Mumbai Marathon - Donate for a Cause

Dear Friends,

All of us have been fortunate enough to have received good education due to the fortune of having born in a better family. But there are thousands of children around who are not so fortunate to receive even primary education due to social and economic reasons. I know each one of us wants to contribute in order to remove this inequality and in order to make this world a far more equitable place to live in. I am trying to do my bit and seek your help as well towards this cause.

I plan to run 21 km in the Mumbai Marathon that is going to take place on the 21st of January. I plan to raise money for a NGO called Give India. The plan is to raise around One Lakh and the same will be donated to Give India. The money would be used for education of the under privileged children.

Would seek contributions from each one of you and your friends towards this noble cause. Do let me know as to how much each one of you can contribute so that I can revert with the details on how the same can be done along with the details on tax benefits etc.

Hope all of you will contribute towards this cause. God Bless.

Regards.
Alankar

Good Bye Sid

Siddhartha was a team manager with me at the call centre. I still remember the day when I had interviewed him for the role. A very calm, composed and matured fellow, he joined my team at the begining of the 2005. He was not an alpha hyper candidate, which ICICIcians are made off, but quite a "kool" dude who never used to take tension, did not allow the same to be passed on to his team members and above that a wonderful person who never bitched about any of his peers or had any complaints what so ever.

He was a very happy go lucky person and hardly a person who took tension or got nervous before reviews or big meetings.

Sid passed off today morning due to cardiac arrest. The news came as a big shock to every team member and myself. Yesterday only he had taken his entire team out for party and they had an amazing time "go-karting" at Powai. On Monday he had told me that he needed to go early on today. This he had been telling me for last few weeks and I really shouted at him as to how many times he needs to take my permission for the same. He needed to go early as today was Sanjay's (his brother in law) birthday and Sanjay (who is the director of Dhoom2) had planned for a special screening of the movie for family members. We also made plan to see "Dhoom 2" on this Sunday. We had frozen on the plan to go out for dinner along with my wife (Madhuri) , Aditi and Sonal (Sid's wife) on this Sunday as well as for seeing Dhoom 2.

Unfortunately fate had some other plans in store. Sid passed away today morning leaving behind his parent, wife Sonal and his relatives and loads of friends and well wishers. I will really miss his wonderful and through gentleman. Sid, may god bless you whereever you are and may you find happiness. All I can say is that you really showed too much hurry in one thing in which you should have not....I will really miss you....May your soul rest in peace....

Does Love lead to Suffering?

Pick up any news paper around the world, and one can see misery and suffering all around. Leads many of us to think as to what are we doing wrong which is leading to sufferings all around. If one introspects, one realises that suffering is an integral part of life. Suffering does not lie outside but it lies within one self. For example, India's loss to Australia in the Tri Series in Malaysia would have let to major heartache for the Indians where as the same episode is a matter of rejoice for the Australians. So in net effect suffering does not lie with the external world, but happens due to the results not in tune with our own wishes.

This may seem to be quite contrary as we always try to externalise our problems and try to eradicate the same by trying to change the outside world. But as a matter of fact, we are too small to keep changing the external world and most of the time things do not happen in the manner we want, leading to suffering for us. So it means that sufferings happens due to the attachment that we create for the view that we hold and the attachments that we create. So does it mean that we should not have any views or attachments to be free from suffering. Not really. Suffering is lead by the attachment that one creates. So to get rid of sufferings, we need to have compassion and detachment.

Lets talk first about compassion in relationships.

All relationships should be based on compassion and not on passion and transactional view point.
The moment we do it, we do not suffer due to things not happening as per our wish. For example, loving a son/daughter just because a father feels that they would fulfill his dreams is a relationship based on attachment. If the son/daughter do not fulfill the dreams of the father, the father is bound to suffer pain and relationship turn sour. But if the children are brought up with compassion and detachment, they will be allowed to pursue their own dreams and create their identity leading to a beautiful relationship between the child and the parent. Does it mean that in a relationship based on compassion there is no suffering? No, thats not the case. The suffering is still there, but it creates a positive energy to over come the hurdles. For example, the people who stayed near to the place where bomb blast happened in Mumbai in July this year, were moved with compassion and help out the injured even at the cost of risking their lifes. It did cause them suffering, but it also made them to overcome the same and reach out the ones in need of medical help.

How can one have detached views?
Detachment to ones views means the ability to look at something beyond ones own views. How does having an attachment to ones views impact worklife. Inability to have detached views, leads to inefficiency as we cannot find innovative solutions as we are happy with the old ways of doing things. It leads to performance getting stuck and puts obstacles in the path of the organisation or the individual to move from good to great. It impacts the ability of the individual to collaborate as he/she is not able to appreciate the view point of other members and also it leads to inefficient working environment.

So one needs to live a life of compassionate love for all beings in order to find happiness for oneself.

Learning Lessons From Early Career - Mukesh Pant

Learning Lessons From Early Career

In twenty-five years of corporate life, I have probably made twenty five hundred mistakes, and learnt maybe ten lessons. A true lesson is one from which you change your behaviour for the better. Three of these lessons were learnt early, when I was fresh out of IIT Kanpur, coping with the rigorous demands of Hindustan Lever's outstanding management training program.I was still a raw trainee in HLL 25 years ago when Pradeep Dutt, who then ran the Personal Products division, called me to his office late one evening and told me that I was being posted to Chennai as Area Manager for South India. The first few days at Chennai are still etched in my memory as though they were yesterday. My area steno was a wonderful man called A Srinivasan, whom everyone called AS. From the first day, AS and I developed a mutual liking and respect, and though he was old enough to be my father, he never resented me as a boss. But there was one area in which I constantly earned his wrath. AS had a fetish for keeping tabs on expenses. One day he got really upset when I didn't find time to file an expense report on time, refusing even to sit as he entered my office. He glowered at me, and said in a menacingly low voice " Sir, it isn't your money, it's the company's. If you can't file your expense reports on time, you will never make a good manager.", and he left the room. Eventually we made our peace, but only after I promised thenceforth to carry blank expense statements on tour, filling them out as I rode the train back to Chennai. It's a habit that has never left me, and to this day I have a compulsive desire to square up official expenses within a day of completing a trip. I have realised over the years that it was not so much about that little expense statement, but about the importance of personal integrity-make a fetish of this aspect of personal discipline, and the rest will follow. I have used AS's line on hundreds of rookies, 'If you can't file your expense reports on time, you will never make a good manager, I don't care how smart you are'.

