Anxiety Nurosis

 It denotes the mental disturbance caused by the sufferer’s life because of negative and unrealistic thinking. It is a state where excessive stress or inability to cope with stress causes mental exhaustion.

It will not be challenging to spot some of such cases in your surroundings. I want to share one of the greatest examples available from "Geeta". As per interpretation by Swami Chinmayanand this was the mental state of Arjuna when he refused to participate in "Mahabharata" -( the War against Kaurawa's) as mentioned in the first chapter. Arjuna has been described as a victim of the situation who is focusing on results leading to #AnxietyNurosis & inactions. It was quite surprising for me to look at one of the greatest warrior of all time through this interpretation. It took next 17 Chapters to convince him to fight the war and get ready for the battle field. Further, if you delve deeper Arjuna has been described as Ego, Lord Krishna as intellect. The chariot as the body and the 5 horses as the 5 senses.

Many times while dealing with situations we focus too much on negative aspects and get stressed. Its always good idea keep your thoughts and assumption under check and have a self-help environment.

Have a great day!

#LeadershipTrails

Career Progression Process

In April'18 we interviewed select employees for select positions as part of our commitment to internally identify future leaders. While generally, the process starts with Manager Recommendation, Psychometric Assessment followed by an interview process. This time we committed ourselves to add 1 more step which turned out to be the highlight of the process.

After finishing all 1st round of interactions we called all interviewees 1 by 1 to share #feedback irrespective of there interaction outcomes. The panel who have assessed them in morning, concluded the day with feedback to them in 1 on 1 setting. Some of such sessions lasted upto 40mins.  Objective of these feedback sessions was to arrive on mutually agreed #IndividualDevelopmentPlan for all interviewees which was documented and signed off in a suitable format.

While few may get selected and others may get rejected, we ensured all of them receive quality inputs for their development journey and return to their home with a sense of satisfaction. This extra effort by panel helped them understand their area of improvement and strengths in real time.

Timely delivery of feedback makes it relevant and impactful. For me, this got manifested and validated once again with this process

#LeadershipTrails
#HRmeansBusiness

Emotional Hijack

Emotional Hijack is a state when an individual's cognitions are overpowered by his/her emotions.

There are many more complex definitions but this one is simplest for a quick reference. We believe we are responding out of rational while mostly we are reacting out of our #emotions. In an aggravated situation (#EmotionalHijack) we are 100% reacting out of intense emotions like Anger, Anxiety, Guilt. The moment we start reacting like this, we miss the opportunity to exercise the better choices available to us! Results are stressed relationships, depressing office environment etc. While this is happening to most of us in and out, we rarely take cognizance of it. Question is how to avoid this?

While the solution is simple to understand, it is quite difficult to implement it!
It starts with being self-aware of our emotions. How it is affecting us mentally & physically. Being aware of our belief system!

2nd step is to avoid EmotionalHijack is by addressing emotions in a less intense state. e.g. addressing irritation before it turns into an Anger. As in less intense state we have alternative choices.

By selecting these choices we can use unexplored #EmotionalIntelligence residing in us! Try it out if this makes sense to you & share your experiences.

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#HRmeansBusiness

Stop #Blaming, Start #Living

A simple easy & phrase which has all success residing in it. However, consciously/subconsciously we continue to behave in a contrary fashion. Although the definition of success may vary for each one of us, nevertheless this phase is equally applicable to all striving for the success.

The moment one blame others (be it surroundings, people or any other external factor) for failures met in life, he/she lose an opportunity to exercise choices available. More importantly one lose a golden chance to learn and grow! The choices are available in every situation. The decision to be a "#victim" or "#incharge" decides further course. #Life is full of such situations which leads to a broader question: "How one wants to lead a successful life?"

Playing a victim card is an easy way out though no one gets success by positioning themselves as a victim. One succeed when they take rightful actions which is an act of rightful thinking which happens when one takes charge!

Mostly evolved professionals/individuals understand this principle in "#Conscious". However, it may be worthwhile to connect with"#Subconscious". That can only be achieved through periodic #reflections, expanding #SelfAwareness and being in touch with one's #BeliefSystem.

#LeadershipTrails

Life is not Fair

We have a professor at XLRI who used to grade marks differently for the same answer for a given question/assignment. If you argue and tell him "this is not fair", his response will be "Life is not fair". It came like a bullet for the first time however, it soon became a new normal for rest of the trimester. While it may have looked cynical at that point in time, the professor was trying to teach us one of the learnings for life in a disguised manner.

In the language of Rational Emotive Behavior Theory, we have many irrational believes. One of which is "Life should treat me fairly all the time". It starts with an expectation and soon becomes a firm belief.

Its always good to watch out for irrationals beliefs one is carrying with themselves and to demystify them from time to time.

#LeadershipTrails
#LifeisnotFair

What is #Digitization?

