What a boss wants ????

                                       What a boss wants ????

We spend most part of our day to day lives either thinking of our partners or our bosses.Conflict of interests between them and us leads to a number of problems.Most of the time I find people entangled in "bossphobia". But we rarely think, What our boss really wants? In order to thrive a real work-life balance we need to stop a minute and think about it. Today I will try to put some light on this treacherous creature "Boss", not the blockbuster movie but the leech who sucks our happiness. It might help you in understanding this daily quandary.

Let me tell you an Indian mythological story.

One day Narad asks lord Vishnu, "Why is the image of Garuda placed before you in temples and not me? Am I not your greatest devotee?"

Suddenly a crash sound comes from outside. As Garuda was not present,Vishnu asks Narad to go out and investigate.

Narad(after returning) : A milkmaid fell and broke her pot.

Vishnu: What was her name?

Narad runs out again to ask her name.

Narad: Her name is Geeta.

Vishnu: Where was she going?

Narad again runs out to ask her and comes back.

Narad: She was going to the market.

Vishnu: Why she fell?

Narad(irritated): Why did you not ask this the last time I went outside?

And again he runs outside.

Narad: She stepped on a thorn and fell.

Vishnu: Are all her pots broken?

Narad: I don't know.

Vishnu: Then find out as I want to buy some milk.

Narad gets angry but follows his master and runs again.

Narad: She broke one of her two pots.

Vishnu: How much I need to pay for the left pot of milk?

Narad: I again forgot.

Just then Garuda flies in. He has no idea of what has transpired between Vishnu and Narad. Vishnu tells Garuda, " I heard a crashing sound outside.Can you find out what happened? As Garuda leaves, Vishnu says," Let us see how well he does."

Garuda(after returning): It's a milkmaid named Geeta. She was on her way to market. Suddenly, she stepped on a thorn and fell. She broke one of her two pots. Now she wonders how to make enough money to pay for the broken pot.She wishes to sell the remaining milk at double the initial price i.e. 8 gold coins, in order to  break even.I suggested to sell the milk to you as you are married to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.

Now Vishnu turns his gaze to Narad. Narad realizes his mistake and understands why Garuda's statue, and not his was always placed before the image of Vishnu.

Despite being given the freedom to take decisions, Narad chooses to be a follower, as he is afraid of the consequences. In contrast, Garuda anticipates the needs of Vishnu. So, the next time you find yourself stuck between the expectations of yours and your boss' , think for a minute. Are you Narad or Garuda.*


(* conditions apply. Few bosses are not equivalent to Vishnu )

It's all about strategic intent

                                 It's all about strategic intent

With ten heads, twenty arms, a flying chariot and a palace of gold, Ravan has been one of the most flamboyant villains of the Hindu mythology. Then what's the reason behind burning his effigy every autumn. And how can we take a management lesson from the same. Let's take a deep dive into Ravan's life to be a better manager in the 21st century.

From our childhood most of us emulate Lord Rama. But we seldom pay notice to what Ravan was. Ravan the grandson of the great sage Pulatsya, one of the seven sons of the creator Lord Brahma.

Rudra Strota, scripture written in praise of Lord Shiva was composed by the same evil Ravan. In addition, Ravan, a great musician first made the Rudra Veena from one of his heads and hands.

These things show a somewhat opposite image of Ravan what we mostly know about. But the biggest thing is if Ravan was such a talented person then what for we worship lord Ram.

Ram, a simple, ascetic man devoid of all the pomposity yet worshiped till date. The simple reason behind all this is Ram's strategic intent. In other words how strategically he wove the fabric of his life with his ethics,truth,empathy,team spirit and a clear path of life. Because in the long term it is the strength of this fabric that matters.

 In modern times, managers may get dazzled by the Blackberries,the Porsches and the riches in the short run but it's what creates a Ravan within us. And in order to be revered as a modern Ram in managing arena one needs to engineer simplicity with a clear vision to succeed.That's the strategy Michael Porter also talks about. So develop a positive strategic intent in life and have a real break.

It's time for a break

A new storm of the Aam Aadmi has swept the whole nation. The old political forts (BJP and Congress) have been devastated by the storm. This new wave of politics of Arvind Kejriwal holds some deeper insights for the aam aadmi of the country. And as a citizen of an independent country we need to understand the intricacies of Kejriwal's regime.

The rise of Kejriwal provides a hope for the common man to do something uncommon. But it's not his rhetoric that we should be aping. Because most of our political leaders are known to polarize masses with their rhetoric. Kejriwal infuses a new gene of sacrifice, honesty. truthfulness, perseverance, rationality, empathy and above all simplicity. It's not that I am a follower of any political party.I am just the follower of reason and logic.And I am analyzing where we failed and how this political scion can be a gene changer for our society.

From ancient times, our society has been blessed by some great personalities. Starting from the Treta yuga, Lord Ram or the Dwarpar yuga, Lord Krishna. Moving to recent times, leaders like Gandhiji, Swami Vivekananda and many more. But the ugly fate has always demolised the hope engendered by these people.The reason is lack of will of the masses. Adding to the pain is our naive society which gets polarized very easily. That's the reason why we stand on the same fork as  we were at the time of independence. But it's time to change.

The upsurge of the AAP provides the people the same opportunity to introspect as well as retrospect the evils holding our society to grow. The Kejriwal brigade has created a path for the common man to follow for a better tomorrow. But it is in our hands to take a break a think how to be a true Aam Aadmi.