The Vivekananda series …… 6. Dropping the “I”
Dropping the “I” is all that is required for us to see our true selves. The ego stops us from being full of love for our fellow travellers !
Engagement
Why Good Employees Don’t Stay
Keeping good, capable employees makes huge business sense. Engaging them is important and it has to be done every single day.
Leadership Lessons from Bhagavad Gita #33 – Hiring
Chapter 2 Verses 54, 55 and 56 अर्जुन उवाच | स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव | स्थितधी: किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम् || 54|| arjuna uvācha sthita-prajñasya kā bhāṣhā samādhi-sthasya keśhava sthita-dhīḥ kiṁ prabhāṣheta kim āsīta vrajeta kim arjunaḥ uvācha—Arjun said; sthita-prajñasya—one with steady intellect; kā—what; bhāṣhā—talk; samādhi-sthasya—situated in divine consciousness; keśhava—Shree Krishna, killer of … Read more
Leadership Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita #25 – Visibility
Chapter 2 Verses 42 and 43 यामिमां पुष्पितां वाचं प्रवदन्त्यविपश्चित: | वेदवादरता: पार्थ नान्यदस्तीति वादिन: || 42|| कामात्मान: स्वर्गपरा जन्मकर्मफलप्रदाम् | क्रियाविशेषबहुलां भोगैश्वर्यगतिं प्रति || 43|| yāmimāṁ puṣhpitāṁ vāchaṁ pravadanty-avipaśhchitaḥ veda-vāda-ratāḥ pārtha nānyad astīti vādinaḥ kāmātmānaḥ swarga-parā janma-karma-phala-pradām kriyā-viśheṣha-bahulāṁ bhogaiśhwarya-gatiṁ prati yām imām—all these; puṣhpitām—flowery; vācham—words; pravadanti—speak; avipaśhchitaḥ—those with limited understanding; veda-vāda-ratāḥ—attached to the flowery … Read more
One from my trousseau….
In August 1990, I went with Krishnan and my mom-in-law to a sari store in Chetpet called Varadarams. On the way there, Krishnan braked suddenly at the traffic signal in front of Pachayappas college and the bike fell sideways. I sat on the road. Neither one of us was hurt, but a few students from … Read more
Pay peanuts, get geniuses
The one oft repeated statement for performance or people’s capability issues is “if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys”. I have used it several times myself and I realise now I was so wrong. I am conjecturing that this statement came about as part of the thinking that was propounded by economists Michael Jensen and … Read more
Silent ? Are you disengaged ?
There are several attempts in many organizations to improve the engagement scores and get into the best employer top ranges. The intention is great but the way we choose to improve is deeply flawed. Just as free and fair elections are critical in a democracy, the engagement surveys have to be without negative consequences. I … Read more
Are you engaged ?
The most abused word after “leader” in the corporate world is “engagement”. Every team, every firm, every manager is tasked with it and elaborate plans are made each year to get colleagues engaged because all studies by every known, unknown expert says engaged employees are the most productive. And that is the truth. What is … Read more
The Vivekananda series …… 6. Dropping the “I”
Some of you may wonder, how this quote applies to the corporate world …. This probably applies even more than the other quotes of Swami Vivekananda that I have posted so far. He talks of dropping the ego and love. Just look at the root cause of office conflicts, politics, one-upmanship, stress – it’s people’s … Read more
Work Life Im-balance
Am sure many read the title as Work life balance and assumed I had done a typo error …. No I haven’t. While most organizations have this as one of their “cultural” pillars, the reality is quite different. What is work life balance and why is it important ? I always say during my town … Read more