Beat It!

This is a picture that I clicked with my HTC Viva on a busy Bangalore road. What you see in the picture is when this rider just about avoided falling down and hitting another car on the road. This was right after a crossing and there was a policeman standing 100 meters to the left of this picture (for the uninitiated Viva is a cell phone hence I could not zoom in or out to the desired level) and was least bothered by the hazard this foolhardy motorcyclist posed to people on the road. This was a great example of the 'Its OK' attitude that you see around all the time. Can you beat it!

This also reminded me of some good talent discussions that I have had in my experience. Leaders make heroes of their people who in their minds carry the load of the team, a lot of times without realizing how these heroes are causing all kinds of accidents (poor decisions) in their teams because they want to carry the entire load with just one of their trusted lieutenants. (see the brave heart sitting on the pillion on this motorcycle)

In my mind it is your responsibility to avoid such situations in the organization,

- make sure that you do not have team members who are driving a personal agenda, all decisions need to be taken with the bigger picture in mind
- You will never be able to grow your talent unless you are ready to give them an opportunity to make mistakes
- You need to worry about the how part of the results and not only the end result
- You must make sure that the results have not caused any 'damage' to the team on the way

I hope the man reached safely to his destination and also allowed others to reach theirs! Please do not try this on the road or in your teams.

Amazing Truth!

An amazing story of what one person can do to change the world. We all get entangled in making a BIG change to the world one fine day and a lot of time that day arrives in our life when we ourselves do not have energy or enthusiasm (post retirement). This is a great story of one person who is making efforts make things right in his own small world!

Suvendu Roy of Titan Industries shares his inspirational encounter with a rickshaw driver in Mumbai: Last Sunday, my wife, kid, and I had to travel to Andheri from Bandra. When I waved at a passing auto rickshaw, little did I expect that this ride would be any different. As we set off, my eyes fell on a few magazines (kept in an aircraft style pouch) behind the driver's back rest. I looked in front and there was a small TV. The driver had put on the Doordarshan channel. My wife and I looked at each other with disbelief and amusement. In front of me was a small first-aid box with cotton, dettol and some medicines. This was enough for me to realise that I was in a special vehicle. Then I looked round again, and discovered more - there was a radio, fire extinguisher, wall clock, calendar, and pictures and symbols of all faiths - from Islam and Christianity to Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. There were also pictures of the heroes of 26/11- Kamte, Salaskar, Karkare and Unnikrishnan. I realised that not only my vehicle, but also my driver was special. I started chatting with him and the initial sense of ridicule and disbelief gradually diminished. I gathered that he had been driving an auto rickshaw for the past 8-9 years; he had lost his job when his employer's plastic company was shut down. He had two school-going children, and he drove from 8 in the morning till 10 at night. No break unless he was unwell. We realised that we had come across a man who represents Mumbai – the spirit of work, the spirit of travel and the spirit of excelling in life. I asked him whether he does anything else as I figured that he did not have too much spare time. He said that he goes to an old age home for women in Andheri once a week or whenever he has some extra income, where he donates tooth brushes, toothpastes, soap, hair oil, and other items of daily use. He pointed out to a painted message below the meter that read: "25 per cent discount on metered fare for the handicapped. Free rides for blind passengers up to Rs. 50.” My wife and I were struck with awe. The man was a HERO! A hero who deserves all our respect. Our journey came to an end; 45 minutes of a lesson in humility, selflessness, and of a hero-worshipping Mumbai, my temporary home. We disembarked, and all I could do was to pay him a tip that would hardly cover a free ride for a blind man. I hope, one day, you too have a chance to meet Mr Sandeep Bachhe in his auto rickshaw: MH-02-Z-8508.

"I think it's a real education," says Mr. Welch

'Real education' and that is what we need to make a big difference to our growing economy in India. As a nation we are churning out hundreds and thousands of engineers and graduates but how many of them are employable? There is a wide divide between getting education and real education and efforts like the Jack Welch MBA The Jack Welch MBA Coming to Web - WSJ.com will help attract a lot of attention to making education relevant and affordable.

The newly formed government in India seems to be brimming with confidence to bring about a change on several fronts,

- The proposed changes in the education system
- Promise to add more Nandan Nilekani's to the Govt. machinery
- The infrastructure projects and the other welfare schemes announced

What remains to be seen is, how does the govt. plan to plug the huge deficit? Fingers crossed!

Womens T20 World Cup and Perceptions

We were preparing for an strategy session and asked for Hot Topics from the team, and one of the most passionately discussed topic was on Perception! There was a section of the team that believed leaders pay a lot of attention to perceptions and not so much to real performance. What has that got to do with Womens T20 World cup? A lots, as I was watching the match yesterday and really appreciating the game, my 2 boys walked in and commented..."girls playing cricket!", "change the channel it is so funny to watch girls play cricket." Now they are 7 and 9 years old and I was amazed at how they think . This to me is the reflection of what gets discussed in their classes, with their friends and simply how perceptions get built. A connected point to this is the entire effort to drive diversity(also interpreted as women) in India, if we do not make a concerted effort to change the perception across all ages we won't get be a great nation.
Hip, Hip, Hurray for the T20 womens team (specially Anjum Chopra who played some awesome strokes), even though they lost the game, they played a fantastic game.

Speaking Up Helps!

It was a nice experience today to get a revert on a suggestion sent to Cleartrip.com (A travel portal I am a big fan of). I needed to book a ticket early in the morning and I tried their 'Toll Free' number, no one answered the 5 phone calls that I made, it just rang, rang and rang. And disconnected. Well I was upset and tried a new portal that advertised in the paper today and it was the same experience. So I logged on to the net and booked my ticket on Cleartrip, very reluctantly I send feedback to them about my experience and told them that they almost lost me as a customer (thanks to lousy competition). And voila, I received an email from their customer service team in about 2 hours, apologizing and confirming that they have taken steps to rectify the problem. That was just amazing responsiveness. 

I am not surprised that they are growing each day. One of the key attributes of any professional service firm is responsiveness, whether the solution is given immediately or after a definite time period we need to get back in time with an answer. Even 'No' or 'Not possible now' is an answer that customers expect. I wish all service providers learn a thing from these folks!

Mumbai Blasts - Time to Reflect!

The past 4 days have been the most horrific. While I am not naming any country to be responsible, any country or its people cannot live with so much of hatred without succumbing to it in the long term.

I feel this event has left a deep scar on every Indian, we all should stand together and pray for the families of people who have lost their lives and livelihood.

As I sat through these days, glued to the TV scanning through newspapers, a thought occurred to me on How momentary our lives are!. Some things ought to change for all of us, at least for me. I will

1. Smile more
2. Spend (quality) time with family
3. Connect with friends and loved ones
4. Reach out and help, as much as possible and as far as I can reach
5. Thank God for all the good things in life

I am sure we do not have time for anger, ego and hatred!

All Things Workplace: The Language of Leadership and Influence

We all love to play to 'Good Boy' in any situation. The fine line that differentiates leaders from managers is the stance that you take on topics of importance. While it is foolhardy to stick to ones opinion at all times, but we must have the courage to stick to our convictions. My personal credo on this has been ----

'Don't let go too soon, but don't hang in for too long'

Steve illustrates this with great simplicity in his article.

I wish all of you are able to draw a 'Straight Line'!

All Things Workplace: The Language of Leadership and Influence