It has been a truly hectic week. After the lecturing schedule at GITAM, I reached Chennai on 18th Morning. Thereafter my schedule was tight with Construction related work and handling sessions at the General Management and Communication Skills Programme for fresh Chartered Accountants.
On 19th I have again started on my journeys! I flew By Kingfisher Red to Hyderabad where on 20th I conducted a programme on Reading, Interpretation, and Analysis of Balance Sheet for Boosting Profits. I really enjoyed the interactions with the executives who attended this workshop at Hotel the Golconda, Masabtank. Then I rushed to Shamsabad Airport where I boarded Kingfisher to Bangalore. I landed at Bangalore Devenahalli airport at 10:15 PM. I then left by Bolero to Hosur. Reched Hosur at 12:30 AM. Today I conducted a Programme on Financial Awareness for the senior executives of “Premier Mills” Belathur.
I am now at the Company guest house typing this Blog!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Beaching and Teaching at Visakhapatnam
I was back at the GITAM University campus, Visakhapatnam between 13th and 17th December. It was pleasant to visit their splendid campus again. This is a sprawling 100 Acre facility, which houses nearly fifteen educational institutions including an Engineering college, a Dental College, two Institutes of Management, a Pharmacy college Undergraduate classes, polytechnics…you name it!
GITAM Institute of International Business where I was conducting lectures is one of these institutions. The campus has access from both the Eastern or seaward side as well as the western side. The road that connects these two gates is the main arterial road or backbone. The various colleges are situated along the ribs that extend from this medulla oblongata! Near the eastern gate is a massive playground. A majestic hill overlooks this green meadow. Every conceivable sport or game is played here by the students. The UG and PG hostels are around this playground. I was put up at Santi Sadan the PG hostel.
My typical day at GITAM was spent like this:
Mornings were at six. A brisk walk to the beach with Mr. Giridhar a second year student. I became friends with Giri through Dr. Dumblekhar, another visiting faculty. During my last visit, Dr. Dumblekar had suggested that we go for a walk on the beach. So almost every morning was spent “Beaching and Teaching” as Dr. Dumblekhar calls it! Dr. Dumblekhar is an expert in designing and delivering Management Games. He has an elaborate software that he uses to run these games at B School Management Meets.
After a quick bath, shave etc., I lectured from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM and then from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. During the intervening free time I used to sit in the committee room handling my office through the net and my mobile. My office is wherever I am! Physical space is slowly becoming meaningless for running your business. Please not that I said “running” not delivering your product. In service industry physical meetings with clients is how we deliver our product. I think we should all concentrate on Customer and Client interaction more than on intra office interaction. Most issues (say 75%) can be resolved over mobile or E Mail.
Evenings were spent working on my research papers, book etc. with a brief stroll round the campus after a visit to the Narthans Ganapathy shrine.
On Sunday I visited Kailash Giri a reasonably high mount overlooking the Bay of Bengal! Giri was kind enough to take me there on his Pulsar! The ride on the winding Beach Road was invigorating. There is a ropeway that takes you to the hill top which is a flat plateau. The main attraction are huge statues of Siva and Parvathi. Beyond that is a park and a small shrine with a Siva Lingam.
The entire gamut of tourist attractions of Visakhapatnam is on the Beach Road. Beginning with Beemili Beach, and Rushikonda Beach we pass through the zoological park, Kenneti Park, and Kailashgiri.
A short distance away is VUDA park with Selveeland a water theme park adjacent to it. Beach Road then widens at RK Beach with a nice Promenade and beach with the customary Gandhi statue depicting the Father of Over Nation walking swiftly with a stick in hand. The crow on his head is also a standard feature not to mention the bird droppings which are complimentary!
I also had the opportunity to visit the 150 year old Waltair Club (Waltair is the anglicized name for Visakhapatnam). The bar at the club is called 1883 to commemorate the year of its inauguration!
