A Reason to Lie

As a child I was in awe of my parents and I would say a wee bit petrified too. There was no way one could get away with misconduct of any kind. A round of spanking and punishment was always in order. Given how strict they were I had no option but to become creative in cooking up lies and excuses--- homework not done, money stolen, spilled milk, a poor report card, scribbling on the walls were all good enough reasons to blatantly lie. Both, my parents and my moral science teachers drilled into my little head the dire consequences of lying . But who cares, if it saves your skin then it is the right thing to do! As I grew up these well embedded seeds of values had taken sprout. Lying was hardly an exercised option. I was proud to be upholding my morals, more so on occasions where one could have easily got out of a sticky situation by a harmless white lie. So ingrained was this value, that I if my parents defaulted inadvertently, I wouldn’t hesitate to wield the moral stick. This morning I caught myself lying to my father albeit with a little bit of hesitation. A tinge of regret was followed by a clear rationale –that of saving my parent from the unnecessary hassles of life. I've moved from lying to protect myself to being righteous to now lying to protect my parent!!!As they say life comes a full circle.

Time to upgrade our software

Over the last few years, the world has witnessed unprecedented crises at multiple levels--- financially, environmentally, politically and socially. Many a finger has been pointed to the collective failure of leadership in institutions, particularly organizations and business schools across the globe. Over the years greed for profits and benefits at any cost has clearly compounded to result in the recent financial meltdown. With rapid strides in technology and communication, the world has not only become flatter but also woven into an intricate interdependent web. So organizations today can ill afford to be blind to other stake holders while fulfilling their purpose of business. There is an urgent need to shift one’s focus from being purely shareholder and investor driven to a multi stakeholder one, in which the society ranks foremost. The book, ‘Firms of Endearment: How world class companies profit from passion and purpose, 2007, Sisodia, Sheth, and Wolfe’ details how companies that followed the latter outperformed the ‘Good to Great’ (Jack Collins) companies, 3:1 over a 10 year period. Quite interestingly these companies were even able to deliver consistently over a 3 year period, indicating their propensity to deliver on long term sustainable success.

So while there is a critical need for organizations to relook at their ways of doing business, a shift in thinking also needs to happen at business schools. Are they doing enough in shaping management graduates with a mindset of seeing the larger integrated picture while sourcing from sterling qualities of authenticity and humility? American business schools trained many of the people who had their hands on the tiller when the nation's economic ship ran aground. Having plunged the world into a crisis of several ramifications; heads of top business schools were found asking themselves the degree of responsibility they bear. “That basic model — the fundamental model, which really made up the fabric of contemporary business education, has to be revisited," says Rakesh Khurana, a professor at Harvard. He believes that “business schools have drifted away from their original mission: to create a true management profession for the benefit of society, rather than churn out consultants and hedge-fund hot shots.”

The crises caused by gaps in leadership ability leads one to wonder whether our existing approach to developing our leaders be it at business schools or organizations; is adequate? For disasters of such nature to be pre empted one needs to adopt a new paradigm altogether. It’s not as if organizations and business schools have not been on a soul searching mode to find a fix. When the dot-com bubble burst schools were quick to add a course on business ethics. Organizations too have invested considerably and continue to do so, in training programs on values and attitudes. However none of these did help to avoid the economic fallout in 2008-09! 

So while an effort to shift mindsets and behavior patterns in being made, it hasn’t really shifted the human capacity (and therefore leadership effectiveness) to a higher order. They have merely scratched the surface without making a deep and sustainable impact.

The challenges of the outside world is compelling us to look within—our inner space of who we are. It calls for an alignment of our inner thoughts and feelings associated with it. The more we understand and expand this part of ourselves the greater will be the adeptness with which we respond to our circumstances. There seems to be a direct and a potent connection between who we are on the inside and what we do on the outside. In effect our state of ‘being’ has a direct bearing on our state of ‘doing.’ Our inability to respond effectively to the world around us implies that somewhere we are not sourcing completely from this part of ourselves. It’s important to question if courses on ethics and trainings on values have truly triggered the change in thought, feeling and action that we have been seeking? Is a mere intellectual understanding of “the right thing to do” enough to warrant a meaningful change in an individual?

