This post should have been made on 28th June - Pardon my crankling bones that I can hear the grunts and oomphs even today!!
I went to a Outbound Camp organized by TCS with motive to foster team spirit, collaboration, and leadership among the associates. I have attended many such outings before. However, the timing of this event couldn't be better. I needed such a dose to refresh and rejuvenate myself from the cliche of work and personal pursuits that have turned into obsessions now. And what a dose it was !!!! I still carry the after effects of the dose with a sweet pain across my arms n legs :).
On Saturday, the weather was perfect - With clouds in a natural setting. A light breeze could have been an icing on the cake. Anyways. The event started with a bus journey to a resort near
There were number of activities such as Rappelling (Not so exciting for me but loved to see nervous first timers),
To conclude, I really enjoyed the whole day out. I just to wish get normal now and I am longing now to go back to my obsessions as soon as possible. Only if my bones stop making noises :). Will post some of the pics of the event here soon.
Monday, June 30, 2008
A much needed Refreshment !!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Can you get this one ?
Today, I was surfing across just to find something crazy, something stimulating. My search ended with the following illusion pic - one of the best I have ever seen.
Now the concept is: Both the A and B blocks are same shades of Grey. Period !!! Spend sometime here to really have a look before I lead to resolve the mystery. I know you will need my help :)
Done ? Perhaps you can read the explanation here. Could you make it ?
Perhaps try desi estyle. Copy this image in your mspaint, cut a piece from each block and compare. The explanation above will start make sense :). One of craziest things I have seen. How about you ?
Ciao
~Vinit
Now the concept is: Both the A and B blocks are same shades of Grey. Period !!! Spend sometime here to really have a look before I lead to resolve the mystery. I know you will need my help :)
Done ? Perhaps you can read the explanation here. Could you make it ?
Perhaps try desi estyle. Copy this image in your mspaint, cut a piece from each block and compare. The explanation above will start make sense :). One of craziest things I have seen. How about you ?
Ciao
~Vinit
Leadership Jack Welch eestyle !!
Disclaimer: As I was re-organizing some old content on my lappy, I came across some old write and blog collections. The one that follows is from an unknown source. I simply found the write compelling since I have turned a big fan of 'Jack Welch' after reading his 'Winning'
A couple of years ago, former General Electric CEO Jack Welch visited the Stanford Graduate School of Business to talk about leadership and his book, Winning. With about 800 people, we had a public conversation about managing. The best comment he made, I thought, was the simplest. It's something I believe and try to practice every day. Leadership is not about you. It's about the people who work for you. "The day you become a leader, it becomes about them," Welch said. "Your job is to walk around with a can of water in one hand and a can of fertilizer in the other. Think of your team as seeds and try to build a garden. It's about building these people," he insisted. "Only you will know the team." That's right. The minute you move from being a task-oriented professional to being a manager of people, it stops being about your individual talents, your successes, and starts being all about coaching, motivating , teaching, supporting, removing roadblocks, and finding resources for your employees.
Leadership is about celebrating their victories and rewarding them; helping them analyze when things don't go according to the plan. Their successes become your successes. Their failures are yours too. Too many people today think leading is exclusively about their own performance. Even some of those who become CEOs, usually highly intelligent people who worked hard to get where they are, turn into self-aggrandizing individuals once they hit the executive suite. Too many people, perhaps encouraged by the media, have developed an obsession with leaders. In his book on hierarchies, Top Down, Hal Leavitt covers a broad range of issues. Leavitt, who is the Kilpatrick professor of organizational behavior emeritus at the B-school , surmises that part of today's infatuation with the leadership discussion springs from the fact that we perceive organizations have become flatter, when they are still hierarchical , though changed to being "participative" and "groupy." They have become harder to navigate with chains of command that are less clear. As a result, leadership qualities are more important for managers at every level, not just for those at the top of an authority pyramid.
Although it is difficult to find common characteristics among acknowledged leaders (What would Winston Churchill have in common with Mother Teresa?) , Leavitt identifies three recurring themes of leadership : transformation, persuasion, and competence. Leaders are able to transform or change a situation. They can influence others and motivate them to follow. They exude confidence and competence about what they are doing that inspires others. At the B-school , we have created a leadership development program that gives students experiences and coaching to help recognize and reinforce some of these qualities. Of prime importance, in my view, is the notion that leadership is about change and a leader must leverage those who work for him or her, empower and support them with regular feedback, rewards, and exchange of ideas.