Minoo Kalyaniwalla was a legendary HLL salesman in Secundarabad. He effortlessly beat his targets, and had an iron hold on the market. I was fascinated by his style from the time we first met, and I spent weeks with him travelling all over Telengana selling truckloads of Rin and Lifebuoy. He knew every shopkeeper personally, but the most amazing thing about him was that he spent very little time on actual sales talk: he had a fantastic sense of humour that he used to telling effect. I was fresh out of engineering college in those days, unfamiliar with the world of commerce, and tended to be awkward and analytical. Minoo was the polar opposite. To him selling soap was a by-product of entertaining his clients. For the most part the world of business is serious and somewhat tense. Humour can inject a doze of magic into any situation, and a witty remark or joke can defuse situations and provide a way forward, whether in the soap market in Begumpet or at a boardroom in New York. I will never forget Minoo and his disarming humour, and how he taught me that if you get a customer to laugh, you can get him to do pretty much anything.

One of the most difficult tasks in corporate life is to know when to keep your mouth shut. There are constant temptations in the office to gossip, moan and complain, particularly about people in senior positions. I am now convinced that if you say anything damaging about anybody, there is a better than even chance your comment will get back to that person, and damage your relationship. It doesn't matter how much you trust that person you are having the conversation with. I wish I could take this advice as strongly as I am giving it, because I still tend to make this fundamental mistake. I wish I could learn from CR Tilak, who in 1978 worked for me as a steno. We had a close working relationship, but in all that time I cannot recall him speak disparagingly about anyone. I can remember times when some of us would gossip about someone or other in Tilak's presence, but he never ever joined the fray, preferring to listen with a smile, or steering us away to another subject.

Personal discipline, humour and discretion are among the hallmarks of successful executives. That is why I will always remain grateful to my early mentors AS, Minoo and Tilak: the three may have retired in relatively humble positions in the Chennai branch of HLL, but they each taught lessons in management that are just not on the curriculum of any IIM.

(Muktesh Pant is the Chief Marketing Officer for Reebok International and lives in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He can be contacted at mickypant@hotmail.com <mailto:mickypant@hotmail.com>)

Whats Your Leadership Style

Proclaiming, Encouraging, Equipping, Supporting , what’s your Leadership Style?

"Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without strategy,"- General Schwarzkopf unintentionally spelt the essence of true leadership! Leadership in spirit is influential, courageous and visionary. True leaders lead by empowering their followers and command respect by virtue of their strength of character. They practice persuasion through informal authority instead of coercion.

Leadership is partly instinctive and partly learnt. The PTL model of leadership provided by Personal Transformation Limited, (a human capital transformation firm) brings out the factors that make a good leader and reflects upon the design and development of leadership.

PTL Model of leadership
According to the PTL model of leadership, a collaboration of three factors, namely-passion, temperament and character helps master the craft of leadership. Passion is reflective of a person’s leadership gifting which is determined by his inner drive. Temperament reflects a person’s behavioral instincts while character determines his personal maturity.

Every leader has a unique composition of passion, temperament and character that becomes his "leadership style". Of these three factors "passion or leadership gifting" plays the central role in determining a leader’s style of leadership. Passion is the inner most drive of a person and reflects an individual’s motivation and path he chooses to achieve it. This explains the difference in leadership styles.

Awareness about one’s individual style enhances the overall effectiveness of a leader. This knowledge also provides insights into the strategies that can be employed to build on strengths and overcome weaknesses. Leaders can also choose to imbibe the positive aspects of other leadership styles if they wish to do so.

There is nothing "right" or "wrong" about a particular leadership style. They are merely different in approach and leaders can adopt one of the choices depending on their motivation, drive, organizational culture and overall objective. In fact all seven leadership styles connect with each other in one way or the other. Discovering this connection helps create an ideal blend.

Leadership styles Proclaiming style of leadership

Leaders who practice the "proclaiming" style are largely values-driven and hold a strong opinion or perception about every issue. As they are straightforward and clear about what they want they react strongly. They do not believe in violation of values, which are firmly ingrained in their
value system. Proclaiming leaders have a distinct style of conduct. They are impressive and convincing speakers. Their charm and communicative skills help them win corporate negotiations.

Equipping style of leadership

As the name suggests, leaders who practice the equipping style are constantly indulged in equipping themselves with knowledge, skills and information. These leaders will remind you of your statistics professor. They rattle out figures and numbers with amazing accuracy and condemn people who talk without a strong statistical base to support their argument. Equipping leaders put forth their views in the form of reports, curricula, guidelines and proposals. Highly meticulous and organized, they expect the same from their followers too.

Encouraging style of leadership
Encouraging leaders are driven by the growth of their followers. They like to see people growing, doing well and prospering under them. Success of others gives them a high. Leaders practicing this style are committed to unleashing the potential of their followers and leading them to self-actualization. Encouraging leaders don the role of a mentor, extending unconditional support and encouragement. These leaders are extravagant when expressing positive emotions like recognition, appreciation and praise. Their parent-like attitude makes them share a bond of affection and love with their followers.

Empathizing style of leadership
Empathizing leaders wear feelers for others. They are highly sensitive to the needs and aspirations of people around them. Their decisions-are largely people-centered and hence are almost always accepted without any resistance. They may seem sentimental and emotional, however they maintain their humanity without compromising on work. These leaders are genuinely happy with the success of others and brood when failure touches their followers. People working under the empathizing leaders feel wanted giving a boost to their self-esteem. Empathizing leaders also demonstrate insights and assertiveness in their actions.

Directing style of leadership
Corporate vision is the sole motivator for leaders practicing this style. All their actions are governed by their drive to accomplish the goals and vision of their company. They mean business. Their communication is centered around strategies that could help achieve the ultimate objective. Directive leaders are clear in thought and concise in action. Directive leaders are like rudders that bring a straying ship back to its path. They are constant reminders of the very purpose of a corporate’s existence and keep the entire organization on track.

Investing style of leadership
Investing leaders are clever and probe to the point of conviction. They dwell on finer points and prefer to bring out weaknesses rather than celebrating success. They believe that success is a corollary of weaknesses eliminated. Being great communicators their conversations are crisp but
subtle.

