Appraisals...

The last time I posted about appraisals, I was discussing about my birthday and how I review the past year. This time, my sharing is about the appraisals which happen in the corporate world.
This is the time of the year when you can see drastic changes in the atmosphere of any organisation. After the appraisals are out, you can easily categorise the entire population into 2 groups - the ones who are smiling and the ones who are not.

Lets use this post to look at things from a different angle, understand things better, understand how people think, understand how to handle success and rejections, find answers as a manager, find answers as a team member and maybe find some peace in the process.

Before complaining about how your appraisal went, have you ever placed yourself in your manager's shoes?Those of my readers who have been in any senior position will agree that Annual appraisals are a more stressful period for the managers / HR than the employees themselves.  Infact, in my earlier job, I was always more scared about the appraisals which I had to do for my team, and not so much worried about my own appraisal. After all I was made responsible for their growth.

Just imagine the kind of questions a manager would have to answer within his head before he takes a decision on anybody's appraisal. For every single team member, the manager has to ask:
What has he done during the year?
Where does he need to improve?
Has he contributed enough to justify a promotion?
If not, do I see enough promise to justify a promotion?
If I take a risk and give him a promotion, will he be able to rise up to it?
If I don't give him a growth, how will it affect his career path and future?
What are the HR risks associated with promoting / not promoting him?
How will I handle a peer comparison?
All these guys are equally good but I have only limited promotions... what do I do?
And so many more questions which can take agonizing hours to resolve...
Trust me... most of the time it is much more than just having a list of names and writing % in front of them.

Now, lets look at it as a team member:
All of us expect to grow on the job... get promotions, receive increments etc. but what we need to understand is that promotions and increments are not something that comes by default. Just the fact that I have stayed in the organisation for so many years doesn't mean I am eligible for promotions. Just because inflation is growing at 13% doesn't mean that I should have to grow at that rate.
If I have not received a growth in this year's appraisals, I have one of the 3 options:
I can sulk about it and complain with every other person about it.
I can take it quietly and just continue to live my life as it is.
Or, I can have a frank discussion with my manager about it.
Now, be careful, frank discussion doesn't mean walking into your manager's cabin and asking "Why didn't I get a promotion"
What I'm going to tell is something I have done before and it has given me results, everytime I missed a promotion or an opportunity, I meet my senior and ask him these questions:
1. I was expecting a certain growth because I have achieved so much so much during the year. For some reason I didn't get it. I want to make sure I get it next year. For that, what do I need to do.
2. I want to be at this level in 1 year's time, what do you want me to do in order to achieve that.
3. What are the areas I'm lacking in? How should I work on them so I don't lose out because of those areas again.
4. What other areas do you see me potentially growing in?
And most important, celebrate the success of your colleagues. Releasing negative thoughts will anyways not help anyone.

As important it is to handle the failure gracefully, its equally important to handle the successes modestly.
Every success calls for a celebration, but just because you got a growth doesn't mean you have to go for a victory lap and rub it in the faces of your colleagues.
Instead, one should realise that a promotion is not a status but a responsibility. More than being happy, you should be working to make sure that you meet the newer higher expectations.
I've seen tons of people (including myself) who become complacent and over confident on receiving a promotion and that is the first step towards stagnation and possibly decline.

Over a period of time, I have figured out a few powerful questions which I would ask myself if I'm not satisfied with my promotion.
If I think someone else has got a growth I should have received, I ask myself:
Do you ask more questions than that person???
Do you provide more answers than that person???
Do you show a greater degree of independence than that person???
Are you more efficient than that person???
Did you come forward and take up more responsibilities than that person???
Are you the one who waits for work to come or do you come forward and take up work???

And even if your answer to all the questions is still in your favour, then take this up as a personal challenge and make sure that in the coming year, you display all these traits so prominently that your manager will have no choice but to give you a growth.

But Gulshan, its easy to say all this in theory, practical life is very differnt.

Darling, do you really think I have never received a setback???
Infact, I have been on both sides of the table and I can still promise you that in 12 years of my worklife, nobody has ever heard me complain about my appraisal.
Everytime that my appraisal was not good, I took it up as a personal challenge and over the next one year I  outperformed every other person and claimed my next growth based only on the results I produced.

Smile... Its possible...

History for the Future...