Nebulous as it may sound; our inner world is like the powerful ‘Intel processor’ waiting for an upgrade to be able to run those snazzy applications and packages that are subsequently loaded on it.

The journey of understanding the ‘inner self’ may be a slow one requiring sustained effort and will.

The questions we need to ask ourselves are—

·         Are we willing to traverse this path of self discovery?

·         Are organizations and business schools ready to invest in nurturing this part of ourselves?

Adding more punch to Assessment Centres

Since its introduction in the 1950s by AT & T, the assessment centre (AC) method has classically been used to assess an individual’s potential with respect to behavioural competencies. Its results have been used for the purpose of recruitment, internal mobility, promotions and succession planning. As a process that is based on empirical data, it brings objectivity and a rigor to assessment. All assessors use the same set of criteria to rate a candidate’s potential based on pre defined behavioural indicators, thereby minimizing the element of assessor bias and/or error. Its use of different formats (e.g. interview, role play, presentation, questionnaire) to assess a common set of competencies also adds to its robustness.

While I appreciate its basis on researched fundamentals, I am also concerned about its heavy skew towards objectivity for something as complex as human behavior. Given that people respond differently to various situations, how fair is it to use an objective process alone?

Over a period of time, assessors too tend to get more clinical and judgmental in their analysis –a complete antithesis for an assessment of a subjective quality such as leadership potential. Are we as assessors even mindful of our slip into a critical, fact oriented process that impairs our discerning, intuitive ability to go beyond what meets the eye? An artificially created situation where a person is being judged by several hawk eyes can put undue pressure on the candidate.  It’s only natural for candidates to falter in such a scenario.  Many a times strong discrepancies are observed in the person’s performance at work when compared with that of the assessment centre. What then is the rationale for dismissing someone’s competence as a leader when he has demonstrated it amply at the workplace? In such a scenario, the relevance of the data thrown up in the AC becomes suspect.

What I am alluding to is a certain balance of a fact cum intuition led approach in assessments. As HR practitioners, we must constantly strive to enhance our perceptive abilities in spotting potential rather than be led by a ‘one size fits all’ process. Subsequently our developmental initiatives should also focus on drawing out the best in an individual. Adopting a set approach alone; in the interest of time and scale can be counterproductive in our efforts to tap potentially bright candidates. In addition the scores of an AC should be corroborated with other tools such as the 360 degree feedback and performance rating for a more accurate assessment of an individual’s potential to move up the leadership curve.

Since the world of managing talent cannot be driven by a set of frameworks and data alone, losing our deeper sensing abilities can be quite detrimental in the long run. Like I said, we carry an even higher responsibility of harnessing the latter in ourselves and in the people we are responsible for.  It may be a good idea to step back from time to readjust the fulcrum of assessment and development to a balance of an objective and subjective approach.

Poinsettia – a poignant expression

While in a cab on my last visit to Singapore, my driver in a bid to engage me in conversation said, “You from India but which part?” When I said Delhi, he quipped that it was the city with four seasons. Despite spending a better part of my life in the capital, this thought was never in my conscious mind. All of a sudden I was consumed with a sense of privilege and pride.

Moving from one season to another, an average Delhi ite experiences a see saw of highs and lows. From a change of wardrobe to rising levels of pollution, to pest infestation, water and electricity issues-the changing weather has its ways of making its presence felt. The common cold and flu is probably the commonest problem that the common man faces with even a slight change in temperature! For a better part of the year, the unbearable summer heat forces people to move into a ‘hibernation’ of sorts. With the onset of autumn and winter, one can sense a palpable shift in the joi de vivre of city dwellers. The cooler temperatures, the radiant colors of the flora, the string of festivities do wonders to boost the morale and enthusiasm in people.

I celebrate my favourite seasons by adding colour to my otherwise frugal garden. For close to nine months I try desperately to ensure that the spirit of the greens does not sag through the rising temperatures. I feel like a supervisor in an organization trying to motivate their team to keep working with a lure of getting them a bonus at the end of the year! So come November, I make a beeline for the nursery to buy chrysanthemums, roses, dahlias and poinsettias. Like the bonus that gets used up in no time, the survival time for these gorgeous plants is only a month or two, but it still makes the effort and expense worthwhile.