Supporting style of leadership
Supporting leaders are people-centric. They are caring. Their actions speak for them. These leaders enjoy complete employee confidence and do not feel the need to give explanations or reasons for their decisions. Trust and faith are far too strong. Awareness about leadership styles is critical for effective leadership. A leader who knows his style of conduct is far more successful than his ignorant counterparts.

Steve Job's Stanford Commencement Address - 12th June, 2005

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal.

Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.

Let me give you one example: Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky – I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me – I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960’s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much.

How Heavy is a Glass of Water

Take few minutes of your busy hours to read this.

Hope you may solve many things..... How heavy is a Glass of Water.

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised aglass of water and asked, "how heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, "Theabsolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to holdit."
"If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day,you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight,but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomesincreasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on." "As with the glass of water, you have to ! put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.

"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can."Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short liven. Enjoy it! And then the lecturer shared some ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

• Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
• Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
• Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the Middle of it.
• It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
• Never buy a car you can't push.
• Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
• When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
• Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
• You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
• A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour . . . . .

Different Strokes...

Imagine you're in London's Heathrow airport. While you're waiting for your flight, you notice a kiosk selling shortbread cookies. You buy a box, put them in your traveling bag and then patiently search for an available seat so you can sit down and enjoy your cookies. Finally you find a seat next to a gentleman. You reach down into your traveling bag and pull out your box of shortbread cookies. As you do so, you notice that the gentleman starts watching you intensely. He stares as you open the box and his eyes follow your hand as you pick up the cookie and bring it to your mouth. Just then he reaches over and takes one of your cookies from the box, and eats it! You're more than a little surprised at this. Actually, you're at a loss for words. Not only does he take one cookie, but he alternates with you. For every one cookie you take, he takes one.Now, what's your immediate impression of this guy? Crazy? Greedy? He's got some nerve! Can you imagine the words you might use to describe this man to your associates back at the office?Meanwhile, you both continue eating the cookies until there's just one left. To your surprise, the man reaches over and takes it. But then he does something unexpected. He breaks it in half, and gives half to you. After he's finished with his half he gets up, and without a word, he leaves.

You think to yourself, "Did this really happen?" You're left sitting there dumbfounded and still hungry. So you go back to the kiosk and buy another box of cookies. You then return to your seat and begin opening your new box of cookies when you glance down into your traveling bag. Sitting there in your bag is your original box of cookies -- still unopened. Only then do you realize that when you reached down earlier, you had reached into the other man's bag, and grabbed his box of cookies by mistake. Now what do you think of the man? Generous? Tolerant?

You've just experienced a profound paradigm shift. You're seeing things from a new point of view. Now, think of this story as it relates to your life. Seeing things from a new point of view can be very enlightening. Think outside the box. Don't settle for the status quo. Be open to suggestions. Things may not be what they seem. Is it time to change your point of view?

'Principles of Leadership" by Mr. Rudolph W.Giuliani (former Mayor of New York City)

1. The first principle of Leadership:
Believe in yourself...First of all be true to yourself...Unless you know what you stand for, you will never become a good leader.

2. The second principle of Leadership:
Have a vision...Great people in the history had all great visions and they believed where they want to be or the things that they want to do....Cases in point are Ronald Reagan...who thought communism was bad and he was the sole force responsible for the down fall of USSR...and Martin Luther King Jr...who had a dream that all American people in future shall not be judged by their colour of skin but the content of their character...
So one has to have a vision as to where he/she wants to take himself ahead in future...to be a successful leader.

3. The third one: Courage ...Ability to take Risk:
You got to be bold enough to take risk and have the courage to take it too.

4. The fourth one: Relentless preparation:
Always be prepared for any anticipated scenario in order that nothing unanticipated happens. But even at times on the occurrence of the unanticipated event you may take a modified route out of your multiple preparation for similar events to overcome such events and take the control of situation.

5. And the fifth one....Team Work:
The essence of leadership is to have very good team work. One has to assess the areas of ones weakness and see how best he or she can balance the weaknesses with the strength of his/her team members. A good leader has to be both a teacher as well as a motivator too.

6. Finally the last one... Communicate with others...
Finally a good leader must necessarily be a good communicator. One has to be able to communicate his/her ideals properly to his team members in his/her effort to achieve the goals.

Go Kiss the World - Subroto Bagchi

Address by Subroto Bagchi, Chief Operating Officer, "Mind Tree Consulting" to the Class of 2006 at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore on defining success. July 2nd 2004

I was the last child of a small-time government servant, in a family of five brothers. My earliest memory of my father is as that of a District employment Officer in Koraput, Orissa. It was and remains as back of beyond as you can imagine. There was no electricity; no primary school nearby and water did not flow out of a tap. As a result, I did not go to school until the age of eight; I was home-schooled. My father used to get transferred every year. The family belongings fit into the back of a jeep - so the family moved from place to place and, without any trouble, my Mother would set up an establishment and get us going. Raised by a widow who had come as a refugee from the then East Bengal, she was a matriculate when she married my Father. My parents set the foundation of my life and the value system which makes me what I am today and largely defines what success means to me today.

As District Employment Officer, my father was given a jeep by the government. There was no garage in the Office, so the jeep was parked in our house. My father refused to use it to commute to the office. He told us that the jeep is an expensive resource given by the government - he reiterated to us that it was not 'his jeep' but the government's jeep. Insisting that he would use it only to tour the interiors, he would walk to his office on normal days. He also made sure that we never sat in the government jeep - we could sit in it only when it was stationary. That was our early childhood lesson in governance - a lesson that corporate managers learn the hard way, some never do.

The driver of the jeep was treated with respect due to any other member of my Father's office. As small children, we were taught not to call him by his name. We had to use the suffix 'dada' whenever we were to refer to him in public or private. When I grew up to own a car and a driver by the name of Raju was appointed - I repeated the lesson to my two small daughters. They have, as a result, grown up to call Raju, 'Raju Uncle' - very different from many of their friends who refer to their family drivers as 'my driver'. When I hear that term from a school- or college-going person, I cringe. To me, the lesson was significant - you treat small people with more respect than how you treat big people. It is more important to respect your Subordinates than your superiors.

Our day used to start with the family huddling around my Mother's chulha - an earthen fire place she would build at each place of posting where she would cook for the family. There was no gas, nor electrical stoves. The morning routine started with tea. As the brew was served, Father would ask us to read aloud the editorial page of The Statesman's 'muffosil' edition - delivered one day late. We did not understand much of what we were reading. But the ritual was meant for us to know that the world was larger than Koraput district and the English I speak today, despite having studied in an Oriya medium school, has to do with that routine. After reading the newspaper aloud, we were told to fold it neatly. Father taught us a simple lesson. He used to say, "You should leave your newspaper and your toilet, the way you expect to find it". That lesson was about showing consideration to others. Business begins and ends with that simple precept.

