Corporate Social Responsibility-an instrinsic motivator

We have been reading a lot about corporates undertaking various CSR initiatives like creating education funds, medical facilities, educating villagers, creating a green environment so on and so forth. Companies like Tatas & Birlas have always been doing a lot for humanitarian cause, nowadays a lot of other companies have taken seriously to the act of giving. Wives of biz wizards Narayan Murthy, Nandan Nilekani and many more are doing a lot of good work for social cause.

I was pleasantly surprised to read about a dedicated stock exchange being set up in London by an Indian & his friend for listing companies that work largely for a social cause like social housing, education, health, public transport, greentech etc. Interestingly the newspaper also reports about The Act of Giving as the theme of The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence. The value of philanthropy being the central idea of a business award- captivating, is'nt it?

On a much serious note, I find these acts to be motivators for the people actually doing all this. I am referring to the employees who are involved in carrying out various philanthropic activities. It acts as a great intrinsic motivator in the following ways:

• Gives a meaningful purpose
• Increases trust between employer & employee
• Increases self-worth
• Motivates to do better
• Gives a sense of fulfilment
• Increases credibility

I urge each one of you to make use of such motivators. Those of you who are at the helm of affairs, please engage your employees in some philanthropic work apart from their routine duties; and others, take up some such activity on your own. You'll feel a new zest for life altogether. Whenever I am engaged in such activities, I get a different high and sense of accomplishment; and am sure you'll experience the same. Please try it out.

Do write in and share your ideas.

Let's welcome the dawn of 2011

Let's welcome the dawn of a wonderful year ahead with a lot of positive energy.

May it drive us towards the path of serenity, humility & noble achievements.

Let's make it a splendid year for ourselves and those around us:)

Wish you a Very Happy New Year!

Time to review & set new goals

As the year comes to an end, let's take a while and sit for a review. I am not talking about the monthly/ quarterly/ annual review at work. I'm sure our organizations have done that or are in the process. I am talking about reviewing ourselves, holistically. Like any other review exercise let's sit down and check how far have we reached. Those of us who had set holistic goals earlier can review the progress easily, check for deviations and take corrective actions; but those who did'nt, need to ask a few basic questions in relation to personal and professional lives-

1. Am I happy doing what I am doing?

2. Have I reached where I wanted to reach by this time?
3. Am I on the right track?
4. Have I done things that I should have done?
5. Have I done things that I should not have done?

The answers are self explanatory and shall give us an insight into the growth trajectory of life. Next, we need to set goals for the coming year- goals for life to be achieved over the coming year. So let's take a break and ask ourselves the above mentioned questions and set new goals in relation to our:

• Health
• Relationships
• Work
• Self help, Self love
• Attitude towards oneself, others & events in life
• Selfless service

And now a few resolutions:

• We'll not carry whatever we do not need to carry (baggages of grudges and negativity).
• We'll take a few steps backwards if they can take us farther in the journey of life.
• We'll not make unjust comparisons.
• We'll give ourselves and our loved ones time and effort.
• We'll leave no stone unturned to make our lives better and happier.

Let's be full of energy to welcome the new year and hold the same energy levels throughout the year. Let the new year take us to heights of wholesome achievements and happiness.

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas & a Lovely New Year! May His grace fill our lives with everlasting hope and happiness.

Softer Techniques for Employee Management

With the ever rising competition, companies are using various softer ways of managing and motivating workforce. Let's have a look at two such methods.

1. Office Buddy

A new joinee is introduced to an existing employee, who now happens to be his collegue and is formally made his office buddy. This buddy not just helps him to come in sync with the prevalent systems and processes in the organisation, but also aids him on the personal fron by helping him fetch an accomodation, vehicle etc if required. This buddy becomes the first point of contact for the new joinee if he has any problem in settling down in work. A few MNCs and large corporates are trying this concept are are finding it successful in making the freshers smoothly sail through the teething troubles that crop up on joining a new organization.

2. Mentoring

The concept of mentoring has been in the corporate world since quite some time.

In general parlance, mentor means a friend, philosopher & guide. When we talk in context of a corporate organization, the same meaning holds true when an emplyee needs to undergo the process of learning on the job. Usually his boss or a senior (in terms of knowledge or experience) plays the role of a mentor. He is responsible for grooming the employee for his job.

Whether it's a mentor or office buddy, the concept helps the organization and the people concerned in the following ways:

• Saves resources
• Reduces errors
• Provides role clarity
• Checks deviation from goals
• Improves communication
• Keeps employee morale high
• Enhances learning
• Yields better results
• Helps in self-development of both the parties
• Strengthens relationships
• Reduces attrition

I am sure we all must have had and still have buddies and mentors in our lives- both professional and personal. I will always remember those peers who helped me not only understand the customized softwares and cumbersome operations, but also in getting things like getting an identity card, canteen coupon etc. which seemed as humungous tasks in a new organization in a new city. Yes they were informal office buddies. I will always be thankful to those seniors who gave their time and effort in making me understand every item of a project report, a balance sheet and its implications, along-with a lot of other work relating things.