One such poinsettia that I picked last December has completely outdone itself. It seems to possess an unusual but heartening self multiplier plan! It’s been close to 5 months now and my Christmas plant (as it is commonly known) has been fighting to stand tall as the only dash of color in a sea of greens. Not only has it survived its expected life span, it also continues to sprout tiny green leaves every now and then as if to flaunt its unfailing spirit. It is indeed a miracle plant!!! While the other green plants are already feeling the heat and finding it difficult to manifest their full potential, this tiny Poinsettia seems to be doing quite well in comparison. I’m sure the greens must look down at him in complete awe and wonder of what makes him tick against the odds. I can almost hear them say, “Your time is up, what you are waiting for? Christmas??J” Every time I get pensive of what lies ahead, this one foot red top wonder peers at me to fill me with a renewed sense of hope and optimism. It makes me marvel of the countless ways in which the forces of life and the universe are able to communicate to us.

Being like Rajini

At a staggering 375 crores, 2010 saw one of the biggest blockbusters of Indian cinema- Rajinikanth’s Endhiran. Frenzied followers of the Rajini cult queued up at theatres in Chennai for a 4am show. In the history of film screening this level of adulation for one star alone has been unheard of. Cutting effortlessly across all kinds of demographics, psychographics and geographies, one wonders what really makes him the rage that he is. Adding further to the enigma, is that he seems to be defying all conventional norms of stardom; almost as if it were with a vengeance! As a columnist who was trying to decipher the Rajinikanth phenomenon remarked, “if you are middle aged, don’t have great looks, or a 6 pack to flaunt, you could aspire to be Rajinikanth!”

My own state of bewilderment shifted to respect and admiration when I heard him speak at an award ceremony that bestowed upon him the ‘NDTV Entertainer of the decade’ title. His demeanor spoke volumes of his humility that one has often heard of. The excitement in the voices of Vidya Balan and Katrina Kaif on sharing the stage with him, didn’t affect him in the least. When asked by Prannoy Roy on how he feels to be such a mega star, his response floored the crowd, “What can I say. I am just doing my work. It is the act of God being played through me.” A ring of deep conviction in what he’d said was palpable.

What struck one instantly was how rare such a quality is among people, in particular those who have achieved success or for that matter are in positions of authority. What one sees in great measure is the sense of “I” or “me” factor that is so predominant that they have somewhere lost themselves behind this fabricated veneer. The ability to live in this illusory world and yet see oneself as separate from it is to my mind indicative of high strength of character. One sees very few people who portray this sense of attached yet detached state of being. Come to think of it, it is not that difficult to see ourselves as a microcosm of a larger macrocosm; yet the ability to be in constant awareness of it as we carry on with our lives seems to be difficult. The dilution of this belief, is leading us away from the manifestation of humility and other such sterling qualities that the human being is capable of. Fighting to protect a false sense of the “I” there is a greater tendency to resort to tactics that are more fear and greed based rather than those of humility and gratitude. A dearth of such qualities in our leadership, clearly explains the spate of corrupt practices that we see in our institutions and society today. When the mind is obsessed with materialistic benefits then it’s bound to adopt devious measures in amassing more for the self. Strangely enough, capital seems to be directly proportional to success and power. To make matters worse, society adds to a compounding cycle of high respect for people with wealth and power; with absolutely no regard to the substance of their being.

Rajini’s rise to stardom from that of a bus conductor is akin to rags to riches story. Yet his ability to remain in touch with that reality hasn’t diminished over the years. A conversation with any Rajini fan will get them to recount instances where the star has made an effort to mingle and be just like them. The fact that he brushes off his shoulder; his star status is what further increases his appeal factor. At no point in time is there an effort to minimize Rajini’s talent. His ability to expand the world of possibility in the most comical manner makes him the most sought after entertainer. Any child will tell you that there is nothing in the world that ‘Rajini can’t’ do! It’s very clearly the potent combination of onscreen hungama and off screen persona that has thrust him to the ‘Boss’ status.

