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Who is a good boss?

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I have pondered this question many times. If we think conventionally, most of us like boss’s who have given us promotions, have given us a good raise, who recognize us, etc. While we may agree or disagree, here is some food for thought. What would you think of these actions from your manager/s? Gives you honest, critical feedback? Believes in you and in your potential, even when you don’t see it yourself? Forgives you if you make a mistake and helps you never repeat it? Tells you where you stand, even if you don’t like it? Accepts you as you are, (with your flaws and foibles) and still focuses on your strengths? Lets you learn, make mistakes and discover? Is harsh with you sometimes, but fights for you when you…
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Collaboration Rules!

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We are all unique. We know it. If you are an extrovert, you are different from the other half of the introvert population. If you are an action-oriented person, you have the thinkers who are diametrically opposite to you. If you are a big picture person, the here and now personalities are your extreme opposite. Then, there is always the difference between the sexes, color, country, race, religion, intelligence and so on. The logical fallout of all these differences is bound to be difference of opinion or conflict. Given that most of us don’t like conflict, is there a way we can avoid conflict? The Thomas-Kilmann grid views avoidance as a lose-lose proposition since it does not address the issue at hand. Besides, research indicates that a typical manager loses…
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Is it easy to do business with you?

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“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no ones thinks of changing himself.” Leo Tolstoy. I came across this quote a few days back and it has been bothering me ever since. Especially in today’s fast-paced, highly networked world, where we often find a lot of behaviors annoying. Ever wonder how often our behavior might be annoying for others? If you are interested in changing yourself, read further. Gene Dalton, a Harvard professor did a fundamental research project on change and came to the conclusion unless people feel a need to change, they will not change. Now that you are reading further, there is at least a chance that you are willing to change. Take a look at your work life or life in general. Pick out the people you impact…
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A lesson in Customer Service.

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This is a story I heard about 5 years back. There was a business traveler who was on an overseas trip and was staying at a business hotel. The stay was over and it was time for the business traveler to look over the bill and make the payment. The traveler noticed that he was billed for 3 phone calls he hadn’t made. He fought tooth and nail with the hotel owner. The owner calmly tried to explain to the traveler that his staff wouldn’t have made those calls from the room. But, this business traveler wouldn’t budge. So, the hotel owner agreed to remove the telephone charges from the bill. The business traveler triumphantly went on to have his breakfast in the lounge. While casually flicking his eyes over…
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A New Year’s Gift

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I was thinking about what might be the one parting thought that we could welcome the year 2014 with. And, I happened to read a question from Prakash Iyer’s book, “The Secret of Leadership.”Here it goes: There are three monkeys sitting on a tree branch. One of the monkeys decides to jump into the pond. How many monkeys are left on the tree? Did I hear you say, “Two’? Wrong! The right answer is three. You see, the monkey only made the decision to jump into the pond. He didn’t actually jump! Often, when I ask this question to participants in the Leadership classes, “What are the qualities that you admire in the best managers you have had?, the list of answers is pretty long and yet common across participants…
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So, you want to be a manager?

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I was watching an episode of Outsourced and the scene was, Rajiv was going to meet his prospective father in law to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. For those of you who don’t follow it, Outsourced is an American comedy television series about a novelties company that outsources its order processing to a Mumbai, India, call center. While meeting his father in law, Rajiv promises him saying, “I will become a manager soon”. He hopes that this promise will win his father in laws heart and push him to bless their marriage. Like Rajiv, many of us aspire to be a manager. As soon as we start working, our own expectation and the implicit and explicit societal/familial expectation (especially in India) is for us to climb the ladder…
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On Blind Spots

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This blog is inspired by my friend Vaibhav’s comment to my earlier blog. His comment was, “at times it also makes sense to question the mirror… “Who am I?” so many faces, so many relationships…. masks offer a variety to roles of a different kind”… That observation raised a few questions in my mind. It is very clear that we all have many facets to our personality. Some facets we are familiar with but there are some facets to our personality that we are unaware of and those become our blind spots. One observation that comes to mind is how some individuals behave in a nicer way to people “who matter” and are often brusque or rude with the ones who don’t. While some may do it consciously, others would…
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Is it me or the chair?

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There is this story about a “cowherd in a village” that I heard from a wise master. Many years ago, there lived a cowherd in a village. He was a real simpleton – unassuming and hardworking. Turns out that his simplicity got the attention of the king of that state and the king immediately took the cowherd under his wings. As the king’s kingdom grew, so did his trust in the simple cowherd.  Eventually, the king made this cowherd a “minister” in his court. The cowherd, now a minister continued to do his work well in an earnest and humble manner. He soon became popular in the whole kingdom and also became the king’s favourite. This was not liked by the other ministers in the king’s court. Fuelled by their insecurity,…
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