Is your career in YOUR hands?

So, what do you think – Is your career in your hands? Or your manager’s?

Well, let’s see! Some are of the perspective that it is completely in the individual’s hands; while another school of thought agrees that it is the manager. Let’s look at each angle separately.

‘Your career is your hands’: Oh yes…very much it is and in fact we get to listen to this statement almost during every review meeting or appraisal cycle and I don’t find anything wrong in the fact that a person has to hunt for his own meat for survival. If we feel that we are not getting opportunities towards career progression, well then, learn to create them. Discuss your situation with your manager putting your point across in a manner that he recognizes that you are becoming bitter, not better. Besides, think about it, it will make him realize that you have a “strong urge of willingness and drive to excel in the organization” (Michael Freeman). Furthermore, Bob Ebers feels that all development is self development. To think otherwise sets up unhealthy dependencies and will lead to disappointment. Just thinking of the proverb, ‘God helps those who help themselves’ 

Your career is in your managers hands: Well...well...well, let me re-phrase this to a more frequently heard testimonial: “My career is in my manager’s hands and he does not care about it one bit!” This takes us to a completely different tangent, where the onus lies with the manager. In this regard, Tiffany Murray states that a "good" manager will help to identify opportunities to assist the employee along on their career path. Michael Burgess rightly states that managers have a responsibility for creating career opportunities, for identifying "blockers" to career progression and for working out ways to navigate a person’s career around them. Your manager knows you very well and should ideally allocate work and tasks on that basis. He should be skilled enough to shower you with challenging tasks, so that you are out of monotony and you work towards your efficiency and effectiveness. The new phrase these days is that employees do not leave companies, but they leave because there is nothing challenging left for them.

How about those situations when the manager gives complete support in terms of showing opportunities to team members to prove their mettle; however, the individuals do not build upon it? Thus it is indeed imperative that WE OWN 70% of our career, while our managers own about 20%. Well then, what does the remaining 10% comprise? This, my dear readers, is in the hands of our market conditions, which at times, we label as ‘destiny’. I would like to include situations like recession here (quoted by Venugopal, an Aircel employee).

Think about it!

As managers and as reportees to him, the art and skill of giving and receiving feedback is essential for a positive relationship. You take the steps towards progression; give your 100% and convince your manager to guide your ship through the rough corporate high tide ocean, where everyone is ready to pull each other down. Managers should inculcate this skill of working smartly, rather than hard or in fact, hardly. Richard Daugherty has rightly stated that while it is our inherent duty to be stewards of our path, a manager can provide insights and highlight talents that we may never notice in ourselves. Nina Chakaramakil from Aircel and Ophealia deRoze also feels that a manager will show us the path, but it is totally in our hands to tread on the path or not.

WHO DO YOU THINK CONTROLS YOUR CAREER?

Today’s Tacit Management Rules

For the last couple of days, I have been thinking about this topic for quite sometime now and finally came to a conclusion which I thought that I should share with you. MBA students undergo proper sessions on management for 2 years which carry lots of credence in their resume. If studied well and diligently, you might even do well professionally; however, what is not shared there are some very practical, yet hidden rules which are practiced more often than what we studied for these 24 months. Let’s take a quick sneak peak at them.

• Challenge the Status Quo. For this it is first and foremost critical that you demonstrate the art of questioning at the right time to the right person in the right manner.
• Read between the lines for what is the missing context. Many know how to improve what's there; few can see what isn't there.
• Delivering a business presentation: When something appears on a slide in your PowerPoint, assume the world knows about it and deal with it accordingly.
• Don’t work FOR anyone; work WITH…just work FOR YOURSELF
• Remember, if you are heading a team, you MANAGE IT, you don’t BOSS IT.
• Have the mettle to share things with your manager and people around – communicate verbally more than clogging everyone’s mailbox with a series of emails.
• Constantly review developments to make sure that the actual benefits are what they were supposed to be.
• Set your expectations right at the workplace…do you really want to take calls once you reach home in the evening or probably when you are holidaying or rather when you are living the most cherished moment of your life? Believe me, some of you will say that “I am in a Sales function, so even if it is late night, I still have to take my manager’s calls”…This is absolutely crap. There is no selling which is done once the markets close after 2100 hrs and moreover if you have to share day-end figures, why not just communicate them next day, first thing in the morning…Am sure there is no business review which is scheduled at 2200 hrs, for which your manager needs the figures immediately at night! Remember, YOU HAVE TO SET YOUR PRIORITIES RIGHT.
• Don’t be known as a good starter, but a poor finisher…if you have taken accountability of a task…OWN IT from womb to tomb. 
• If you are a manager, keep in mind that you need to get the work done by your team; which means that only if you care for them, will they demonstrate care for you.
• Confirm the instructions you give others, and their commitments, in writing. Don't assume it will get done.
• Project your work to the hilt. Remember, if you don’t make your colleagues and team members realize how you have impacted the business / work culture, no one will. Don’t expect that your manager will flash your work, no matter how good he is. (Even God helps those who help themselves).
• Have your numbers right…you should know them at the tip of your tongue whenever, wherever and in front of whoever. It enhances your credibility and people start looking up to you.
• Give only as much information as is required. No need to open the entire Pandora’s box.
• Be selfish with information by learning to keep certain information to yourself; however, don’t forget that when it comes to your team, be as much transparent as is possible. Let them feel connected and engaged.
• Don’t promise if you cannot deliver. As Indians, we have lived in a culture of not saying ‘NO’. Well, if you want to survive in this Amazonian corporate forest, say NO.
• Always keep your manager informed with what you are doing…in case you are stuck only he can save your skin.
• Instead of writing a negative feedback on email or message, walk up to the person and have the strength to share your thoughts in person. If you cant do it in person, then work on improving your communication skills before pointing fingers at anyone else.
• Let your team take the credit of the good things that are done. (Don’t worry people know that they would have done it under your guidance). Stand at the forefront protecting them in case there has been a flaw from anyone in the team.
• Remember, YOU create the culture of your team…watch out for all your habits – your work timings, style of speaking and carrying yourself, crisis management, etc…just everything. They will replicate you to a very large extent.
• Instead of giving solutions, let them come up with options to solve an existing problem. This way they will also feel empowered and will start taking responsibility for what they do.
• Don’t ever lose your sense of humor, no matter what role you play in the organization. You want to be felt approachable by other colleagues. Besides, it is very important to have fun while working, else monotony and work pressure will kill you.
• Appreciations are good (all do it to make the other feel great, you never know when you might need him); but also ensure that genuine feedback on areas of improvement is shared.
• You remember 1/3 of what you read, 1/2 of what people tell you, but 100% of what you feel 
• One-up Funda - Once you become a manager, from day 1, start behaving and thinking like a senior manager, otherwise don’t be surprised if you are at the same designation for 3, 4 or more number of years.
• A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person (this rule never fails)
• Think creative and start taking risk. Safety is just an illusion in today’s workplace. Just grab the right opportunity or rather create it and capture it…success will follow. Inventions and discoveries happen only to people who take risk.