The year is 7013 AD. That's 7000 years after Christ walked the planet.
We live in a society which has evolved into a much more peaceful society, we have taken special steps to make sure we don't repeat the great war which took place 5000 years ago. We live in a single global entity with no concept of what was called a "country" before the great war.
Not much is known from before that time (before around 2000 AD) since most of the historical evidence was destroyed in the great war.
However, recent discoveries have shown some interesting facts. Just last week, I read a news article that we humans have not been alone through history.
An archaeological discovery made in the Asian continent has revealed a collection of recorded journals. These journals were discovered at the bottom of a lake which was apparently a city back then.
The journals have records of an alternate species which lived along side humans 5000 years ago. These were supposed to be violent people who killed humans and consumed their blood. They were called Vampires. However, there was one noble family among these who were against killing humans.
The entire history has been recorded in a 4 journal record called "Twilight". (Curious name for a historical record, isn't it?)
There have been other finds across the world which give records of Vampires on similar lines.
Wow... must have been a scary world to live in back then... isn't it.

Anyways, good thing is they don't exist now. After all, good always wins over the bad... doesn't it.
That's what I have been taught all my life. Infact, that was the exact subject taught in the shrine last Sunday.
Every Sunday, we go as a family to the Shrine of St. Harry. He is said to be the 43rd Incarnaction who walked this planet around the same time - 5000 years ago. His life and story are chronicled in 7 volumes representing 7 years of his life. The scriptures of the life of St. Harry have been found all across the globe indicating that St. Harry had a great influence when he was incarnated on this planet.
Interestingly, those scriptures talk about a lot of things as if they were magic, but in today's world, they are common technology.

Ok... I guess that's enough fiction for one day...

Now, lets come to present world... back in 2013 AD, Bangalore is still traffic jammed, I still need to make it to office by 8 in the morning...

I know this is the most sensitive topic to touch... but lets face it... Nobody knows for a fact what the world looked like 5000 years ago. Nobody has met the person who wrote these scriptures...
Please don't get me wrong, don't think I'm sacrilegious, but for all we know, what we consider as scriptures today could very well be novels written back then.
The same way, 5000 years from today, someone could think Harry Potter was a God and Vampires actually walked the planet.

Two Big Questions:
Question 1.
Why do we have to keep fighting over which religion is superior? Why not just take the learnings from these scriptures and use them for our growth???
After all, won't it be ridiculous if, 5000 years from today, you saw people fighting about whether Harry Potter was better or Edward Cullen was better... Imagine people having riots over this...

Question 2.
If we are going to leave our footprints all over the history of this planet, why not leave good foot prints. With the kind of movies, songs, corrupted content over the internet, what kind of knowledge are we creating for the future generations.

I know I have a crazy imagination and very few people might be able to appreciate what I'm trying to communicate. But, I really wish you could see things the way I do...

A time for everything...

I was so confident when I was waiting for my results. I had cleared all the exams in first attempt and was sure I was going to clear this one too.
I was confident that I was the best one in my group, infact my confidence was bordering arrogance.

Then, the results came and I had failed my CA Final exams. This was my first failure in a very very long time and I was not sure how to handle it. At that time, I was cursing the Institute and my only regret was that my professional career had been delayed by 6 months.

In the hindsight, I do think it was for a good reason. Those 6 months of preparation, studies all over again. Those 6 months of people asking me and everytime I have to reply that I failed... Those 6 months taught me humility... taught me how to handle failures... taught me to get up again...
In the hindsight, it looks like that particular attempt was not the right time for me to clear the exams. Of course I cleared the exam after 6 months and was a full fledged professional.

When I grew in love with her, it took a long time for things to work out... some struggles... those struggles looked unfair at that time... In the hindsight, maybe I was not ready for things to work out in the first time. Maybe it was the right time I was supposed to wait for...

Once I missed a project because I got my travel documents just 15 minutes late. Trust me, that was the most disappointing moment at that time... In the hindsight, maybe that was not the right time for me to go.

I always wanted to have a particular bike model for myself. I have never had the pleasure to drive a brand new bike of my own. Then, when the time came, I ended up buying a car instead. Maybe the timing was right for a car and not for a bike...

We grew up listening to our elders say - "Nobody gets more than what he deserves and before he deserves"

I have grown to become a strong believer in the timing part. I strongly believe that whatever happens, happens exactly when it is supposed to... never before, never late... exactly when it should...