Of course, sometimes leaders have to 'weed the garden' in Welch's pithy vocabulary. The tough job of firing and hiring is part of creating an effective team. One person, no matter how talented, cannot accomplish much in a managed organization of today's complexity and global reach. Transforming through others is the job of the leader at any level. Said Welch when he was here: "The day you become a leader, your job is to take people who are already great and make them unbelievable."
A couple of years ago, former General Electric CEO Jack Welch visited the Stanford Graduate School of Business to talk about leadership and his book, Winning. With about 800 people, we had a public conversation about managing. The best comment he made, I thought, was the simplest. It's something I believe and try to practice every day. Leadership is not about you. It's about the people who work for you. "The day you become a leader, it becomes about them," Welch said. "Your job is to walk around with a can of water in one hand and a can of fertilizer in the other. Think of your team as seeds and try to build a garden. It's about building these people," he insisted. "Only you will know the team." That's right. The minute you move from being a task-oriented professional to being a manager of people, it stops being about your individual talents, your successes, and starts being all about coaching, motivating , teaching, supporting, removing roadblocks, and finding resources for your employees.
Leadership is about celebrating their victories and rewarding them; helping them analyze when things don't go according to the plan. Their successes become your successes. Their failures are yours too. Too many people today think leading is exclusively about their own performance. Even some of those who become CEOs, usually highly intelligent people who worked hard to get where they are, turn into self-aggrandizing individuals once they hit the executive suite. Too many people, perhaps encouraged by the media, have developed an obsession with leaders. In his book on hierarchies, Top Down, Hal Leavitt covers a broad range of issues. Leavitt, who is the Kilpatrick professor of organizational behavior emeritus at the B-school , surmises that part of today's infatuation with the leadership discussion springs from the fact that we perceive organizations have become flatter, when they are still hierarchical , though changed to being "participative" and "groupy." They have become harder to navigate with chains of command that are less clear. As a result, leadership qualities are more important for managers at every level, not just for those at the top of an authority pyramid.
Although it is difficult to find common characteristics among acknowledged leaders (What would Winston Churchill have in common with Mother Teresa?) , Leavitt identifies three recurring themes of leadership : transformation, persuasion, and competence. Leaders are able to transform or change a situation. They can influence others and motivate them to follow. They exude confidence and competence about what they are doing that inspires others. At the B-school , we have created a leadership development program that gives students experiences and coaching to help recognize and reinforce some of these qualities. Of prime importance, in my view, is the notion that leadership is about change and a leader must leverage those who work for him or her, empower and support them with regular feedback, rewards, and exchange of ideas.
Of course, sometimes leaders have to 'weed the garden' in Welch's pithy vocabulary. The tough job of firing and hiring is part of creating an effective team. One person, no matter how talented, cannot accomplish much in a managed organization of today's complexity and global reach. Transforming through others is the job of the leader at any level. Said Welch when he was here: "The day you become a leader, your job is to take people who are already great and make them unbelievable."
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Enterprise of the Future - IBM Global CEO Study.
Today I happened to read IBM's Global CEO Study - a study that I downloaded from my maiden visit to HBR Online website. I have been a regular reader of printed version of HBR as I like on reading on paper rather than online. I visited the online version just in hope to get some good case study to read over the weekend and I got one - The Enterprise of Future.
I took print out of the 79 page study from my office. Before diving deep in the study I observed with my room mate and old college friend that the print out- 79 page thick almost resemble with the complete study material we used to have for one subject during our engineering.
The study is basically a collection of responses of survey & Interviews of more than 1000 CEO's worldwide. I also learnt that this was the third such study conducted by IBM and it’s primarily focused on how the organizations should respond to the rising challenges and how the Enterprise of future would look like. The striking revelations of the study focused on the following five traits of success for the organizations:
1. Organizations should manage change in a thoughtful and well planned manner rather than in reactive manner. Organizations that promote change as an integral part of there culture and day to day work are more likely to succeed.
2. Organizations that foresee the ever increasing customer awareness as opportunity to collaborate with customers to design breakthrough products and services are more likely to capture customer attentions. Innovation needs to be a way of life.