 

Feel free to share your feedback on this post...

Finding it Challenging Staying Fit @ Work? Read and enjoy...

This one is especially for all you office people out there – how many of you feel fatigued, low on energy and slack when at work? Is it because most of us have sitting jobs? Well, if the answer is yes, then you have reached the correct page to find out practical and self-tested ways to feel energetic at work.

“0930 hrs – Lemme quickly prepare my to-do’s list for the day” …and once, we start, the pen goes on and on and on… There is an instant depletion of energy at the sight of this never-ending list. Well, believe it or not, exercising in this scenario keeps you pumped for the day. Did I scare you with this solution? Did you just say, “Oh I just won’t have the time…there’s too much work pressure”? Let me share some simple and workable solutions:

1. Walk as much as you can:
• The moment you get a phone call, get up from your desk and walk out to receive it. This way, you will also not disturb your colleagues and you end up exercising with a 2 minutes walk. You will burn 25% more calories.
• Buy a headset for your phone, so that when you talk while moving you are free to swing your hands as well.
• After lunch, no matter how light or heavy, walk in the parking space of your office, or any other close-by location with flat ground. The food needs to pass through your internal system smoothly. You will also energize physically and mentally.
• In case your printer is located at a distance from your desk, don’t request house-keeping or the office boys to get the print-outs for you, rather, walk up to it and take it yourself.
• Elevators are a much easier option, but remember, short-cuts are often wrong-cuts. In this case, for your health. Take the stairs, rather better than this; you can pump up the intensity by taking 2 stairs at a time.
• Clean / re-set your drawers once a week. This movement makes you lose a fair amount of calories.
• When you have to deliver a presentation, don’t be lazy. Move your lower side, stand and like a thorough professional, use the empty space to deliver your spiel.
• Set an alarm to go off every hour to remind you to stand up and move around. Even if you just swing your arms or take a deep breath, you'll feel more alert.
• Use a pedometer and keep track of how many steps you take. Aim for 6,000 to 10,000 steps a day. This is an android feature and most other phones also have this special trait.
• Wear tennis shoes to work, rather than your stilettos. You may change when at work.
2. Resist
• Guess what! You can work-out your abs sitting at your desk too. Take a 5 minutes break every 1 hour and while sitting upright on your chair, gently lower your torso so that your chest and thighs touch each other. Hold this position for 5 seconds. Repeat this at least 6 to 8 times.
• Keep resistance bands or tubes in your desk drawer. Take 2 minutes of every hour of your work day and complete 1 strength training exercise with the resistance band/tube. Anything you can do with free weights, you can do with a resistance band/tube.
• Bicep Curl: If standing, place tube or band securely under your feet while keeping the abdominals tight to protect your back. Keep palms forward and elbows tucked into the side of your rib cage. Curl the tube or band up toward body and slowly release down returning to start position. If seated, sit on the edge of the chair with your back straight or neutral and repeat as if you were in the standing position.
• Since most of us travel to office by local transport, we understand that you have to wait on the street for quite some time. Here, you can do extra-slow calf raises: let your heels hang off the edge, and contract your calves to lift to tiptoes, 4 seconds up and 4 seconds down. Tighten abs and buttocks to help you balance, so you don't have to grab a sign post.
3. Check your food habits:
• Drinking warm water instead of coffee or the usual cold water helps in burning loads of calories per consumption.
• Eat food which is cooked in ‘Extra Light Olive Oil’.
• The more the vegetables, the better…the less the ‘masala’ the better.
• Have at least 5 meals in a day – breakfast, snacks at 1100 hrs, lunch by 1330 hrs, evening tea / snacks at 1630 hrs and dinner before 2000 hrs.
• Remember no salt post 2000 hrs.
• Green tea is an excellent anti-oxidant. It lowers the risk of cancer, arthritis, dental problems and heart-attacks. Additionally, it raises immunity. 3 cups in a day are good enough.
• Come out of potatoes and ghee. Try it for 21 days, post which it will become a habit.
• Start your meal with a big bowl of salad. By the time you finish, you will already feel a little stuffed and hence, will avoid eating a heavy paratha or rice oriented lunch. 1 to 2 thin chapattis are good enough with a bowl of dal.
• Move to multi-grain flour brown rice / bread.
• Limit rajmah, kadhi, chole and other such rich foods to 1 such dish in a week.