Being small children, we were always enamored with advertisements in the newspaper for transistor radios - we did not have one. We saw other people having radios in their homes and each time there was an advertisement Of Philips, Murphy or Bush radios, we would ask Father when we could get one. Each time, my Father would reply that we did not need one because he already had five radios - alluding to his five sons. We also did not have a house of our own and would occasionally ask Father as to when, like others, we would live in our own house. He would give a similar reply, "We do not need a house of our own. I already own five houses". His replies did not gladden our hearts in that instant.
Nonetheless, we learnt that it is important not to measure personal success and sense of well being through material possessions.

Government houses seldom came with fences. Mother and I collected twigs and built a small fence. After lunch, my Mother would never sleep. She would take her kitchen utensils and with those she and I would dig the rocky, white ant infested surrounding. We planted flowering bushes. The white ants destroyed them. My mother brought ash from her chulha and mixed it in the earth and we planted the seedlings all over again. This time, they bloomed. At that time, my father's transfer order came. A few neighbors told my >mother why she was taking so much pain to beautify a government house, why she was planting seeds that would only benefit the next occupant. My mother replied that it did not matter to her that she would not see the flowers in full bloom. She said, "I have to create a bloom in a desert and whenever I am given a new place, I must leave it more beautiful than what I had inherited". That was my first lesson in success. It is not about what you create for yourself, it is what you leave behind that defines success.

My mother began developing a cataract in her eyes when I was very small. At that time, the eldest among my brothers got a teaching job at the University in Bhubaneswar and had to prepare for the civil services examination. So, it was decided that my Mother would move to cook for him and, as her appendage, I had to move too. For the first time in my life, I saw electricity in homes and water coming out of a tap. It was around 1965 and the country was going to war with Pakistan. My mother was having problems reading and in any case, being Bengali, she did not know the Oriya script. So, in addition to my daily chores, my job was to read her the local newspaper - end to end. That created in me a sense of connectedness with a larger world. I began taking interest in many different things. While reading out news about the war, I felt that I was fighting the war myself. She and I discussed the daily news and built a bond with the larger universe. In it, we became part of a larger reality. Till date, I measure my success in terms of that sense of larger connectedness.

Meanwhile, the war raged and India was fighting on both fronts. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Prime Minster, coined the term "Jai Jawan, Jai Kishan" and galvanized the nation in to patriotic fervor. Other than reading out the newspaper to my mother, I had no clue about how I could be part of the action. So, after reading her the newspaper, every day I would land up near the University's water tank, which served the community. I would spend hours under it, imagining that there could be spies who would come to poison the water and I had to watch for them. I would daydream about catching one and how the next day, I would be featured in the newspaper. Unfortunately for me, the spies at war ignored the sleepy town of Bhubaneswar and I never got a chance to catch one in action. Yet, that act unlocked my imagination.

Imagination is everything. If we can imagine a future, we can create it, if we can create that future, others will live in it. That is the essence of success.

Over the next few years, my mother's eyesight dimmed but in me she created a larger vision, a vision with which I continue to see the world and, I sense, through my eyes, she was seeing too. As the next few years unfolded, her vision deteriorated and she was operated for cataract. I remember when she returned after her operation and she saw my face clearly for the first time, she was astonished. She said, "Oh my God, I did not know you were so fair".

I remain mighty pleased with that adulation even till date. Within weeks of getting her sight back, she developed a corneal ulcer and, overnight, became blind in both eyes. That was 1969. She died in 2002. In all those 32 years of living with blindness, she never complained about her fate
even once.

Curious to know what she saw with blind eyes, I asked her once if she sees >darkness. She replied, "No, I do not see darkness. I only see light even With my eyes closed". Until she was eighty years of age, she did her morning yoga everyday, swept her own room and washed her own clothes. To me, success is about the sense of independence; it is about not seeing the world but seeing the light.

Over the many intervening years, I grew up, studied, joined the industry and began to carve my life's own journey. I began my life as a clerk in a government office, went on to become a Management Trainee with the DCM group and eventually found my life's calling with the IT industry when fourth generation computers came to India in 1981. Life took me places - I worked with outstanding people, challenging assignments and traveled all over the world. In 1992, while I was posted in the US, I learnt that my father, living a retired life with my eldest brother, had suffered a
third degree burn injury and was admitted in the Safderjung Hospital in Delhi. I flew back to attend to him - he remained for a few days in critical stage, bandaged from neck to toe. The Safderjung Hospital is a cockroach infested, dirty, inhuman place. The overworked, under-resourced sisters in the burn ward are both victims and perpetrators of dehumanized life at its worst.

One morning, while attending to my Father, I realized that the blood bottle was >empty and fearing that air would go into his vein, I asked the attending nurse to change it. She bluntly told me to do it myself. In that horrible theater of death, I was in pain and frustration and anger. Finally when she relented and came, my Father opened his eyes and murmured to her, "Why have you not gone home yet?" Here was a man on his deathbed but more concerned about the overworked nurse than his own state. I was stunned at his stoic self. There I learnt that there is no limit to how concerned you can be for another human being and what is the limit of inclusion you can create. My father died the next day.

He was a man whose success was defined by his principles, his frugality, his universalism and his sense of inclusion. Above all, he taught me that success is your ability to rise above your discomfort, whatever may be your current state. You can, if you want, raise your consciousness above your immediate surroundings. Success is not about building material comforts - the transistor that he never could buy or the house that he never owned.

His success was about the legacy he left, the memetic continuity of his ideals that grew beyond the smallness of a ill-paid, unrecognized government servant's world.

My father was a fervent believer in the British Raj. He sincerely doubted the capability of the post- independence Indian political parties to govern the country. To him, the lowering of the Union Jack was a sad event.

My Mother was the exact opposite. When Subhash Bose quit the Indian National Congress and came to Dacca, my mother, then a schoolgirl, garlanded him. She learnt to spin khadi and joined an underground movement that trained her in using daggers and swords. Consequently, our household saw diversity in the political outlook of the two. On major issues concerning the world, the Old Man and the Old Lady had differing opinions. In them, we learnt the power of disagreements, of dialogue and the essence of living with diversity in thinking.