3. Global integration - not just riding on the growth in developing economies such as India and China but to position the business in such a manner that you source where its most cost-effective, produce where its best quality, and sell where its most profitable. Further, rapid reconfiguration when new opportunities appear should be on high agenda.
4. Since it is becoming highly unlikely to differentiate in terms of products and services, organizations are trying to differentiate and change the business models. The Enterprise Model Innovation is most commonly followed.
5. CSR is rising on CEO's agenda - With the increasing awareness among consumers and potential employees about the social aspects of business, enterprises are embarking on a path towards genuine CSR activities to win trust and loyalty.
Each of the above point is explained in depth and supported by the survey data in the study. I found the compelling insights invaluable to develop a macro-view of where companies are moving / should move in the next 2-3 years. If interested, you may read the complete study Here
Ciao
~Vinit
I took print out of the 79 page study from my office. Before diving deep in the study I observed with my room mate and old college friend that the print out- 79 page thick almost resemble with the complete study material we used to have for one subject during our engineering.
The study is basically a collection of responses of survey & Interviews of more than 1000 CEO's worldwide. I also learnt that this was the third such study conducted by IBM and it’s primarily focused on how the organizations should respond to the rising challenges and how the Enterprise of future would look like. The striking revelations of the study focused on the following five traits of success for the organizations:
1. Organizations should manage change in a thoughtful and well planned manner rather than in reactive manner. Organizations that promote change as an integral part of there culture and day to day work are more likely to succeed.
2. Organizations that foresee the ever increasing customer awareness as opportunity to collaborate with customers to design breakthrough products and services are more likely to capture customer attentions. Innovation needs to be a way of life.
3. Global integration - not just riding on the growth in developing economies such as India and China but to position the business in such a manner that you source where its most cost-effective, produce where its best quality, and sell where its most profitable. Further, rapid reconfiguration when new opportunities appear should be on high agenda.
4. Since it is becoming highly unlikely to differentiate in terms of products and services, organizations are trying to differentiate and change the business models. The Enterprise Model Innovation is most commonly followed.
5. CSR is rising on CEO's agenda - With the increasing awareness among consumers and potential employees about the social aspects of business, enterprises are embarking on a path towards genuine CSR activities to win trust and loyalty.
Each of the above point is explained in depth and supported by the survey data in the study. I found the compelling insights invaluable to develop a macro-view of where companies are moving / should move in the next 2-3 years. If interested, you may read the complete study Here
Ciao
~Vinit
Friday, June 20, 2008
HR after MBA - A refreshing rejuvenation!!
Ok. I am not expert at career advice and I have nothing planned for myself in the HR or MBA for the time being. You might ask then why this topic? I’ll come back to that. First, some novice & touch funny incidents from life on the subject.
During late college days and early days in professional life, I wanted to do my MBA and go into HR. As I retrospect diligently, I recollect that my inspiration to be a HR MBA was primarily because of TCS HR professional whom I met during our campus recruitment drive. I was awed by there presentation & communication skills and I simply wanted to be like them, confident, humorous, and well-groomed. Further, the kind of royal treatment they were getting from my college as compared to brutal one we used to receive as students, made me think that HR MBA & then recruitment drive at GNDU will be a nice way to square off things. Also, I always have had a knack to organize activities, convince & handle people to come to party or some gathering, and simply talk a lot. I thought that is exactly what a HR do & I will just take-off as HR Professional. When couple of people argued that “HR is an area for girls”, I simply responded “Isn’t that a good enough reason to go for it?” Well, those were novice days and things have changed a lot now. However, the seeds of the journey I have been on were sowed there & it is refreshing to remember those days.
Now, coming to why suddenly this topic. Today, I was approached by a bright, confident, and able associate in my team. He wanted to know about the future prospects of HR Professional and what kind of opportunities he may expect. I was both amused a little & felt bit nostalgic when he explained his reasoning similar to I used to have – A knack for organizing events, people management etc. However, he was more clear, interested, and passionate about HR than I used to be. While advising him, although I do not have any latest research, I expressed him that HR will be bright area in future because of two reasons.