Woooosh! Now this was quite a bit.

Believe me; all of this is practical and self-tested. I practiced most of this and was perfectly fit and away from physical ailments. Now, after 2 years I have got back to this regime…thanks to my husband, Raman Bansal and a dear friend Sunaina Nargis (once you click, scroll down and click on Supplements HT City section page 6), who motivated me to look chic and sleek all over again after 2 years of this gap.

Remember – HEALTH IS WEALTH…What’s the point if the money you earn every month is spent in hospitals and clinics?

Preach and Practice - Which is Easier?

Life is a paradox in itself…there are contradictions at every step. While making your New Year resolutions, one of them is surely linked with health – mine too was to eat less sweet, and here I am, just can’t come out of sweet. Similarly, people say that they want to work in organizations that provide them with job contentment, but don’t most of them end-up chasing the paycheck with the maximum digits?

People like you and me will believe in lots of things and will also talk about it all the time, giving ‘gyaan’ to others surrounding us; however, how much of it, do we REALLY practice? Well, my answer to it is – It is impossible to do it completely.

I may not be able to lessen 100% of the weight of contradiction that we undergo every single day; however, I may be able to guide you towards the first step in lessening their impact on your life.

I will take you to the days when we were studying Cognitive Dissonance in our Psychology class. This indeed sounds like a fancy term, but refers to something extremely simple. It refers to the feeling of discomfort that results from holding two contradictory ideas (To Be or Not to Be…!). This happens when we believe in eating healthy food, but cannot resist Pizza Hut. It also happens when we believe in time management but the other person always keeps us waiting. In such a situation, you can make only 2 decisions – first is to rationalize that “the other person is always late because of which my tasks get affected and delayed in the process”. The second is to believe that either it is wrong to be good time manager or wrong to expect that everyone is as good a time manager as you. The reality is that it is indeed easier to rationalize (that’s what we think)…but much more challenging, yet important to change our expectations from all around us.

Once you start being truthful with yourself, just start questioning what you do and why you do it. So much of whatever we do is a result of sheer conditioning and habituation. We do things because we have always been doing it. This makes it all the more important to start questioning these things: Why am I doing what I'm doing? Why do I believe what I believe? More often than not, we'll see that the real answer to those questions is: because I've been told/conditioned/manipulated, etc. to do so. Then, and only then (once this is acknowledged), can we start living true to ourselves. Thus, it's important to question both what we preach and what we practice. Maybe we'll see that one, either, or even both aren't really based on anything valid at all, but rather conditioning, fear, and basic selfish desire.

My next thought leads me towards self-control. The most important thing here is, if you have knowledge of something – believe it in first honestly. You know that junk food is bad for health, but do you believe in it? Don’t you keep proliferating this to everyone, but still end up lying to yourself by eating those scrumptious ‘pani-puri’s’? Well, first Believe! The next step is to begin with little steps.

I remember, I used to work for 15 to 16 hours, without feeling tired; but, gradually realized that it started taking a toll on my personal and social life. This realization did not lead to a magical, over-night change. It took me time to shift my behaviors and habits to what I believed were true and here I am today working from 0930 to 1830 hrs, giving complete effectiveness and efficiency at work and of course, having lots of time for myself, family and friends.

You will realize that this post talks about the core of how we change things in our lifestyle. The trick is to just be honest with the person called ME. Remember, rationalization is so powerful that it always gives us false faith that we are right.

‘I am a Manager…but my people are unmanageable’

“My manager keeps micromanaging me all the time. He just does not give me my space”
“Boss is just so non-receptive to feedback…main kya karoon (what should I do?)? Bahut irritating hai! (He is just so irritating!) He just does not give me a chance to speak”

Have we heard these statements from our friends around us? Or have we said them ourselves, at least at one point in time? If yes, well then friends, I am writing this article just for you and for the ones around you. Managing people is harder and more challenging today than what it was even a decade ago. There is simply no room for wastage of time and lack of efficiency. Here, ‘More is Less’. So, in a challenging situation like this, how do we excel as managers?

The most important aspect in this league is ‘Empowerment of your team members’. Some managers ensure that their team members check with them at every step that they take, in order to make even a basic decision. What do you think happens to such team members? Their power to make decisions diminishes incredibly, enhancing the feeble side of their personality. They start to lose their confidence. It also affects their personal life making it full of unpleasant undulations. But, what I say is, if an employee is unable to make a decision on his own, it is just because YOU have not prepared him to do so. Start delegating your tasks to them, not with deadlines, but with an explanation on how you would have done it and further which the employee can bring his creativity. Equip him with the tools and techniques of the task. Define their Circle of Influence.

