Meditation

Meditation is one of the important tool which lightens the stress at office.It is the most simplest form of knowing self.However we do not have time and interest in knowing self and we spend lot of time in knowing others for our success.We appease,please and surrender to others for getting success,but we do not surrender to ourselves.The day you know your self ,success is not far off.Even if you fail you do not get frustration.Not getting frustrated on trivial or even major failures is the first step towards success.My way of mediation is sitting alone with empty stomach in the morning with total disasscoaition from worldy noise.

Government Working

It is nice to be in touch with your followers.The blog is working like a friend.I have not shared with you since long ,.Lot of things have happened in my life.It is good some of your friend remind you about blogging.

It is a normal belief that the people in government are a 'Typcial' lot .No passion no desire except pay and holidays.No ambition .Top of it highly corrupt and expecting 'Service charge" for whatever work he does [if at all he do].I am so happy that the same is not true with me.In the environ I am working,I find a corporate culture wherein the boss is so much passionate for work that at times people could not keep pace with her speed and dyanmism.One of my colleague gets upset on off days.Payments to vendors are strcitly adhered to within the time frame.The team is always poised for challanges.

Should I say the wave of change has started?.

Anti Tobacco Day

It was nice becoming a judge for evaluating an Ad Copy drafted by the employees of ONE Advertising Ahmedabad.The concept of encouraging participation dates back to the days of the birth of Principles of Management.Of course very few really implement it.The theme Anti Tobacco day was really interesting.I made the evaluation sound scientific. The message of Tobacco being a weapon of Mass destruction touched me after the furore created by the than dictator of Iraq Mr.Saddam Hussesin possessing those bilogical weapons.

Corporate working and traffic experience

Working in corporates is like driving your car on Indian roads:

1.At times you find somebody overtaking from left and trying to reach destination earlier than you.However it is always observed that the moment one overtakes from left,he gets temporary satisfaction of going ahead,as after few meteres there is somebody already ahead of him on his track and going slowly and now coming to driving track becomes difficult.As a result he will have to wait till the last vehicle goes away from the driving track.MORAL:OVERTAKE FROM RIGHT ONLY.

2.Although is always advisable to maintain driving track on the express highway ,somepeople feel that their speed is higher than others and maintain the overtaking track.As a result other vehicle with a very good speed goes on applying horn but he neither speeds up [limitation] nor allows other to go:MORAL FIND WAY OR MAKE WAY BUT DO NOT BLOCK.IT IS ALWAYS SAFE IN MAINTAINING DRIVING TRACK TILL YOU GATHER MOMENTUM FOR OVERTAKING

3.Some drivers, driving very posh car do not believe in giving prior signals when they take either left,right or U turn.As a result a follower who is highly disciplined and organised do not notice and ram into the car.The damage would be more to the posh car.MORAL:DO GIVE SYMPTOMS OF YOUR STAND OTHERWISE YOU MAY BE AT LOSS.

4.Some drivers have a habit of obeying signals whenever there is a policeman and in absence try to make way impatiently to be caught by the policeman taking shleter in the corner.MORAL:PEOPLE NOT FOLLOWING CODE OF CONDUCT CANNOT BE A LEADER AND THEY LAND UP IN THE TRAP.

5.Some drivers have a habit of applying head lights even when not required without bothering its effect on the opposite vehicle driver,either becaue of ignorance or because of showing supermecy,finally himself getting bogged down by bigger vehicle.MORAL:OVERSHADOWING OTHERS PERFORMANCE DO NOT LAST LONGER.

Sai's Death

Saibaba the uncrowned king of the spiritual world is no more with us.I really pity his critics who labelled him as a fake or a jadugar.If you consider him as just an individual than his contribution in healing people,contributing in education and hospital is worthy enough to bow down as unique person.What government as a large body has not contributed ,he has contributed as an individual,and in comparison what you hear of government in terms of corruption etc,the things of Baba is nothing.WE SHALL BE MISSING SUCH A PERSON AND KEENLY WAIT FOR HIS REBIRTH.