First, as Indian industry is maturing and facing severe skills shortages, HR professionals are moving up the ranks of importance in CEO’s agenda. Second, I have read somewhere that there is a severe shortage of HR professionals itself in India. Many companies have been on rampage to hire engineers (in range of 10k to 35k per year), but they have not matched this trend in HR and at some point of time; companies will have to do so. With this bit of advise, I also observed that HR as a function is not only about organizing events and people management – as we see everyday our project HR doing. At a middle/ senior level, it is about policy design to better the employee satisfaction, help organizations hire & retain talent, and build competitive advantage.
Because of my limited knowledge on the subject, I provided him threads to explore – The best one I could. First, I told him about an independent HR Management Consultant – Gautam Ghosh, whose excellent blog I followed for some time. - http://gauteg.blogspot.com/. Second, I provided him contact of HR head for Tata Group – TAS. Third, I helped him with a lethal weapon – A combination of Google, Linkedin, and Orkut through which he can track the lives of successful HR professional and foresee whether & how he can reach there. I believe that if one network & research smartely, no information can stay hidden in today's world.
To conclude, I think HR after MBA makes a lot of sense with knack for people management, curious intellect, and pleasing personality. However, it is important that you have valid reasons to choose HR / any area of specialization and not crazy & weird ones such as working with lot of girls, squaring of things with your college :).
Ciao
~Vinit.
During late college days and early days in professional life, I wanted to do my MBA and go into HR. As I retrospect diligently, I recollect that my inspiration to be a HR MBA was primarily because of TCS HR professional whom I met during our campus recruitment drive. I was awed by there presentation & communication skills and I simply wanted to be like them, confident, humorous, and well-groomed. Further, the kind of royal treatment they were getting from my college as compared to brutal one we used to receive as students, made me think that HR MBA & then recruitment drive at GNDU will be a nice way to square off things. Also, I always have had a knack to organize activities, convince & handle people to come to party or some gathering, and simply talk a lot. I thought that is exactly what a HR do & I will just take-off as HR Professional. When couple of people argued that “HR is an area for girls”, I simply responded “Isn’t that a good enough reason to go for it?” Well, those were novice days and things have changed a lot now. However, the seeds of the journey I have been on were sowed there & it is refreshing to remember those days.
Now, coming to why suddenly this topic. Today, I was approached by a bright, confident, and able associate in my team. He wanted to know about the future prospects of HR Professional and what kind of opportunities he may expect. I was both amused a little & felt bit nostalgic when he explained his reasoning similar to I used to have – A knack for organizing events, people management etc. However, he was more clear, interested, and passionate about HR than I used to be. While advising him, although I do not have any latest research, I expressed him that HR will be bright area in future because of two reasons.
First, as Indian industry is maturing and facing severe skills shortages, HR professionals are moving up the ranks of importance in CEO’s agenda. Second, I have read somewhere that there is a severe shortage of HR professionals itself in India. Many companies have been on rampage to hire engineers (in range of 10k to 35k per year), but they have not matched this trend in HR and at some point of time; companies will have to do so. With this bit of advise, I also observed that HR as a function is not only about organizing events and people management – as we see everyday our project HR doing. At a middle/ senior level, it is about policy design to better the employee satisfaction, help organizations hire & retain talent, and build competitive advantage.
Because of my limited knowledge on the subject, I provided him threads to explore – The best one I could. First, I told him about an independent HR Management Consultant – Gautam Ghosh, whose excellent blog I followed for some time. - http://gauteg.blogspot.com/. Second, I provided him contact of HR head for Tata Group – TAS. Third, I helped him with a lethal weapon – A combination of Google, Linkedin, and Orkut through which he can track the lives of successful HR professional and foresee whether & how he can reach there. I believe that if one network & research smartely, no information can stay hidden in today's world.
To conclude, I think HR after MBA makes a lot of sense with knack for people management, curious intellect, and pleasing personality. However, it is important that you have valid reasons to choose HR / any area of specialization and not crazy & weird ones such as working with lot of girls, squaring of things with your college :).
Ciao
~Vinit.
15 Minute Journalism
Today I read of a powerful concept somewhere (I really need to structure my reading habits to remember where I read what.).
If you hope to inculcate writing habits in yourself, improve your writing skills, and simply want to become more aware of what is happening around you then take a plunge to write everyday / at least on weekend for 15 minutes. You may choose any time of the day you are comfortable, early morning with a sip of coffee or late night before sleeping.
