Name - Heaven - Frog

I am sharing 3 small stories which I use in my motivational workshops. Enjoy !

What is in a name ?

During Rob’s first month of college, the professor gave his students a pop quiz. 

Rob was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until he read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was some kind of joke. He had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would he know her name? He handed in his paper, leaving the last question blank.

Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward the quiz grade. 

"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They each deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'hello'".

 Rob never forgot that lesson. He also learned her name was Milly.

(Indian Readers of the blog ... remember Munnabhai and Jaadu Ka Jhappi ? )

  ***

Heaven and Hell 

A woman who had worked all her life to bring about good was granted one wish: "Before I die let me visit both hell and heaven."

Her wish was granted.

She was whisked off to a great banqueting hall. The tables were piled high with delicious food and drink. Around the tables sat miserable, starving people as wretched as could be. "Why are they like this?" she asked the angel who accompanied her. 

"Look at their arms," the angel replied. She looked and saw that attached to the people's arms were long chopsticks secured above the elbow. Unable to bend their elbows, the people aimed the chopsticks at the food, missed every time and sat hungry, frustrated and miserable.

"Indeed this is hell! Take me away from here!"

She was then whisked off to heaven. Again she found herself in a great banqueting hall with tables piled high. 

Around the tables sat people laughing, contented, joyful. 

"No chopsticks I suppose," she said. 

"Oh yes there are. Look - just as in hell they are long and attached above the elbow but look... here people have learnt to feed one another".

***

The frogs and the tower

There once was a bunch of tiny frogs, who arranged a running competition. 

The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants...

The race began...

Honestly, no-one in crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. They said ....

"Oh, WAY too difficult!!"

"They will NEVER make it to the top".

"Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!"

The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one...

... Except for those who in a fresh tempo were climbing higher and higher...

The crowd continued to yell ...

"It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!"

More tiny frogs got tired and gave up...But ONE continued higher and higher and higher...

This one wouldn't give up!

At the end, everyone else had given up climbing the tower. 

Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top!

All the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it?

A contestant asked the tiny frog how the one who succeeded had found the strength to reach the goal?

It turned out... That the winner was deaf.

Why does your Team Hate you ?

You are the Project Manager or a  Team Leader and you know that your team really hates you. 

"Oh yeah ... " You say to yourself  "They just don't understand my position ... When they will get to manage a  team like this, only then they will understand .... " You console yourself. 

In spite of the deadlines and the pressure, you think  do so much for your team but do not really understand why they always throw up bile against you at your back. 

Yes, they do. You know that. 

Get of of your shell, dear manager and leader ... here are the reasons why they hate you.

• You Micromanage : You are a control freak and know each and every detail of what they are working on. You are forever on their heads , asking for status and try to control each and every decision. Your team feels suffocated and they think that it would be better if you did the job rather than them slogging over it . Because of this, they never take ownership of the work.

• You always keep your hands very clean : You are always assigning work.  Doing work or making your hands dirty ?  Have you ever rolled up your sleeves and worked along with your team ? Ever done any project yourself ? Never ever.

• You treat them as mere resources : You do not know anything about your team members - their likes, dislikes, family, priorities etc.  You treat them mainly as billable/non billable resources - they are just numbers in your resource plan. Hence you cannot empathize with them and they cannot include you in their joys and sorrows. 

• You don't fight for them : Everybody makes mistakes. Including you.  When some crisis occurs due to some team member, you do not own the mistake, instead point finger at him/her. You do not fight for your team at the appropriate places. You team can feel it . And they hate you for this.

• You treat them like mushrooms  : You keep your team in the dark and feed them junk. Like cultivating mushrooms. You keep information with yourself,  telling yourself "they do not need to know this " . You are not transparent.  This generates water-cooler talks and grapevines feed on the gossips thus generated. Your team has a hidden antennae and can feel important information being withheld from them. You lose their trust.  Someday, even if you tell them something, they will not believe you. Trust me !

There are a few more points. But I think that is enough food for thought for you in this post.  

Think about it . Ponder . And then change yourself to become a good leader ! 

Yes, you can  (Read the post)!

Interview Questions

Recently , during one of my workshops, I was asked by a few people to tell them what were the most common interview questions and how they should go about it . 

This blog post is dedicated to them and all job aspirants preparing for interviews .  

• Are you aware of the role and the responsibilities of the job you are applying ? Elaborate

• What are your current responsibilities and duties ?

