Oh Carol! Thy pink slip is showin'!

Yahoo sacked its CEO today. While thats the big news, hogging headlines, there is a somewhat funny element here. The CEO, as per her claim was cashiered on the phone, by the Yahoo chairman. Is that another resounding example of technology being leveraged to create efficiencies?

Its not uncommon to be retrenched nowadays. It happens in the USA and it happens here in India, all the time. Retrenchment or involunatary removal of employees from their employment, can be driven by various factors such as recession or economic turbulence, or an individual or team or business failure or simply a realignment of strategy. Its how it is executed can be illustrative of a country's or organisation's culture.

Such forceful actions are always swift and purposeful. Generally speaking, it is conducted with precision and with appropriate preparation. The complexity goes up with the number of employees and number of locations impacted. While the suddenness comes across as a shock to the affected, it probably serves them well, as any prolonged or lingering action only augements negativity and associated pain. Of course, there is a divergent school of thought prevalent as well.

One has heard of the emotionless removal of employees in MNCs. The lack of the same is probably made up, to a certain extent at least, by the increased compensation and severance benefits. An Indian industrial conglomerate recently went out of its way to sit down with each employee, helping them frame and update their resumes and posting them to group companies and recruitment consultants. However, such examples are few and far between, and possibly witnessed only in India or Indian companies where people are still reasonably valued.

On the other hand, there has been a growing trend amongst employees, especially the younger ones, to send in their resignations without showing up. At time these employees simply collect the monthly salary on the last day of the month and thereafter disappear and become incommunicado. Should the employers then be held responsible for showing lesser and lesser propriety in return when retrenching?

Nevertheless, retrenchment is painful and takes a toll on either side with the employees feeling it more acutely. In some ways, this is the time for introspection, focus on the positive and move forward with greater vigour. There are several learnings to be derived, everytime such catastrophes occur in an employee's or organisation's life. Its important for the seniors to acknowledge and accept their mistakes or lower contribution or lack of relevance, as thats the stepping stone to greater confidence. Its pointless to maintain a charade of relative success or pretensions to injustice or hold shaky beliefs that the issues lie beyond  the self. The same is true for the remaining senior and top management as well. A fear of divestiture or shame of perceived failure only serves to block out further recovery and growth.

So, Carol! Thy pink slip is showin...and aall izz well!

Only a Few Stars

It had been one of those days when life appears not so wonderful. My work was consuming me and that felt good. However, it did not look like it was working. The enterprise was apparently in distress, the team lacklustre. More not so good things were happening to us than the good things. Questions marks floated anywhere, anytime. While a few bright individuals continued to soldier on their own, the vast majority appeared alienated. Something was amiss!

And as i stood still, in my garden, in the early hours of the night trying to arrive at peace with myself, trying to collect my thoughts, to delineate some order in the madness, i chanced to look up at the sky. ( or is looking up to the heavens a normal reflex reaction under severe duress!) The dark sky was boringly plain, as if void of imagination, with only a few stars. In my quest to find more of the distant, inaccessible lights, my thoughts leaped to my childhood. I remembered vividly, how stars in abundance littered the firmament then. Our not so small joint family, followed not so urbane proclivities, and most members would chose to sleep on manjis in the open skies, gulping in generous doses of fresh air. You could do that then, at least in the small towns. The sights would enchant and one could easily dream. The night sky appeared cheerful but silent, and full of life. Whether its a figment of my imagination or otherwise, the skies now looked empty and meaningless with just a few sparkles.

And so it dawned, just like the night sky needs more than just a few stars for it to bring a smile, so in any aspect of one's life. The key, it appears, lies in lighting more and more lamps, and bringing smiles to more lips

Ageing Wisdom

Companies have, since time immemorial, had pyramid structures, with the white-haired lot perched on top. It has always been assumed that vision, advice and wisdom would flow from top to bottom, like the sensuous movements of the Ganges going down the Himalayas, providing succour to the masses. Direction has generally come from the top management basis their own learnings and leanings. Is this relevant or true in today's age and time and is it really tenable, i.e. can a set of individuals profess to know enough to take the right decisions, read the competitive compass correctly and set sail in the right direction? Is all relevant knowledge experience based? Is it not true that our own experiences can sometimes create mindsets, and we may not even realise the hindrance that they cause, till such time as our life is subjected to enough turmoil.
Over the last nineteen years as a corporate citizen, i too have moved up the pyramid, negotiating the vicissitudes as they came, hopefully without trampling too many aspirations. One of my key learning has been that i am not complete and perhaps will never be. It is sometimes scary, to realise that one does not have all the answers, all the time.
As i happened to work more and more with young team members, belonging to the technology driven generations, and accosted their innocent arrogance, i realised that "the guys below" are not always looking for direction from the top. In fact, they prefer to work in an ecosystem that lets them be themselves, a system which facilitates and allows development of their own decision making. Like a child which has no concept of fear, they are bold, and adventurous, and that brings its own unique learning and confidence, to the organisation table. The old school of thought wherein the students had to be "taught" had to give way to a new management style, a style which simply provides a conducive environment and the necessary tools. All that was required from the seniors was a bit of tempering to ensure alignment with the organisation objectives.
While certain other situations may merit a greater reliance on the wizened, wiser men in suits, there was no denying the rise of youthful brilliance and with it perforce the positive disturbances in management style. The top down approach will remain for some very good reasons; however, the reverse knowledge effect if channelized can catapult organisations on a faster growth trajectory. Is this what they mean when they say, the child is the father of man?
Also, it's quite evident that the average age of heads of organisation is lowering with time. The corollary to this is that forty plus people like me may soon be rendered irrelevant. It remains to be seen whether we have the foresight to see the storm coming and prepare to surf the choppy waters that lie in waiting. While success may follow failures, its good to remember that the vice versa is equally true. Get, set, go!