We have buddies, philosophers and guides in the forms of friends, cousins, parents and other close ones who play significant and positive roles in our lives. Similar concepts when replicated at work place, shall prove to be highly effective.

I shall get a sense of completion for this post only when I add that, the ultimate mentor & buddy in our lives is God Almighty. When we realise this and act accordingly, sucess shall be all ours.

Please give your views and throw some light on the innovations being made for boosting employee morale and productivity.

Unusual qualities of the accomplished

While reading the interviews of a few famous and accomplished personalities from various fields, I could note a few generally uncommon qualities that all of them have and those that have always impressed me.
Be it the great scientist and ex-president Abdul Kalam, the great philanthropist whose company has a rich history of over a century JRD Tata, our hero from the world of cricket Sachin Tendulkar, certain remarkable traits in them are:
Staying connected to roots- While Abdul Kalam (an ardent devotee of Bhagawan Sathya Sai Baba) was the President of India, he visited Baba and gave his first month's salary to Him praying that in India we give our first month's income to our mother and since Kalam had lost both his parents and Baba was everything to him, he should accept the same.
Unwavering faith in Almighty- I read that whenever Sachin hits a six or four he looks up with his hands facing the sky and eyes closed, he prays to the Lord and thanks Him and his father.
Down to earth- Quite often those who've achieved certain amount of monetary wealth seem to have stopped talking or behaving at the ground level. On the other hand, be it a Sachin, Kalam or Tata or a few others too, they all are so humble that they do not seem to possess even an iota of air.
Dedication- Sincere hard work and toil, not just smart work carves a successful person apart from other things. There are really no short cuts, and those that are tempting, take only into pits.
Working for a noble cause- The Tata Memorial Hospital, a state of the art temple for fighting cancer is a live example of true service to mankind. Cancer patients of every income group from all over the world are being provided the best of treatment at very nominal rates there.
The amount of charitable work done by Sachin Tendulkar, Narayan Murthy, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet (the list will be endless) is truly exemplary.

So let's yearn for imbibing and living these qualities, I'm sure success will follow.

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Faith can make the impossible possible

Yesterday I happened to read a simple but very effective story and can't stop sharing. It's about a school boy Hari who lived in a small village with his mother. Hari had to cross a jungle everyday while going to and coming back from the school. He was dead scared to walk through the jungle and finally told his mother one day that he shall not go to the school anymore. On knowing the reason his mother said, "My dear son, don't be scared in the jungle, you have an elder brother there, his name is Krishna. Whenever you feel scared or helpless just call him and he shall come to your rescue." Hari felt quite relieved. The next day when he reached the jungle, his hearbeats started soaring up. Suddenly he remebered his mother's words that his brother Krishna was there to help him. Hari called, "Hi brother", there came a sound “Hi brother”. Then Hari said, "I am here", and there came the voice “I am here”. Hari's happiness knew no bounds on listening to his brother's replies.
He went to school and the class teacher asked all the students to get different dishes for the whole class the next day. Hari was told to get curd for the entire class. He felt very low thinking that it was quite difficult to get two square meals for two people at home, how will he be able to get the dish for sixty people. Worriedly he left for home, and on the way he remembered his mother's words again about his brother Krishna. On reaching the jungle he called Krishna saying, "Oh brother! Where are you? Please come here soon, I need your help." No sooner he said that, Krishna appeared there and reassured Hari that he shall get a bowl of curd for all his class-mates tomorrow. Hari had a big sigh of relief.
The next day on reaching the jungle Krishna was ready with a bowl of curd. On seeing the small size of the bowl Hari felt a little dejected, but thanked his brother and went to the school. When he reached the school, even the teacher gave an awkward look when she saw the small bowl. When they start serving the children, to everyone's amazement, the quantity in the bowl remained unchanged. Every child was served from the dish brought by Hari & given by Krishna and the curd still remained intact in the bowl.
Those of us who know about Lord Krishna's friend Sudama's experience of rags to riches on meeting his friend the Almighty Krishna and the tale of Sudama's rice can relate the above story immediately.
The story is nothing but about -
Being in unison with The Almighty
As in the above story, even an echo of one's voice appeared to be His reassurance and undaunting faith made Him come to the child's rescue. Yes, faith and love can make the impossible possible.

Take a good name

I remember a noteworthy message given by one of the head-girls in our school when we were bidding them a farewell almost two decades back. She said- when you leave your Almamater take a good name with you. Your behaviour with teachers, school mates, staff & others should be such that you create a good name for yourself and your family.
A couple of years back from now I got to read a lovely book called ‘Who Shall Cry When You Die?’ Don’t get me wrong, the book is not about dying, it is rather about living a worthy life. The author’s father tells him, "son when you were born, the world was laughing and you were crying; live your life in such a manner that when you die you laugh and the world cries." Nevertheless, the intention behind writing this post is not making anyone cry, but to impress upon, living a worthy life.
Hence the context of the above matter is applicable to everyone and in all the arenas of life- workplace, home, society etc. Whether one is an employee, a professional, student, or a householder, his behaviour should be such, that not only brings him and his family, organization, country a good name but also entitles him to the grace of the Almighty.

