Can your children inspire you?

It was eleven years ago, I turned 43. It was my birthday but it was not a happy one. I was depressed and thinking of ways to end my life.

Our family owned organisation was in dire straits. We were in the midst of a terrible economic recession. I was struggling to maintain my sanity and preserve the outstanding image that we had painstakingly built up. There was no money left in the bank and creditors were hounding us. I regretted so many things, the huge debt we had accumulated to fund our aggressive growth to triple our capacity. The craze to be a global leader in our industry by 2010 etc.

To make matters worse our family structure had developed deep and irreparable fissures on the issues relating to how best to resolve the crisis. Completely polarised into different sub groups our world was crashing around us.

Normally happy and optimistic, I felt I was at the nadir of my life.
Of course when you head an organisation you can't just take off. Everyone aspires to get to the top and that is not a bad thing if you enjoy your work. At such times the responsibility that you shoulder is a thousand fold greater than the privileges you enjoy. So there I sat with my head in my hands on the dining table while my food remained untouched.

Then in walked my two sons from their tuitions. They greeted me, wished me happy birthday and gave me birthday cards that they had prepared. The cards were very amateurish, but the words were precious beyond any description.

Pavit wrote;
"All my friends say, that when they were little and didn't know any better, they all thought their fathers were Supermen, but as they grew up they realised that their dad were not Supermen but just men".
"I too, when I was little, thought my dad was a Superman, but now that I have turned 16 and am better informed, I still believe that my dad is a Superman. Happy Birthday".

I hugged my sons and wept. I realised that while we were teaching our children all about life, they were teaching us what life is all about.

I then recalled my wise Uncle’s words “Worries and regret never solve anything, they do not rob tomorrow of its sorrow, they merely sap today of its strength”.

This seemingly insignificant birthday card from my sons, was a powerful inspiration. An inspiration that motivates me even today.

A Cup of Coffee

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor.

Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other's cups.

Now if life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

Enjoy the quality of life which is the coffee. Don't let the cups drive you.

I wish to acknowledge with thanks the contribution of this article to my happy and successful friend  Anoop Desai.

Marketing Concepts explained

A professor was explaining marketing concepts to the students:-

1. You see an attractive and intelligent girl at a party. You go up to her and say: "I am very successful. Marry me!" - That's Direct Marketing

2. You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a attractive and intelligent girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says: "He's very successful. Marry him." -That's Advertising

3. You see an attractive and intelligent girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day, you call and say: "Hi, I'm very successful. Marry me." - That's Telemarketing

4. You're at a party and see an attractive and intelligent girl. You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink, you open the door (of the car)for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride and then say : "By the way, I'm successful. Will you marry me?" - That's Public Relations

5. You're at a party and see an attractive and intelligent girl. She walks up to you and says: "You are very successful! Can you marry ! me?" - That's Brand Recognition

6. You see an attractive and intelligent girl at a party. You go up to her and say: "I am very successful. Marry me!" She gives you a nice hard slap on your face. - That's Customer
Feedback

7. You see an attractive and intelligent girl at a party. You go up to her and say: "I am very successful. Marry me!" And she introduces you to her husband. - That's demand and supply gap

8. You see an attractive and intelligent girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say anything, another person comes and tell her:"I'm successful. Will you marry me?" and she goes with him - That's competition eating into your market share

9. You see an attractive and intelligent girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say:"I'm successful, Marry me!" your current date arrives. - That's restriction for entering new markets

Thanks to Mr. Johnson George for sharing this with us.

Why Tata's are worthy of respect.

Why Tata's are worthy of respect.

Based on a chat with HN Srinivasan Senior Executive Vice President, Taj Group of Hotels and reported by Dileep Ranjekar - CEO of Azim Premjee Foundation on terror attack on Taj Hotel Mumbai on 26 Nov 2008

