Reflections

   DUTY & STRESS USING DETACHMENT, {SPIRITUALITY} AND A SIMPLE TOOL TO DESTRESS UNDERSTANDING DUTY What exactly is Duty? What are its parameters? And, from a spiritual perspective, what is the link – if any, between Duty and Detachment? How do we gain from the combination of these? And what is the practical real world application of this concept if any? Before we can understand these questions, we need to appreciate the concept of duty in depth.   Duty  : This word does not just refer to your current job at a professional level, and self/family at a personal level. Neither are these independent of each other. There are several levels of duties enjoined on an individual; these are :  Duty towards Self, Duty towards Family, Duty towards Employment Place / Organisation {Not towards person - key difference}, Duty towards Community & Society, Duty towards Nation, Duty towards Humanity, Duty towards Environment This is the full concept of a Human Being's Duty ...

ARJUN’S SPECIAL QUALITIES Arjun is a name and a person who needs no introduction to most Indians; one mention is enough to trigger images of sharp intellect, of fearless fighting capability, of legendary archery and combat skills – none of these attributes needs further clarification for most of us. Yet, there are a few aspects of this great warrior, this prince among men, that deserve a much deeper look. These are attributes which do not readily come to mind. At best, the one quality that will occur to some is his bhakti for the Lord Shri Krushn, as evident in the Krushnaarjun Samvaad {Known popularly as the Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta} BACKGROUND Let us remind ourselves of the background of this finest of creations on Earth, the Krushnaarjun Samvaad : it took place in the middle of a battlefield, on the eve of an epochal battle involving nearly all the known kingdoms of ancient Aryavart. In short, anyone who was anyone and his entire clan was there for the battle. This...

THE COMPETENCY MATRIX : A BASIC LOOK AT FUNDAMENTALS This article is an instrospective analysis arising from a study of a multitude of sources relating to Management Theory and Practice, and has been born out of studying the Business Failure of a couple of organisations where I worked; thus, this is an attempt to answer some questions on where organisations fail, and how can we prevent failure. I have looked / am looking at many parameters of functioning – Logistics & Supply Chain, Sales, Marketing, Finance, and more… here, I focus on a part of Organisational Development and Business Strategy. Do leave a comment with your thoughts on the same. This is an article born of introspection and  studies of both theories as well as case studies - but I have abandoned theoretical approaches for a more brusque basic approach to explain the concept,  A Competency Matrix is a tool that documents the required competencies for each position in the organization; and ...

Confidence remains one of the most popular, focused on and discussed wiords in a manager’s dictionary, be it routine chats in teams, or be it hiring, or be it routine / strategic / tactical decisions or steps in managing. It becomes a fundamental, core parameter at most   times. While it is indeed vitally important, it is more often than not misunderstood, or its relative importance overstated , or misunderstood, leading to actual real-world problems… CONFIDENCE – OR COMPETENCIES? I have a different take... Confidence is linked to the end-result; and is thus a product, not a determinant in itself . I prefer focus not on being confident - I find that a distraction - but on the Process. The moment I focus on the process, and de-link everything else, and decide to give it my best shot - I am in comfort zone; even if I fail . Focussing on the process perforce requires me to break each task into into constituent elements; executing each element with max focus brings sa...

In the previous 2 segments of this conversation, we went deep into the concept and role of relationships & trust in the context of a modern workplace, and understand the concept of what it entails. We also examined the nature of workplace relationships in the light of the modern organization, and the modern survival of the fittest syndrome, before moving on to tactical aspects of this question – that is implementing them in the real world, wherein I confronted the panel with the simple questions – can it be really, truly achieved in the modern world? In this   concluding segment, we look at these aspects : survival, vertical relationships, inter-function / department relationships,   external stakeholders, and going onto the most basic of all : ethics, values of an organization, and the need for them. My personal thanks to both the panelists, for their candid responses, which also served to kindle hope and build confidence in the reader as well as myself wit...

In the previous segment of this conversation, we took a look at the aspects of a   positive healthy workplace relationship; in this segment, I asked the Senior Mentor / Manager Mr Milind Kher and the Middle Manager RIddhima Dua some questions that put them in a place wherein they had to figure out whether we can implement this in the real workplace, and strategise how this can be achieved. The answers were revealing – Mr Kher with his experience and knowledge producing pearls of Wisdom, and Mrs Dua going into the tactical details – making for a near perfect conversation… Q11: How can you build trust within teams? RD : Trust comes with acceptance . Accepting the individual the way they are, heightening awareness to acceptance and behavior, and communicating it with higher frequency. Our inner energy plays a vital role here. Let us give you an example : A team of 4 working together, all of them has an idea to reach a potential goal of the company; Now they start co...