WORLD CUP WIN A HR STUDY

The world Cup win is in fact a case study for many Motivational Gurus, HR professional if they view with a Group dynamics perspective.We talk of team building, team leader,the synergy etc but rarely we can generate contemporary perspective. Some of the lessons which a job aspirant can learn from this is:

1.How to handle a highly performing subordinate [teammate] if you are the boss:DHONI v/s SACHIN:

Acknowledge his strengths and achievement,respect his fame in front of teammates and share your expectations along with his weakness not in front of team mates but personally.Have a candid relations with him .

2.How to handle a flamboyant subordinate [ team mate] like Yuvi:

Be friendly, get associated and motivate him for result and convey him your banking on him despite his weakness but not at the cost of the result.

3.How to handle low motivated/and frustrated but talented teammate like Ashish Nehra:

Motivate him by giving due responsibility and trusting him by giving him responsibility with due guidance even though general opinion may not be in favor.

4.How to handle excited teammate like Sreesanth:

Scold him by making a public statement and also guide him about the ills of his nature.Blow Hot Blow Cold style of working.

5.How to handle freestyle team mate like Virendra Sehwag:

Allow him to work on his own, guiding the framework of working as well as the contribution in the goal achievement

6.How to handle young ,energetic team mate like Virat Kohli, Raina as a team mate:

Give shared responsibility of grooming them to the senior most people and allow seniors to guide them from time to time wherever they go wrong.Do not feel that it is only your domain of giving instruction to young ones but allow senior person to vent their opinion when you already have some genuine experienced team mates.

To summaries I strongly believe that a captain/Boss can be a team leader if:

1.He himself sets an example in performance and if he fails in one department or one tasks,try to cover up in the other.This philosophy of contribution in your field takes out the maximum from the team.

2.You have to communicate differently in terms of language/tone with different teammates as per his nature and style with due respect everyone's own individuality.

3.Avoid showcasing yourself in achievements and avoid blaming individuals in failures.

4.Keeping cool does not mean you lack aggressiveness.Shouting at teammates is never a conclusion of aggressiveness. In fact taking the burden of pressure in frustrating moment is the right attitude and sharing frustration in private generates effectiveness.Meditation and SWOT analysis of self and team mates from time to time helps.

5.No captain or boss can perform in isolation.Boss might be having a bundle of strengths but without efficient team contribution it is of no use.Similarly boss may not be having many strengths,but with an efficient handling of team's strengths can create wonders in result.No Boss can perform without understanding his team member.

Hunt Job

I strongly believe that if you compare getting a job with the hunting of prey for food than you can be very much successful.Recently I had an opportunity of addressing about 1000 students at Convention hall at South Gujarat university under the umbrella of Udisha.Students from all faculty were lucky to attend the government efforts of Placement Grooming.I was pleased by the sincerity of the students in terms of eagerness in knowing forthe skills of geting job.

The comparison for hunting for job with the hunting for food will lead to following:

1.The acute desire and the need .If you are dependend on father's money you will find lot many execuses in not attending the campus interview or shall never try on your own to get the job
2.One in hand is better than 2 in the bush.Do not wait that I shall try next when I will get better salary or better location or big company etc.Grab whichever comes to you till you really understand the corporate world and you.
3.You have to focus on target like Arjun.Trying half hearted approach may lead to going away of the opportunity to someone else.
4.If prey goes away than sharpen your weapon:If you fail to get the desired job,do SWOT analysis and sharpen your skills where you are stronger and use it to get the desired goal.
5.Enjoy your food for a while but start thinking for next.If you get the job do not be complacent as unforseen circumstances at your end or at the company's end may catch you unawares so always be on a look out for the alternatives.

Soft Skills

"'We are hired for our technical skills,but fired for the lack of soft skills'"
Shiv Khera, in today's Times of India.

