Managerial Effectiveness Programme at Hyundai Motors

I conducted a programme on Managerial Effectiveness for the Executives of Hyundai Mtors. Hyundai is now on a thrust to produce and sell 530000 cars annually. My workshop was activity based and I gave inputs which were founded on the Four Principles of Effectiveness:

• Share the Same Picture



• Choose the Right Response



• Have a Bias for Action



• Make Every Minute Count

The Executives appear to have liked it as the feedback was positive. I especially liked this response, which obviously came from the heart!

About Faculty: " Loud Pleasant voice. Good communication. Motivational speech, gigantic person who (is) really need(ed) for this type of session.

Gigantic...hmmm....

Whatever...! Thank you sir!

( Author with Mr. Joshy and Ms. Shiva ranjani of Hyundai -HR Dept)

Oral Vs. Verbal Vs. Aural

In verbal communication we include both ORAL & WRITTEN communication. But, generally verbal means only oral. So what is the logic behind that?
In today's class (22-06-2008), you explained regarding verbal and non verbal communication. You said that 'when thoughts are explained through words, then it is called as verbal communications', and it can be oral or written. If so, Why Para language is sub-headed under non-verbal communication, sir? Does Para language and oral communication have some relation?
These two questions are related to each other so they are answered together.

Let us first understand what these words mean.

Oral means pertaining to the mouth. This means Oral communication relates to words that are spoken rather than written. The word is derived from the Latin oralis, ‘of the mouth’. Thus an oral examination is one where the answers are spoken and not written.
Verbal means pertaining to words spoken or written. The predominant sense here is that words are used rather than sounds or gestures. Thus any communication that uses words whether spoken or written is Verbal.

The adjective verbal is sometimes used when what is really meant is oral. The phrase verbal agreement is particularly notorious in this regard. People use it to mean a spoken agreement, when all it really means is ‘an agreement in words.’ A verbal agreement could accordingly, in writing or by words spoken. In this sense, the word verbal is related to Express i. e. by words spoken or written.

If you want to refer to an agreement entered into by word of mouth or by speech only then you should refer to it as an oral agreement or simply a spoken agreement.

Yes! Both Para Language and Oral Communication have a link with the mouth. Both are based on sound. But Oral Communication is the use of words spoken while Para-language is the use and interpretation of attributes of sounds such as the volume, pitch, speed, tone etc., Thus Para-Language is not verbal as it does not involve words. Therefore it is classified as Non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication also involves interpretation and use of gestures, eye contact, posture etc.,

There is one more word Aural, which pertains to the ear. Words that are spoken can be heard. So Aural can also be used where you want to say spoken by word of mouth.

Dasavathaaram

Piscine glitter, Tortoise shell,
Vishnu’s Ten Forms know them well.

Earth-maid-saving Tusks of Boar,
Pillar breaking Lion’s Roar,

Three-feet-asking Midget’s trick,
Axe-bearing King-beheader quick,

Wielder of the Mortal Bow,
Bearer of the Righteous Plough,

Cowherd, Trickster, Arjun’s Friend,
Rider bringing forth the End.

The Power of practice

Verily drawing is a constant practice of hand,
Chaste Tamil is that of the tongue; Education’s after all
Practice of brain; even daily walk is through practice of walking.
Everything, thus, is by practice obtained, excepting the capacity for
Friendship, mercy and charity; One is born with these or not at all.

Translation of Tamil Poem by the Poetess Avvaiyar

Gem in the Lotus

I am currently reading 'Gem in the Lotus' by Abraham Eraly. The book details the history of ancient India upto the Mauryan Empire. Without commenting on content (with which, I confess, I do have some reservations) I want to applaud the masterful manner in which he has dealt with the subject matter. He has succinctly and in pristine English traced the socio-cultural history and ethos of the Indian sub-continent. His skill in and mastery over language and the depth and scope of the detailed coverage leave the reader astounded.
Here are two examples:
IN THE BEGINNING THERE was no India. All the landmass of the earth then lay huddled together in protocontinents in the lap of the idling primeval sea. Around 170 million years ago this cluster of continents began to break up and drift apart, because of the movements of the crustal plates jacketing the semi-molten interior of the earth, a geological process called plate tectonics. In the process, some 100 million years ago, a huge and roughly triangular chunk of land broke off from the eastern flank of Africa above Madagascar, and, pivoting slightly anticlockwise, began a millennially slow, 4000-odd-kilometre-long slide north-eastward across the ancient Tethys Sea, bearing stark, crystalline massif like a granite sail. Eventually, after about a forty-million-year-long ocean journey, it docked into the soft underbelly of the sprawling Asian landmass, to become the land that would be known many aeons later as India.

The Ganga-Yamuna-Brahmaputra river systems hang from the neck of the Himalayas like the strands of an askew necklace, their broad estuary a braided pendant.

Hereis Eraly on the Brahmanas
The Brahmanas are priestly fancy gone berserk. These works, instead of clarifying Vedic practices , often make them more obscure, by their “ pedantic and cruel pursuit of detail,” and over-elaborate, involutes and ponderous narrative style. As Macdonnell says in a harsh but essentially valid comment, the Brahmanas “form an aggregate of shallow and pedantic discussion, full of sacerdotal conceits, and fanciful, or even abused, identifications.”

Gnana: The Only Route?

Some of my thoughts would show that I am inclined towards Advaitha. This is not to say that I am insensible to the efficacy of "Karma: and "Bkakthi" as routes to salvation. They are.

Different, yet the same!

It is only when we interact with people that we understand the innumerable differences that exist between them as also the essential similarities of our lives and ambitions. Right from the quotidian details of day to day living to the deep rooted and passionately pursued goals of a life well lived, we are different and yet the same! Does this sound paradoxical?