3 Expert Tips on Succeeding as a New Leader.

When I first took on a leadership role, I thought the key to success was delegation. As a new leader, I wanted to show that I trusted my team. So I spent the majority of my time assigning tasks and then allowing my employees to work autonomously.

It wasn’t long before I realized I’d gone too far.

My team didn’t have enough direction, which caused them to struggle. An information gap developed. Employees felt responsible for decisions that should have been mine, but they lacked the insights and data to choose wisely. On my end, I was missing key updates because I wasn’t there in the trenches.

While I was able to learn from my mistake, it also showed me something undeniable about leadership: No amount of experience or training can prepare a new leader for everything they’ll face in their first year.

New leaders can plan how they’re going to guide and inspire employees. They can brainstorm innovative ways to help the team work more efficiently. But the truth is, there will always be speed bumps.

In order to help new leaders enter their new positions prepared, here are three pieces of advice told directly to me from industry experts on what they learned during their first year.

“That’s the best advice I ever received during my first year as a new leader. I had taken over a tank platoon as an armor officer [in the U.S. Army]. One option was to come in and start changing things in order to let my soldiers know who was in charge.

“Or, I could, as my platoon sergeant advised, Shut up. Listen. Learn from these guys before you change anything. They’ve been doing this for a while. They do things for a reason.

“That guidance helped me learn more in my first month than I ever could have hoped for.”

—Mike Figliuolo, author, leadership coach and founder of Thought Leaders, LLC

It’s not uncommon for a new leader to think if they don’t immediately take charge, they’ll be seen as incompetent. In reality, what’s more important is to get the lay of the land.

In the first year, a new leader needs to take the time to learn about how their team works and why. This will keep them from unnecessarily rocking the boat.

2. Seek out new perspectives.

“In my first year of being a leader, I learned very quickly that succeeding at leadership is not about what you know. Rather, it’s about encouraging and supporting your employees to share what they know.“When people know you’re genuinely interested in learning about their experiences and insights, you gain access to perspectives that will help you to make smarter choices and decisions for your organization.

“This also creates an environment that empowers your employees to bring their best efforts to the table because they will see a clear connection between their contributions and the overall objectives of your organization.”

—Tanveer Naseer, writer, leadership coach and host of the Leadership Biz Cafe podcast

A new leader is just one person. As such, they might not be able to see every angle or possibility. However, if they take the time to ask others for their insight and knowledge, the new leader can develop a network of advisors they’ll find indispensable.

3. Keep your words short.

“The biggest lesson I learned about leadership is the outsized impact your words suddenly have on others.

“As a peer or teammate, you can often speak openly and express whatever is on your mind. As a leader, you have to realize that almost everything you say is scrutinized and carefully remembered (and often repeated). Because of this, do a lot more listening than talking.

“Now, as a more senior leader, I find myself listening almost all the time, and talking only when I think it’s necessary.”

—Josh Bersin, principal and founder of Bersin by Deloitte

Using words efficiently helps a new leader avoid controversy and ensures they’re absorbing information from their environment. If they spend all their time talking, they’ll miss signs of conflict or the subtle strengths of each of their employees.

A new leader will have a lot to learn during their first year. But by taking advice from leadership experts and learning as they go, they can find a way to succeed in their new position.

ONE INDIAN GIRL | CHETAN BHAGAT .

ONE INDIAN GIRL | CHETAN BHAGAT | BOOK REVIEW

PLOT: 4/5
CHARACTERS: 3.5/5
WRITING STYLE: 4/5
CLIMAX: 4/5
ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4.5/5

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Why it is that Indians enjoy a love-hate relationship with Chetan Bhagat? And very frankly I don’t see the point why Chetan Bhagat is always trolled. He writes well and there must be some reason why his books always hit the bestseller chartsdespite the many criticisms thrown his way. What his critics often forget is the fact that Chetan is the only guy who popularised Indian fiction amongst Indians. In fact, “One Indian Girl” has been credited with breaking the pre-order sales record on amazon.in ever since the site first launched in 2013. So why is it that when I post a Facebook post declaring that I am excited to read his new novel, the majority of the responses I get are “Haha”? Well, I’ll never get it, I guess!