A Few Good Men

In another year's time I would have completed two decades of existence in the corporate jungle. And over these years, having hopped around significantly, change being the law of nature; I have been bossed around in varied ways and means.
Bosses are by their very nature, animals to be feared, deferred to and suitably managed, or so we have been told, and I have had my share of "hari sadu" like experiences. There was this vice president, who was toutedly a venerable industry figure, or so everybody around me believed. I tried to understand his trip in life, especially since my team member (who was in the system much before I came in) cosied upto him endlessly. I never could get a handle on the vp's crazily helical monologues, and it was only a matter of time that I was contemplating exit. (It is another matter that he soon got shunted out; possibly, his bosses could not stand him no more.) And then there was this general manager, who sent me on a trip to a huge prospect, under the guise of "a great opportunity to excel and move up". Little did I know at that time, that he was preparing grounds for a suitable excuse for the imminent loss. Such is the nature of bosses!
Be as it may, life tends to shower all kinds of experiences, good and bad. During the darkest hours of my career, I was blessed with a mentor, who is in several ways responsible for what I am today. A large measure of my achievements and where I stand now, I credit to him. He was always impeccably dressed, extremely witty and more importantly, very insightful. He could read my thoughts with ease and labored to tailor them for the organization and my benefit. "You have good ideas but also the tendency to become a captive of your own ideas", so he told me. In his own way, he had taught me the need to listen to others. Being a good human being is foremost to all endeavors, was exemplified by this honorable gentleman. During my time with him, he unearthed some of my hidden skills as well, which today are very handy. I don't think I can ever afford to forget him.
And then there was this great man, entrusted with a huge team (of which I was a part), who went about his business with great elan, always smiling. As you would know, life in the corporate milieu, can get extremely stressful. Not to him. He would always exude happiness, fairness and a calm demeanor to his team, de-stressing them nonchalantly. For once, I felt engaged, involved and respected. I learnt the great art of positive energy (much before the "Secret" was released), importance of work-life balance, and an inclusive style of management, from him.
What appears as my original style of management to my team members today, is in reality, just a poor xerox of what I have picked up from a few good men. These good samaritans, perhaps saw great value and fulfilment, in passing on pearls of wisdom to the have-nots. I hope I can do the same to a few more!

Talking Chameleon

Everybody told me that i spoke well. Dude, you have excellent communication skills, friends, juniors, peers and seniors were wont to say. Of course, i emphatically agreed. Perhaps, this innate ability as well as the confidence of possessing it in reality, prompted my interviewers to offer me employment as a sales man, in the first place. (And over the years, i have managed to dupe many such ready to believe professors of corporate medicine!). However, life would soon teach me how i tended to live in a make-believe world.

It was true that i had a passion for words. i had practically enjoyed devouring Norman Lewis and Ida Elhdrich and many others during college days. And my English medium based convent education (for some reason my father was proud of this "convent" thing) had groomed me well, i thought. English language was an interesting language, easy to learn and use, when you get to its roots. (when i say roots, i dont mean you could break up conscience into con science or icon into i con, but the latin or greek source of english words!).

As i went about my job, all liveried in corporate makeup, attempting to sell (or would you prefer foist) my wares, the rejection levels moved northwards (productivity charts moved southwards). Over a period of time, it dawned, that i was hardly impressing prospects with my "communication skills". How could this happen to me? I kept trying hard, polishing myself and my angrezi skills more and more, but in vain. The order pipeline remained a large hollow. My seniors were all busy with their own "numbers" (read swords of damocles), and i was still swimming with agnosticism.

As the night the day, some light finally broke. I had experimented with a different thought. I was in Punjab and it was evident that people here preferred to speak in their own language, and with some pride at that. Now, by birth, i was a Punjabi ( although for some strange reasons, my parents never conversed with us or in front of us in punjabi). I had always believed that English was my forte and my Punjabi aspects were not something to be advertised. Operating in Punjab though forced me to leverage my weakness more and more. Things had started to change as i used the "mithi" language. Suddently, i did not need the selling skills (which my base station ecosystem had suggested) or the communication skills i proudly strutted around with. The job was no longer daunting. You just had to be friendly, and speaking their language was endearing. Even if one was to stumble in a conversation and quickly shift to the easier ground of English or Hindi, the effort was appreciated more often than otherwise. Conversely, a sophisticated, corporate type approach would lead to day-long benchwarming exercises. I had transformed into a star salesman, but only after i had moulted, shedding the vestiges of pretense. It was not about my strengths anymore but about tuning into people's wavelengths. (Many years back i had asked a chole bhature wala, minting money vide his misery of a shop in Connaught Place, as to why inspite of the money, he would not improve his infrastructure. "Saab , customer se tuning gadbad ho jayegi", he said. He knew already what i had just realised).