Is it about #ProcessAutomation?
Is it about #ERP?
Is it about becoming more #technology friendly?
Or is it something more than this?

Recently I attend #Perspectives18. During panel discussion one of the Panellist quoted story of a Coolie who used Railway's free wifi to study and cracked Civil services exam. This story reminds me of something I heard many times in my formative years. The story of a boy who studied under the lamppost and became IAS officer. I am sure many of you would have also heard something similar. Both stories have similar outcomes, message, emotions. It's just that Lamppost has been replaced by Free wifi in the Newer version. So does this qualify as an equivalent example for Digitization or does Digitization mean something more especially when you look in organization context?

Another important question is: Do you really need a digital strategy or you just want to do it as everyone else is doing it and it's a new buzzword? Digital will be most discussed subject as in last 2 decades we have produced maximum professionals in this space only.

#Perspectives18
#LeadershipTrails

Making More Health

Making More Health (MMH) is a flagship program of Boehringer Ingelheim in collaboration with Ashoka Foundation. There are many initiatives under the umbrella of MMH. One of them is Leadership Week. In April'18 I got an opportunity to be a part of Leadership Week. I was pleasantly surprised to see the work we are doing in rural parts of South India in association with Karl Kubel Institute for Development(KKID), Coimbatore.

As per Program design, 15 selected participants from Boehringer Ingelheim across the globe come to Karl Kubel Institute for Development for a week. This batch had participants from Germany, France, UK, US, Argentina, Mexico & India. This diverse batch of 15 individuals became part of one big family during this week. I am sure they will continue to cherish and reflect on the memories made during the program. 1st Day is Orientation & Field Work starts from 2nd Day. Each Field Work is followed by Reflections/Learning Sessions. Field Work includes visiting different blocks, villages, interaction with local communities, Self Help Groups, Schools. The objective is to understand the cultural/social background and co-create self-sustainable Social Entrepreneurial solutions. The discussions are guided to expand participant’s self-awareness along with better understanding of Social Context. Leadership Week is internally facilitated & led by #MMH team. Yoga is an integral part of this week and every morning starts with it.

Karl Kubel Institute for Development is located in the middle of three mountains at heart of Nilgiris. It is surrounded with natural beauty. It is surreal experience to be part of something like this. The air is so fresh. You can hear birds humming in morning and evening. It’s quite easy to spot peacocks in institute garden. The mess food is equally simple and authentic. The cook ensures richness of south Indian flavors with balanced spices. Stay is more like Hostel and an experience worth having. If you can stay without AC and looking for a place where you can connect with yourself in middle of nature, this is the place. If you love elephants KKID is a must visit!

On a personal note, it was quite an enriching experience. It was nostalgic indeed as it took me back college days where Social Entrepreneurship was part of the curriculum. I felt grateful for the pedigree and education received during my formative years which helped me gain a better understanding of Social Sector and challenges associated with it.

I will always be thankful to Boehringer Ingelheim for providing me this excellent exposure. If you want to read more about MMH you can click on following the link: MMH HomePage

#LeadershipTrails.

The Rainy Day

I had planned to travel to Delhi for taking a session for our employees. It rained heavily throughout the night of 19th Sep 2017. Again same goes for the morning, I woke up to a grey and cloudy morning. This was a day of mixed feelings as I was looking forward to a bright and active day and here I woke up to the morning with no sunshine. Just when I was leaving for the airport, I received a text from one of my well-wishers and colleague: "Is it that imp to go looking at the situation here in Mumbai".

I politely responded: "We only decide the importance of our work. I feel its important. If I don't value it, others will surely not feel its important ... on personal note thanks for your concern". I was determined to go as long as flights were operating.

I reached the airport on time but my flight got rescheduled, so this gave me time to sit and reflect on my surrounding. There were long queues on all counters as many flights had been rescheduled or canceled. People were struggling to know the exact status of flights and the airline staff were all up on their feet to help customers in the most polite and courteous manner. I had a #jetairways flight and I was happy to see work commitment and dedication of Jet Airways staff. It was an unusual day for them as they were handling huge rush of customers as well as emotions like anger, frustration, anxiety... they were handling it all.

In morning my flight status was "canceled" which was subsequently changed to "delayed". This change of status was a momentary relief as the airline started issuing the boarding pass. I got my boarding pass, completed security check and reached boarding gate only to realize that it’s raining crazily. It was visibly evident that it’s almost impossible for flights to operate under such condition.

My flight got rescheduled thrice since morning and now it was almost late noon. I decided to cancel my trip as the whole purpose of this trip was defeated. I went back to the reservation desk and realized that the same set of people had been working on the counters continuously. They were still managing people and their emotions with the same empathy and politeness. This was a big example of commitment and integrity at work and indeed an inspiration. Hats off to the people who work for Aviation industry and mostly are at the receiving end by customers in situations like these. I realized that day that life is equally tough for them and this article is my small effort to recognize their exceptional level of service orientation towards customers.

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