The second most important aspect is the ‘Ability to be Fair’, not towards caste, color, creed, religion, etc… but through your actions and words while communicating with your team. As a manager, you should be able to assist your team in assessing their performance honestly, furthermore creating a learning culture within your Circle of Influence. After the assessment, comes feedback, which is just so so challenging. Of course, we all know that feedback should be communicated step-wise through Achievements, Key Focus Areas and How to achieve the Key Focus Areas; however, the question is, How many of us truly (hand on heart) implement this step-wise process? Another aspect of sharing feedback is when you praise your team all the time and it could mean that all is well and that you and your team is PERFECT…but perfectionism does not exist.

We will talk about some more aspects of Managerial skills in my next article.

Enjoying one of the most challenging games in life – WORK! (Part 1)

Well, I am sure that most of you will second my opinion on work being one of the most challenging games in life! A great deal of us wend our weary way to office each day with about as much enthusiasm as I used to feel as a kid when approaching the inevitable daily dose of a glass full of milk every night. Let me try and help you with few of my experiences on how to add spice to your life through your work…Remember, “There is a great deal of difference between the eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants to read a book” (G.K. Chesterton).

I strongly believe that familiarity with work breeds happiness. When anyone asks me, “how’s work?”, I simply reply, “Cool”. My listeners usually raise their eyebrows when I claim that “work is the best wonder drug that I can ever think of” (Well, unless, of course, you are happily married). Perhaps they would see my point of view if they felt the thrills themselves and knew the lasting effects that come from being well occupied. Lack of occupancy at work simply leads to unproductive gossip, which further leads to unrest within the gossip circles. In this regard, Mark Twain described the law of work as, “the higher the pay in enjoyment the worker gets out of it, the higher shall be his pay in money also”. It is nothing else, but your insatiable thirst to learn more at work, which will lead you to what a layman calls “job contentment”.

Let me continue with a simple household example. If the lady of the house has had an unpleasant day, it simply reflects in the dinner which she cooks. Alternatively, if she wants to surprise her husband with a candle-light dinner on the terrace, she ends up giving the dinner table the best presentation. Similarly, it is your attitude towards work, which acts like a trigger releasing tremendous spurts of willing effort. In fact, even when I feel low on a certain day, the wonder drug that fills me with 6 bags of energy is nothing but an audience and a microphone…what follows is absolute passion drooling with the audience reciprocating the contagious passion.

Furthermore, you just cannot say to yourself one fine morning, “I am going to enjoy my work” and succeed for life. Success will not be served to you on a silver platter, till you study and discipline yourself to succeed. How well you burnish the art of time management and planning is what will lead you to the next step of mastering work-enjoyment. Believe me, excelling in these skills, will also silken your personal life.

So, welcome to the world of work enjoyment! We will talk more about this in part 2 of this article.

YOU are the Biggest Brand

Dove, at least one of its products is readily available in most of our toiletry kits. As a portfolio, Dove delivers ~400 crores INR as sales per year, being the largest premium brand in the Hindustan Unilever umbrella (Ref: The Economic Times). Yes, undoubtedly, a huge chunk of the population delivered sob stories on how the soap finished in just 1 week or how expensive it was, etc, etc…however; today, despite using no supermodels to endorse it, we trust the mildness of the soap. This is exactly how difficult it is to build a brand. No one becomes a brand overnight or in fact, even in a week. Selling without associating yourself with celebrities and supermodels is a challenge, especially today, when more than branding your company; you have to learn to brand yourself. “In an over-communicated society, it is getting harder to compete for business and the need to differentiate oneself is no longer a luxury but a necessity,” says Desmond Chua, Entrepreneur, Speaker, Sales Trainer and Relationship Coach.

Not branding yourself unconsciously refers to others branding you and that certainly is not a very rosy picture. Your reputation is at stake, your image gets affected and the perceptions and ideas that other people have about you are at a gamble. The question is, ‘Does anyone know you?’ ‘Do they acknowledge the skills that you bring to the table?’ ‘Do they think of you as an indispensible resource?’ ‘Would they do anything to hire you?’ – Do you really have an answer? Carol Katz, the director of recruitment at Warner Brothers said, “Establishing a brand and becoming known in your field are key. This has always been true for creative jobs, and now it holds true for people in almost every line of work.” (Reference: The Chronicle).

It is imperative to indulge yourself in personal branding in order to differentiate yourself from others in similar fields. It positions yourself clearly in the minds of people around and projects your credibility. The main outcome of your personal branding should be clear, deep and profound understanding of who you are, what you stand for and what would you like to be remembered as. You would want people to believe that you are the BEST or probably the ONLY solution to their problem. For example, there are plenty of people who cut hair for a living; however, I will only go to my hair stylist Chris (name changed) from Keune because I trust HIS brand – his brand of allowing me to have conviction when I tell him, “…just make me look different, yet presentable”. People might recognize Keune as a big brand, but the abstract quality that Chris brings to the table is what pulls me towards it every time. Let’s take another generic example on these abstract qualities. Nike markets sneakers and other sports gear; however, in actuality it identifies the inner athlete, the talented, competent and successful competitor lurking inside.

