Our meeting was over with a client team. Some of us were waiting for our car to take us back to Bangalore from the resort on the outskirts of the city.
“There are so many things for us to know. Why don’t you tell us how we can be successful in our careers?” asked a young manager.
This was today’s premium on speed, I thought to myself. I have always maintained that people development is not like the Nestlé’s Maggi 2 minutes noodles, which the young manager and his wife probably made 3 days a week at home, like many young couples do.
We had 5 minutes before the car drove up. He wanted everything there is to know in 5 minutes. There could be many like him, I reasoned on the drive back, eager to learn and learn, fast. Here was someone who wanted everything in a jiffy. He was a product of today’s instant world.
Personal and professional growth, I am afraid, does not work that way. However, enthusiastic you might be, you cannot master skills overnight. Skills have to be mastered one step at a time. The best way to start is to incorporate improvements in yourself a step a day, every day.
It is with this backdrop that I plan to initiate a series of posts categorized “A Step A Day”. The objective: provide perspective and provoke thought to facilitate self-development across a wide spectrum of issues – big and small- crucial for executive success.
I hope this will be useful to many at my client companies . At this stage of my life and career, my personal goal is: To Help People Grow.
You can subscribe to this series using RSS at https://bprao.wordpress.com/category/a-step-a-day/feed
People at Work & Play 
Good luck with new venture! I already have the Daily Drucker on my desk top and look forward to the daily Rao!
I think that the point you make about the hurried pace of much executive development is very true. I have seen three conferences here in the UK/Europe in the last month that promise in 24-48 hours to teach managers how to:
communicate effectively
understand personality type and how to use it in management
delegate
coach
give feedback etc
In my experience the truth of the matter id that most managers need to learn in bite sized chunks – and apply what they learn and integrate it into their everyday practice, before they learn more. Otherwise you end with managers who know everything – but apply very little of what they know in their work. I know this has been a real challenge for me personally over the years. Now when I train I try to do short sessions with managers about once a month. This seems to dramatically increase the application of what they learn. I blogged about this a little while back – http://tinyurl.com/2cfnju
I look forward to seeing how the rhythm of your daily development programme works out!
Best wishes
Mike Chitty
http://www.progressivemanagersnetwork.co.uk
Thanks, Mike. As always you make good points. Ultimately, the key for success is the ability of managers to practice the skills.
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