Moving to the book then, “One Indian Girl” is a story of a girl called Radhika Mehta who is a hot-shot banker working in the prestigious Investment Bank, Goldman Sachs. Radhika who once was as nerdy as one can be is now arranged to get married to Brijesh Gulati and has just arrived for her destination wedding in Goa. But what Radhika does not know is the fact that marrying Brijesh will not be as easy as she had thought. Things happen and everything goes haywire (I am refraining from disclosing more for the sake of spoilers), but will Radhika be able to manoeuvre her way out of this mess? Read the book today to know more and discover the fun-filled journey that Radhika will love to take you on.

“One Indian Girl”, to me, felt like a chick-litthough it can also be placed in the general fiction category by many. The best part of the book is the fact that Radhika’s journey is as funny and entertaining as a wedding can be. Chetan has done a commendable job of writing in a girl’s voice. The story is told from Radhika’s point and it is really hard to believe that a man could have written so realistically about a woman and her feelings (I read that he interviewed a lot of women for this). Though the book is said to be on feminism, in the end, it adheres to the norms of a general chick lit. So, for me, it didn’t come out as a strongly feminist book. There are a few feminist things here and there, but mostly in the form of rants.

The plot is really interesting. Though there are many elements but they all connect beautifully in the end. The characters are also fun. I am sure every girl would love to read about Radhika and her misadventures in the Loveland. I also liked the characters of Debu and Neel but the character of Brijesh though failed to impress. The narration switches rapidly from the present to the past to the present and that adds to the pace of the book. The book in its entirety of 272 pages did not appear dull even at a single point. The best part of the book, though, was its climax – it was completely unpredictable and managed to completely surprise me.

I hence recommend “One Indian Girl” to one and all. It is a pleasurable read. My rating for the book is four and a half out of five stars and that says it all.

7 BEST INDIAN ROMANCE NOVELS.

7 BEST INDIAN ROMANCE NOVELS.

Why do we need a list of the “Best Indian Romance Novels”? The romance novel genre is booming with new books and writers being introduced by the dozen, especially after the success of Indian authors like Chetan Bhagat and Durjoy Datta. If there is a theme a budding writer would want to choose so they can get the maximum success possible, it is probably the chic-lit and romance sections that end up being the target.

So, in this massive deluge of books, how do you figure out which ones you should read and those you can skip? While we can’t help you with all the books you should not read, here is a list of the 7 Best Indian Romance Novels which you should not miss.