• Describe your typical work day 

• Which areas do you like the most about your current job and what do you like the least ?

• Describe a problem which you have faced at work and what did you do to encounter it ?

• Suppose you could not handle a problem yourself, what would you have done ?

• Are you proud of any aspect of your current job ?  Tell us about some accomplishments at work .

• Why do you think that you are suited to the job you have applied for ?

• What has been your greatest disappointment so far ? 

• How has this changed your view towards work and life ?

• I see that you have switched jobs quite often. What are the reasons for your instability ?

• Why do you want to leave your current organization ? 

• What do you think about working in teams ? What works and what does not ?

• What do you like the best about work on a team and what is the least ?

• How do you see yourself after 5 years ? What are your long term goals ?

And then, there are my 3 interview Questions (Click on the link)

There are no right or wrong answer.... but in case someone wants to know what I would have answered to any of these question, put in your remarks and I will respond !
Cheers !

His Dog is the Team's Dog

This is the age of Virtual Teams.  

Using Video conferencing, Skype, Chats , Teleconferencing have become the norm in most of the Global Organizations. In fact these are promoted as they save time and money and can be as effective as face-to-face meetings – if used correctly.

Of course Ground Rules have to be set .  Things like No multitasking,  having a fixed meeting agenda, starting and ending on time,  respect for diverse culture  have to be followed.  

But even after taking care of all the factors, the main disadvantage or if I may say the lacunae of virtual teaming is the lack of personal touch.

We miss out on the  important aspects of  the body language – the smile on the lips, the tweak of the cheeks and the hurt in the eyes.  I attend and conduct  several video conferences and have to join teleconferences almost everyday and I have found out that if you can make “His Dog the Team’s Dog”,  a lot of barriers of the lack of personal touch is broken.

Let me elaborate.

One day,  while attending the teleconference,  Tim’s dog started howling.  The people in the teleconference went silent for a few seconds and then the conference continued as if nothing had happened. Just after concluding the meeting , before the “Byes” , Susan asked Tim “Hope your Dog is OK ....".

And this started the conversation around Tim’s Dog.  Almost everyone quipped in and this went on for about 5-7 minutes.

But these five minutes were the Golden Minutes. 

The team shared thoughts about their pets , gave tips and a very personal bridge was made between the team members. 

In the next meeting,  the first question asked was “Tim, How is your Dog  ? “

His Dog was now the team’s Dog !

So, do not be ashamed if you are attending a teleconference or a video conference from your home and your door bell rings.  And neither should you feel awkward if  you hear someone’s baby crying.  

In fact,  take advantage of such instances and create a personal bond.

This goes a long way in building rapport in a virtual team and you can actually feel the smile and warmth of the person  who is sitting far far away from  you !

Try it !

The Best Motivator

I remember once I was walking around the office (Read : MBWA) , I saw a person sitting on her desk with a clearly despondent face. She was a very good and efficient worker and had a cheerful countenance. I asked her "Hey ! What's wrong ?" .  My simple prodding seemed to open a floodgate of tears.

She said  "I have worked so hard for the last one year, I think I have made some difference to my department and my organization... but today, during the appraisal,  I was told that whatever I had done was anyways expected from me.... but was was reminded several times about the one slip which I had made .... " 

An autocratic boss always criticises, never forgets negative performance and takes good performance for granted. It might have worked some decades earlier, but nowadays, leaders have to re- inforce the good things instead of harping on their  inefficiency. 

Human beings crave recognition. 

Money is a great motivator, but middle managers usually do not have much say in changing company policies and monetary aspects, but they do have the power for the real BIG and the BEST motivator - Recognition .

So, how can the people be motivated ? Yes, it certainly is a tough job, as each individual is different and their  keys to motivation also differ.  I am sharing some of the things that have worked for me  : 

• Put it in writing :  Just like you should always criticize in private, you should always praise in public. Verbal appreciation is great , but writing it is even more effective. And always write immediately. Appreciation loses its sheen if it is given late. Appreciation emails work wonders.  And emails can be copied to relevant and appropriate persons. Emails do not need money neither consumes too much time.  