The idea is to not just write about some facts or traverse back through your day or some string of events. The idea is to write about absolutely anything but reach some conclusions, what you liked or disliked, why something became important to you. This will lead you to become a better write with clear opinion about the world and about yourself. I found the concept a powerful one. Some good habits if adopted well can change you a lot.
I have friend who has developed a beautiful habit. He reads a book before sleeping. In fact he has been so consistent that of-late he has started saying that he can’t fall asleep unless he reads some book. Sometimes after a party (apne eeestyle ki party ) he expresses interest to read a book. Subconsciously, he has programmed himself that way. It’s another fact that he an absolute bastard: P, a complete waste for all his talents, and too lazy: P (I know you are dying to hear his name and some of you may have guessed, yet I will refrain from naming him :) ). As far as books are concerned, he always has a book to read, next one planned, and previous one to speak about. It’s tough to admit but yes, I am inspired by him.
I need to do something similar with this beautiful blog. (Beautiful – Ahh some self congratulations after all the good comments from blessed souls). It is here that I have decided to voice my opinions, guts, and learning as a part of 15 minute journalism initiative (I realize that if by some magical pill I can inculcate this habit I will well overshoot my target for 100 blogs this year).
If you hope to inculcate writing habits in yourself, improve your writing skills, and simply want to become more aware of what is happening around you then take a plunge to write everyday / at least on weekend for 15 minutes. You may choose any time of the day you are comfortable, early morning with a sip of coffee or late night before sleeping.
The idea is to not just write about some facts or traverse back through your day or some string of events. The idea is to write about absolutely anything but reach some conclusions, what you liked or disliked, why something became important to you. This will lead you to become a better write with clear opinion about the world and about yourself. I found the concept a powerful one. Some good habits if adopted well can change you a lot.
I have friend who has developed a beautiful habit. He reads a book before sleeping. In fact he has been so consistent that of-late he has started saying that he can’t fall asleep unless he reads some book. Sometimes after a party (apne eeestyle ki party ) he expresses interest to read a book. Subconsciously, he has programmed himself that way. It’s another fact that he an absolute bastard: P, a complete waste for all his talents, and too lazy: P (I know you are dying to hear his name and some of you may have guessed, yet I will refrain from naming him :) ). As far as books are concerned, he always has a book to read, next one planned, and previous one to speak about. It’s tough to admit but yes, I am inspired by him.
I need to do something similar with this beautiful blog. (Beautiful – Ahh some self congratulations after all the good comments from blessed souls). It is here that I have decided to voice my opinions, guts, and learning as a part of 15 minute journalism initiative (I realize that if by some magical pill I can inculcate this habit I will well overshoot my target for 100 blogs this year).
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
A rocking meeting for an Environmentalist
I had won the Just A Minute (JAM) competition, an extempore competition, for generating ideas to make TCS Gurgaon center better cater to environment perseverance. Thereafter I got an opportunity to spend time with chief auditors who came to test TCS GGN center for ISO 14001 certification. I must admit I heard some rocking examples from the auditors and I hereby attempt to recollect some of those examples. Essentially these examples establish the huge environmental degradation caused due to the day to day activities we conducted.
First, we discussed around the Kyoto Protocol. I asked him how much concerned business leaders and CEO are towards environment protection. How much does environmental implication effect the business decisions they make? He explained how European Nations are quite strict on this. Further he said there are positive developments since 22 US states have signed for the Protocol and US is now showing positive signs. Then he began to provide examples from day to day life. Some of them are as follows:
1. Where have all the house sparrows gone? Did you ever notice? Did you ever miss the chirping of this small bird that was so usual 8-10 years ago? Well, this development has gone largely unnoticed but the cause of this development has not. The success story of Indian Telecom Industry, increase in tele-density, and rise of Bharti Airtel are quite celebrated subjects in media. However, it is the same usage of the cell phones and their radiations that have led to elimination of House Sparrows from the vicinity.
2. Oil Import from Australia to India caused a rare coastal bird to disappear from Australian Beaches: - How is that possible? We are importing oil from Aus. to India. How can it lead to extinction of a bird from Aussie beaches? Well the story goes on that when ships unloaded the oil at Indian ports, they used to put some water from Indian coasts in the tanks so the ship has some weight on it while traveling the back. The same water, collected from Indian ports, was offloaded at on reaching the coast at Australian side. This water was not suitable for development of Algae on the beach. When Algae became a rare, an particular insect that used to live on algae got eradicated. This lead to reduction in number of a particular fish that was quite abundant in the area. The fish was eventually preferred food for the rare bird that got extinct. Did you notice the chain there? Further, did you notice that man can to know of the situation only when the impact reaches 3 levels higher - Algae, Insect, and Fish went unnoticed.