1.
	Sorry You’re Not My Type – Sudeep Nagarkar This story is about three close friends Vikrant, Anamika and Yuvi, and how their lives as well as their music band VAYU are changed by Aditya in ways they never imagined before. In this tantalising tale of love, romance, drama, betrayal, hatred, friendship and much more, you will surely find yourself engrossed till the very end. Sudeep Nagarkar weaves a tale with various twists and turns keeping the reader engrossed throughout.
2.
	The Girl Of My Dreams – Durjoy Datta In this story, the protagonist Daman is involved in an accident which causes him minor amnesia erasing all his memories of the accident and of the events leading to it. But he was in the car with a girl named Shreyasi, who was nowhere to be found, dead or alive, after the accident. Following recovery, Daman starts writing his story and gets stalked by an anonymous girl, giving the plot a new twist. Durjoy Datta has done a fantastic job of penning a romantic thriller, which is not an easy genre to write.
3.
	Love @ Facebook – Nikita Singh The plot of this book revolves around nineteen-year-old Vatsala Rathore, who is always surrounded by her friends Jaanvi and Ankit, with the latter irretrievably in love with her. However, Vatsala is smitten by VJ Ronit Oberoi and thus forms the crux of a triangle love story. Nikita keeps the story simple, and the facebook conversations interspersed between paragraphs adds to the unique appeal of the book.
4.
	Two States – Chetan Bhagat Neither the book nor the author needs any introduction, with the story already made into a Hindi film, as is the case with most Chetan Bhagat books. Based on his own story, the plot is about two lovers from different cultures who have the unenviable task of convincing their parents to agree to their wedding.
5.
	Truly Madly Deeply – Faraaz Kazi This is the only Indian book to have won the Goodreads Choice Award, which it won for the Best Debut (Romance). The plot revolves around two teenagers Rahul and Seema who are the most popular boy and girl in their school but are diametrically opposite in their personalities. A series of misunderstandings causes them to break off and the rest of the story is about whether they can get back together and keep their egos aside.
6.
	Untruly Yours – Smita Shetty This is another plot that revolves around two culturally diverse people. Natasha is a Bengali woman who is married to Rakesh, who is a Tamilian. However, they’re NRIs and completely consumed by their professional lives. But Natasha still wants more romance in her life, and when she meets an ex-lover on her visit to India, how things change forms the crux of the story.
7.
	Just Married, Please Excuse – Yashodhara Lal This is a humorous story revolving around Yashodhara, a quick-tempered girl from the big city, who is married to a laid-back Vijay, who is from a small town. The young couple is completely different in each other’s views, and the addition of a baby complicates matters further. The story will leave you laughing out loud with the different situations the endearing couple find themselves in.

The 14 most powerful world leaders.

The 14 most powerful world leaders,

Here are the rest of the world's most powerful world leaders.

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14. Benjamin Netanyahu

Title: Israeli prime minister

Country: Israel

Age: 66

Reelected this year as the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu recently compared the Middle East to "Game of Thrones." It isn't a game he's always played well — disputes over the Iran deal and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have left US-Israeli relations at a crisis point. But Israel has remained relatively stable during a time of turmoil throughout the Middle East, and Netanyahu has dominated his country's politics like few Israeli leaders.

Overall, many say that Netanyahu has done a good job of boosting Israel's economy and putting the country at the forefront of technological and medical advances. Even so, the fallout over the Iran nuclear deal, and his strained relations with Washington, don't fare well for his legacy.

13. Park Geun-hye

Title: President of South Korea

Country: South Korea

Age: 63

South Korean President Park Geun-hye is the first female leader of her country — an especially impressive accomplishment considering South Korea has the highest level of gender inequality in the developed world. Her election generated the nation’s highest turnout rate in 15 years.

Park has the difficult but critical responsibility of diffusing threats from the ever-combative North Korea. Last year, she tried to get her mercurial neighbors to the north to abandon their nuclear-weapons program by promising humanitarian aid and an investment in its weak industries, but to no avail. Park has flexed her muscles by testing missiles that can reach all of North Korea, but Kim Jong-un hasn't blinked, and hasn't quashed any nuclear ambitions.

12. Ali Khamenei

Title: Supreme Leader of Iran

Country: Iran

Age: 76

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been the ultimate authority in Iran since 1989, is openly opposed to Western influence in both his country and the broader Middle East. A hardliner even within Iran's clerical regime, Khamenei has long championed the slogan "Death to America," and he has sought to position Tehran as both a geopolitical and ideological enemy of the US and Israel.

After over 18 months of negotiations, Khamenei conditionally agreed to a landmark nuclear deal reached with six world powers this past July. The deal outlines Iran's promise to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the US and its partners lifting economic sanctions. The agreement is set to open Iran's economy to outside investment and has generally raised the prestige of Khamenei's government, which is quickly shaking its status as one of the world's pariah states.

11. King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud

Title: King of Saudi Arabia

Country: Saudi Arabia

Age: 79

Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud took the throne as king of Saudi Arabia in January after the death of his half-brother. His short tenure hasn't been without controversy: Eight of the 12 surviving sons of the country's founding monarch reportedly support a coup to oust King Salman and replace him with his younger brother, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, a sign tensions are at a high within the royal family.