As Giri had some urgent work at college we rushed back. The ride back was exquisitely exhilarating as we speeded along the smooth road winding its way along the beach front. On our right the slapping of the waves on the pale white shore; on our left the series of small hillocks that line the seashore. Above us the dark canopy of heavens with the stars shining down and the golden disc of the almost full moon shining in the far eastern horizon.
GITAM Institute of International Business where I was conducting lectures is one of these institutions. The campus has access from both the Eastern or seaward side as well as the western side. The road that connects these two gates is the main arterial road or backbone. The various colleges are situated along the ribs that extend from this medulla oblongata! Near the eastern gate is a massive playground. A majestic hill overlooks this green meadow. Every conceivable sport or game is played here by the students. The UG and PG hostels are around this playground. I was put up at Santi Sadan the PG hostel.
My typical day at GITAM was spent like this:
Mornings were at six. A brisk walk to the beach with Mr. Giridhar a second year student. I became friends with Giri through Dr. Dumblekhar, another visiting faculty. During my last visit, Dr. Dumblekar had suggested that we go for a walk on the beach. So almost every morning was spent “Beaching and Teaching” as Dr. Dumblekhar calls it! Dr. Dumblekhar is an expert in designing and delivering Management Games. He has an elaborate software that he uses to run these games at B School Management Meets.
After a quick bath, shave etc., I lectured from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM and then from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. During the intervening free time I used to sit in the committee room handling my office through the net and my mobile. My office is wherever I am! Physical space is slowly becoming meaningless for running your business. Please not that I said “running” not delivering your product. In service industry physical meetings with clients is how we deliver our product. I think we should all concentrate on Customer and Client interaction more than on intra office interaction. Most issues (say 75%) can be resolved over mobile or E Mail.
Evenings were spent working on my research papers, book etc. with a brief stroll round the campus after a visit to the Narthans Ganapathy shrine.
On Sunday I visited Kailash Giri a reasonably high mount overlooking the Bay of Bengal! Giri was kind enough to take me there on his Pulsar! The ride on the winding Beach Road was invigorating. There is a ropeway that takes you to the hill top which is a flat plateau. The main attraction are huge statues of Siva and Parvathi. Beyond that is a park and a small shrine with a Siva Lingam.
The entire gamut of tourist attractions of Visakhapatnam is on the Beach Road. Beginning with Beemili Beach, and Rushikonda Beach we pass through the zoological park, Kenneti Park, and Kailashgiri.
A short distance away is VUDA park with Selveeland a water theme park adjacent to it. Beach Road then widens at RK Beach with a nice Promenade and beach with the customary Gandhi statue depicting the Father of Over Nation walking swiftly with a stick in hand. The crow on his head is also a standard feature not to mention the bird droppings which are complimentary!
I also had the opportunity to visit the 150 year old Waltair Club (Waltair is the anglicized name for Visakhapatnam). The bar at the club is called 1883 to commemorate the year of its inauguration!
As Giri had some urgent work at college we rushed back. The ride back was exquisitely exhilarating as we speeded along the smooth road winding its way along the beach front. On our right the slapping of the waves on the pale white shore; on our left the series of small hillocks that line the seashore. Above us the dark canopy of heavens with the stars shining down and the golden disc of the almost full moon shining in the far eastern horizon.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Communication Skills - Coimbatore
Conducted Communication Skills programme at Hotel The REsidency, Coimbatore. The programme was well received. A point I made was that people are like diamonds. Like diamonds, people have three Cs. The three Cs in diamondare Carat, Clarity and Cut. Carat Competence, Clarity is Character. These are to be verified before hiring. But Cut is the Conversion of the raw uncut stone into a sparkling muti-faceted and brilliant stone that is an adornment!
It is this area that managers need to be particularly attentive. We have it in us to either carefully chisel a person or to rudely smash him. Our tools are words. Good evaluations that praise and then offer suggestions for improvement are like chisels that polish and finish the stone. Rude and excessively negative criticism is like a hammer thst breaks.
Are we skilled diamantaries, or are we unskilled and rude workers who smash and destroy. The choice as usual is with us. The choice is in the words we us!