3. Drink Milk causes Impotency. Period!!! Surprised. I was amazed. For a moment I though the Auditor has got this one wrong. But he got it right. The story goes behind this is that these days cows are given injections to deliver more milk. These injections basically have female hormones. When these hormones are increased in cow's body, they naturally flow in the milk as well. So when female hormones reach male bodies in form of milk, it causes certain damage to male hormones. Next time your mom pushes you to drink milk, don't listen to them :) !!
There were several more examples. So much of information flew around; I wasn't able to gather all. For once it felt as if everything we are doing is wrong. Understanding our situation, the auditor explained his stand using one more example.
TCS is coming up with a new center in Chennai that will host around 23000 people. An average of 500 - 800 buses will be needed for transportation of the associates. The same buses will heat up the environment and causes excessive damages. Now the question is who is responsible?
Are the employees who work there responsible? But they simply work there, they didn't make this center. IS TCS responsible or is the Industry - a bank, a financial service, Retail Company who created the demand for the software with TCS responsible? Or is the end user who created such demand with the industry that they need software responsible? Can you answer?
He concluded that ultimately all of us are responsible for everything going on. It is collective responsibility of each of us, to spread the awareness, to stay conscious and contribute in whatever manners we can!!
I am going to contribute my bit and through this post, if I have inspired you also then I have already started !!!
First, we discussed around the Kyoto Protocol. I asked him how much concerned business leaders and CEO are towards environment protection. How much does environmental implication effect the business decisions they make? He explained how European Nations are quite strict on this. Further he said there are positive developments since 22 US states have signed for the Protocol and US is now showing positive signs. Then he began to provide examples from day to day life. Some of them are as follows:
1. Where have all the house sparrows gone? Did you ever notice? Did you ever miss the chirping of this small bird that was so usual 8-10 years ago? Well, this development has gone largely unnoticed but the cause of this development has not. The success story of Indian Telecom Industry, increase in tele-density, and rise of Bharti Airtel are quite celebrated subjects in media. However, it is the same usage of the cell phones and their radiations that have led to elimination of House Sparrows from the vicinity.
2. Oil Import from Australia to India caused a rare coastal bird to disappear from Australian Beaches: - How is that possible? We are importing oil from Aus. to India. How can it lead to extinction of a bird from Aussie beaches? Well the story goes on that when ships unloaded the oil at Indian ports, they used to put some water from Indian coasts in the tanks so the ship has some weight on it while traveling the back. The same water, collected from Indian ports, was offloaded at on reaching the coast at Australian side. This water was not suitable for development of Algae on the beach. When Algae became a rare, an particular insect that used to live on algae got eradicated. This lead to reduction in number of a particular fish that was quite abundant in the area. The fish was eventually preferred food for the rare bird that got extinct. Did you notice the chain there? Further, did you notice that man can to know of the situation only when the impact reaches 3 levels higher - Algae, Insect, and Fish went unnoticed.
3. Drink Milk causes Impotency. Period!!! Surprised. I was amazed. For a moment I though the Auditor has got this one wrong. But he got it right. The story goes behind this is that these days cows are given injections to deliver more milk. These injections basically have female hormones. When these hormones are increased in cow's body, they naturally flow in the milk as well. So when female hormones reach male bodies in form of milk, it causes certain damage to male hormones. Next time your mom pushes you to drink milk, don't listen to them :) !!
There were several more examples. So much of information flew around; I wasn't able to gather all. For once it felt as if everything we are doing is wrong. Understanding our situation, the auditor explained his stand using one more example.
TCS is coming up with a new center in Chennai that will host around 23000 people. An average of 500 - 800 buses will be needed for transportation of the associates. The same buses will heat up the environment and causes excessive damages. Now the question is who is responsible?
Are the employees who work there responsible? But they simply work there, they didn't make this center. IS TCS responsible or is the Industry - a bank, a financial service, Retail Company who created the demand for the software with TCS responsible? Or is the end user who created such demand with the industry that they need software responsible? Can you answer?