Success is not about the ability to create a definitive Dogmatic end state; it is about the unfolding of thought processes, of dialogue and continuum.

Two years back, at the age of eighty-two, Mother had a paralytic stroke and was lying in a government hospital in Bhubaneswar. I flew down from the US where I was serving my second stint, to see her. I spent two weeks with her in the hospital as she remained in a paralytic state. She was neither getting better nor moving on. Eventually I had to return to work. While leaving her behind, I kissed her face. In that paralytic state and a garbled voice, she said, "Why are you kissing me, go kiss the world." Her river was nearing its journey, at the confluence of life and death, this woman who came to India as a refugee, raised by a widowed Mother, no more educated than high school, married to an anonymous government servant whose last salary was Rupees Three Hundred, robbed of her eyesight by fate and crowned by adversity - was telling me to go and kiss the world!

Success to me is about Vision. It is the ability to rise above the immediacy of pain. It is about imagination. It is about sensitivity to small people. It is about building inclusion. It is about connectedness to a larger world existence. It is about personal tenacity. It is about giving back more to life than you take out of it. It is about creating extra-ordinary success with ordinary lives.

Thank you very much; I wish you good luck and Godspeed. Go, kiss the world.

SECRET OF LEADERSHIP

THE SOUND OF THE FOREST
Back in the third century A.D., the King Ts'ao sent his son, Prince T'ai, to the temple to study under the great master Pan Ku. Because Prince T'ai was to succeed his father as king, Pan Ku was to teach the boy the basics of being a good ruler.

When the prince arrived at the temple, the master sent him alone to the Ming-Li Forest. After one year, the prince was to return to the temple to describe the sound of the forest.
When Prince T'ai returned, Pam Ku asked the boy to describe all that he could hear. "Master," replied the prince, "I could hear the cuckoos sing, the leaves rustle, the hummingbirds hum, the cricket chirp, the grass blow, the bees buzz, and the wind whisper and holler."

When the prince had finished, the master told him to go back to the forest to listen to what more he could hear. The prince was puzzled by the master's request. Had he not discerned every sound already?

For days and nights on end, the young prince sat alone in the forest listening. But he heard no sounds other then those he had already heard. Then one morning, as the prince sat silently beneath the trees, he started to discern faint sounds unlike those he had overheard before. The more acutely he listened, the clearer the sounds became. The feeling of enlightenment enveloped the boy, "These must be the sounds the master wished me to discern," he reflected.

When Prince T'ai returned to the temple, the master asked him what more he had heard. "Master," responded the prince reverently, "when I listened most closely, I could hear the unheard... the sound of flowers opening, the sound of the sun warming the earth, and
the sound of the grass drinking the morning dew."

The master nodded approvingly. "To hear the unheard," remarked Pan Ku, "is a necessary discipline to be a good ruler. For only when a ruler has learned to listen closely to the people's hearts, hearing their feelings not communicated, pains unexpressed, and complaints not
spoken of, can he hope to inspire confidence in his people, understand when something is wrong, and meet the true needs of his citizens.

The demise of states comes when leaders listen only to superficial words and do not penetrate deeply into the souls of the people to hear their true opinions, feeling, and desires.

Customer Service in the Post-Care Bear Era:A Whimsical Epitaph with Clues for a Better Tomorrowby Ronald A. Gunn

Customer Service in thePost-Care Bear Era:A Whimsical Epitaph with Clues for a Better Tomorrowby Ronald A. Gunn

To be successful, customer service training needs to focus on the head, heart, and hands of the employee. It needs to be a comprehensive approach. We wouldn't want to be forced to choose one component over the others. However, if forced, all right put your weapon down you intellectual bully or I'm peeling the saran wrap off this Compton's Worldwide Encyclopedia volume purchased as a grocery store checkout impulse buy, we'd bet our chips on "heart" as the factor that is too often neglected in customer service improvement strategy and training efforts. If you can't insulate your team from the burn-out, melt-down, I-don't-care culture for the hours of the day that they serve your customers, you probably shouldn't get lost in the masquerade of customer service training. Turn back now if you must. Not only will the masquerade waste your time and money, but you'll shellack on a few new layers of quiet cynicism in the bad bargain that can't be removed successfully unless you do a full and complete staff transfusion and you have the stomach to do that, do you?

What's in it for me? That's the real question in the employee's mind that has to be answered before you can get to Go. The envelope please. And the answer is not eligibility for some bonus at the end of the year, at the end of time, or at the end of the rainbow. That may be nice but now that employers and employees can't care about one another as they once did, and as we even cease to wax nostalgically about the End of Loyalty, many employees work from the homo economicus assumption that they may not be in the company at bonus distribution time and not because the employer fired them but because they fired the employer first! So, Bogus Bonus Buffoonery is not an option. Except for time-challenged towns and cities in the Midwest where you have no right to interfere with their happiness: Don't tell them what's happened on either coast, OK?

What's in it for me? The envelope please. And the answer is not a Career Promotion. In today's flattened organization, with high-performance work systems and teams, teams, and more teams, we've stripped most of the rungs off the ladder so that it resembles something out of an old-time cartoon. Snuffy Smith-style big shoe stripping out ladder rungs while falling to the ground, accompanied by high-to-low xylophone sound, OK?

What's in it for me? The envelope please. And the answer is not the respect and admiration of management and peers because even though that may be nice, the employee wants to know what does this all mean? Does it mean a positive future reference from the employer? No. After all, to avoid litigation the company policy now is merely to confirm or deny that someone ever worked here and to say no more about it. We thank you.

What's in it for me? The envelope please. At this point, you should insert answers that have not worked drawn from your own company's experience. You should also be developing a faint aggravation about hearing about what won't work rather than what will. On the other hand, if you work in a large old-fashioned bureaucracy that practices Cybernetic Management where your job is to play a guessing game with your superiors this may not bother you yet. The Cybernetic Management game is where you focus on What It Is Not, rather than What It Is. Like with a thermostat for a furnace, the absence of something, e.g., heat, causes the machine to turn on. If you have not read Sartre's Being and Nothingness in its entirety, please skip this paragraph. Basically, it goes like this in the Big Bureaucracy: You attempt to guess the correct answer and the boss's job is to tell you that you have not yet guessed successfully. Despite your limitations, you should keep trying or you will leave the Road to Nowhere sooner than you should. Naturally, you understand that the boss cannot give you any clues as to the correct answer for reasons that cannot be revealed here.