We may try hard, put efforts, pray... do everything in our powers... We may be able to decide the "What" we desire... but we definitely can't decide the "When"...
Things will only happen when they are supposed to... There's a time for everything....

Beware... This is where your cunning mind will take over...
"Gulshan, if everything has to happen at its own time, then why should I work and put in efforts. Even if I don't do anything, it will still happen... right?"

No...
You still need to put in the efforts... Exams don't pass themselves, projects don't get closed by themselves, assets don't build themselves, success doesn't come by itself...
There's a "When" for every "What" you desire...
Funny thing is that we don't know when the "Whens" will come, so we actually need to be working on the "Whats" continuously so that we don't miss the right "Whens"

Think about it... there's a time for everything...

I'm just the messenger...

Just imagine that you are a postman in India way back in 1940. As you are going for work, an old man calls you from behind. The old man is Mahatma Gandhi, he gives you an article to be delivered to the press for printing and sending out to the rest of the country. You take the article, walk down to the press and deliver it.
The message was printed and sent out to the whole country and thousands of people transformed through it.

Now, you did exactly your job, but, did it make any difference to you? Years later, you will tell your grandchildren that you were the man who had delivered the message to the press... and the children will ask you - What did you do after reading that message???

Just because you delivered a message from Gandhi, you don't become a Gandhi.

Just because I deliver messages of life through my learning, I don't become the wise man. The only way to become a better person is to first implement those messages myself before I go around spreading them.

We are living in a time and age ruled by social networking. With all the technology around us, its very very easy to get powerful, emotional, knowledgeable quotes on the fly. On an average day, I receive atleast 25 quotes on FB and Twitter talking about the most profound learnings of life.

You actually feel good broadcasting such messages to the world... And that is a good thing. You don't know how many people will grow out of it... My question is... Did you grow out of it???

Its no point posting a message on love and romance when you just had a fight with your loved one and are not speaking to him / her...

Its no point posting a message on friendship when you are not on talking terms with most people in your office / college...

Its no point posting a message about God while you sit in KFC...

If you are not adding a value to the message, you are just like the postman who took Gandhi's message and delivered it... He met Gandhi, He had Gandhi's wisdom in his hands, and yet he continued to live the same life...

I don't copy paste and share on social networks. If I ever share a link, it is a thought or a quote which is a result of my own introspection. I never share my teacher's knowledge as it is. If it is my teacher's teaching, then I make sure that I have lived by it long enough.

Are you still being just the messenger???

There are no accidents

Was watching Kung Fu Panda again yesterday. In the movie, the panda will accidentally fall in the middle of a ceremony and get selected as a warrior. The master who selects him will insist that there are no accidents. Later in the movie, they disclose that being a big fat panda was actually an advantage for him because the bad guy couldn't use pressure points to hurt him (too much fat). Also, at many other points in the movie, this same thing was repeated that there are no accidents.

It was a nice bright day and I was heading for my office. It was a client meeting that day and some clients were coming from abroad, so obviously I was dressed at my best.
While driving on the road, for no reason, my bike just skid and I lost control of it. There was nothing wrong with the bike, I didn't make a mistake, the road was as clean as a runway, and still, for no reason it skid.
My new pants were tattered and I had roadrash on my knee, shins and palms.
What do I do??? Do I go home or continue to office?
I just went to office like that and did some quick first aid. Then I waited for the stores near my office to open up and bought myself a new pair of pants. The funny thing was that client visit was postponed by a day. My boss doesn't know about this accident even today.
What's important is that I got tested that day. With my understanding today, I can see that it was not a random accident that happened, rather, it was a test for me.

One day, I was going somewhere in a hurry, and slightly touched another bike. I kept going thinking that its a small thing, apparently the other guy didn't think so. He started chasing me, forced me to stop and started abusing in the middle of the road. And if any of you think that you are good with bad words, you should have heard his ample streams of profanity pouring on me.
What should I have done??? fought back? run away?
Those who know me well can imagine, for the rest of you, you just have to believe... that person and I hugged and parted ways as friends 15 minutes later.
With my understanding today, I can see that it was not a random accident, but a test for me to see how I handle a potentially explosive situation.

I know what you are thinking - Gulshan, a loved one died at a very young age in a freak accident. How do you say that was not an accident? What learning are you trying to take from that?? What kind of test is that???