Another crucial skill that we miss out on is the need to use Pleasing words! This is especially so when we give feedback to our colleagues, spouse, children and others. While giving negative feedback or describing shortcomings, we prefer to use blunt and sometimes harsh words which could be counterproductive! Our immediate justification is that by being blunt, we are actually benefitting the other person. Yes, flattery and euphemism would definitely get us nowhere. But, should we choose harsh words when pleasing words are available? Thiruvalluvar gives the analogy of a fruit tree. You behold a fruit tree with both luscious ripe fruit as well as bitter unripe ones. Tell me, which one would you choose? What an idiotic question, right? The ripe ones, obviously! Then why is it not equally obvious that when we have a choice of using harsh words or pleasing words, we invariably choose the former?
Here is the relevant Kural:
“Behold the man who uses harsh words when sweet ones are at hand; he prefers the unripe fruit to the ripe! (10:10)”
Most of us see the use of Pleasing words as a weakness. It is not necessarily so. Loud voices need not be strong. A soft voice may hide extraordinary strength of purpose. Think of a material that is both soft and tough. Yes! The answer is silk! Silk is arguably the softest material to ouch! But, try to break a single strand of silk with your bare hands; the chances are that you will cut your fingers! Polite yet firm is the secret of effective communication. Shouting and abusing will instill fear, no doubt, but only in the way a donkey is afraid of its master. But a soft yet firm voice would ensure that the other person understands the position clearly and is still not hurt by the words.
In conclusion, Effective Communication is a tool for Collaboration and is one of the key ingredients of great managerial performance! Let’s be like Silk, soft yet strong!
Here is the relevant Kural:
“Behold the man who uses harsh words when sweet ones are at hand; he prefers the unripe fruit to the ripe! (10:10)”
Most of us see the use of Pleasing words as a weakness. It is not necessarily so. Loud voices need not be strong. A soft voice may hide extraordinary strength of purpose. Think of a material that is both soft and tough. Yes! The answer is silk! Silk is arguably the softest material to ouch! But, try to break a single strand of silk with your bare hands; the chances are that you will cut your fingers! Polite yet firm is the secret of effective communication. Shouting and abusing will instill fear, no doubt, but only in the way a donkey is afraid of its master. But a soft yet firm voice would ensure that the other person understands the position clearly and is still not hurt by the words.
In conclusion, Effective Communication is a tool for Collaboration and is one of the key ingredients of great managerial performance! Let’s be like Silk, soft yet strong!
Listening to Nirmal, founder of Exnora
I had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Nirmal, the founder of Exnora at SMOT campus on 10th December. He has a powerful and passionate style that belies his age, 65 years!
He spoke about many things in his inimitable rapid fire delivery.
I liked his comment about good, bad and mad government officers. The good one takes your money and does what he has promised. The bad one takes your money and fails to deliver on his promise! The mad ones… they do their duty and don’t take a bribe!
Nirmal has coined many new words including Innovention, which is a combination of innovation and Invention!
He also spoke about the 6 Hs of serving people – Help, Heart, Head, Hand, Humanity and Happiness!
He says extravagance is the enemy of the home! He says that he will not make installments make him an insolvent!
He explained how his efforts in cleaning up the street where he lived led to his forming a world famous civic rights protection organization.
He spoke about many things in his inimitable rapid fire delivery.
I liked his comment about good, bad and mad government officers. The good one takes your money and does what he has promised. The bad one takes your money and fails to deliver on his promise! The mad ones… they do their duty and don’t take a bribe!
Nirmal has coined many new words including Innovention, which is a combination of innovation and Invention!
He also spoke about the 6 Hs of serving people – Help, Heart, Head, Hand, Humanity and Happiness!
He says extravagance is the enemy of the home! He says that he will not make installments make him an insolvent!
He explained how his efforts in cleaning up the street where he lived led to his forming a world famous civic rights protection organization.
We really need Positive Thinking Now!
The young camel asked its mother, ‘Mom, why are our hooves so soft?’
The mother replied, ‘Sonny, so that we can run fast in the shifting sands of the desert.’