A few do’s & don’ts:
Do’s:
-Develop a vision for your own life
-Aspire for higher objectives (self- actualisation)
-Be sincere and committed towards your life and duties
-Be clear-hearted
-Develop a sense of discrimination
-Avoid bad company
-Exercise control over senses
-Introspect yourself regularly and take corrective steps
Don’ts:
-Create obstacles for others
-Cheat in any manner (it will be cheating your own self)
-Pull someone down (negative publicity is always in bad taste)
-Indulge in backstabbing, criticising, idle gossip
-Fall prey to erroneous acts for enjoying momentary pleasures
-Miss a single opportunity to help someone

Let's implement the above in our day to day life from this very moment, so that the people around are proud of us and so is the Almighty.

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Go to the source

The other day while watching one of musical programmes on television, I was touched by the answer given by AR Rehman, one of the Oscar Prize Winners. When asked from where does he get the inspiration for composing such soulful music, he gave a beautiful answer. He said, “I go to my source for getting inspiration”. These words gave me some food for thought and for this post. What an answer! Going back to one’s source, the divine mentor, the very cause of our existence!
Then I also recalled a wonderful incident about which I was wanting to write since a long time.

In one of the programmes on Human Values, Dr.Art Ung Jumsai, a NASA scientist, Senator, industrialist, etc. who is propagating Education in Human Values (a project undertaken by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba) worldwide narrated a wonderful incident. He shared one of his experiences during meditation- while he was working with NASA on designing a spacecraft that could be sent on Mars, one fine day he viewed the prototype of this space shuttle in meditation. When this prototype was put in shape and sent on Mars it landed successfully there. Everyone amongst the audience was spellbound.
Such is the power of connecting with source. When one starts connecting with one’s source he starts achieving not just worldly accolades but also the abundance of HIS grace. The immediate benefits of this connection-
-Clarity of path
-Clarity of desires/ aspirations---which ones to follow and which ones to abandon
-One emerges stronger
-Gets strength to make the other connections better
-Mind control
-Positive energy
-Control over negativity and self- defeating ideas
-State of bliss
So, let's stay connected with our source:)

Please leave your comments.

The joy of giving

In this 'Joy of giving week', a few ideas given by a local newspaper made me write this post.
Charity begins at home
-Make a conscious effort to make your elders feel good and special. They feel happy to narrate incidents of their times (my granny loves to tell us the various episodes of partition n number of times:)).
-Whatever good you have, is because of them (your parents). Treat them with utmost love and respect. Their blessings will go a long way in making your life a happy one.

Coming back to the joy of giving, I remember an experience shared by a friend a few months back. She was on her way to feeding the underprivileged (a routine activity under Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organization’s Narayan Seva programme), when she came across a woman on the street who was in torn clothes and appeared to have lived in starvation for days together. She stopped there and sat down with this famished woman, took out a food packet from her bag and started feeding the lady with her hands. She had tears of joy on seeing this lady quenched with food and love.

Another friend has made it a practice to cook special dishes once a week for the watchmen and other workers in her colony building. She feels on top of the world when she sees them eat whole heartedly.

Someone just narrated a beautiful example- when a farmer sows a single small corn, mother nature gives him bountiful yield of maze that has unlimited corns. Meaning, one good deed comes back manifold (same goes for the reverse too:)).

Other ways of giving:
Baba says-
-If you can’t oblige at least talk obligingly
-Give your forgiveness
-Pray for everyone’s happiness-lokasamasta sukhino bhavantu
The very act of giving will keep you healthy and happy- body & mind. Medical science has reiterated that when we work for a noble cause, our body secretes chemicals that are of healing nature and enhance health and longevity.

So let's find our own ways of giving and staying happy, not just for a week but for ever:)

Still water & Failure

I read a simple and sweet story about nature, action and success, and am sharing the same.

A school boy failed in his exams, and his so called friends mocked at him and this left the boy with a deep sense of failure. He went into depression, gave up studies and did not eat properly. His parents explained to him that, failing in an exam is not failure of life. But the child was so gripped with negativity that he left his house and went to commit suicide. On his way towards the suicidal point, the child heard some voices and stopped to see that in a school there were some students and the teacher was explaining something. He just paused with a nostalgic feeling and then heard the teacher give a lifetime lesson to the students. The teacher said- do you know why river water does not get dirty? Because, it keeps flowing. Aren’t there hurdles in its path? There are, yet it keeps flowing, from a waterfall into a river, from a river into a sea, from a sea into an ocean. Similarly, life should keep going; meaning, despite failures and hurdles, one must not stop moving and putting in effort. Don’t fear obstacles, they are sure to come in some or the other form. If we stop moving, life will start rottening like still water which accumulates all the dirt that comes to it.

After listening to this, the boy got his lost inspiration and moved back to his house. He did not look back. On growing up, the boy became national hero of Vietnam. His name was Ho Chi Minh.

Moral of the story:

• Not the biggest of failures can label us as a failure in life.
• Getting up after falling down, and then moving again is life.

So, let's live life kingsize.

 Do leave your comments.