It may appear to some, that i am suggesting that English language is not the language of this country, and by that measure, it should be sparingly employed. Many years later, i had occasion to speak in public, to a large audience of parents eager to put their wards into anything english medium, and i pulled it off, i think. One has to play the right tune.

Cluck, cluck goes the talking chameleon!

Many Mini Indias

It is a known fact that traveling is an intrinsic aspect of a salesman's life. Prior to the sales travels or travails (depending on your preferences), i had never considered India as a place of places. It was a given that this is my country, my nation. But did i know it? I had grown up in  Lucknow, traveled to Delhi on occasions to meet "not so happy to receive relatives", hardly studied in Roorkee and seen a bit of Bombay. Train journeys, back and forth from university, had taken me through small stations and junctions but they just came across as strange names, such as Laksar, at that time.

It was when i traveled on the job, for meeting clients or would be clients or would not be clients, that i really discovered some of the smaller Indias. The many mini Indias of Khetri, Mandhar, Lalkuan, Durg, Beawar, Bhilai, Modipuram, Renukoot, et al, presented a completely different and compelling view of India. People were always approachable. I never got robbed or shouted at. Dust was omnipresent. You never felt like bargaining probably because you never felt that anybody would try to cheat you. No two places were similar, each had its own cultural nuance, own dialect. It would be next to impossible to find an English newspaper or magazine. Electricity was generally not available nor promised, and airconditioning was a rarity (if available, proudly advertised as such). You could walk long distances out of duress or otherwise, and be happy about it. You would not fall ill just because mineral water was never offered.

One of my journeys took me to Mandhar. It will be fair to assume that 0.001% of India's people would have ever heard of it. The journey from Delhi, my base station, vide train took several days before i reached Raipur, at that time a part of the drier than dead leaves' state of Madhya Pradesh. From Raipur it was another hour and half journey, by a combination of cycle rickshaws and tempos. The new generation possibly would not know or imagine what i mean by tempo. It's a piggish looking, longish vehicle which chugs along noisily but proudly, bellowing black smoke furiously, coloured black with a little yellow, having a capacity of 7-8 people. It was another matter, that it would or could never move without at least 12 "sawaris". Nobody was in a hurry anyways and beedis came cheap. Over the 35 days i spent there, i got used to it and even started to enjoy. Also, one must remember that its one of the hottest places in the country (i had decided to be there in peak summer) although after a few days, it did not seem to affect. I felt free.

I was visiting a cement plant for the first time in my life. It was an amazingly beautiful sight that awaited me -  a huge and long rotary kiln, gyrating on an inclined axis. It was a manmade marvel to my young and impressionable mind. Most of my working hours were spent two and a half storeys above ground, trying to rectify one of our supplied equipment, the end objective being to ensure that what the chimney lets out is not black but white.

The overall Mandhar experience, almost decades old, is still quite fresh in my mind. My India has its centres of opportunities (read money making) in metros and bigger towns, but the many mini Indias are in many ways a reminder of how to live life simply.

Honesty is not the best policy

Those were early days in my first job and i was already confused. i had managed to pass out of Roorkee with an engineering degree. It is another matter that i was more clued into Ayn Rand than i was with chemical engineering. How did all those intelligent professors let me pass?

It was thus, with severely idealistic notions of life that i had set foot into the corporate jungle. Naturally, i embodied an arrogance of a degree holder from a premier college rather than the real confidence that comes with knowledge. Somehow the company professionals who recruited me from campus had the wisdom to not give me a hardcore technical profile, and I started my corporate life as a Sales engineer. Nevertheless, i was pretty high on enthusiasm to do wonderfully miraculous things and tell the world or whosoever would care to listen that i had arrived.

After the eminently boring induction alongwith several other young turks, i was put "on the job". It did not take me too long too realise that i was not really a fish in calm waters. I started to wonder whether i belonged here. Sample this : it was standard practice to put in false conveyance claims, so my seniors claimed. More importantly, i was not allowed to deviate from the "policy" as it would reduce their sense of moral uprightness. More important lessons soon followed.

There is nothing like a honest salesman! Wake up dude. You see, you have to get the orders. And all that comes with "selling skills", read buttering of decision makers, greasing of the gatekeepers, copying stuff you are not supposed to see or have, et al. The product or price or how its benefits are communicated were only required if somebody enquired. Wow, this was neo-science, i thought. Or did i skip these life changing chapters, when i should have paid more attention.

Howard Roark stopped laughing!