The young fellow was not satisfied, ‘Mom, why do we have a huge hump on our back/’
‘So that we will never go thirsty in the hot and arid desert,’ the mother responded patiently.
‘Why are we shaped in this peculiar way?’ queried the youngster.
Mom decided to give a conclusive reply. So she said, ‘We have been designed by God in such a way that we are most suited for living in the desert!’
The young camel then asked, his mother, ‘Mom, if God created us with all the qualities necessary for life in the desert, what are doing in this circus?’
A great story I heard at the inaugural of a Communication Skills Workshop for fresh Chartered Accountants. I was on the dais with Mr. V Murali, a Central Council member of ICAI and Vaz a.k.a Vasudevan, a co-facilitator on the programme. This is Vaz’s story!
I thought I’ll share it.
The story shows how we get locked into situations which are not at all what we were meant to do in life. Our talents and passion could be elsewhere. But we have to lock it all up and join the circus! Whose fault is this?
I keep constantly hearing negative feedback and views on the recession. Students of B Schools are worried about their campus and placement. They keep asking what their chances of getting hired are. They hear feedback like this recession is going to take two years to go away. They become despondent and negative.
When the sensex was nearing the dizzy heights of 20000 points most people barring a few market savvy ones predicted a boom for the next five years. In fact they put their money into the market and ended up ot knowing what hit them when the correction happened. We believed the wild hopes that these ‘well informed’ sources sowed in our midst. Now that this illogical optimism has been proved to be wrong should we not pause to question the right of these people to give us our opinion? Why should we take our thoughts second hand from these talking heads who keep jumping from one reactive comment to the next.
If we are to believe these doomsayers, the whole world is in for a huge downturn. So all of us should stop hiring new talent, and stop building new capacity. I agree in principle to a logical culling or right sizing in organizations. While these efforts need not wait for recession to trigger them, there is nothing wrong in using the general atmosphere of gloom and despair to say goodbye to unproductive and costly man power. The people who will benefit us most when employed by our competitors! (I once gave an appraisal with these words. I said, ‘This person will be great asset for us if he is employed by our competitors. In fact, he is so useless and irresponsible that we should somehow send him with our compliments to our competitors! He will ensure that they lose!)
But indiscriminately sacking people without regard for contribution is, to say the least suicidal. Remember, boom follows a depression, as the night the day! So, somewhere down the line, there is going to be a revival.
Even assuming that a full recovery is two years away, which, in my humble view, is too long, we are talking about a need for skilled, talented and trained people in hardly 24 months. Remember, the recruiting, inducting and skill-building cycle will take eighteen months. So if you need your plug and play managers by April 2010, you need to start hiring 2008!
The same will hold true for CAPEX too! You can’t have capacity just by snapping your fingers!
Why are IT and BPO companies sacking? Because they are people intensive and whether we like it all not they have to be flexible in hiring when faced with a possible sharp decline in order booking. Moreover the skill sets they need can be provided in a short duration. In fact by the time IT industry starts hiring again, the knowledge base of the IT industry would have changed totally! So taking in new recruits would possibly be better than retaining the older guys who may not be willing to learn new tricks.
So remember there is going to be an unasked question in every new selection interview. It is, “Our company is expecting heavy pressures on the bottom line, we are going to be hit by higher costs, power problems, cost overrun… etc., etc., so why should we hire you!’
Your answer should be convincing and positive. Your body language should exude positive energy. We need positive thinking now more than at any other time! We have considered ourselves great positive thinkers! Well, here is our opportunity to practice the virtue we have professed to admire!
The mother replied, ‘Sonny, so that we can run fast in the shifting sands of the desert.’
The young fellow was not satisfied, ‘Mom, why do we have a huge hump on our back/’
‘So that we will never go thirsty in the hot and arid desert,’ the mother responded patiently.
‘Why are we shaped in this peculiar way?’ queried the youngster.
Mom decided to give a conclusive reply. So she said, ‘We have been designed by God in such a way that we are most suited for living in the desert!’