He concluded that ultimately all of us are responsible for everything going on. It is collective responsibility of each of us, to spread the awareness, to stay conscious and contribute in whatever manners we can!!
I am going to contribute my bit and through this post, if I have inspired you also then I have already started !!!
An enthusiastic build up for eventually a failed attempt - TAS !!
As I progressed in professional career, I kept on searching for my ultimate destination. I started my search with the cliché comment "I can't do coding whole my life" to today's well thought career development plan that will render immense professional and personal satisfaction. In additional, I have developed porous boundaries of principles and values I have come to appreciate and will always follow for my life.
Either it was my family's influence or my association with Tata Group's jewel TCS, I have become well defined in my principles. During my career, I have 'missed' several excellent professional opportunities just because I knew it may not be in best interest of the organization. I had decided that I will transparent about my plans and aspirations with my seniors, as I would expect from my sub-ordinates. A case in point is my recent denial to join World Bank project in Washington because I communicated to Senior Managers that since I have applied for TAS, I will be available only after TAS selection process is over. My deliberations have been met with mild criticism and often, subject of leg-pulling by my acquaintance. However, one person who has always congratulated my act and provided inspiration to stay integral is my grandfather.
An old person with weary eyes and shaky voice, he is a man of principles. Since childhood, I have heard about his heroics during his young days from my relatives. I recall the day when I jubilantly jumped at home to announce my campus selection in TCS. The fact that TCS was first company to show at my college and only two people, including me, were selected in 2 rounds of interview had furthered my elation. My grandfather, however, knew little about TCS and showed signs of worry of the kind of company I will work for. I told him "Grand Paa, It's a TATA company". Almost instantly, he stood with his trembling legs and pulled out a 100 rupee note that I should donate in the temple. He further advised me that Tata's are good people and I should work for best of my abilities. Little did I understand his point during those days After all, I will be working with TCS - an software company. What is to do with Tata Group?
Today, as I retrospect, I understand my Grandfather's point. Tata Group is deeply rooted with core values of integrity and social responsibility. I have inculcated these traits in me today, reinforced by the professional setup in TCS and my family's persistent social involvement. In addition, the clouds over my Ultimate Destination have cleared.
As a professional, I have always enjoyed strong equity within my sphere of influence. In addition, I have valued professional excellence and always seeked opportunities to extend my contributions beyond the assigned roles. With just 7 months of experience, I associated myself with two development projects. In less than 2 years, I was with a new strategic client "Siemens" with responsibility to make first good impression of TCS and initiate the project. In past, I have also worked in capacity of Team Lead and in Pre-sales activities. I have mentored around 20 people and interviewed numerous candidates. I have always valued rotation and seeked such opportunities in my career. Now, my focus has shifted beyond IT and professional rise in uni-directional manner. I am after my ultimate destination now.
Tata Administrative Services, TAS, provides the perfect breeding ground to my experiences and aspirations. I deeply value and imbibe the core principles of TATA group. I feel connected with Tata and the day Corus, JLR deals were announced it was not less than festival for me. The professional journey that TAS provides is a perfect setting to achieve Generic Management skills where after dedicated training, I will be able to respond to organization's dynamic requirements such as "We have a company in Singapore that is shaping itself to take on new directions and challenges. We want you to lead the same" and I shall be off. TAS is the destination where I can build sustained equity, rotate in various roles and industries have freedom to express, shape socio-economic policies, and contribute to nation-building - A.K.A my Ultimate Destination. TAS selection process is about to commence. Now it's time for execution. After all, things are done first in my mind and then in action.
Either it was my family's influence or my association with Tata Group's jewel TCS, I have become well defined in my principles. During my career, I have 'missed' several excellent professional opportunities just because I knew it may not be in best interest of the organization. I had decided that I will transparent about my plans and aspirations with my seniors, as I would expect from my sub-ordinates. A case in point is my recent denial to join World Bank project in Washington because I communicated to Senior Managers that since I have applied for TAS, I will be available only after TAS selection process is over. My deliberations have been met with mild criticism and often, subject of leg-pulling by my acquaintance. However, one person who has always congratulated my act and provided inspiration to stay integral is my grandfather.
