Overcome fear and comfort and unleash your potential

Malko Ebers, July 13th New York City

I had received so many positive responses to a simple Facebook post that I felt encouraged to write this blog article. The quote I came up with was: 

'As soon as you start doing something you will realize that most hurdles, sea monsters and challenges were just illusions, distractions of the mind.'

If you want to achieve anything meaningful you need to exercise control of your mind through positive habits and positive conditioning (Tony Robbins would be a master teacher/read Awaken the Giants within) or as Aristotle said 'we are what we repeatedly do'. 

Fear and comfort are related and we need to overcome both, both prevent action, both distract us and play our mind some tricks. We withdraw into our comfort zone to avoid fear and it seems avoiding fear is a far greater impulse than seeking pleasure. That believe however allows us to create our 'pink castles' in our comfort zones, out of fear of what might happen and because of the comfort we enjoy. Just beware that comfort zone is shrinking like an ice shell, it is an illusion.

Constant change is a reality, like the seasons of the year change, so does the market - no Chinese Wall guarantees lasting protection only the realization that fears are created in our mind and that makes them powerful. Once we start doing something, once we start looking objectively at the facts we can break down any problem into pieces, can go the process step by step, can share with friends or colleagues. 

Muhammad Ali said: 'The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.' - if we overcome our immediate comfort, if we get up early and make a small change in our lives we have gone the first step that can take us into any direction, we have taken control over our destiny. 

Many wise men have spoken about the power of the mind and that 'if we can think it, we can do it', in order to 'think it' action is required, action links us to ourselves and the world around us, we are here, we make a distance and we will continue till we reach our goal.

India's gas output to reach 160 mmscmd by 2020-21

India's gas output is expected to reach 160 mmscmd per day by 2020-21 from the current 92 mmscmd per day,as several gas fields belonging to state owned,ONGC and Oil India-OIL,and also those owned by private groups like Reliance Industries Ltd-RIL and British Petroleum-BP-which are already to start production-are expected to add up to the current output levels in the next five years.
This would be good news for several gas-based power plants across India,which have been running at less than half their capacity owing to lack of natural gas availability.Enhanced gas output is likely to propel these plants back to life.According to estimate,the combined capacity of such gas-based plants comes to around 24,000 mw.PMO held meeting in New Delhi with top officials of the ministry of Petroleum & Natural gas all the gas field development plans have been approved by the ministry.

The review meeting was held amid concerns within the Government about falling gas output from KG-D6 fields,quite a few of which are owned by RIL and BP.PMO officials reviewed the production plans of ready to produce gas fields belonging to all the aforementioned entities.ONGC,RIL,OIL and BP officials are learnt to have given presentations to the PMO officials about the gas gas fields having approved field development plans will help in enhancing the current output of natural gas of India by almost one and half times in the next five years.It is learnt that ONGC and OIL gas fields are expected to be the major contributors towards enhancing gas output of India by 2020-21.The basis of optimism expressed by ONGC,OIL as well RIL and BP on the India's gas output going up by one and half times,stems from the fact that all the companies have several gas fields lined up whose FDPs have been approved,and therefore they are ready to start production anytime now.

Some of the fields which are ready to start production are ONGC Daman offshore block,are also expected to ramp up the India's gas production with KG-basin.RIL and BP are also learnt to have displayed a list of blocks to the PMO officials,through which they are hoping to enhance their gas output in the next five years.

                                             
                                                      By Anil Kumar Upadhyaya
                                                             Business consultant
                                                             NYBC,Lucknow/India
                                                             email: au03976@gmail.com

Industrial Parks in India

Japan government firming up its promise to help Indian prime minister Modi build India's infrastructure and promote domestic manufacturing it doubles investment in India.Japan has identified 11 sites to set up Industrial townships/parks in India,which would serves hubs for investments in India.These industrial parks include Tumkur in Karnataka,Ghilot in Rajasthan,Mandal in Gujarat and Supa in Maharashtra.Japan will also provide soft skills training to Indian workers in the manufacturing sector to help bridge the demand-supply gap.Japan aims to double its investment in India to about $35 billion in next five years.The move would help bilateral economic ties between India and Japan.They are already primary investors in Indian economic corridors.This will support make in India campaign and transfer of technology.The Indian government plans to give concessions to Japanese companies in the Industrial townships what is offered to special economic zones and the proposed National Investment & Manufacturing Zones.