OK, what can work? How about a promise that the customer service training offers the employee refreshed interpersonal skills that are useful in personal life and skills that are portable to the next employer, the next career, or an entrepreneurial business that s/he may start in the future?

The Ten Personal Power Skills
Research teaches that there are ten Personal Power Skills that relate to form, substance, personality, and action. These skills are a gift from your Firm to each employee. Even if they currently possess the Personal Power Skills, they will get better and stronger with the training.

They will improve their ability to:

Manage first impressions.
Display depth of knowledge to build customer confidence.
Display breadth of knowledge to build customer relationships.
Show uncommon versatility in dealing with different personality types.
Call up enthusiasm with a snap of the fingers.
Step up to big-picture thinking.
Show an appropriate sense of humor at the right time. (Don't say to your customers: You should laugh at your problems, everybody else does!)
Turbo charge your self-esteem.
Take risks.
Call up creativity and apply it to give what the customer wants.

There is the need to equip employees to communicate more effectively with active listening and the use of open as well as closed questions when the time is right. What about ways in which personal power can be used to influence people positively? Tension management is key. Does your employee know how to use the Ring of Fire to insulate against the upset, possibly rageoholic customer? Does your employee know what all complaining customers really want? Or do you think that having this knowledge would take the "sport" out of winning and retaining customers both for the employee and your organization? The ability to manage tension is the Master Skill. Have you given this gift to your employees? This is all part of the correct curriculum - from Strategic Futures®.

So think about times that you have received exemplary service. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that these skills are the grist of the best customer service you have ever seen anywhere. If there's rocket science here, it's to be found in helping your people figure this out and apply these skills in your company!

A quality customer service training curriculum is a necessary but not sufficient condition for training success. And this is where the Heart comes in. It's about motivation. It's all about motivation. Bob Dole, we hardly knew ye. By itself, the curriculum delivered by a roll-the-mental-tape trainer is akin to the sound of one hand clapping. The real key is in the delivery. It must reach the audience and this requires that it be entertaining and that it be personal so that it really reaches right into the life of the employee. No, not like illegal nor with untoward behaviors, but with spirited delivery that shows that you care - about each individual. Remember? This is the way that good teaching once was before the meltdown of education, including the methods and manners that had shown themselves to work effectively over the years. What is good workmanlike quality in training? No, good "workpersonship" quality will not be written here because I insist that my daughters have every possible advantage. (Danger Danger return to main highway immediately and accelerate, brain police sirens approaching. It's official: I can't conform adequately). The instructor must bond with each training participant. A pre-training one-on-one confidential conversation between the instructor and each training participant to discover obstacles to participant learning, whether motivational or substantive is key. What's it going to take? Where do you want to go and how can this training help you? If you don't know where you want to go, what would it take to make this training sufficiently engaging so that you will stay conscious and work on these skills?

This is the advance work that needs to be done for each session delivery so that the instructor can really connect with each participant because effective customer service training is about behavioral change and you cannot influence the behavior of anyone if you do not understand their motivation and their mindset. Even if you do have this connection, you know that your odds are less than perfect. You know that this is true, so why would you permit any other approach to be purchased for use in your organization? Some of you remember going through a break-up or a divorce and some of you don't. You're not just going through the motions on customer service training, are you?

Then, there is the Head Work. Employees need to be able to identify the customers and what they value. Believe it or not, there are plenty of organizations where the employees cannot for the life of them identify who is the customer. If you doubt this, you should visit a government agency sometime. This is true in large corporate bureaucracies and you know that. What matters to the customer? Let's break the package of what the customer values into its component smithereens: Not just the somewhat obvious interpersonal dimensions, but sensory and environmental dimensions, along with other ways in which we make it easy or hard to assume the role of customer. What's more, let's equip employees with conceptual tools that help them communicate effectively with management about changing customer preferences and needs for product/service revamping and improvement. Managers and owners need to understand that customers change. Customers may think and behave differently than they did when you were delivering service directly. Things may have changed just a little. Maybe those customers don't care any more?!

Last but not least is the Hand Work. At Strategic Futures®, we believe that The 80-20 Rule works 80% of the time! High-quality customer service training should identify the 20% of all interactions with customers that are responsible for 80% of the satisfaction or alternately, irritation. This way you are "majoring in the majors" rather than "majoring in the minors." You are investing attention and effort where the payoffs in customer satisfaction are the greatest rather than focusing a lot of effort on what we call small 'taters or, perhaps pejoratively, 'tater tots. The training should take these transactions apart and put them back together again, x-raying the process thoroughly from womb to tomb. Behavior modeling using a tell-show-practice approach should provide each employee with the ability to perform flawless mechanics effortlessly so that s/he can work on the higher order interpersonal skills that upsell customers and build their loyalty to the extent that anyone cares about that anymore.

(No we're not trying to build the Stepford Employee but practice makes perfect, almost... If we promised complete perfection, we would, ipso facto, be imperfect so we won't do that. For more information, watch this space or better yet, care enough to message us using one or more of several media...)

Too Much Can be Too Bad!Smart workers are more productive than workaholics

Key learnings

Workaholism is a deadly addiction that can impede organisational wellness

The key is working smarter not longer

Timely time-offs prevent burnout and rejuvenate employee creativity and performance
Very often we observe friends who constantly check official mail when they are home on weekends. Very often we see people on a vacation constantly on their phones enquiring about the office? For most of them are so passionately attached to their work, they do not wish to see beyond. Hard workers start off to prove themselves, but unreasonably long hours of work eventually leads them to the 'me and my work' syndrome. Dr. Harvette Grey, a Psychologist, believes that "If you are doing a good job on the job, that's good, but to really do a good job, you have to have something other than work. We all want to make money, but not at the expense of relationships." Take the case of Maria, a biotechnology graduate working for one of the most reputed firms. She is a topper in her graduation and a top performer at work. However, she takes time off to indulge in her favourite sport or visit old age homes with gifts. Maria believes "I could not maintain focus and energy if I worked nonstop. I would completely lose perspective." The Busy Business Working hard is not all that counts. Working smarter is the key to success. "Just 'staying busy' is not what your boss wants" says Steve Rothberg, founder of CollegeRecruiter.com. Most often one comes across individuals who are occupied with some work or the other. Whether the work performed is productive, or useful is immaterial to these workers. Quite often unproductive activities exhaust the organisations savings and increase expenses. In the past employees who worked overtime were always looked upon by others. The reasons for the overtime could have varied from pending work, need for extra pay or even rework towards rectification. Seldom has the authentic desire to excel in the job been a motivator for the overtime. Thankfully, this phenomenon is almost extinct in most workplaces. Employers and employees alike have understood the value of being smart workers by taking time off and tackling exhaustion. The concern is 'Are the most hardworking employees the most successful ones?' Today, the unbearably hard working employees are typically seen as 'self-centric', 'fiercely aggressive', 'self-doubting' and 'unorganised.' Dreadfully hard working employees offer dwindling returns to the organisation. Time Off Employees who put in longer hours of work lose focus and eventually disorder and inefficiency creeps in. The most common ill-effects of working too hard are:

