Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Dare to lead - Winning Strategies for Women



“I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'Cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again 
Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to
I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman”
                                     --Helen Reddy and Ray Burton

If you are a woman reading this, I’ll ask you to go and hear the song. It’s beautiful, strong, feminine and in your shoes! If you aren’t, you should hear it anyway, to realize what I am talking about.

Being a woman and being out there is an achievement, so much so, that it is worthy of ballads. Because being a woman with a career means breaking the norm and keeping it at the same time!. On one hand you break the convention of spending your childhood and youth not in becoming Lizy of Pride & Prejudice but becoming Mr Darcy with a better body and prettier shoes. On the other hand, you don’t want to give up the pleasure of cooking for your husband, helping your kids with their homework and booking full day spas. That’s two roles in one. Only a woman can manage that kind of multitasking!

But just like any achievement worthy of praise, it is not easy being that power puff girl. What keeps these women ticking and what makes them win? I asked few women around me (and put in my own two cents).

The top answer is surprising for the uninitiated. Family. Women are probably more emotional and sensitive than their males counterparts and hence it is important for them to have the support of a family around them. A great husband, loving kids, parents. Women lay lot of emphasis on having things sorted back at home. Having a supportive family helps them focus guiltlessly on work and accomplish more in their careers.

Gossip and women go hand in hand. But it seems that when it comes workplace, women want to stay away from it. Excluding the discussions around whether your boss is in a foul mood because he had a fight with his wife, women are generally distant from work related gossip. More specifically, workplace politics. Most women are interested in quickly finishing what is assigned to them and saving manipulation for their friend circles.

The glass ceiling. Who hasn’t heard of that. But the trick is in believing it does not exist. Sometimes, women seem to presume that their bosses will prefer their male counterparts over them for higher responsibilities, get demotivated, and don’t perform anyway. Those who don’t get into this trap, easily cross the holy grail in an unbiased work environment.

That brings me to the last factor, your boss. This is irrespective of gender. But women, as far as I know, respond very well to mentorship and positive reinforcement. The more trust & responsibility, you put in them, the more you reap. Most women who have an ascending career graph, agree that it woudn’t have been possible without a supportive boss and open work environment.

I am sure there are many more experiences and learnings to share. I am woman still learning.  

Thursday, June 7, 2012

The Portfolio Life


I came to office early today. To work. Alas, things don’t always happen the way we plan. So here I am writing this post  and checking jobs on naukri before others walk in and start applying for the same jobs.

In this post I am going to steal the idea of one management thinker and repackage it and sell it back to you. Heard about Charles Handy? .. Go wiki on him and his theories. And you can also google and flipkart him. But I am going to copy him.

So he talks about this theory of Portfolio life. Imagine if you treated the days of your life as coins in your kitty and you needed to spend them on a basket of goodies. Essentially building  a portfolio of things you would like to do each day instead of doing the same thing everything day. Imagine everyone following this theory in their lives.. Oh what fun will it be! And full of funny too!... Let me tell you how..

So imagine our good old Ramu kaka suddenly switches to portfolio life. He wants to be five different things on 5 working days of the week (yes.. atleast in the perfect future, everyone works only 5 days!). So on Monday he is ramu kaka himself when he brings you your morning tea and spills it on your brand new arrow shirt you were planning to impress your lady boss with. Yes ofcourse, not a cool start of the week! Ramu kaka gets some piece of your spotless mind.

On Tuesday, he is Ramesh Pandey, the traffic hawaldar who places himself at the same traffic light that you decide to jump. His revenge shall drill a hole in your shirt!

On Wednesday, tables turn and he is the night guard for your building. Your dog Edward makes sure he doesn’t sleep a wink.

By Thursday, you can imagine how annoyed Rammaiya, the waiter the at idli dosa eatery is. So when you order you favourite sambhar, he doesn’t forget to spit in it. And to top it up, on Friday he skips his turn at the post-office and checks in as the dhobi who will burn your Arrow shirt!

Thankgod the future is far away!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Getting Back At It!

Sorry, I have been away for a while.. was busy with finishing my book. Check out your nearest bookstore for any leftover copies..

The book is called "Who moved my cheese".. yeah.. thats an old one.. I am a slow reader ;).

Anyway.. just posted something. And hopefully will be regular since I spend a lot of time thinking these days.. in the auto-rickshaw.. benefits of staying away from work. Yeah.. we all know how much fun that is.  

Speech Head Disconnect

I hope you understand what I mean. Ok, let me explain.

As an average office goer (which I beg to differ by the way.. I think I am exemplary!)..I am expected to dedicate a certain amount of my office time in engaging in extra-official activities, which consists of not only rolling back lengths of toilet paper that I pulled by mistake, but also other critical tasks such as reading my company moto on the opposite wall 57 times, sending personal couriers from office dispatch desk, healthy snacking (read chana), unhealthy snacking (read everything else) and most importantly collating & dispersing career-critical information on colleagues, often termed as water cooler gossip.

Now, on one such information exchange session (which ironically never happens at the water cooler since it is way too crowded), we were discussing our half yearly numbers.

Fellow gossiper: It seems they are intentionally pulling down the numbers to show bad results in this quarter.

Me gossiper: Or their tea is not happy…umm.. clients!.. I mean clients are not happy!

On another occasion, at my desk, after offering chana to the guy next to me.. “Hey.. I’ll keep it in the Dubai, you have it when you want .. Dubai??!.. haha… I mean drawer..in the drawer.. haha..im so lost!.. haha.. im sorry.. here in the drawer!

Yet another occasion, while asking for directions from my husband (yes.. I havn't updated facebok yet!) on phone,.. I say – “ I am at four bungalows. I mean seven bungalows… and took a right from mad-o-wot and then the first left.. sorry, I meant I took the left from mad-over-donuts and then the right.. I know. Sorry.. I know you don’t know where I am!.. shit… ok.. I’ll ask someone on the road!”

And then the rickshaw driver stopped and left me at that spot on my mind where what I say is not what I am thinking.

PS: Do I need therapy?