Once you have made a decision to develop your brand, think about what are your values as a person? What are you insanely great in doing? What do you want the environment to know about you? Mind it, these sound easy, but are few of the most challenging questions. Just remember, the idea of branding yourself goes far beyond promoting and marketing yourself to others since these are temporary facets. You have to be true to yourself because here is when you strip down to the most basic elements of what you REALLY are. This certainly requires a lot of introspection and looking at the ceiling fan with a lost look. “Self honesty is the starting point, it is the key”, says Amr Anany, IT Services Delivery Manager at Saudi Expert Co. Don’t worry, the best solution is, don’t do it alone. Conduct a 360 degree for yourself and seek feedback from a sample population of your colleagues, family, friends, etc... Dive deep into the ocean called SELF and evaluate your authenticity as a brand, your consistency in delivering quality and your clarity of thoughts. Define yourself and prepare a social tagline to launch yourself, a tag line that people identify with even after 10 years. A very good example is Raymond Suiting. After the Singhanias took over The Raymond Woolen Mills in 1944, they became a world-class factory and the brand got synonymous with fine quality woolen fabrics. Even today during every Indian wedding, a Raymond suit for the groom becomes unconsciously a part of the kitty. Mathew Davis, CEO and Co-Founder of Training Folks rightly states in this regard, "Differentiate yourself. Simply being qualified or competent is not enough. Hone in on your areas of expertise and develop multiple profiles or resumes that showcase each one, whether it is a specific subject matter or industry-specific knowledge.”

After you have developed your brand, you have to package it…don’t forget, first impressions matter! A package should always be eye-catching, edifying and finally, should sway the audience to buy it. Your name, personal style, speaking suavity and staging factor, count to the hilt. “Dress according to what you want to be, not what you are at present” says Arundhati Menon, Senior Manager-HR, Orange Business Services. People develop preconceived connotations about you as a person as soon as they see you and you certainly don’t want to leave them thinking, “Oh My God, thought he is a Business Unit Head, he has absolutely no dressing sense” or “I think the junior software engineer dresses up more formally and is more presentable than his project manager whose JD includes client interface. What a shame!”

Finally, communicate your brand because of you don’t appear, you are disappearing for sure. It is not just important to know your worth in the industry, it is mandatory for you to sell it to the industry. You have to make people meet you and listen to you and experience you. Start networking through social websites or meeting influential people in your field, but that does not mean you will ignore other domains…you never know where your best contact emerge from. Within your team at your workplace, start volunteering to deliver presentations. Participate in discussions and chats…just make your presence felt. Flaunt your river to the ocean in the industrial world.

Today, self-branding is the essence. The market is over-loaded and has become highly competitive. To carve a niche for yourself and rise above the noise pollution, you need to have a clear idea of who you are and what makes you different. If you believe in yourself, you can make the toughest sales call, a cake walk. Become a pro in the industry; an expert in your field.

“Make yourself desirable in the market”

Hey Boss...Let's Party!

Susan: “Oh My God! Did you see Janice on Friday during the annual office party? Never knew that she was so flirtatious and vulgar after she sucked in barrels of beer. Her office image is that of a staid and professional person; but I must say, I seem to have lost that respect that I carried for her as an individual or even as my manager.”
Jeremy: “Absolutely Susan, I agree with you. Did you see her dance moves? Being a man, I was ashamed and embarrassed. Most men had the best time of their life just looking at her disposition..haha”
Susan: “Oh did you miss out the way Janice kept clinging on to her boss and other men? Look at her today, Monday morning, and she does not even remember what happened?

Have we as corporate professionals ever faced the above scenario as a victim / bystander / have heard of it? Unfortunately, office parties are a prime juncture to ruin your professional standing, estrange coworkers and failure to capitalize on the networking opportunities. At times, the attempt of being the life of the party might just cost you your job. In addition, if you are sloshed with alcohol, it might just cost you your life or you might end up killing someone while driving back home.

70% of the employees, yesterday and today, believe that an office party means beautiful ladies, good-looking men, loud music with the latest item songs from Bollywood, lots of flirting, bitching about the a**-licking colleague and last but not least, free alcohol pouring into everyone’s oesophagus. Alcohol gives vent to your animal instincts, which can be disastrous. The environment may be informal, but it is merely an extension of your office. The purpose of an office party is to bring workers together and promote camaraderie. The food and booze would certainly be free; however, it doesn’t mean you call in freeloaders. “…Formalizing the occasion, making the meal the focus of the event (instead of the disco / drinks) and choosing an elegant location may influence behavior in a positive manner,” says James Bland, Group Marketing Manager, Sundial Group. Nora Arant Brennan, Training Leader and Strategist adds, “…conducting a party in an elegant place unconsciously ensures that everyone behaves themselves. Those prone to misbehave get too intimidated to do so…”

Something important to know is that informal settings do not stop your supervisors and colleagues from assessing your behavior. The above description is certainly not a good agenda to discuss with your colleagues. Some more fuel for Monday morning’s conversation becomes the revealing dress that Janice wore for the Friday party. Do add that extra bling; however, dress, so that you do not become a magnet for unhealthy attention. Remember, what you will not wear to office, do not wear it to an office party. Use your tasteful discretion while selecting the party attire.

Office parties should be used to advance your career in a positive way, not to cripple it. Let everyone feel that you can handle professional social set-ups with poise and suavity. Use this opportunity to meet the senior folks in your organization. Let them know who you are by briefly introducing yourself; however, remember not to act like a glue-stick…give others the same opportunity. Stay a couple of hours, talk to each coworker and the bosses, and then graciously and gracefully excuse yourself. Let your reputation live to attend another office party.

