Explorer of Experiences

Reading this book has helped me so much, I feel almost compelled to share with you my learnings from Basic Black – The Essential Guide to Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life). Recently I read Basic Black, a book written by Cathie Black, now the former President of Hearst magazines. This was a book given to me by my sister nine years ago. I always promised myself that I would get around to reading it, before I knew it, it was cramped up somewhere in my drawer buried under possessions I had accumulated over almost a decade. I am thankful to my instincts that I finally decided to go ahead and read Basic Black. I couldn’t have picked it up at a better time. This year began for me with a few professional highs but also a lot of brewing uncertainties. Within ten pages of the book, I felt confident enough to shake things up and make a move and do something about my career. So what is Basic Black about? It’s an honest lay-it-all-out kind of a book by one of the most successful women l...

‘Life isn’t about finding yourself, it is about creating yourself.’ Think of your image as your currency. Your image is like an intangible currency that you earn over a period of time. How you conduct yourself directly or indirectly has a credit or debit effect on your ‘image bank account’. Do not underestimate the importance of perception. Everything you say, everything you do, how you walk, whether you walk the talk - all go a long way in building a perception in people’s mind about you. Also be aware of your surrounding and the company you keep. This comes as no surprise but you are judged by the company you keep. At the core of building a good image, don’t forget to be yourself yet be conscious of yourself – what you say and what your body language is in the presence of others counts for a lot. The keyword here is authenticity. Be who you are in whatever you do. Moreover, don’t fall into the trap of assuming you have a certain image. Sometimes, there can be a disson...

Image source: bugbog.com Earlier this month, Sweden hit the headlines by announcing its enforcement of six hour work days . A bold move there Sweden, but definitely a welcome first-mover. The country really has shown how much it cares for its people by making this move. The idea behind this enforcement is to enable people to get more work done is less time (read increase productivity) whilst leaving them with enough time and energy in the day to pursue their personal life. I absolutely stand by it.  I have always thought that people have been made to or think they have to invest 90% of their day in work. But why? Do relationships not matter? Does putting effort in a hobby or a non-work creative pursuit not matter? Who made it mandatory to work from 9AM to 5PM? And that by the way are not the standard work hours. In India at least. Maximum companies have a 9AM start time which means your day begins at say, 7AM when you wake up, get ready and probably get some breakfast in...

Image courtesy: www.picjumbo.com Have you ever had an experience working with students? How was it for you? Was it interesting sharing knowledge and your expertise with them? Did you in turn learn something from them? Responses to these questions would really interest me. I have had a recent experience working with students and it would be an understatement to say that it was exasperating. I took on these students considering they were being trained in skills I did not have and required for a work project. However, I was thrown in the deep end and realized very quickly how the students lacked the skills I was looking for and hence could not deliver the kind of quality I was expecting and was important for me to deliver. Hence I had to work doubly hard to get this project completed, relying on myself to work on elements of the project I had never tried my hand at before. The students showed lack of responsibility, lack of clarity and structure, lack of interest and drive and a dis...

Sometimes, I am grateful for having a blog. It disguises as an outlet for me to vent out my frustration. But this is a thought for another post. For now, there is a burning issue at hand. For those who get copied They say 'imitation is the best form of flattery'. I disagree! Because you get nothing in the bargain. My work style, thoughts and ideas have been copied by competition so many times. And nine times out of ten, wait, make that ten times out of ten, there is nothing I can do about it. And guess what, I am not getting the fluttery 'flattery' feeling at all. I am irritated. I am not an idea machine. I work hard to think of how I can make my work interesting and separate myself from competition and clutter every single day. And it is not easy. More often than not, in the process, the idea-originator gets no credit. No courtesy. That is not decency. There was one instance when I found out that competition had copied something of mine verbatim. My boss tried ...

I have been itching to write this post. I have met a lot of people especially in my work life who have pretty much been the same, work style wise. Very few have stood out. To make a mark, for me personally or professionally, three things immediately crop into my head. These are my so call ' mantras ', and they work. They will not only make your life easier, but will also create a strong impression of you with other people. Don't procrastinate Image courtesy: www.businessmindsetexpert.com Leaving things to do for later is a bad, bad idea. It takes time to get things off your check-list  but it takes only few seconds for another ten or thirteen things to get added to that to do list. I always list my things to do in terms of priority. But what works for me is to get those things done which would hardly take any time. So that gives me the chance of scratching that item off my list. And it's sheer pleasure when I make pencil strokes across that completed item. ...