• Stories of Staff Heroics

o Thomas George a captain escorted 54 guests from a backdoor staircase and when he was going down last he was shot by the terrorists
o There were 500 emails from various guests narrating heroics of the staff and thanking them for saving their lives
o In a subsequent function, Ratan Tata broke down in full public view and sobbed saying – “the company belongs to these people”. The wife of Thomas George who laid his life saving others said, she and the kids were proud of the man and that she did not know that for 25 years she lived with a man who was so courageous and brave
o The episode happened on 26th November, a significant part of the hotel was burnt down and destroyed – the hotel was re-opened on 21st December and all the employees of the hotel were paraded in front of the guests
o It was clearly a saga of extra-ordinary heroics by ordinary people for their organisation and in a way for their country. The sense of duty and service was unprecedented
o The young lady who protected and looked after the HLL guests was a management trainee and we often speak of juniority and seniority in the organisation. She had no instructions from any supervisor to do what she did
* She took just 3 minutes to rescue the entire team through the kitchen
* Cars were organised outside the hotel as per seniority of the members
o People who exhibited courage included janitors, waiters, directors, artisans and captains – all level of people


• The Tata Gesture
o All category of employees including those who had completed even 1 day as casuals were treated on duty during the time the hotel was closed
o Relief and assistance to all those who were injured and killed
o The relief and assistance was extended to all those who died at the railway station, surroundings including the “Pav-Bhaji” vendor and the pan shop owners
o During the time the hotel was closed, the salaries were sent my money order
o A psychiatric cell was established in collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences to counsel those who needed such help
o The thoughts and anxieties going on people’s mind was constantly tracked and where needed psychological help provided
o Employee outreach centres were opened where all help, food, water, sanitation, first aid and counselling was provided. 1600 employees were covered by this facility
o Every employee was assigned to one mentor and it was that person’s responsibility to act as a “single window” clearance for any help that the person required
o Ratan Tata personally visited the families of all the 80 employees who in some manner – either through injury or getting killed – were affected.
o The dependents of the employees were flown from outside Mumbai to Mumbai and taken care off in terms of ensuring mental assurance and peace. They were all accommodated in Hotel President for 3 weeks
o Ratan Tata himself asked the families and dependents – as to what they wanted him to do.
o In a record time of 20 days, a new trust was created by the Tatas for the purpose of relief of employees.
o What is unique is that even the other people, the railway employees, the police staff, the pedestrians who had nothing to do with Tatas were covered by compensation. Each one of them was provided subsistence allowance of Rs. 10K per month for all these people for 6 months.
o A 4 year old granddaughter of a vendor got 4 bullets in her and only one was removed in the Government hospital. She was taken to Bombay hospital and several lacs were spent by the Tatas on her to fully recover her
o New hand carts were provided to several vendors who lost their carts
o Tata will take responsibility of life education of 46 children of the victims of the terror
o This was the most trying period in the life of the organisation. Senior managers including Ratan Tata were visiting funeral to funeral over the 3 days that were most horrible
o The settlement for every deceased member ranged from Rs. 36 to 85 lacs in addition to the following benefits:
* Full last salary for life for the family and dependents
* Complete responsibility of education of children and dependents – anywhere in the world
* Full Medical facility for the whole family and dependents for rest of their life
* All loans and advances were waived off – irrespective of the amount
* Counsellor for life for each person


• Epilogue
o How was such passion created among the employees? How and why did they behave the way they did?
o The organisation is clear that it is not something that someone can take credit for. It is not some training and development that created such behaviour. If someone suggests that – everyone laughs
o It has to do with the DNA of the organisation, with the way Tata culture exists and above all with the situation that prevailed that time. The organisation has always been telling that customers and guests are #1 priority
o The hotel business was started by Jamshedji Tata when he was insulted in one of the British hotels and not allowed to stay there.
o He created several institutions which later became icons of progress, culture and modernity. IISc is one such institute. He was told by the rulers that time that he can acquire land for IISc to the extent he could fence the same. He could afford fencing only 400 acres.
o When the HR function hesitatingly made a very rich proposal to Ratan – he said – do you think we are doing enough?
o The whole approach was that the organisation would spend several hundred crore in re-building the property – is not appropriate to spend money on the employees who gave their lives?

Emerging 'isms' of the new economy

Emerging 'isms of the times

INFOSYSism
You have a 1000 poor cows. You put them on a nice campus, & send them one at a time to the US for milking.

WIPROism
GE has a cow. You take 49% of the milk.

SATYAMism
You have a cow. You have its milk. But don't know what to do with it!

DELLism
Intel has a Goat. Samsung has a Camel. Buy milk from both & sell it as Cow's milk.

IBMism
You have old stubborn cows. You sell them as pet dogs to innocent small businessmen.