While proceeding for dinner, be sure to select foods high in starch and protein that will help slow down the absorption of alcohol into your bloodstream. Always hold your drink in your left hand, so that you do not fumble with your wet palm while shaking hands with someone.

Office parties can make or break your career. Just live up to yourself!

Are all professionals at the Senior Manager and above level, good orators?

Are all professionals at the Senior Manager and above level, good orators?
The answer to this is ‘No’.
That brings you to my next question…Is oratory skills imperative for all senior managers? The answer here is ‘Yes’. Let’s try and understand why we label this skill as one of the vital organs of a leader’s anatomy.

As you rise in life, “…your ability to understand the environment and communicate the same effectively to your business unit / the organization / the industry is much higher than your functional expertise. As a business leader, you should be able to drive the conviction and passion of your common goal with the audience; however, today there is certainly an oratory gap in most leaders and this should be addressed at the earliest”, says Supradeep Mukherjee (Global Training Competency Leader – IBM). Oratory is quickly becoming a lost art. Certainly, people talk too much…Public speakers can ramble on and on and worst, some leaders carry pseudo self-realization that they are excellent speakers. Here, no one would dare to bell the cat by showing them the mirror, so what we end up doing is, scoffing at them and silently jeering at them while they speak.

Gone are the days when you spent 20-25 years of your life in the same organization, at the same role, doing the same recurring job in one corner of the office. Today, 98% employees of an organization aspire to become business unit heads / leaders; hence, it is crucial for them to either be born with the ‘gift of gab’ or develop it with time. Bhupesh Joshi (Assistant Vice-President, Kingfisher Airlines) states in this context, “…Oratory skills are essential for all leaders to share their experience and knowledge. It does not matter which stream, vertical or industry you are a part of…Once you reach a certain level, you become the face of the company.” Presenting a vision demands oratorical skills. To achieve this you need to have superior speaking tools which are critical for your success. The ability and knowledge to communicate effectively will permit you to find your voice, express confidence and achieve your professional goals. Once you earn a senior level, oratory can make or break your career. Leaders with polished oratory skills have been able to sway the audience over key issues and build popular support for their side.

It is found in a survey in USA, that Public Speaking is number one Phobia for the masses. “Even today, when I have to address an audience, my hands and legs tremble, my voice shivers, I start falling short of breath and the only thing I need is, a place where I can go and hide my face”, says Latika Sabarwal (name changed), a recently promoted Senior Project Manager in an IT company. The word of advice that I gave her was, “just be clear of what you want to achieve through your speech, and remember, let it be a heart to heart communication. The masses will not connect with your brain. The essence of public speaking is: give your audience something of value. If they walk away feeling better about themselves, feeling better about some job they have to do, they will consider you a success. If they walk away feeling happy or entertained, they will consider their time with you worthwhile”. Though at a snail's pace, yet, Latika (name changed), has started realizing that public speaking is not intrinsically stressful. Today, she uses humility and humor to make her talks impacting and influential. She ensures that her words radiate out to the audience. James Paul Gee (Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies, Mary Lou Fulton College of Education at Arizona State University) wrote in his article Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics, "It is not just what you say, but how you say it." To add to this, Himanshu Bhardwaj (Head – Service, Xchanging Technology, India) believes that a leader should possess “…the art to inspire people and the skill to lead and influence them by communicating the right thing at the right time. At a fairly senior level, your focus is completely on 3 parameters - Employee satisfaction, Investor satisfaction and Customer satisfaction…here your communication and oratorical skills are of the essence.”

Going back to History, Mahatma Gandhi, the father of our nation is an all time effective communicator. His five hour’s speech during the Round Table Conference in London says all about his Oratory skills. He always enthralled his audience and did his best to speak from his heart. Wherever he went and whatever he spoke about, he left an indelible mark on his audience. Internationally too there are many good orators like Hitler, Mussolini, Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, etc. Their gift for fiery rhetoric had contributed to their coming to power.

Speechifying is an art which can be learned and developed over time. In all, public speaking is a skill for life which needs to be identified and developed at an early stage. Failing this, the world would be starved of future eloquent leaders.

Work: Distress or Eustress?

It’s Sunday night and you’ve been out with your family to watch Ice Age 3 at the nearest cinema. Everyone enjoyed it…"Oh…It’s such a cute movie!”; however, what’s going on in your mind is “I hope I am ready with all the data for tomorrow’s weekly meeting…or infact, I think, a better idea is that something happens and I do not have to go to work tomorrow!” Does going to work really scare you? Does the thought of sitting at your workstation stress you? If yes, then maybe you need to pay attention to who you’re talking to and what’s the language that you have been using. It may be that you’ve picked up a pattern of thinking and expressing your stress which in turn reinforces the negative feelings you have when you think about work.

Well, let me help you by explaining it in a simpler way. Think about how you learnt a language in school. You learnt it by listening to people speaking and then remembering how it sounded. The next step was repeating the sentences or phrases over and over, then after that you associate which context to use them in. Depending on your enthusiasm, some of this would have been easy and other bits harder. Perhaps being able to order your favorite burger in McDonalds is more motivating than learning about a particular country’s political science.