But as the leader of Saudi Arabia, King Salman wields incredible influence over the Middle East and his country's massive oil reserves. Even with oil at historically low prices, Saudi Arabia — the world's largest oil exporter — continues to ramp up production to depress prices and protect its global market share, despite the negative effect it has on the global oil economy.

10. Dilma Rousseff

Title: President of Brazil

Country: Brazil

Age: 67

Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's first female president, leads the largest country in Latin America and the seventh-largest economy in the world. Rousseff is credited with nearly eradicating extreme poverty in Brazil during her first term by raising the monthly stipend for struggling families.

But Rousseff has hit a rough patch lately, and it appears to be getting worse. Protests broke out and gained traction in March in part because of Brazil's crumbling economy. The country's growth has plummeted — low commodity prices, high interest rates, and austerity measures are partly to blame — and it officially entered a recession in 2015. The value of its currency devalued by 45% this year through mid-November.

Also contributing to her near record-low approval rating: A group of high-profile lawyers filed for the impeachment of Rousseff in October in connection to the corruption scandal involving the state-run oil company Petrobras (Rousseff has maintained her innocence).

9. Shinzo Abe

Title: Prime minister of Japan

Country: Japan

Age: 61

Three years into his second term as prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe continues to craft bold plans for his country's future. At the forefront is a desire to bring the excitement and innovation of Silicon Valley to Japanto jump start the country's fading tech sector. In a recent visit to the US, Abe met with tech titans like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to learn "how we can take Silicon Valley's ways and make them work in Japan." This plan comes on top of "Abenomics," the three-pronged approach the prime minister implemented to boost Japan's economy upon starting his second term in 2012. 

On the same visit to the US in April, Abe also became the first Japanese prime minister to address a joint session of US Congress, which he used to push forward talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal that would bring together nations including Australia, the US, Japan, Mexico, and Vietnam.

8. Francois Hollande

Title: President of France

Country: France

Age: 61

It hasn’t been an easy 12 months for French President Francois Hollande. He's dealt with multiple terrorist attacks in Paris, stepped up France’s role in the fight against ISIS, and instituted reforms to the country’s social policy, like extending the retirement age for private-sector workers.

Hollande also saw his approval ratings continue to dip down to 20%as the year wore on. Though he’s slowly making progress in his attempts to lift both French morale and favor among his constituents, Hollande has a long way to go. But he still commands the fifth-richest nation on the continent and one of the most influential members of the EU, giving him immense power regardless of approval ratings.

7. David Cameron

Title: UK prime minister

Country: UK

Age: 49

Reelected for a second term in Maywith a majority, British Prime Minister David Cameron has strengthened his negotiating position with the EU. Cameron is committed to gaining concessions from the 28-nation bloc, including looser rules on welfare for immigrants an regulation of businesses, but many Britons are skeptical that the prime minister can secure a better deal. He's promised an "in or out" referendum for the country, but Cameron believes remaining in the EU is in his country's best interest and has been visiting EU leaders to sell them on his proposal.

Cameron met with Queen Elizabethafter the election to talk about his plan for the next five years, which, in addition to renegotiating his country's terms with the EU, includes a controversial plan to crack down on immigration.

6. Pope Francis

Title: Pope

Country: Vatican City

Age: 78

The leader of the Catholic faith, which has more than 1 billion followers worldwide, has staked more outspoken, progressive views on public issues than popes before him. At an address to the US Congress in September, Pope Francis called on lawmakers to empathize with immigrants and refugees and to welcome them into their country.

To the delight of liberal Catholics, he urged more action to stop the effects of climate change and endorsed a more forgiving stance on divorce and homosexuality. Many American Catholics predict that within the next 35 years the church will approve of contraception, married priests, and recognition of same-sex marriages, according to a recent Pew survey.

5. Narendra Modi

Title: Indian prime minister

Country: India

Age: 65

Now in his second year as prime minister of India, Narendra Modi is introducing initiatives to improve the lives of the 1.2 billion people who make up the world’s largest democracy. In May, he announced plans to reform and modernize the government and business sectors by implementing a uniform sales tax and boosting foreign direct investment to India.