SUNism
You have a bull. It doesn't give milk. You hate Microsoft.

SAPism
You don't have a cow You sell milking solutions for cows implemented by milking consultants.

APPLEism
You have a cow. You sell iMilk.

CITIBANKism
Welcome to Citibank. If you have a cow, press 1. If you have a bull, press 2...stay on line if you'd like our customer care to milk it for you.


HPism
You don't know if what you have is a cow. You sell complete milking solutions through authorised resellers only.

GEism
You have a donkey. People think you have a 100-year old cow. If someone finds out, that's his imagination at work

RELIANCEism
You don't yet have a cow. You sell empty cans to people for Rs. 501, because Dhirubhai wanted everyone to have milk.

TATAism
You have a very old cow. You re-brand it as TATA Indicow.


Thanks to my friend Akshay Chaturvedi who sent me this

Mr. Khushwant Singh's 8 clues for happiness.

Khushwant Singh an intellectual, writer, historian, and a man for all seasons is one of India's most wellknown authors. Serious and yet extremely witty, love him or hate him, you just cannot ignore him.

A friend sent me this in the mail I wish to share it with you.

EIGHT CLUES TO HAPPINESS by- KHUSHWANT SINGH

Having lived a reasonably contented life, I was musing over what a person should strive for to achieve happiness. I drew up a list of a few essentials which I put forward for the readers'appraisal.

1. First and foremost is GOOD HEALTH. If you do not enjoy good health you can never be happy. Any ailment, however trivial, will deduct from your happiness.

2. Second, a HEALTHY BANK BALANCE. It need not run into crores for rupees or millions of dollars but should be enough to provide for creature comforts and something to spare for recreation, like eating out, going to the pictures, travelling or going on holidays on the hills or by the sea. Shortage of money can be only demoralizing. Living on credit or borrowing is demeaning and lowers one in one's own eyes.

3. Third, a HOME OF YOUR OWN. Rented premises can never give you the snug feeling of a nest which is yours for keeps that a home provides: if it has a garden space, all the better. Plant your own trees and flowers, see them grow and blossom, cultivate a sense of kinship with them.

4. Fourth, an UNDERSTANDING COMPANION, be it your spouse or a friend. If there are too many misunderstandings, they will rob you of your peace of mind. It is better to be divorced than to bicker all the time.

5. Fifth, LACK OF ENVY towards those who have done better than you in life; risen higher, made more money, or earned more fame. Envy can be very corroding; avoid comparing yourself with others.

6. Sixth, DO NOT ALLOW OTHER PEOPLE to descend on you for gup-shup (chit-chat). By the time you get rid of them, you will feel exhausted and poisoned by their gossip-mongering.

7. Seventh, CULTIVATE SOME HOBBIES which can bring you a sense of fulfilment, such as gardening, reading, writing, painting, playing or listening to music. Going to clubs or parties to get free drinks or to meet celebrities is criminal waste of time.

8. Eighth, every morning and evening, devote 15 minutes to INTROSPECTION. In the morning, 10 minutes should be spent on stilling the mind and then five in listing things you have to do that day. In the evening, five minutes to still the mind again, and ten to go over what you had undertaken to do.


Nathaniel Cotton (1721-1788) summed up my views on the subject in one verse:

If solid happiness we prize
Within our breast this jewel lies
and they are fools who roam
The world has nothing to bestow
From our own selves our joys must flow
And that dear hut, our home.


I am grateful to my friend Shashidhar Shenoy for sharing this with us

When should the boss be demoted?

Every once in a while a person has to be away from work temproarily or even leaves the organisation for good. Normally planned and enough notice period is given when people go on vaccation, reisgn or are sacked, it is not always possible to have a replacement available or in the required time time. This results in a sudden shortage of peoople to do the job.

Many organisations resort to asking a junior to fill in for the position temproarily " until further notice".

Most junior people are happy to perform at a higher positional levels within an organisation even if temproarily, believing they are making progress and are rising in the heirarchy and readily agree to the new position. The additional authority can also be very exciting.

It is appropriate that organisations review this practice.
With additional authority also comes additional responsibility. Often people are not yet ready for that additional responsibility and falter if not fail. This is neither good for the individual nor the organisation.

How often have you faced the situation where everything goes for a toss because the person handling critical matters is not available and all hell breaks loose?