Let’s relate it to our work structure now…

If you have been socializing at work with people who are cynical or pessimistic about everything, then you are likely to subconsciously soak-up their phrases and words. Gradually, you realize that your language patterns have started sounding like theirs. This further is reinforced when you unconsciously, mentally start collecting ‘examples’ of things / events to prove the negatives so you can be included in every conversation. This is how the cycle of feeling negative and then stressed because of these feelings continues.

Take baby steps to make the difference felt…

1. As soon as you wake up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror and say, “You look absolutely gorgeous. Go and make your day”

2. Decide and pick up one task in the morning that you would like to accomplish by the end of the day. Let yourself imagine doing the task, and then savor the moment of its completion. Then once you’ve arrived at work it will be a little like deja vu except that you’ll have pre-programmed yourself to be more productive.

3. Start listening to something positive in the morning on your way to work. Music works like magic for most working people. In case you are listening to something on the radio, ensure the topic covered is upbeat or maybe amusing.

4. Mentally check your language to yourself and when you’re talking to your office mates.

5. Analyze: “Do you work for the company?” Or “Do you work with the company?” The latter will give you a feeling of belongingness with the organization that you work for. You start feeling that you play an important role (direct / indirect) to get more business into the organization. You feel accountable and responsible.

6. Set yourself an ambitious yet achievable goal that will push you to new levels.

7. Build the people around you. It will make them happy and in return you gain titanic respect. In fact, even praise them when they perform well. Give as much attention to the positive – strengths, achievements and qualities as you do to the problems, challenges and mistakes.

8. Reflection: Good, bad or indifferent we can always learn something. Write down everything you achieved at work last year, however small. Then reflect on what you learnt from the things that didn't go according to plan.

9. Offer to take a coworker out to lunch, stop by to say hello or share a funny email. Having friends at work will make your day go by in a hurry. At the very least, find someone with who you can indulge in some ‘constructive gossip’.

10. Get an adrenalin rush with a trip to the gym after work or join a sports club with few close colleagues with who you can spend an hour or so playing tennis or golf on the weekend. Stick around to enjoy some adult beverages afterwards.

11. In case you are feeling underappreciated or looked over, schedule some time with your supervisor to discuss where you stand. Find out how he or she feels about your quality of work and what they’d like to see from you in the future. This can provide some positive affirmation and guidance about your role within the organization. Majorly, it keeps you connected with your manager.

12. Don’t be afraid to ask for your fair share of raise. Consider your overall impact on the company and what you’ve done that merits more pay. Point out how your actions have benefited the company with effort and money saved.

13. Keep a check on how efficiently your processes are running.

14. Overworked? If you have too much on your plate, unload. Don’t hold on to too much work just because of silly pride. Ask coworkers to lend a hand. Remember, this works both ways. Be prepared to pitch in when it’s time to return the favor.

15. A mentor can be a great resource at work. They know the company’s terrain well and can guide you on a path to victory. Ideally, you should choose a mentor who has achieved success you’d like to emulate.

16. Reorganize your workplace. A clean desk will do wonders for lessening anxiety.

17. If you’re stuck doing repetitive tasks all day, treat them like a game. Time yourself and try to beat your personal best. This will both challenge and entertain.

18. Avoid foods that are loaded with carbohydrates or sugars. Sure, they taste great, but they will bring down your energy level. Dehydration can cause headaches and leave you feeling lethargic. Staying hydrated will help you feel better and fight fatigue.

19. Leave your chair and walk for a minute after every 30 minutes of sitting. During this time walk around and say a hello your colleagues. Take the time to hand-deliver a document. Use every opportunity to get up and get some exercise.

20. Don’t sabotage tomorrow’s work by pulling up all night. Remember, sleeping well will enhance your productivity at work.

Remember, you can either make your tomorrow full of zeal and positivity or you can crib about the traffic, your manager, your colleagues, your salary, and the list can go on and on and on…

THE CHOICE IS IN YOUR HANDS…!

Be your Own Trainer...! - Part 2

As soon as you become part of the corporate world, it is YOUR job to undertake the responsibility of self-development. You cannot afford to lazily linger for your manager / business unit head to either foot the bill or initiate something for your development.

This corporate world will make you experience a lot of learning and development initiatives including:
· 'on the job' learning
· learning by observation
· customized training programmes
· professional study, related to your work, like MBA, etc…
· performance reviews and appraisal processes

In enhancing your career, it is vital to demonstrate to your manager / employer that you place high value on learning and that you are constantly seeking to thicken your skills and experience, in your current role. It is also imperative to remain employable at all times, if not indispensible. Business is fast-moving and unless you keep abreast with the changes, you will find yourself obsolete.

Developing your personal skills
Most organizations today encourage employees to work on their personal development in the form of training opportunities. While making the right hire, employers assess both your technical skills in relation to the job and your soft skills such as teamwork, communication and influencing. Honestly, this ratio is now turning into 80% people management and 20% domain expertise for all supervisory roles. For staff level roles, interviewers have demonstrated their keenness to hire candidates with high aptitude and attitude towards learning. Once you start working, they expect you to apply these skills in the context of their business and to further keep developing them.

You may have an access to training courses or other development materials to help you; however, key forum for you to formalize your developmental needs is the performance review – biannual or annual. On a monthly basis, team managers could conduct quick 30 minute review of each employee in their team. This gives you an opportunity to receive feedback on your progress, identify areas where you need to develop your skills further, and set related action plans. The more you demonstrate interest in your development, the more your manager reverts with keenness and zeal. It is nothing but a contagious cycle for both where the enthusiasm that you demonstrate to learn is reciprocated with the enthusiasm to coach you by your manager.

