Tell me what car you drive and I will size you up

We'd recently been to Chennai and were slightly irritated when people chided us for keeping our old gadgets... They said "U still keeping this car....." "Cant believe you are still using this mobile".... Well people have a great way of sizing based on what you drive, where you holiday, what gadgets you use....Or atleast the sad network we have.

Makes me wonder if growth in life is about evolving as a person or becoming more tech and gadget savvy... Does it matter whether you have not changed/ changed for the better or that you bought a damn good MUV, but became a mean and conniving a#$%le? Just notice how people are more in awe of what you own, rather than what you have learned, of where you went rather than why you couldn't go there, of how good looking you have become rather than how you have evolved as person....

Realized we are all brand managers wherever we go - we represent something about us in the choice of our brands. People are curious to know - What brands do we flaunt, what brands do we follow and who do we meet. At reunions and vacations, at holidays and parties, people are looking out for our brands, our statement...

I was recently watching this man on this show and what he said about the brands we care for and endorse, left a very deep impact on me - He said "I earned a lot of money by the time I was 27 or so..., but was dismayed to see that had no time or people to spend it with." It inspired him to go back to his village and lead a simple, no-frills life sans washing machines, fridge, A/C ( and all the so-called necessities of a modern household). In his words, we labour our body and mind as tools to achieve these so-called necessities. And the mind and body are not instruments to achieve our pseudo status in the society.

What precious insights!!

But, people lets return and not lose focus on those who are watching our brands. So the next time you walk into a party and people give that extra attention to your brands, give them that look and say.., "Those brands have neither defined or changed me.. I am still as mean as I used to be"

Can switching jobs enhance professional morale?

I've been spending some time on Linked In and was pleasantly amused to see that some of the colleagues I had been working with have really moved so ahead in their careers. Whats so amusing about it??? Well they were all sort of written off as underperformers or non contributors in the workplace we'd worked together in.

That led me thinking..... maybe performance is a direct attribute of a person's morale, of how he perceives the job and how he perceives himself in that job. It may not have anything to do with his intellect or learning capability or even attitude - well not really!!!! In the right environment and with the right team, even a certified dumbhead can perform, take ownership, act and deliver!! I am glad that these so called 'trailing' colleagues have moved on and not taken their tags "personally"....

I also noticed that the so-called workplaces that are so quick to judge people based on their mistakes, nitpick them on their failures, use them as scapegoats for the team's collective failure are also teams that do not encourage innovation, are also teams that do not recognize that there are diverse talents in a team, are also teams that make it a point to ensure "non-smart" employees withdraw into a shell and lastly teams that do not care! Finally it comes to a stage that these employees have to move out - not because they cannot deliver or the work does not excite them, but because the atmosphere becomes so thick and smothering that it becomes impossible to think and see clearly, deliver effectively amidst all the mud slinging. People begin questioning themselves and their capabilities and the work gets heavy and burdensome and the only way to relieve themselves of all the pressure ( I am reminded of Aamir Khan's dialogue in 3 Idiots about 'dimaag pe pressure') is to quit.

Very few workplaces today understand that workforce is diverse and we have fewer leaders who are capable of nurturing and harnessing a diverse workforce. There was one leader I worked with who was so ruthlessly demanding with sales guys, amazingly patient with creative guys, completely hands-on with engagement/relationship guys and detail-oriented with the techie guys - all in one team.. Well now he was one person who knew that he couldnt handle the sales guys as he would the techies... Another example of a great leader was someone who used to recognize and brag about every single process improvement or change ( no matter how small or insignificant) brought about in a team.

Personally, the most successful people I know of are not smart, not intellectuals or even great conversationalists, they are just ordinary people with a great smile and those who concentrated on their positives and forced other people on their team to look at their positives only. They are also people who could turn failures into their strengths. For instance there was this one guy who couldnt do product demonstrations because of his poor language skills, he always had to depend on one of us when we used to go for demos. But it didnt deter him - he created a prop/medium to deliver a demonstration without manual intervention whatsoever - it was so effective and such a hit that the rest of the team started using it for our demos.

"I have learned that never tell a child his dreams are stupid. How sad it is if he believed it"... From Live, Learn and Pass it On...

Our workplaces are getting more competent and savvy, but our professionals are a harrowed, burnt -out lot.. Monday mornings are never exciting and I hear people crying and craving for weekends. Does it say something?

Isnt it weird that today's workplace are not sensitive to what hampers performance and productivity and what lowers employee morale.

Saw something interesting today - my daughter walked into her school - and it is a practice at her school where all teachers of all classes stand out and greet all children (irrespective of whether they belong to their class or not) with their first names and a broad smile beckoning them to school. Have you ever walked into a workplace in this scenario???? How often have you felt valued and welcomed when you walk into office and run into your boss?

I'll leave it here and welcome thoughts and instances that prove me wrong....