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Sunday, February 27, 2011

10 Things I wish to do before I die……

The rationale behind making this list is to have a readymade stimulation aide for myself whenever either things will go wrong or they will go too right to believe, leaving me with either a feeling of “I am left with nothing” or “I am left with nothing more to do”.

In both the cases, I shall be in dire need to look forward to something meaningful.

1. I want to get a huge portrait painted of myself sporting the best available attire and accessories on the planet (for more details, please refer to any of the renowned historical flicks where a must have thing in all princess and queen’s rooms used to be those gigantic wall sized painted portraits of them; putting on those frilly long designer dresses with not less than a kilogram of precious stones studded jewelry!!!)…Whether I can afford it or not??...well, while making such lists, one isn’t supposed to inhibit the imagination, petty issues such as budgets can be taken care of later :-)


2. My mommy dearest once told me that if given a chance she would like to write a novel that she knows she has inside her…..I laughed out throatily when I heard of it first, but as the time went by it became one of the biggest secret dreams I have, I want to spend my late fifties in putting my splendid four decades into a novel.

3. A bit of insanity in dancing does good to almost everyone, no matter what direction one turns to; one faces the heaven only. I am no exception to it; I love to dance and want to learn to dance.

Learning Salsa is something that I wanted to begin last year only, but it didn’t work out. I want to learn each and every move of Salsa, There surely will be a day when you will spot me dripping beads of sweat down my skin while matching my steps with my hubby.

The only hindrance I shall face will be that how I would convince him to learn Salsa with me as all the moves he knows are with his squash racket or golf stick in hand :-(

4. I want to participate in and win the crown for Mrs. India contest…….That’s another secret desire I have. A small number of things where I need to work upon, and it will be conquered….Looks, Appearance, Dressing sense, Communication skills , Fitness, Presentability, Posture, Walk and few more…. What? List is too long to be achieved??....Refer to point no. 1(Inhibition of imagination not permitted for such trivial issues!!)

5. I want to take my parents and grannies to an abroad trip. This is the desire that lives in me since my childhood, and it has grown with me…..with a faster pace than I did.

A middleclass family, where parents let go all their luxurious cravings and the only lavish expenditure they have is on the upbringing of their kids…. I am sure many among us can relate to this experience of mine …. A luxurious Abroad trip shall not be able to make up for any of the instances but it shall probably make my parents’ efforts worthwhile up to some extent.

6. Someday after my retirement, I wish to make a list of Ten Best & Worst people I met during my odyssey called Life and I shall make them know how I felt about them and why, with all the details and references (Requires time, isn’t it?...That’s why I selected after retirement time, Intelligent me :-)!!....what?? Memory loss problem at that age??Well, many more lists to be prepared and saved for reference!)

This might not be important for the recipients but shall surely make me sleep with peace in my grave.

7. I wish to learn swimming and learn it so well that I save life of atleast one drowning person.

This has no background; We do few things just to feel good :-)

8. I will love to grow a garden of my own, A garden where I shall have all varieties of plants, right from flowers, vegetables to fruits & spices. Cooking would be fun if I shall have everything available so fresh as just plucked…I can feel the taste of delicacies made up of freshly grown veggies…..Yumm :-)

The another reason behind growing a garden would be the time I along with family shall be able to spend under the shade of willow, surrounded by fresh air with aromatic fragrance of flowers….What a delightful experience it would be!!

9. One day, I aspire to become a writer and imagine my articles/ columns published in all the big names I know exist in print media.

And with it I get one more reason to grow the garden I mentioned in the last point, I shall love to immerse into finishing my write ups/articles sitting with a cup of coffee in that Garden of mine :-)

10. I dream to establish an NGO for poor , victimized and underprivileged women and kids. I shall make them educated and self dependent by running educational, small scale industries’ skill set training and many more beneficial camps for them.

This dream is more about achieving Nirvana and has no other motives attached.

I shall be content if I will be able to provide overall development to them in a secured environment.