• Awarding an object : In one of my organization,  I had started a ritual of awarding a small figurine - a karate kid in a karate pose.  Whenever a team member did something extraordinary in terms of performance, quality, teamwork or taking initiative, I awarded this figurine to them in my weekly team meeting. And how they loved it !  They proudly displayed it on their desks.  Everybody craved to have it .  I was moved when I met one person a few years back who told me "Ananya, I still have the Karate kid on my desk... It inspires me to keep on doing well ...!" 

• Thank You Notes :  Designate a day in a year where "Thank you " notes will be exchanged. I did it every year on the Thanksgiving week.  Create a small  template for writing the note and specially the reason why they were thanking and let the team exchange it with each other.  It is important tom write the reason for the praise in the praise itself. This concept worked very well in global and virtual teams.  The team in India were thrilled to receive handwritten Thank-You notes from the UK and the US office and the same reaction was there in the US and the UK office when they received the notes from India. This helped not only in recognition but also in team bonding.

• Immortalize their names :  If you have a big office with several conference and meeting rooms,  it is a good idea to name the rooms by the Best Performer of the Year. For Example,  there was a "Ananya Meeting Room" and a "Kevin Conference room" in one of my organization.  This is a really big motivator and the employees remember it forever.  Whenever I visit that organization , I always find some plea to go to the Ananya Conference Room and believe me , it still fills my heart with joy and pride.  And even if the person leaves the organization, they become their permanent ambassador !

There are several others .... but more in some later blog ... 

Have you noticed,  none of the above costs money but they really motivate the employee.... 

" A person's name is to that person , the sweetest and the most important sound in any language "- Dale Carnegie. 

Would you like to implement some in your workplace ?  Let me know which one you like the most or if you have any other programs which have worked for you ....

Triple Filter Test

One day an acquaintance met Socrates, the great Greek philosopher  and said,

 "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"

"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. 

I call it the Triple Filter test. The first filter is "Truth". Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"Well, no," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and…"

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. 

Now, let’s try the second filter, the filter of "Goodness". Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"

"Umm, no, on the contrary…"

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about my friend, but you’re not certain it’s true. 

You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left—the filter of "Usefulness". Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really."

"Well," concluded Socrates,

"if what you want to tell me is neither true, nor good, nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

If all of us use this Triple Filter test, the world will be a much better place, isn't it ? 

Have you tried REVERSE Brainstorming ?

I was in a fix. 

I was assigned to manage a project which was critical for the organization. I had to deliver the project within a very short period of time. My team was very talented and committed. But when I described the project to them in a team meeting and talked about how critical it was for the company and the deadlines were stiff and the expected quality standard was high,  I could feel the vibes of negativity emanating from them.  It was clear that they were not convinced about the success of the project. 

I did not discuss anything on that day.  

The next day, I again called for a team meeting and as expected , I saw unenthusiastic faces sitting around the table.  I took a deep breath and announced  "I would like to brainstorm about the reasons why the project should fail ". 

Suddenly there were murmurs of interest in the group. People became interested and I could see expressions of surprise on their faces.  The team was used to Brainstorming about positive things but suddenly they were exposed to REVERSE brainstorming ! 

So we followed the usual process of brainstorming and we came up with 53  reasons why this project will fail !

Just after we finished the brainstorming, I announced "There is a second part to this exercise... we will now  prioritize and select ten significant factors which pose major threats.  Then we will do a detailed action planning to ensure that these factors are taken care of ..". 

Since the team had come up with the threats and jointly created the  action plans , there was a lot of ownership and any hurdle which came up during the execution was dealt with alacrity by the team !

Our project was completed within record time and  we received the Star Team of the Year Award !  

The Most Powerful Presentation Tool

Good presentations include stories.

I usually start my presentation using a story. 


This helps to get their attention immediately and usually they drop their guards and go to the Story-time mode and connect with me instantly.

Stories engage people at because they engage people at the emotional level.

The best presenters illustrate their points with the use of stories, most often personal ones.  If you want your audience to remember your content, then find a way to make it relevant and memorable to them. You should try to come up with good, short, interesting stories or examples to support your major points.

Good stories have interesting, clear beginnings, provocative, engaging content in the middle, and a clear, logical conclusion.

If you’re not sure whether you can tell a convincing story, remember the last time you were out with friends and somebody started telling a story that reminded you of something that had happened to you recently — you couldn’t wait for the other story to finish, so that you could start telling yours, right?

And when you told it, you were so full of how exciting it was, the words came tripping off your tongue. And when your friends laughed or winced at the right places, you knew the story had hit home.