Losing focus
Long-term stress and fatigue
Ill-health
Diminishing creativity levels
Workaholism
Unbalanced personal life

"If you work all the time, you lose your edge" cautions Diane Fassel, author of the book 'Working Ourselves to Death'. In practical terms, an employee immersed in trivial jobs and issues will be most unlikely to get imaginative. Creativity cannot come to an employee engrossed completely in mundane activities. Most often, such employees are petrified of being branded as losers. They constantly work that gives them a fallacy of being confident. In reality, confidence comes from belief in oneself and the work well done with integrity and awareness. Yerkes-Dodson Law and Workaholism According to the Yerkes-Dodson Law "too little or too much stimulation is bad." Similarly, a happy employee is the one whose work function is neither very heavy nor very light. Workaholism is yet another obsession associated with people 'who can't stop working.' Experts define workaholism as 'exclusion of everything else in one's life.' Workaholism is a serious condition that results in lowered self-confidence, workplace morale and poor performance. Ironically, most employees flaunt the term proudly. World over and particularly in the U.S workaholics are on the rise. Workaholism is the most misconstrued addiction. People interpret work addiction as 'working hard'. However, there is a distinct difference between hard workers and workaholics. Hard workers work hard on their jobs and relax once a task or project is completed. Workaholics typically work long hours even when not required. Most often they are wedded to their jobs. Checking, rechecking and constantly thinking about the job even on the beach are the characteristics of a workaholic. Laptops and the e-mail have simplified things for workaholics. A study by the Families and Work Institute reveals

That one in three Americans bring work home at least once a week
Americans take short vacations, 19 days per year compared to 42 days in Germany
Tell-tale signs of a workaholic
The employee works for longer hours than required
Neglects personal life; talks about work all the time, even at home
A conspicuous absence of any hobbies or social life
Calls office even on a vacation
Or probably never goes on a vacation

Stress Free Organisations Occasionally organisations prefer workaholics anticipating greater productivity. The truth is far from this expectation. Workaholics are bad team players as they are self-focused. The desire for fame prevents effective delegation as they want absolute credit for work performed. Excess workload often results in fatigue and stress that eventually leads to burnout. Another feature that's characteristic of a workaholic is restlessness, flared tempers and negative vibes. These thwart positive workplace culture. According to Psychologists "There's a loss of physical and psychological health and eventually they [may] die of a stroke or heart attack." Helpline Organisations inadvertently create workaholics by over-stressing on performance, targets and rewards. Workaholics need careful handling. Managers though can insist on /suggest Setting realistic goals within flexible time frames: Allotting extra time for genuine reasons assists rational project management and avoids burnout. Monitoring employee work: Mentoring aids in identifying employees overloaded with unnecessary work. Peer mentoring or coaching enhances team spirit, confidence and ensures people are not pushed beyond their limitations. Respecting time-off: Managers can encourage time-offs with weekly sport sessions, hobbies or 'use-it-or-lose it vacation programmes.' Employees who do not avail their yearly vacation leave lose it and are not eligible for cash reimbursement. Positive work ethics: At Ernst and Young employees are denied access to official mails when on a vacation. Team calendars that specify the deadlines are common feature at E&Y. The calendars also include personal commitments. The benefits are dual. For one, a person who needs to leave early for a family reunion gets the support from his team mates. Secondly, a person who doesn't list personal commitments is invariably invited for lunch or chances for a team gathering are high. Wellness Programmes: Qualified specialists can discuss with employees about their health concerns, stress management techniques regarding work overload. The CEO too can address teams and talk about stress-free workplaces and their impact on performance. Counseling by psychiatrists can help deal with workaholics better. Workaholism can be dealt with patiently at all levels. Employees prone to overworking must develop hobbies, social life and nuture relationships. Most importantly, turn off the cell phone when its your time off!

L N Mittal's Visit To Jamshedpur

I visited Jamshedpur over the weekend to see for myself an India that is fast disappearing despite all the wolf-cries of people likeNarayanamurthy and his ilk. It is one thing to talk and quite another to do and I am delighted to tell you that Ratan Tata has kept alive thelegacy of perhaps Indias finest industrialist J.N. Tata. Something that some people doubted when Ratan took over the House of the Tatas but in hindsight, the best thing to have happened to the Tatas is unquestionably Ratan. I was amazed to see the extent of corporate philanthropy and this is no exaggeration.

For the breed that talks about corporate social responsibility and talks about the role of corporate India, a visit to Jamshedpur is a must. Go there and see the amount of money they pump into keeping the town going; see the smiling faces of workers in a region known for industrial unrest; see the standard of living in a city that is almost isolated from the mess in the rest of the country.

This is not meant to be a puff piece. I have nothing to do with Tata Steel, but I strongly believe the message of hope and the message of goodness that they are spreading is worth sharing. The fact that you do have companies in India which look at workers as human beings and who do not blow their software trumpet of having changed lives. In fact, I asked Mr Muthurman, the managing director, as to why he was so quiet about all they had done and all he could offer in return was a smile wrapped in humility, which said it all. They have done so much more since I last visited Jamshedpur, which was in 1992. The town has obviously got busier but the values thankfully haven't changed. The food is still as amazing as it always was and I gorged, as I would normally do. I visited the plant and the last time I did that was with Russi Mody.

But the plant this time was gleaming and far from what it used to be. Greener and cleaner and a tribute to environment management. You could have been in the mountains. Such was the quality of air I inhaled! There was no belching smoke; no tired faces and so many more women workers, even on the shop floor.This is true gender equality and not the kind that is often espoused at seminars organised by angry activists. I met so many old friends. Most of them have aged but not grown old. There was a spring in the air which came from a certain calmness which has always been the hallmark of Jamshedpur and something I savoured for a full two days in between receiving messages of how boring and decrepit the Lacklustre Fashion Weak was. It is at times such as this that our city lives seem so meaningless. Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata had created an edifice that is today a robust company and it is not about profits and about valuation.