The young camel then asked, his mother, ‘Mom, if God created us with all the qualities necessary for life in the desert, what are doing in this circus?’
A great story I heard at the inaugural of a Communication Skills Workshop for fresh Chartered Accountants. I was on the dais with Mr. V Murali, a Central Council member of ICAI and Vaz a.k.a Vasudevan, a co-facilitator on the programme. This is Vaz’s story!
I thought I’ll share it.
The story shows how we get locked into situations which are not at all what we were meant to do in life. Our talents and passion could be elsewhere. But we have to lock it all up and join the circus! Whose fault is this?
I keep constantly hearing negative feedback and views on the recession. Students of B Schools are worried about their campus and placement. They keep asking what their chances of getting hired are. They hear feedback like this recession is going to take two years to go away. They become despondent and negative.
When the sensex was nearing the dizzy heights of 20000 points most people barring a few market savvy ones predicted a boom for the next five years. In fact they put their money into the market and ended up ot knowing what hit them when the correction happened. We believed the wild hopes that these ‘well informed’ sources sowed in our midst. Now that this illogical optimism has been proved to be wrong should we not pause to question the right of these people to give us our opinion? Why should we take our thoughts second hand from these talking heads who keep jumping from one reactive comment to the next.
If we are to believe these doomsayers, the whole world is in for a huge downturn. So all of us should stop hiring new talent, and stop building new capacity. I agree in principle to a logical culling or right sizing in organizations. While these efforts need not wait for recession to trigger them, there is nothing wrong in using the general atmosphere of gloom and despair to say goodbye to unproductive and costly man power. The people who will benefit us most when employed by our competitors! (I once gave an appraisal with these words. I said, ‘This person will be great asset for us if he is employed by our competitors. In fact, he is so useless and irresponsible that we should somehow send him with our compliments to our competitors! He will ensure that they lose!)
But indiscriminately sacking people without regard for contribution is, to say the least suicidal. Remember, boom follows a depression, as the night the day! So, somewhere down the line, there is going to be a revival.
Even assuming that a full recovery is two years away, which, in my humble view, is too long, we are talking about a need for skilled, talented and trained people in hardly 24 months. Remember, the recruiting, inducting and skill-building cycle will take eighteen months. So if you need your plug and play managers by April 2010, you need to start hiring 2008!
The same will hold true for CAPEX too! You can’t have capacity just by snapping your fingers!
Why are IT and BPO companies sacking? Because they are people intensive and whether we like it all not they have to be flexible in hiring when faced with a possible sharp decline in order booking. Moreover the skill sets they need can be provided in a short duration. In fact by the time IT industry starts hiring again, the knowledge base of the IT industry would have changed totally! So taking in new recruits would possibly be better than retaining the older guys who may not be willing to learn new tricks.
So remember there is going to be an unasked question in every new selection interview. It is, “Our company is expecting heavy pressures on the bottom line, we are going to be hit by higher costs, power problems, cost overrun… etc., etc., so why should we hire you!’
Your answer should be convincing and positive. Your body language should exude positive energy. We need positive thinking now more than at any other time! We have considered ourselves great positive thinkers! Well, here is our opportunity to practice the virtue we have professed to admire!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Master Class for the Institute of Directors
Handled a session on "HR Practices for Business Growth" at the Masterclass for directors at the Radisson Hotel, Chennai. As usual we had a mixture of participants from various disciplines. We had theManaging Director, Mr. Krishnasamy Jeyabal, and Director, Mr. G. N. Nataaraj from Auto Shell Perfect Moulder, a company manufacturing grey cast iron from Coimbatore, the CMD of United India Insurance, Mr. G Srinivasan to name a few. Mr. M. A. Shahirudeen Director Training and Development from WINBRO Academy is an NLP trainer. Mrs. Ida Sathyanarayanan, Managing Director of WINBRO Logistics was also a participant.
THe day began with a one hour lecture on Company Law and Board Room issues by Mr. N R Sridharan, Former Director, Ministry of Company Affairs. He gave a brilliant talk on the various points that Directors should know.