Honestly, I can't answer that right now. If I could, my life could have been very different. I'm not saying everything happens for a good. I'm only saying that everything happens for a reason and there are no accidents.
Just because we, at our current maturity, are not able to see the reason doesn't mean there is no reason.

At our today's maturity, we may not have an answer to that, but I have faith that in time, the answer will reveal itself, because everything happens for a reason and there are no accidents.

Think about it...

Break It Down!!!

I have a party at my place tomorrow evening. I have to arrange for music, food, drinks, seating arrangements... so many things. On top of it, my friends want me to cook some of my specialities for the party. I have no idea how I'm going to do so many things by tomorrow evening.
The very thought of so much work makes me shudder.
Now, I can either be caught in this thinking process, or I can start working on it.
I break down the entire activity into smaller manageable bits.
First of all, I go to the neighbours and request if I could borrow their chairs for the next evening. There, one job done.
Then I call up my sister and ask for her music collection and player.
I sit down for 5 minutes and list the food I'll cook and all the required ingredients.
I run down to the neighbourhood shop and pick up the ingredients, place an order for drinks for the next evening. (I ask delivery in the morning itself so that it gives me enough buffer time)
On the way back from the shop, I pick up the music collection and player from my sister's place.
Its already evening by the time I reach home, I quickly test the music and the player I borrowed. Thankfully it works. If it hadn't, I would have copied the whole thing to my Iphone and played it through the docking station.
Too lazy to do any more serious work, I want to watch that 7 pm movie, so I just take all the vegetables and ingredients and start cutting and arranging them as I watch the TV. (Cutting veggies while watching TV can seriously reduce the cutting speed)
Before I know, its 10 and time to sleep. (after keeping the ingredients in fridge)
Next day (Party day), I get up by 7.30 and make a quick round of trips to neighbours collecting the chairs. The drinks haven't come yet.
I get into the kitchen and start cooking. Thankfully, the cutting I did last night helped save some time.
Its 12.30 noon and I'm already done with the cooking. Now I have to just put things in the oven 10 minutes before the party starts.
Drinks still haven't come.
I run down to the shop and he has got only 75% of the stock I ordered.
I pick it up and pick another dozen bottles of squash and some soda (for some instant Gulshan style inventions)

And at 3.30 pm, here I am ready for action without any stress inspite of some issues with the drinks.

Something that looked so frightening yesterday morning is already in good shape and before time just because I was able to handle one bit at a time.

The party is just an example. So many times we come across issues in office and at work which look simply huge in the beginning, but by breaking them down in smaller activities and delegating some of them, monitoring them regularly, keeping track of time we can make life much less stressful.

Whether its planning a trip, cooking a meal or planning a multi million dollar client project, the steps are pretty much the same.
Break it down, spread it into smaller time bound milestones, delegate what you can, periodically monitor, target to be ready with atleast 20% time to spare. This gives you a project level buffer.

Read the above story again and you will see that I have done each of these activities.

A lot of people think that I'm over simplifying things, but it has always worked for me.

All I need to do is to Break It Down...

Cost of my peace?

I lose my peace if the lid of my lunch box is missing early in the morning...
I lose my peace if someone took my chair in my absence and didn't place it back...
I lose my peace if there's too much salt in food...
I lose my peace if someone on my team doesn't do the job well...
I lose my peace if my boss piles up tons of work on me...
I lose my peace when people don't keep the time they promise...
I lose my peace when you don't listen to me at once...
I lose my peace when you don't understand what I'm trying to explain...
I lose my peace when the person in front of me is driving too slow...

Looks like I'm able to lose my peace at the smallest thing which doesn't go my way. You say a wrong word, do something, not do something, do any of the above and you have taken away my peace.
Looks like I've reduced the value of my own peace and anybody and anything can take it away from me.

This is not just my story but the story of every one of us reading this blog, everyone of us out there who is in search of peace...

I never understand how people spend their entire life in search of peace? How can you find peace when you were the source of peace and you gave it away for small small things around you...

What I understand now is that I have to start placing more value on my peace... I can't afford to lose it at every small thing...

My Peace should be in my control... Right now, I have no words of wisdom, or the secret, or the ultimate answer on how we can be owners of our peace.
What I know is that I am the source of my peace, there is no searching for peace and no matter what, I have to value my peace more than any other thing in this world.

Again, this sharing is not about me but about every single person who reads this blog... Its upto you to decide the value of your peace and entirely upto you to decide what to trade it for...