Here is a guidleine I found very effective.

If the temporarily vacant position involved;
1. When dealing only with internal elements,and routine work i.e. people and functions within the organisation like operations, then it is normally appropriate that a subordinate team member fill in the position left vacant temporarily until a replacement was found.

2. When dealing with external elements such as customers, suppliers, government regulators, or third party agencies then it is essential that the superior team member fill in the vacancy. This infact means that the boss is temproarily demoted to handle both his or her own responsibilities and that of their junior. This is also applicable when dealing with the critical functions of design, development, purchasing, finance etc.

Sometimes the arrangement that worked best is to assign responsibility to the senior colleague and also ask the junior to assist him. This way the junior gets exposure and the senior and junior both are not extremely overloaded.

This had worked well for us.

Farewell letter from a master

FAREWELL LETTER FROM A MASTER


The poem which is a remarkable farewell letter to friends incorrectly attributed to Gabriel Garcia Marquez makes fascinating food for thought.


"If God, for a second, forgot what I have become and granted me a little bit more of life, I would use it to the best of my ability.

I wouldn't, possibly, say everything that is in my mind, but I would be more thoughtful of all I say. I would give merit to things not for what they are worth, but for what they mean to express.

I would sleep little, I would dream more, because I know that for every minute that we close our eyes, we waste 60 seconds of light.

I would walk while others stop; I would awake while others sleep.

If God would give me a little bit more of life, I would dress in a simple manner, I would place myself in front of the sun, leaving not only my body, but my soul naked at its mercy.

To all men, I would say how mistaken they are when they think that they stop falling in love when they grow old, without knowing that they grow old when they stop falling in love.

I would give wings to children, but I would leave it to them to learn how to fly by themselves.

To old people I would say that death doesn't arrive when they grow old, but with forgetfulness.

I have learned so much with you all, I have learned that everybody wants to live on top of the mountain, without knowing that true happiness is obtained in the journey taken & the form used to reach the top of the hill.

I have learned that when a newborn baby holds, with its little hand, his father's finger, it has trapped him for the rest of his life.

I have learned that a man has the right and obligation to look down at another man, only when that man needs help to get up from the ground.

Say always what you feel, not what you think. If I knew that today is the last time that that I am going to see you asleep, I would hug you with all my strength and I would pray to the Lord to let me be the guardian angel of your soul.

If I knew that these are the last moments to see you, I would say 'I love you'.

There is always tomorrow, and life gives us another opportunity to do things right, but in case I am wrong, and today is all that is left to me, I would love to tell you how much I love you and that I will never forget you.

Tomorrow is never guaranteed to anyone, young or old.

Today could be the last time to see your loved ones, which is why you mustn't wait; do it today, in case tomorrow never arrives. I am sure you will be sorry you wasted the opportunity today to give a smile, a hug, a kiss, and that you were too busy to grant them their last wish.

Keep your loved ones near you; tell them in their ears and to their faces how much you need them and love them. Love them and treat them well; take your time to tell them 'I am sorry';' forgive me',' please' 'thank you', and all those loving words you know.

Nobody will know you for your secret thought. Ask the Lord for wisdom and strength to express them.

Show your friends and loved ones how important they are to you.

Say and do what you must today itself ...tomorrow will be like yesterday, and if you never do it, it doesn't matter either, the moment to do it is now.

For you,
With much love,
Your Friend,"



Note: In 2000, the impending death of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, (famous writer from Colombia, and Nobel Peace Prize winner for literature) was incorrectly reported by Peruvian daily newspaper La República. The next day other newspapers republished his alleged farewell poem, but shortly afterwards García Márquez denied being the author of the poem.

Warren Buffet's advice for the new year

Warren Buffet's advice for the new year

Warren Buffett, an American a philanthropist and one of the most successful investors in history, had this advice to offer for the new year.

We begin this New Year with dampened enthusiasm and dented optimism. Our happiness is diluted and our peace is threatened by the financial illness that has infected our families, organizations and nations. Everyone is desperate to find a remedy that will cure their financial illness and help them recover their financial health. They expect the financial experts to provide them with remedies, forgetting the fact that it is these experts who created this financial mess.

Every new year, I adopt a couple of old maxims as my beacons to guide my future. This self-prescribed therapy has ensured that with each passing year, I grow wiser and not older. This year, I invite you to tap into the financial wisdom of our elders along with me, and become financially wiser.