Special Economic Zones-SEZs are already duty free imports and 100% tax-free export income for the first five years,50% of the ploughed back export profit for the subsequent five years.NIMZs,under the national manufacturing policy,provide tax incentives to small and medium size enterprises.The development of the townships will be assisted by the respective state governments,the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion and Japan's ministry of economic trade & industry.Japan is fourth largest foreign investor in India,contributing 7% to total FDI inflows since April 2000,according to DIPP.



                                                 
                                                                    By Anil Kumar Upadhyaya
                                                                    Business development consultant
                                                                     New York Business Consultant
                                                                         Lucknow/India
                                                                          email: au03976@gmail.com

Deepak Chopra, insights

By Malko Ebers, New York, Dec 20th 2014

Seeing Deepak Chopra is always a treat, an uplifting and inspiring event. I would like to share three insights relevant for our daily lives and business as well:

Gratefulness:

The universe and our existence is quite a mystery, if you feel down be aware that our very existence is so unlikely, such a wonder and that most of the universe doesn't think or live, that you are the 0.00001% of all there is so that the mere fact of existing is something to be deeply grateful for.

Purpose:

Think every day for 10 minutes about the purpose of your life, your business and how you can add meaning to your day, organization and activities. 10 minutes every day will change your life, become aware and mindful of what really counts, what you care about and what your passions are. What do you want in life, what is truly important? You will only become great and a master at something if you love what you do, don't settle.

The power of Habits:

Willpower is like a muscle that you strengthen through repetition. However its powers are limited. The elite performers and remarkably successful people in our society share a strong discipline, positive attitude and habits that are ingrained into their daily routines. Each day is a miniature version of your life and time management is life management. The habits you develop step by step set you free from addictions, give you more time, focus and control over your life. Start developing routines and positive habits one step at a time, day by day and they become part of who you are and want to be.

Good governance and responsible leadership are the key to Africa's and the world's future.

Anybody studying governance and the state of the world can see that we have tremendous progress over the last decade, the world is becoming more peaceful and more prosperous as people migrate to cities, democracies spread and global trade increases.

However, we still have a long way to go and business can just operate effectively in a fair and free society, in a system that gives life chances and doesn't waste a single talent and creative mind.

The role of responsible leadership is cruicial in inspiring and empowering followers and protecting the rights of vulnerable groups.

The people of Africa demand better government, more responsible leadership and participation. Just a week after shake hands with Burkino Faso's president Blaise Compaore he was ousted from power having neglected his people's strive for change and reform.

Companies and governments can no longer and should never neglect the needs of their constituency. The world has become more flat, transparent and integrated than ever before - good corporate citizenship and governance has developed from being a compliance issue and legal requirement to an essential part of how organizations are run and structured.

Our company New York Business Consultants is teaching leaders to be responsible, to implement so called triple bottom lines and corporate social responsibility policies because we believe that only responsible leadership that takes the social and ecological impact of one's decision sinto account leads to sustainable economic performance.

To learn more how to apply this to your organization, reach out to info@newyorkbusinessconsultants.com

We need more African and emerging market brands!

By Malko Ebers, CEO New York Business Consultants

Sept 02nd 2014, New York City

Isn't it amazing you can spend your entire lifetime in America or in Germany or another 'Western' country and you will probably never encounter an African brand. Yes, globalization is real, the information economy is real and we are all connected but brands from emerging markets? How many do you know, which ones matter to you?

Yes, your t-shirt might have been made in Vietnam, your car is German, your smartphone from Japan, your wine from Spain and you own hundreds of products from all over the world. We depend on each other, global supply chains and connections are incredible they are part of our economies and daily choices as consumers - we probably wear items from a dozen countries when we leave the house. But are we just 5% aware of where our products are from, of the complexity of what makes this wonder of supply possible? Of course not.