An old person with weary eyes and shaky voice, he is a man of principles. Since childhood, I have heard about his heroics during his young days from my relatives. I recall the day when I jubilantly jumped at home to announce my campus selection in TCS. The fact that TCS was first company to show at my college and only two people, including me, were selected in 2 rounds of interview had furthered my elation. My grandfather, however, knew little about TCS and showed signs of worry of the kind of company I will work for. I told him "Grand Paa, It's a TATA company". Almost instantly, he stood with his trembling legs and pulled out a 100 rupee note that I should donate in the temple. He further advised me that Tata's are good people and I should work for best of my abilities. Little did I understand his point during those days After all, I will be working with TCS - an software company. What is to do with Tata Group?
Today, as I retrospect, I understand my Grandfather's point. Tata Group is deeply rooted with core values of integrity and social responsibility. I have inculcated these traits in me today, reinforced by the professional setup in TCS and my family's persistent social involvement. In addition, the clouds over my Ultimate Destination have cleared.
As a professional, I have always enjoyed strong equity within my sphere of influence. In addition, I have valued professional excellence and always seeked opportunities to extend my contributions beyond the assigned roles. With just 7 months of experience, I associated myself with two development projects. In less than 2 years, I was with a new strategic client "Siemens" with responsibility to make first good impression of TCS and initiate the project. In past, I have also worked in capacity of Team Lead and in Pre-sales activities. I have mentored around 20 people and interviewed numerous candidates. I have always valued rotation and seeked such opportunities in my career. Now, my focus has shifted beyond IT and professional rise in uni-directional manner. I am after my ultimate destination now.
Tata Administrative Services, TAS, provides the perfect breeding ground to my experiences and aspirations. I deeply value and imbibe the core principles of TATA group. I feel connected with Tata and the day Corus, JLR deals were announced it was not less than festival for me. The professional journey that TAS provides is a perfect setting to achieve Generic Management skills where after dedicated training, I will be able to respond to organization's dynamic requirements such as "We have a company in Singapore that is shaping itself to take on new directions and challenges. We want you to lead the same" and I shall be off. TAS is the destination where I can build sustained equity, rotate in various roles and industries have freedom to express, shape socio-economic policies, and contribute to nation-building - A.K.A my Ultimate Destination. TAS selection process is about to commence. Now it's time for execution. After all, things are done first in my mind and then in action.
Leadership - Risk taking is imperative.
I can't agree more with the subject. Each of us has immense potential and everyone wants to achieve a lot. However, the only thing that stops individuals is the risk associated with the short term decisions.
Many times for long term benefits, short term losses have to suffered. But one gets courage to take those risks and handle those losses in short term only and only if one is clear of his/her long term goals. If you can clearly see the direction in which you are moving, you will become a better leader overnight.
You will synergize efforts towards a particular direction. You will overcome obstacles in your way. You will either build upon your small successes or learn from your failures but towards your ultimate goals. The same sense of direction needs to be complemented by the most important attribute of leadership- Perseverance.
History testifies that there are many great personalities such as Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, and Walt Disney failed in early ventures. However, they were persistent and passionate towards their ultimate goal. It’s the perseverance that separates the best from the mediocre. Understandably you will fail in your ventures and attempts. But that's not failure. That in fact is a wonderful learning opportunity. The real failure is when you give up and decide not to give it a try at all.
So, it settled. Quitting a not an option.
To conclude, Leadership requires clear long term vision, risks in short term, and perseverance to sustain on self development road.
Many times for long term benefits, short term losses have to suffered. But one gets courage to take those risks and handle those losses in short term only and only if one is clear of his/her long term goals. If you can clearly see the direction in which you are moving, you will become a better leader overnight.
You will synergize efforts towards a particular direction. You will overcome obstacles in your way. You will either build upon your small successes or learn from your failures but towards your ultimate goals. The same sense of direction needs to be complemented by the most important attribute of leadership- Perseverance.
History testifies that there are many great personalities such as Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, and Walt Disney failed in early ventures. However, they were persistent and passionate towards their ultimate goal. It’s the perseverance that separates the best from the mediocre. Understandably you will fail in your ventures and attempts. But that's not failure. That in fact is a wonderful learning opportunity. The real failure is when you give up and decide not to give it a try at all.
So, it settled. Quitting a not an option.
To conclude, Leadership requires clear long term vision, risks in short term, and perseverance to sustain on self development road.
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