Modi, the second-most followed political leader on Twitter behind Barack Obama, is also pushing India to integrate with the digital world. He believes tech innovation holds the key to lifting India out of poverty, and he traveled to Silicon Valley in September seeking advice and help from tech executives at companies like Google and Facebook.

4. Angela Merkel

Title: Chancellor of Germany

Country: Germany

Age: 61

With 10 years and three terms in office under her belt, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a strong and indispensable leader in Europe. She has faced a host of challenges throughout her tenure and come out on top: She helped hold the eurozone together during the financial collapse and global recession, she has stood up to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his aggression toward Ukraine, and, currently, she's managing Europe's refugee crisis. At her hand, Germany stands above the rest of Europe with a strong economy and low unemployment rate. Though she's not universally liked, Merkel has proved a stabilizing force amid turmoil.

3. Vladimir Putin

Title: Russian president

Country: Russia

Age: 62

Approval ratings for Vladimir Putin, Russia's president and former prime minister, reached an all-time high in October: 89.9%. After seizing Crimea last year in the wake of the Ukrainian Revolution, Putin is determined to resurrect Russia as a superpower.In the past year, he's supported a pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine, and launched a military operation in support of Syria's Bashar al-Assad. Unlike with most Western heads of state, Putin's control over Russia is subject to few constitutional checks and balances.

At the annual UN meeting in late September, Putin criticized Obama, asserting that US interventions have backfired in the Middle East, creating a haven for extremists and terrorists. Shortly after, Putin launched the Russian air campaign to target Islamic forces in Syria and weaken rebellion against the country’s president. The airstrikes are costing Russia an estimated $2.5 million a day, and are quickly escalating tensions with Western powers.

2. Xi Jinping

Title: President of the People's Republic of China

Country: China

Age: 62

Xi Jinping, the general secretary of China’s Communist Party, has been labeled by many the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong. Considering the domestic grip he’s secured in just three years since becoming president of the world’s largest country — nearly 1.4 billion people — it’s hard to argue. Xi holds at least 10 titles governing the world superpower (some of which he created), overseeing everything from the military and the internet to the economy.

That economy has stalled, and the nation’s stock market endured a tumultuous summer requiring a bailout that may have topped $200 billion. Still, China’s growth in recent years puts it in elite company, and by one measure its economy even eclipses that of the US, according to the IMF.

Xi has fulfilled a vow to wage an extensive and controversial anticorruption campaign within the country. He has investigated hundreds of thousands of people and locked away some high-ranking party officials for life — his former political enemies among them.

1. Barack Obama

Title: US president

Country: US

Age: 54

President Barack Obama presides over the world's most influential country, giving him unparalleled responsibility and power. He's caretaker of the largest economy, and he's helped nurse it back to health since the financial crisis. Since taking office in early 2009 — amid a full-blown recession — the US has grown its GDP by $3 trillion, to $17.4 trillion, and in October unemployment hit 5%,the lowest mark since 2008. His legacy-making overhaul of the health-care system has helped trim the uninsured rate by a third, and it has now survived multiple Supreme Court challenges.

Obama's international track record is mixed. As commander-in-chief of the world's largest military — more than 2 million active and reserve forces and a defense budget of $560 billion — he's taken heat for failing to deal adequately with the growing turbulence in the Middle East, highlighted by the bloody Syrian civil war, the rise of ISIS, and the Taliban's growing strength in Afghanistan. Relations with longtime ally Israel have grown icy. Yet his sway in foreign affairs is still strong, as evidenced by his historic move to warm ties with Cuba and themomentous nuclear deal he brokered with Iran.

1. He may have just a year left in office, but Obama isn't sitting idle: In November he flexed his power again,killing off the controversial Keystone XL pipeline proposal once and for all, arguing it would have harmed the environment without improving US energy security.