Monday, February 21, 2011

What makes you a Bad Boss ......

Have been reading a lot about what makes a person a good boss (read manager)..... on my way back (I travel Delhi-Gurgaon-Delhi daily for work, so have almost 2 hours daily to spend with myself and to immerse into all kind of gibberish thoughts), yesterday , i was thinking reverse..... what are the qualities that make a boss or a manager detested….. I happened to have the providential opportunity of working with a couple of such people in my five years of corporate odyssey ….. So, all I did was , recollect the reminiscences with them and their sub ordinates and jot down a list of behaviours that made them disliked , and if practiced regularly, shall make you a Bad boss too :

  • Do you play favourites?..... I understand that its very human not to like or dislike two people similarly….but while making decisions or assigning responsibilities ….. it has to be the work done and the potential that should be the considered criteria and not the relationship shared…..Alas ! I have observed few very senior and sensible managers playing favourites and choosing wrong people to do wrong jobs and becoming the least preferred managers.
  • Are you a Power Centric?....... If delegating power is not something you are keen of doing , I bet , you are leading a bundle of clerks and That’s a good thing only if you are too contented with your current role and position because until and unless you have a team of people who are skilled enough to manage atleast their share of work without much supervision from you, you shall never be able to gear up for next level.
  • Does your daily schedule include Public Rebuke & Screaming ?.......... Nobody …… I reiterate, Nobody, shall ever like to hear his/her shortcomings ….. and if told in public, there are fair chances of reduction in the quality of work and a good amount of time going into looking out for other employment options….. Amazingly, the fact that I noted is, even the top most people have a mindset that public scolding will help in improvement, while the results have always been opposite…. If you don’t respect your people, you are advised to learn to handle high percentage of attrition.
  • Did any of your ex or existing subordinate ever complain about being treated as a Machine and not human?.......... High time you understand the age-old saying “Treat Others The Way You Want To Be Treated”…….. .... Work overload, Unnecessary pressure, Numerous follow ups for minute things, Usage of abusive language, Direct/Indirect Instructions for late sitting, Threatening of firing………. All my attrition analysis reports have always been full of such words ……which clearly says that in today’s buoyant market where there’s no dearth of opportunities, Talent, if not nurtured, shall find it’s way out easily…..declaring you unable to retain them.
  • Do you belong to the rare species of managers who have an obvious inclination towards any particular community/state/gender/age -group or language?............ Discrimination, in any of its form, is professionally as well as morally incorrect……and if not avoided, brings you a unanimous abhorrence.
  • How many times have you had an open communication forum with your team?..... If the answer is zero, then my dear friend , you seem not to be receptive for open communication….. Poor listening skills is a quality which a Bad boss should must have!!...... Gone are the times when a dictatory attitude would have brought you appreciation……….Today , everyone wants a Mentor and a Guide, someone who will help in climbing the success ladder…… someone to whom they can go with all their queries and under whose guidance they can pursue their quest for excellence……And if you don’t fit the bill, please be ready to win the title of most disliked manager.
  • Are you in time for most of your meetings and appointments?......... Let’s be honest, Most of us still carry a mental block that all important people should enter a meeting at the last….Isn’t it??........ That’s rubbish!... disrespecting others time is not less than a crime…..the more u make them wait, the more disregard they shall have for you.
  • How does the concept of building up Successors sound to you?..... Well, That’s a well known HR practice in all good companies, they expect you to identify and develop your potential successor in your team….I have faced a lot of resistance (most of the times not accepted openly) from all senior levels while conducting this exercise……. People have a tendency of not liking the fact that their juniors can be as competent as themselves……….They don’t generally get along with the person they see their competition in……which is sad…….First thing first, they are not your competitors….Understand the difference between a successor and a competitor… …If you build up such an efficient team where people can replace you as well…..chances, and very bright ones, are that you shall be considered to be moved to the next level without much hassles.

These were my observations that I could recollect, shall be updating with the new experiences…..!!