials of Management

• Business model• Value chain• Strategy• Organisation • Execution• Performance management

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…Competence : “ Learnings by doing”

2) SKILLS: Self-Management :

Time management Self- discipline

People skills : Emotional and social intelligence Leadership skills

Initiative Vision Communicating the vision to team members Inspiring the team Mentoring the team members

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…Competence

… SKILLS: Cognitive skills

Learning skills Analytical skills Decision making skills

Project Management Skills: POSDCoRB Planning Organising Staffing Directing Coordinating Reviewing & Reporting Budgeting

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Prescription for Excellence

AB3C• Aspire big dreams• Believe in your self to accomplish those dreams• Choose to grow and flourish• Challenge yourself everyday to excel• Create your destiny

PPPF• Deliberate Practice with Purpose and Passion---

FLOW

Deliberate Practice with Purpose and Perseverance.

The 10,000 Hour Rule of deliberate practice• Deliberate practice is hard. It hurts. But it works. • More of it equals better performance and tons of it equals

great performance.• Deliberate practice is characterized by several elements:o It is activity designed specifically to improve performance,

often with a teacher’s help; o it can be repeated a lot;o feedback on results is continuously available; o it’s highly demanding mentally, whether the activity is

purely intellectual, such as chess or business-related activities, or heavily physical, such as sports.

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Flow – the secret of peak performance

Psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi describes the mental state of flow as –

"being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost.”

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How does it feel to experience Flow

Csíkszentmihályi: Ten factors that accompany the experience of flow:1) Clear goals that, while challenging, are still attainable.2) Strong concentration and focused attention.3) The activity is intrinsically rewarding.4) Feelings of serenity; a loss of feelings of self-consciousness.5) Timelessness; a distorted sense of time; feeling so focused on the

present that you lose track of time passing.6) Immediate feedback.7) Knowing that the task is doable; a balance between skill level and the

challenge presented.8) Feelings of personal control over the situation and the outcome.9) Lack of awareness of physical needs.10) Complete focus on the activity itself.

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The neuroscience of Flow

Transient hypofrontality: The paradox of Flow---Less is more!• In 2008 Johns Hopkins neuroscientist Charles Limb used fMRI to

examine the brains of jazz musicians in flow. He found the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain best known for self-monitoring, deactivated.

• Self-monitoring is the voice of doubt, that defeatist nag, our inner critic. Since flow is a fluid state—where problem solving is nearly automatic—second guessing can only slow that process.

• When the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex goes quiet, those guesses are cut off at the source. The result is liberation. We act without hesitation. Creativity becomes more free-flowing, risk taking becomes less frightening, and the combination lets us flow at a far faster clip.

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...Neuroscience of Flow

• Changes in brainwave function further this process. In flow, we shift from the fast-moving beta wave of waking consciousness down to the far slower borderline between alpha and theta.

• Alpha is day-dreaming mode—when we slip from idea to idea without much internal resistance.

• Theta, meanwhile, only shows up during REM or just before we fall asleep, in that hypnogogic gap where ideas combine in truly radical wa

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...Neuroscience of Flow

• A team of neuroscientists at Bonn University in Germany discovered that endorphins are definitely part of flow’s cocktail and, as other researchers have determined, so are norepinephrine, dopamine, anandamide, and serotonin.

• All five are pleasure-inducing, performance-enhancing neurochemicals, upping everything from muscle reaction times to attention, pattern recognition and lateral thinking—the three horsemen of rapid-fire problem-solving.

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Suggestions for growth and flourishing

• First, Lead yourself• Develop a strong desire to learn and excel• Learn something everyday… Maintain a Daily diary…What did I learn today?• Read biographies of successful people…Meet as many of them as you can• Have Role Models• Experience is the best teacher: Learning by doing

• Find your passion -- Do what you love

• Deliberate Practice > 10,000 hours; Practice with such intensity and commitment as if it is the last match of your life.

• Challenge yourself: Stretch outside your comfort zone… …No pains, no gains!

• Practice mindfulness: Concentrate on the moment without fear, or constraints

• Immerse in the activity

• Focus follows flow

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Live your dreams…Create your destiny.Sky is not the limit. Your mind is.

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Explore. Dream. Discover.

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Thank You