It is not about who becomes a millionaire and who doesnt'. It is about getting the job done with dignity and respect keeping the age-old values intactand this is what I learnt. I jokingly asked someone as to whether they ever thought of joining an Infosys or a Wipro and pat came the reply:"We are not interested in becoming crorepatis but in making others crorepatis." Which is exactly what the Tatas have done for years in and around Jamshedpur.

Very few people know that Jamshedpur has been selected as a UN Global Compact City, edging out the other nominee from India, Bangalore. Selected because of the quality of life, because of the conditions of sanitation and roads and welfare. If this is not a tribute to industrial India, then what is? Today, Indian needs several Jamshedpurs but it also needs this Jamshedpur to be given its fair due, its recognition. I am tired of campus visits being publicised to the Infosys and the Wipros of the world. Modern India is being built in Jamshedpur as we speak. An India built on the strength of core convictions and nothing was more apparent about that than the experiment with truth and reality that TataSteel is conducting at Pipla.

Forty-eight tribal girls (yes, tribal girls who these corrupt and evil politicians only talk about but do nothing for) are being educated through a residential program over nine months. I went to visit them and I spoke to them in a language that they have just learnt: Bengali. Eight weeks ago, they could only speak in Sainthali, their local dialect. But today, they are brimming with a confidence that will bring tears to your eyes. It did to mine. One of them has just been selected to represent Jharkand in the state archery competition. They have their own womens football team and whats more they are now fond of education.

It is a passion and not a burden.This was possible because I guess people like Ratan Tata and Muthurman havent sold their souls to some business management drivel, which tells us that we must only do business and nothing else.The fact that not one Tata executive has been touched by the Naxalites in that area talks about the social respect that the Tatas have earned. The Tatas do not need this piece to be praised and lauded. My intent is to share the larger picture that we so often miss in the haze of the slime and sleaze that politics imparts. My submission to those who use phrases such as "feel-good" and "India Shining" is first visit Jamshedpur to understand what it all means. See Tata Steel in action to know what companies can do if they wish to. And what corporate India needs to do. Murli Manohar Joshi would be better off seeing what Tata Steel has done by creating the Xavier Institute of Tribal Education rather than by proffering excuses for the imbroglio in the IIMs. This is where the Advanis and Vajpayees need to pay homage. Not to all the Sai Babas and the Hugging saints that they are so busy with. India is changing inspite of them and they need to realise that. I couldn't hav e spent a more humane and wonderful weekend.

Jamshedpur is an eye-opener and a role model, which should be made mandatory for replication. I saw corporate India actually participate in basic nation-building, for when these tribal girls go back to their villages, they will return with knowledge that will truly be life-altering.Corporate India can do it but most of the time is willing to shy away. For those corporate leaders who are happier winning awards and being interviewed on their choice of clothes, my advise is visit Tata Steel, spend some days at Jamshedpur and see a nation's transformation. That is true service and true nationalism. Tata Steel will celebrate 100 years of existence in 2007. It won't be just a milestone in this company's history. It will be a milestone, to my mind of corporate transparency and generosity in this country. It is indeed fitting that Ratan Tata today heads a group which has people who are committed to nation-building than just building inflluence and power. JRD must be smiling wherever he is. And so must Jamsetji Nusserwanji. These people today, have literally climbed every last blue mountain. And continue to do so with vigour and passion. Thank god for the Tatas!

Analogy Between a Marathon and Business

Hi! Came across this interesting piece written down by our Head of Retail Banking and felt that it should be shared with people across the globe.


Find a purpose. Purpose can be a sense of achievemen or a cause. Without it you will flag off when it gets tougher. At ICICI bank, we can change India’s economic destiny. It motivates me one helluva lot.

Commit. The kalpana strategy. Wanna know the secret of Kalpana’s success? She tells everyone her next goal. I did it this time by broadcasting to all of you. Youll be surprised how much it puts pressure to deliver. Announce your business targets to your friends, your peers. Ambitious ones, not what you can reach. Watch the fun.

The other thing experts tell you while preparing.. cross train with swimming, strength training and so on. Our parallel at work, cross train by reading books, subscribing to libraries, networking..

Efficiency improves with partnership. With a partner, chances are you’ll pull along longer. I lost my training partner early on to the crowd, and paid very dearly for it. (For those of you who are not married.. get married soon.. you will last (live) longer?)

Music makes running easier. It gives you rhythm, and makes you forget the tiredness. So with work. Find the music of your work life. Something that will kinda intoxicate you; and give you the zing at work. A high all the time. Could be a great peer network.. could be continous learning.. think.. ideas welcome.

I realized that if you take a break of say 5 minutes… its very difficult to command the body to run again. You may keep your cool, but don’t let the body cool down. Restarting a cooled engine is very tough as fatigue starts setting in. The body desperately hangs on to new found comfort. Then it dosen’t stretch. Then atrophies and exits the race. We saw this happening to many around us during the race. In a busy world where only the fittest and fastest survive, ICICI just cannot afford to cool down. Weve got to keep it warm, running and buzzing all the time.

At times when the run is long and tiring, particularly at lonely stretches, .. your body says enough is enough, I’m out of fuel… lets call it off. Your ankles and knees, quite rationally, say I’m inflamed….lets try this another day. The mind thinks otherwise. Depends on who overrules whom.

People think of the marathon as an individual sport. Towards the fag end of the race, I noticed that if I stopped, people around me tended to stop. If I ran past someone, they tended to start again. At work, keep running for the team sake. The ICICI team is running the marathon right now. If you slow down, you will get colleagues around you to slow. Keep your chin up ad keep going. (Attitudes are caught; not taught : Elwood Chapman)

Stretch. If you cant run, run 7. If you think you can run 7, run 21. If you think you can are prepared for 21, run 42. And if you think you can run 42 in 6 hours, run it in 4. Its no great deal attempting what you can do. Sounds familiar at icici anyway? I can hear hiccups at Mr. Kamath’s office.. "raising the bar" has been patented there already….

A quote that motivated me:
"It’s the attitude that puts the cat in the kitten, and the stretch that puts the tiger in the cat."