Keeping up to date with your industry
All areas of work are recurrently changing. You will need to keep up with all best practice developments in your industry and to consider how they impact your role. Here, the onus is on you to research and read in your own time what you need to keep yourself up to date. Whichever way, you will always need current knowledge to be able to perform effectively in your role and to assist you in progressing further within your field.

Undertaking further study while working
Many people embark on further study in the form of professional courses once they are established in the workplace. At times employers will fund this education for you (Please refer to your company training policy for further details). You may also wish to study further as a personal initiative. Study alongside work allows you to bring a different perspective to your work and to your academic learning.

It is always important to establish how achieving further qualifications might be rewarded by your current employer or what other opportunities it might open up to you in the wider market. Some employers may require you to achieve certain qualifications during your career to enable you to progress to more senior levels or move into specialist roles.

Be your Own Trainer...! - Part 1

'Being your own trainer' talks about making a life-long commitment to you, to find and use those self-empowering skills that cultivate personal and professional magnitude.

These days, business is more competitive and challenging than ever; which means, we need to continually improve our skills if we want to maintain a competitive ascendancy. Also, because of the dynamism that business emits, what worked healthy last year, last month or even last week, may not be as effectual now. That means enlargement of your skills is vital to your long-term success.

The most common myth that I have come across so far is that approximately two-third employees think that they know more than their managers or are better than them; hence the need to update or upgrade their skills is diminished. I have also spoken with a lot of my friends in different industries who say they're not interested in a training program because they "did one" a few years ago. Sadly, the companies where they work, often consistently lose market share to their competitors who DO invest in the development of their people.

Another myth is that people lazily linger for their manager / business unit head to either foot the bill or initiate something for them. If you're not willing to invest in your future, you won't reach your full potential. I've noticed that self-employed or independent professionals are more likely to invest in their personal development more so than employees of a company.

Developing your personal and professional potential doesn’t happen overnight. It takes commitment, time and effort...It’s about looking at yourself in the mirror today and identifying where you wish to see yourself 3 or 5 or 10 years down the line...It’s about introspection...It’s about learning new and empowering ways to look at and deal with everyday situations...It’s about learning from the past and deciding to go positively forward.

Self-development is about developing the best of your best and sharing it with the world.Over 9 years ago I made a pledge to myself that I was going to live up to my full potential. I was going to find the best of my best. I knew in my heart of hearts that there was something better that I could do to make my life worthwhile. I saw few of my seniors from school and college achieving their dreams and I wanted to also. When I would see then delivering lectures and flawless orations, I wanted to be on the stage speaking on topics that would mesmerize the audience. Then one day, my father presented me a book which brought to my notice, the power of the mind and that we actually did have the power to control our thoughts. To me, that alone was an earth-shattering discovery. My life expanded to new heights and I’ve never looked back.

I believe self-development affords an opportunity to empower yourself toward magnitude. It allows you to develop your true self. The only confines are the ones you’re placing on yourself. You have the power to exceed your expectations, if you’re willing to take consistent positive action. Part of that action is filling your mind with empowering and productive materials – learning the life lessons from those who believe in vinni, vidi, vicci.

Self-development is a accolade you give yourself. It’s the treasure of living your best life ever!

Presentation Skills - Using the microphone

Microphones were invented way back in 1907, by Dr. Lee DeForest, who revolutionized the way presentations were delivered; however, few presentors would know how to use the microphone to their advantage when giving a presentation.

Before we go into the do's and dont's of using a microphone, let me walk you through what it does / does not do for the presenter. A microphone and amplification system:

• Amplifies your voice


• Allows you to speak for prolonged periods with less effort

What it does not do is, make your speech clearer and better in quality.

Tips on using a microphone:

• Surprisingly, I have noticed that presentes opt to ignore the microphone. I’ve experienced speakers who say, “I have a loud voice” and because they don’t know how to use a microphone, choose to speak without it. Without a microphone, a presenter can’t vary his or her voice quality sufficiently to achieve the personal, conversational tone that is both friendly and persuasive. With a good microphone, used properly, you can speak softly and personably, and then emphasize your points with more force.


• Position yourself approximately 6 inches away from the microphone head.


• To test the microphone, never tap or blow into it. Both are hard on the equipment and signs of an amateur. Say something friendly and conversational like, “Good afternoon. Am I being heard clearly?” Most people will be happy to help.


• Do not touch the head of the microphone while speaking


• Make sure the microphone stand is at the right height for you before you start speaking. Not all microphones on a stand are set up the same way. Some mike stands have buttons, others need to be twisted, and some just need a lot of strength to be moved. In many situations, you will have to readjust the height to suit you, so the more familiar you are with the procedure, the less fumbling and more confidence you will exude.


• learn how to turn off / on the microphone. Many speakers have experienced the nightmare of not turning off the mike during a break and saying something confidential or visiting the bathroom. Know that everyone will hear you with clarity if the mike is “live.”


• If you prefer to move around a great deal through the audience and/or use both hands, you will probably enjoy using a lavaliere microphone — preferably a wireless one — that attaches with a clip to your lapel. The wireless microphones have a holder for batteries that you clip to your belt or waistband, or place in a pocket, so dress accordingly.