We need more Rajinikanths in our society today and in leadership roles, to help people shift the way they think and act. Imagine the world of politics, bureaucracy, social and corporate bodies replete with Rajinikanths. It was easy to make clones of him in the movie Robot; can we do the same in real life too? J

Trivia getting stuck

Years after one has moved on from past relationships some of its weirdest remnants remain deeply etched in our memories. What was the trigger for such unusual and hardly significant things to get stuck? Clothes that one wore, spoke in a certain manner, what the parents wore....why does the human brain collect such trivia? Years later its funny to discover what may have remained stuck in someone's memory while some important events may have completely been wiped out!!!

Praha-An unforgettable experience

For the longest time that I can remember, I have always dreamt of dancing on stage in my complete Bharatanatyam dance attire. In addition to the very emotive dance itself, the bright costumes and jewelery have always held a fascination for me and I visualized myself in it someday. Not in my wildest imagination would I have thought that this dream of mine would be realized at an international dance festival.

As an annual event, the New Prague Dance Festival provides a platform for aspiring dancers to showcase their dance styles. It beautifully reflects the vision of David and Roberta, the organizers, to bring diverse cultures together. While it is a competition, the bonhomie and a genuine desire to learn about other art forms is what defines the spirit of this festival.

After close to 5 months of practice we were ready to take on the world!!! At the Delhi airport, the security fished furiously through Shradha’s hand bag to figure out the metallic beep. It was no coincidence that a small brass Ganesh ji in her bag was making his presence felt to wish us good luck. After a fairly comfortable 8 hour flight we arrived to a warm welcome by the dance festival organizers; at the sparsely populated Prague Airport. Along with some more dancers from Switzerland, we zipped towards Hotel Ibis in the Old Town. At the hotel we met with Lucy and Eva who would be our guide and coordinators for the festival. With the festival brochure and kit in hand we checked into our rooms and hit the beds for the much needed snooze.

For a large part of the first two days we had ample time to ourselves, so the 5 of us( Navya, Namita, Shradha, Jyotsna Ma’am and I) set out to explore the city. At the Old Town Square we waited patiently for the Astronomical Clock to strike at the hour. The clock was an amusing sight to see—all parts of the tall tower had small puppets that set into motion while the gong struck 5. I thought it was a more elaborate and animated version of the conventional cuckoo clock. Come to think of it, there seems to be some fascination with clocks all across Europe. The clock tower is usually a well known landmark and one finds varied versions of clocks dotting the cities. The soothing sound of the several clock tower and church bells every hour just gives me the goose bumps. While window shopping at exorbitantly priced but exquisite Swarovski crystal stores we suddenly realized we had ambled quite far away from our hotel. Namita and I pored over the map to figure out what would be the best way to get back since retracing our steps was not an option. With signs of fatigue being voiced by some of us we had to find a solution quickly. So with a faint knowing of an alternative short cut we egged the group to move on. With a few breaks in between where we didn’t lose the opportunity to ogle at some good looking cops closing in on miscreants ; we found our way home. On our return we flipped through the brochure to check the schedule of events. One complicated puzzle it turned out to be and had all five of us rendering our diverse interpretations of it. I still haven’t understood why it carried several pages on arrivals and departures of groups to the theatre!

The next day, Lucy guided us to the Narodini Divaldo, the National theatre which she said was a 10 minute walk from the hotel. At our pace it turned out to be a 40 minute one!! We realized how unaccustomed to walking we were and Lucy made no bones about saying so! The theatre was so huge that it needed a proper guided tour. The stage was ten times the size of the dance floor that we have been used to. The entire enormity of the place overawed us and it did show up in the dismal stage rehearsal we had later that evening. We were losing our balance and forgetting our steps and we wondered why! This episode reflected quite sweetly in Shradha’s dream that night when I heard her mutter “ Please, please clap for us”. With the way we had performed on our rehearsal day she probably imagined there would be no applause at all! Every night after returning to hotel no matter how tired we were, a rehearsal was a must. Any open space we found was enough to get us started. On one occasion it even invited a complaint from the hotel! Our midnight practice and unending chat sessions over chai (made with tap water from the washroom!!!) were truly memorable experiences. We baulked at the idea of drinking out of the taps initially but got used to it later. In India we have been so conditioned to relating tap water to falling ill, that it did require some time to de-condition that thought. The force of the water flow made a filled up glass look misty initially causing a brief moment of horror. Ofcourse it settled down later to crystal clear water!