He is absolutely correct.Many colleges even professional institutes and even students also do not understand this and spend hell of lot of time in craming and mugging for procuring 'A' grade in academics.If this is not supported by soft skills than he fails in corporate world.

Government of Gujarat is making very genuine efforts in supporting the students of Gujarat and help develop skills to get the jobs.UDISHA is one of their efforts and I had an opportunity of grooming students for Resume Writing skills on 15th March.I would like to give a Format of a resume for a 5+ years of experience candidates.

Great Pleasure

It gives great pleasure when you become a part of the process meant for societal development especially if that happens to be your passionate area.At SCOPE which is a English propogating society promoted by GoG , a record number of students appeared in the exam conducted by Cambridge and me becoming an instrument in the process.It was nice to see a news item in Ahmedabad Mirror ,[Times of India] covering this news.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF SELF
In order to have a perfect placement,one should do his SWOT analysis that is Strengths,Weaknessess,Opportunity and Threat.Exploit strengths and make an efforts of removing weaknessess or hiding weaknessess.Let it not surface easily when you are being interviewed.As such this is an art and for that one has to do introspection and be candid in anlalysis.No one on this earth is perfect however some people are successfull whereas some are stressful thoughtout the life.Very few people take an application writing seriously.When you expect a salary of Rs 10,000 per month from the application made,why you do not invest your time and few moneys in drafting an effective resume.Infact resume is your salesman or a brochure which 'Sells' in your absence. Infact this is an investment and its return is based on how you project yourself through resume.

Placement

Most of the engineering and MBA colleges might be undergoing Campus Placement.We join professional colleges naturally for good openings and salary.Most of the time we fail to apply the concept of business while pursuing for placements.Start thinking yourself as a product and identify your most saleable features,just like you go in purchase of a toothpaste.First of all you identify your requirement,your budget and in that budget you will go in for a product covering most of your requirements.There is always one core need which is to be met in any case.In paste it is cleaning of the teeth.Same you apply for the jobs that is available.The core requirement in all the jobs whether it is technical or commercial,whether is Marketing or Accounts,whether it is small company or MNC,the core requirement is communication in English which is a must.

Career in Tele calling is really good especially it is generating so much employment and gives money higher than other job market avenues .The requirement is so wide that focus is on the numbers of human head you get from the market. This gives an opportunity to the budding college goers to have good pocket money. However I strongly feel that if some one is opting before his graduation level or before actually seeing the real job scenario would get frustrated the moment he leaves that job and face the real job market.One of the reasons is that , he is getting money which might be substantially higher than the core job market,the same may not happen when he switches over. Further his job profile is more or less a monotonous. This restricts his value addition after serving for a long time limiting his options to tele caller related fields only.However the best part is a breed of good 'Trainers' get developed who if supported by technical degree can be great help as a soft skill trainers to the students and even to corporates.

For an author it is always an encouragement when some of the target audience gives a real feedback of the book.One employee from Ankleshwar who read my book was so much pleased that he related change in his professional approach after reading the book and got motivated.A senior most person from a very reputed organisation appreciated the book doing a yeomen's job for the society.Thanks to all. HE is the only career maker.

CM's Letter

On my visit to Rajkot for the work of SCOPE,I had a unique experience.On delivering seminar on Importance of English,I visited 2 schools and addressed kids aging 12-16years.The discipline,the innocent face of the kids took me back to my school days.Kids are the same today.The obedience and the surrender to the teachers show the power of teacher in making and molding of the vessel known as human being.My eyes got moistoined when a girl with a very innocent smile gave a bouquet with a delighted courtesy.I was really wondering as to where and when this curious and innocent looking face go away when they become a youth ?Thanks to the almighty for making me a part of this process of career building.When I started my session with a question to these kids as to who is the CM of Gujarat and there was loud reply of 'Narendra Modi'.I was happy not only with the GK of the kids but also by the charisma of our CM.Later when in the day when I addressed a first year engineering students,I could relate the morning experience.Still they had a innocent looking face hidden under their curious looking stance worrying to know about their career.