Some nice quotes from his speech:
About himself:
I am a mediocre among the best; best among the mediocre. (Obviously humility. Belied by his brilliant speech!)
About his life:
A series of incidents without any accomplishments. (A nice quote from Graham Greene, but not applicableto NRS!)
About Company Law
The Companies Act is an instrument of corporate Governance.
About Accounting Standards
They improve the quality of quantity as well as the quantity of the quality!
During my session I spoke about HR practices. I think I argued a favourable case for
a. Designing HR practices from the Root of Conviction
b. Not adopting every new fad in HR or, what I call "flavour of the month" approaches.
c. Treating different employees differently so that the star performers feel that they are recognized.
My suggestion thet we should allow employees who are high on Enthusiasm and Performance. (i.e Character and Competence in the words of Stephen Covey) should be given the chance to define their own remuneration package did not meet the resistance I expected that it would. Shahir qualified by saying that this measure should be preceded by a comprehensive performance appraisal. I totally agreed with him. The appraisal could be a standard target or KRA (Key Result Area) based or a 360 degrees appraisal.
Mr. Daniel Anandraj, Director Vizual Business Tools Private Limited mentioned that he had actually done what I was recommending. Barring one executive out of twenty who reported to him, everyone had given a fair figure that was alittle below his own figure. One gentleman alone had expectations far above his entitlements as per Daniel. The point is the approach will work only with people who are high on both Enthusiasm and Performance. The suggested approach is to dialogue wuth this person. If no WIN/WIN emerges then it is NO Deal!
I also made the point that it is better to sack a person who is showing signs of negativity. Better it is a shock to him than to us!
Mr. Chandrasekhar said he had liked my idea of being a Chief Enabling Office. A Chief Enabling Officer does not tell his people what to do. Instead he shares with them his plan of action. Then he asks 'What can I do today/this week/month/year that will help you do your job better?" Thereafter he clearly tells the team, "What they can do to help him do his job better!" Then they actually start DOING THEIR JOBS!
On the whole it was an intellectual treat!
Organized Religions -- Service Providers Only?
During my recent visit to the GITAM Institue of International Business, I stayed in their Guest House for about five days. Near the eastern entrance to the huge sprwaling campus they have a nice shrine with a huge idol of Dancing Ganesha (Narthana Ganapathi). As anywhere else in AP, the priest was sincere and orthodox. I made it a daily practice to visit the shrine. I spent relaxed moments after the ritual Aarthi sitting on the polished granite flooring of the raised platform on which the shrine was built. I developed a devotion to that particular Ganapathi idol. This is something unique about Hinduism which is essentially non-dogmatic.The communion between God and anyone is so personal, unique and sacred. Organized religions can, at best, facilitate this link or try to provide a framework in the same way that an Internet Service Provider gives the necessary bandwidth. Attempting to prescribe or control belief is futile.
There as many belief systems or religions in this world as there are sentient beings…
I sometimes, get an atheist in my programmes.As I, sometimes, include philosophical and religious quotations or references, I do enquire if there are atheists. This is more for information than for bias. I sometimes ask them whether they believe that there is no God. If they answer yes, I request them to hold on steadfastly to their belief that there is no God! After all religion is all about the strength of beliefs.
Ancient Indian wisdom accepts denial of the existence of God as a belief system or Dharshana. Buddhism denies the concept of a creator/protector/destroyer God! Charvaka also denies God in his materialistic view of life!
There as many belief systems or religions in this world as there are sentient beings…
I sometimes, get an atheist in my programmes.As I, sometimes, include philosophical and religious quotations or references, I do enquire if there are atheists. This is more for information than for bias. I sometimes ask them whether they believe that there is no God. If they answer yes, I request them to hold on steadfastly to their belief that there is no God! After all religion is all about the strength of beliefs.
Ancient Indian wisdom accepts denial of the existence of God as a belief system or Dharshana. Buddhism denies the concept of a creator/protector/destroyer God! Charvaka also denies God in his materialistic view of life!
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