Getting ready for our first day of performance was quite a task. It took us over two hours and had us scurrying to the theatre to be there on time. By the third day of our performance we had mastered the act and got dressed with ease and then strutted through confidently in the Metro and the streets of Prague to get to the theatre! I can’t imagine walking the streets of India in all our finery. Once when we were returning to the hotel, our Christmas tree like bright attire attracted a Russian couple who stopped us for a photo op. Another day we were accosted by a cop on a routine check in the metro for tickets. While we had our hearts in our mouth through the ordeal, we can now look back and laugh at yet another interesting episode to add to our Prague experience.

Stitching the ‘rakodi’ ( or ‘rokda’ as Namita once referred to it and had us all in splits!!) on the hair buns, pinning every part of our 5 piece costume and jewelery, the war paint like make up, fixing our battery operated diyas for the aarti, using red marker pens for ‘alta’, last minute rehearsals were all moments of fun, nervousness and excitement that I will cherish forever. It just made all the effort of the last 5 months so so worthwhile. On each successive performance day, the back stage management is what amazed me. 45 teams from across the world, over 450 dancers with props and elaborate outfits and everything moved with clockwork precision. The PA system announcing “ No. 16, you are next” still echoes in my ears. Moving up to the wings silently to avoid the sound of our ghungroos from disturbing the other artists; Navya, Shradha and I would hold hands, take a deep breath and wish each other luck. My guru’s words of encouragement and prayers did a lot to boost our morale. I just hope we lived up to her expectation and months of untiring effort.

We had prepared three very different dance pieces. Our flagship brand in our repertoire was ‘Rhythms’, a peppy fast paced choreography on a Shankar Mahadevan number, ‘Dheemtana.’ This had taken us the longest to choreograph and practice and was one based on pure footwork. For an international audience, I thought this piece represented a good balance of a traditional dance, set to contemporary music. The second choreography was based on Meera’s devotion for Krishna. With a combination of footwork and ‘abhinaya’ this won the applause of many and even an award in the second placeJ. As Roberta, the organizer put it, “ You were telling a beautiful story.” The third was an ‘Aarti’ which had a brief explanation through a audio visual projection while we danced with diyas. Without meaning to sound boastful, I genuinely felt proud in showcasing our culture, tradition and spirituality at an international platform. The immense depth and richness in our art forms is truly unparalleled.

In the hectic six days of the festival, the audience witnessed a kaleidoscope of creative dance forms. From jazz,hip hop, ballet, ethnic dance; there was no dearth of talent here. During the day, there were workshops to facilitate an appreciation of other cultures and art forms. Of the three workshops on jazz, we managed to attend just one and bunked the others for either a sightseeing visit or were just too lazy to stir from bed!

One was pleasantly amused to see that the world of Bollywood has cut across geographies – an Israeli group performed a swinging dance number to kajra re! At the Karlstejn castle, we met an Azerbaijani lady who broke into “Mur mur ke na dekh” and “Ichak dana” when she learnt we were from India. Meeting people from other parts of the world was another unique experience. !As Roberta remarked, “I liked the mixing of cultures and the bonhomie that spread.” A noble mission indeed to use dance as a medium to bring the world closer. One lady from Basel, Switzerland said, “ Oh you are the group that makes noise from the feet”, referring to our bells. What we consider as integral to dance can be so unusual and intriguing for another. On our free day, the festival organized a visit to Kutna Hura, a quaint town on the outskirts of Prague; known for its Bone Church and the St. Barbara Church. A day well spent with friends in the company of bones, skulls and the serenity of an exquisite Gothic church. Several years ago when the graveyard was attacked, it unearthed several bones and skulls of people who had died during the plague. A truly ingenious idea to make intricate and creative artifacts using them. One has to see the pictures to believe this! In the evening the dancers were treated to an exotic cruise on the Vltava river. The ride offered a breathtaking view of Prague during the day and by night.With the wining and dining and ofcourse dancing the excitement of the group was palpable.

Each day in Prague, each performance had something unique to offer. There were countless cherished moments of joy, pride, disappointment during those 6 days. The varied emotions, the strong bonds that the five of us shared , made the entire experience so special. I guess beyond a point words and pictures cannot express much-- it just has to be experienced!