I am sure this curiosity for knowing themselves go away in the subsequent years only.I do not know what is the reason.I think this can be a feedstock for educationist who wants to retain the power of youth which contributes about 35% of total population.

One of my mentees who is now 41years of age came yesterday and was very frustrated saying that he has been not getting reponse from the job application he is making and some of the reputed job consultants has said that now you being about 40 + forget about a change in job as now employers are yearning for younger people and they are getting in good numbers.

Dear friends that is not the case.It is case of marketing your self especially some of the USPs that you have developed viz:
1.Core competency in the field that you have been handling till date.
2.Industry knowledge and so is the funtional knowledge
3.Communication skill in handling the people especially in your core sector even though you might not be good in English.
4.Think of changing the sector all togather rather slogging in the current field.
5.Give a fresh look at the application format,wordings and also the resume.Make Resume more like a profile rather than a typcial biodata

Friends remember our body becomes older and not the soul.The energy comes from soul.This energy shall always keep you in warmth of growth.Any doubt do talk to me.

I am really surprised by the driving manners of the high pofile people driving snobbish car.While the car is fully equipped by the side signals ,the driver do not bother to press the side signals on taking turn.Perhaps they have a mentality of having a person doing the accesory jobs at office and also at home,they want some one to press the signal.It is fate of the poor person like me who in a bid not to get my car smashed has to suddenly apply the brake on his sudden decison of turning.I think their vehicle is nothing more than a rickshaw or a scooter which when pressed for side signals remain so till the driver switches off and most of the time the driver forgets and poor follower waits for him to turn which never happens.

I THANK ALL WHO HAVE APPRECIATED MY EFFORTS IN CONTRIBUTING TO THE SOCIETY.

Sometimes I really do not understand the mentality of todays' youth.After visiting many colleges as a part of my current profile,I strongly feel they are goalless and move around aimlessly.Whereas 35 % of total population of India is youth imagine can we afford such a thing.The career of the state is in the hand of youth whereas they themselves do not know that they are the carver's of future of the country.Many college students could not speak in English and still ,never felt the need of intospection.In many MBA and Engineering colleges they have lot of schedules fo academic assignments, but nothing for improving English.Infact they donot bother.Grades are not that important.Gone are the days when percentage mattered How you market yourself through language which the world understands is the only way to success.Not that I am overwhelmed by the power of English,butwe cannot afford to neglect the knowledge of English language.

Book Launch

27 th january 2011,

It was my red letter day.The first book written by me on my own experience of grooming students have been given shape for the larger masses.The function was a perfect blessing of my beloved lord Shri Hanumanji.The Chief guest was my mentor Shri G.Narayan [Guruji] who is known to me since the days of Transpek Industry Ltd Baroda which was my first job after my MBA i.e 1982.I stongly feel that the world is very small and lucky are those in whose life there are companionship of old network.The guest of honor was Shri Akshai Aggarwal who is Vice Chancellor of Gujarat TechnologicalUniversity.

My co author Sunil Shah has been my jewel of life and more near to my heart who motivated and supported me in writing this book My mother's presence and seeing her happy made me happiest person of life.Do you know who anchored the function.My dearest daughter Miss Pranali and sunilbhai's daughter Shaiva.It was a marvelous example of mentoring own kids togather with the mentoring of the students at large.I do not know whether I should call them the mentees[they are more than that] but definetly the presence of the volunterred mentees viz Amit and Yograj from Kutch,Suren and Sangram from Mumbai,Jay Patel and Alok from from Baroda,Niraj and Dhaval from Ahmedabad gave an utmost satisfaction of having contributed a small percentage to the society at large.These are my beloved jewels of my life.