Hard work: All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Laziness: A sleeping lobster is carried away by the water current.
Earnings: Never depend on a single source of income.[At least make your Investments get you second earning]
Spending: If you buy things you don't need, you'll soon sell things you need.
Savings: Don't save what is left after spending; spend what is left after saving.
Borrowings: The borrower becomes the lender's slave.
Accounting: It's no use carrying an umbrella, if your shoes are leaking.
Auditing: Beware of little expenses; A small leak can sink a large ship.
Risk-taking: Never test the depth of the river with both feet. [Have an alternate plan ready]
Investment: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

I'm certain that those who have already been practicing these principles remain financially healthy. I'm equally confident that those who resolve to start practicing these principles will quickly regain their financial health.

Let us become wiser and lead a happy, healthy, prosperous and peaceful life.

Managerial phobia for appraisals & wage hikes 01

Ask any manager in most organisations which time of the year is the worst for them?
Managers dread appraisal time (if they have them) and the time to give promotions and wage increases.

In growing economies and organisations wage increases are more common than in mature and declining ones. Whether growing or declining nearly all organisations often cannot afford to increase their wage bills due to the existing pressure on their bottom lines but are helpless to resist increases because they face the risk of good employees leaving.

What are the causes of anxiety?
1. Managers are under constant and intense pressure from their boards to reduce costs. Managers are forced to go after the most visible factor like reducing wages and salaries.
2. Budgets are tightened and expectations on quality, time and productivity are ratcheted upwards.
3. Employees expect increases in income to meet consistently rising cost of living.
4. Employees carry grudges on perceived injustice of management.


People are more concerned with what others get relative to what they have got and discontent is rampant. Any attempt to correct the situation only makes matters worse. At the end of a couple of months everyone settles down , some carry a chip on their shoulder and leave, some smart over the perceived injustice and managers take medicines for migraine.

This can all be avoided if wage hikes and promotions are implemented after conducting a thorough appraisal of performance, but sadly this is either not done or if conducted is only as a formality or to pre-empt any potential litigation.

Come appraisal time each year and managers and owners are normally in a state of heightened anxiety. Here are some common issues why they hate appraisal time.


Issue no 1: You can't review if you have no plan.
Surprisingly a large number of organisations do not have any structured plans on what they want to achieve and how they plan to achieve it. Sure they have large number of minions, assistants and staff who jump here and there trying to retain their daily ever changing tasks & responsibilities without upsetting their seniors. This is most typical of the reactive organisation which is clueless of strategy, direction or pace. Appraisals conducted in the absence of mutually agreed targets and plans is a waste of time and cause of unwanted tension in organisations.

Issue no 2: Appraisals focus on behaviour than performance.
Human beings love power and influence over their fellow men. This craving for domination leads seniors to bully juniors and pre-empt any discussion on role of seniors for lack of support or direction. Behaviour with seniors is a major

Issue no 3: Managers have little idea on corrective action and vent their frustration making performance of employees and juniors worse. They are sometimes struggling to connect the dots which actually give the picture of how different actions, plans and systems integrate to provide results.

An appraisal should be a review of performance of the individual against targets and plans which are a smaller part of the larger organisation target and plan.
It is supposed to provide feedback on weaknesses and strengths of the individuals, strengths and weaknesses in the immediate superior and the organisation. This should lead to improvements and corrections regarding responsibilities and targets of the individual, standards and system changes necessary within the organisation and changes the boss/appraiser should make in his approach to the issues involved.
After all problems create opportunities for improvement.

If problems exist within the system they need to be addressed and if problems exist with the individual then an assessment has to be made whether the person being appraised is competent, effective sincere and has been focussed. If competency is an issue then training needs are highlighted. If effectiveness is the issue then support in terms of authority , systems, guidelines may need to be reinforced. If sincerity is an issue then serious consideration should be given to separation of individual from the organisation. Focus may be the result of personal problems and may require counselling and big brother/sister approach may be required.

Sadly many organisations treat appraisals as a waste of time and hence miss the opportunity to improve. A well designed appraisal system is essential to build world class organisations where merit is recognised and rewarded and problems /issues promptly resolved based on respect , trust and commitment.

I will take up matter of appraisal systems further in future blog posts.