We are however aware of brands. Look at the above image. It shows mostly US brands and I am sure you know plenty of them, a five year old kid pretty much anywhere on the world could recognize thge McDonalds sign and would know what it means, which products and services to get there.

Companies spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year on advertisement, it is like a tv-industrial complex and you can't escape. From online pop up windows to the daily mails offering you another credit card, to mails offering you to switch to the fastest internet to...an endless stream of communication, brands screaming at you 24/7...all while we have more choices than ever and less time.

In this multibillion dollar battle for attention any less wealthy companies have a tough time engaging their customers - but the internet makes it possible, it makes it possible to target customers for a low budget and for particular business, let's say a local coffee place.

What we should see is that commodity producers start developing their own brands which will allow them to sell directly to customers via ecommerce and to directly approach retailers and distributors. If you for example produce coffee or cocoa it is a very tough business to be in because your product doesn't differentiate from any other producer. Your business depends on world market prices and that makes you vulnerable and your business risky. If you sell coffee beans then you get 20 cents for the cup that Starbucks sells for $7dollars! You can do the exercise for any commodity. So where is the money? The answer: in brands and processed commodities, this is where the added value is. You won't get much for your coffee beans or your oranges doesn't matter how good your business is but for a branded coffee or juice it looks extremely different.

With our partners in Africa, India and other emerging marketplaces we observe that these economies rely far to heavily on commodities. Many of the producers should ddevelop their own brands and should proactively do business development in other countries to 'fight for shelve space' to open flagship stores and to find their way to the hearts and minds of consumers.

I want to see more African and other brands from around the world, it would create a fairer world and richer consumer experience. If we just have a handful of Western brands everywhere, if we only see H&Ms and McDonalds from new York to Shanghai and Lagos it would be boring and very few people would benefit. The internet and ecommerce, the opportunity to engage consumers globally give us unique opportunities to change this structure and to develop a more rich and pluralized brand landscape for the benefit of all.

& If we can give you a helping hand how to develop and market your service or product, how to create a brand that sells in the Us or Germany, get in touch at info@newyorkbusinessconsultants.com or toll free 1-800-481-2707

Danke Sehr and Thank You

A gesture makes a big difference in intercultural organizations (and in life)

By Malko Ebers, Sept 02nd 2014, New York

I recently spoke to a German manager who had been transferred from Germany to the US subsidiary of her company. Everything seemed to work out smoothly but after some time more and more of her team members started leaving the company. This raised suspicion and became a real problem for the business unit. Identifying and attracting talent and filling vacant positions is a costly process and can significantly disturb work processes. What was the problem?

A consultant is often called to action when a symptom becomes so clear that is causes problems and affects the bottom line, meaning it is felt financially. However, a symptom is not the problem as any doctor would be able to confirm. Employee motivation and retention can be a complex problem that has to be analyzed holistically involving supervision, leadership, incentive structures but also the individual situation of each employee. What turned out to be the main reason for loss of employee motivation and high turnover was rather surprisingly: Danke and thank you!

In Germany a rather collective culture with high so called uncertainty avoidance (according to researcher Hofstede) rules and regulation, clear processes and directions are commonly well established in the corporate governance and cultural structure. In other words, employees are given clear roles and responsibilities in a job description and it is taken for granted that they carry out their duties and report to their supervisors. In America however, one of the most individualistic cultures individual recognition is extremely important for corporate culture and employee motivation.

Our German manager had expected that US employees would behave the way German employees would, she would just not consider it necessary to say thank you, to give more individual recognition and reward. We do see this very often that one can not take for granted what works in one culture does so in another. There is not the one right way but organizational effectiveness and leadership styles are strongly embedded in our national and organizational cultures.

As consultants it is our responsibility to treat a problem as an analytically case, we need to find the 'theory in use' of what truly motivates behavior and impacts outcomes.

Often large impact such as high employee turnover is caused by something small such as taking a thank you for granted. It is not, expressing gratitude and giving individual reward and recognition is a powerful tool. In our organizations we don't want to take effort and contribution for granted but should recognize and reward it which builds a community and stronger team spirit and corporate culture.