• Start to notice what it’s like when you get that itch to tell a story — that’s the feeling you want to recapture when you get up on stage.

• The most important thing is that the story will be meaningful and relevant to your specific audience. If it’s a business presentation and you want to make the link between the story and your proposed action crystal clear, use an an anecdote that they – or their customers – can relate to from direct experience.

• If you think they are thinking too narrowly and need to broaden their horizons, use a more exotic story – from a movie, a novel, the news, or even an ancient myth or legend. If you do this, they may be more easily entranced – but it’s very important that you make a strong link between the lesson of the story and the main subject of your presentation.

Happy Storytelling !

Yes, You can !

Once upon a time, there was a huge tree, below which lived a group of chickens.

On that tree ,in a nice little nest, lived an Eagle , protecting her four eggs. 

One day, there was a storm and one egg fell from the nest on the hay kept near the chickens. 

The chickens hatched the egg and when a baby eagle came out , they looked at it in wonder.  They loved the baby eagle and wanted to protect it. 

Days passed and very lovingly and with lots of care, the eagle was raised like a chicken. The eagle loved his home and family and believed that it was a chicken. While playing he sometimes looked at the sky and saw the birds soaring high. He pined to be as mighty and strong like the eagles and wanted to zoom and soar high in the blue firmament. 

"I wish I could fly as high as them ... !" he sighed

The chickens laughed at him . 

"You cannot fly. You are a chicken and chickens can neither fly nor soar ". 

The little eagle stared at the sky and looked at the Eagle's nest on the tree, dreaming that he could fly like them . But every time he talked about his dream, he was told it cannot be done. It is impossible. 

As he grew older, he stopped dreaming. He believed firmly that he could never fly.  He lived his life like a chicken and one fine day, died , with his dead dream. 

Dream and dream BIG 

Believe yourself and not what others tell you.  You never know how close your are towards your goal.  

Believe that you are the Eagle and not what other Chickens tell you. 

The Secret of Success

Yesterday I attended a function which was arranged to felicitate a renowned Bengali Actor - Soumitra Chatterjee (wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soumitra_Chatterjee), on the occasion of his 80th birthday.  As the veteran actor walked into the stage, I was amazed.  Standing tall and erect, he was looking so very handsome.  His face was glowing.  He looked so full of life ! 

And then when he started speaking, I was completely mesmerized. He recited a couple of poems.  His diction, oration and pronunciation was spellbinding. In fact, I think he had improved upon all these aspects !It made me wonder. What was his secret ?  His lust for life ? 

As I listened to him talking about his childhood, how he grew up , his passion for theatre and acting,  

I noticed that he talked about his failures and how he overcame them. He talked about how much more he wanted to do. He talked about the areas he wanted to learn and improve upon ! 

• Make your shortcomings your happiness :  All of us have weaknesses.  Being aware of them can be the seeds of happiness.  I had come to a strange conclusion sometime back after I attended the the alumni meet of my school. I noticed that my classmates who were plump in school were thinner than the ones who were slender in school. The plump ones knew their shortcoming and took care of themselves. They had turned their shortcoming to their advantage !

• Compete with Yourself : Be your own opponent. Instead of comparing ourselves with others, we should battle with ourselves. Setting personal growth goals, tracking and measuring them and finally coming out victorious gives a greater pleasure than forever musing over and getting pessimistic about what we have not achieved compared to others. 

• Develop your Intrinsic Self :  The strength to overcome all difficulties , possessing a strong will which is unyielding makes you self confident and calm. This is your greatest strength. Once we sharpen this ability, no difficulty will be able to sway us.  Criticism will not be able to touch us.

• Be a Snowball : Every moment, each experience has some lesson hidden it it.  If we can see the hidden lessons in both good experiences and the painful ones, we will grow just like a rolling snowball.  We have to keep the snowball rolling even if there are pebbles and dirt on the way. Every situation that we encounter and every person whom we meet in life is a teacher. We have to learn to recognize the pebbles and gather the snow of the lessons learnt and keep on rolling to grow mentally as well as  spiritually. 

As I write this post, I say a silent prayer.

God, help me to be positive till the last moment of my life.  Let me never tire of learning. Let me yearn to strive towards excellence. Give me the zeal for life , love and learning  like Soumitra Chatterjee.  

Let my mind be filled with peace and love and help me to shun jealousy and  hatred .