...shoOOonya...

  There was a rumor that Byju's would 'fire' away 25% of their employees.  Turned out the rumor was just a rumor ...  BUT they do fire employees ...  Not 25% but 5% ... BUT that's a massive 2500 people !!  2500 people lose their jobs. A seemingly heartfelt letter from the man in the center of the storm written to put forth his side of story. Gets praised for calling a spade a spade and talking about what real business is all about and gets a lot of flak for making that 'letter' all about himself rather than about the 2500 people being fired or his feelings for them.  And then ... Byju's announces Messi as their Brand Ambassador - an arrangement which no doubted cost them 'an arm and a leg along with kidney and several internal organs'. And the criticism starts all over again on how they have millions to spend on a 'foren/international' expensive Brand Ambassodor but not for their own employees .. in fact, they are getting one guy to be their ...

  Trust is earned and I will earn yours. Rishi Sunak delivers his first speech as UK Prime Minister and this was his closing sentence. Humbling and Powerful. Rishi has a humongous challenge on his hands and he will need the Trust all around him to achieve what they expect him to achieve. It will be a collective endeavour and all by himself, without the support (based on trust), it will be an impossible task. Whether you are a politician or an employee (irrespective of level ... whether Chairman or Chaprasi) or take it in the context of your relationships in personal and professional lives ... TRUST is the currency of interactions. Relationships are based and built on Trust and without Trust, there is a mere transaction with little value. In a professional environment, whether you are a new CXO or a new hire at an entry level, you have the task of building that trust (by your intent, actions and results) in the eyes of all your stakeholders. The CXO has the entire organization as s...

  A simple word can indeed make a difference.  More than 2 decades ago, I had made a conscious change to a habit of mine. To the question "How are you?", I started responding with "Fantastic".  It woudl surprise people who routinely said and heard 'Nice' 'OK' 'Going Good' as responses. I realised that people dont really expect other people to have 'fantastic day/life' so it suprises them no end to hear that response from me.  I began to observe that more people greeted me once they knew that I responded with 'Fantastic' with a wide smile and enthusiasm. It seemed to give them a minor energy boost and probably hope. And then I found a few people who went from 'nice' to 'going good' and from there to 'great' and some even tried 'Fantastic' ... i knew I was spreading the Virus :)  We all know that words make a difference. To others and to ourselves too. Strong positive words can uplift your...

  For my recent zoom session, I used slides. I have kept slides to a minimum in zoom meetings simply because once the slides go up on screen, the speaker is relegated to a small box in a corner. The slides get the maximum screen space and speaker is lost. So when I realised that there was a built-in feature in zoom to allow the speaker to be present on the screen along with the slides, I thought of giving it a try. Did that for my weekend session with the topic "The Super 7 in your life"  I decided on the space I was going to occupy on the screen and designed the slides accordingly so that there was no or minimal text in that space that I would end up covering. And on the occasional slide that it did happen, I switched off my camera so that I disappeared.  Sharing the screenshot of my slides in Slide Sorter view to give you an idea of what my slides looked like.   Also, sharing some screenshots of Me presenting with the slide in the background - gives you an ide...

Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hain (Each and Every Friend is Important in Life) The video below is from an old Ad campaign of airtel - a phenomenal campaign that took off very well as it directly talked to a growing customer base And the message was so apt and well presented. I had planned to use this video to begin the session I delivered today morning "The 7 Superheroes of You Life" but somehow the video/youtube refused to work properly and I had to skip it. Sharing it here for a nice little weekend watch .. to refresh your memory fo the ad (or to present something new to cherish if this is the first time u watch it). AND ... to trigger an action. While you watch it, if it reminds you of some friends that were 'zaruri' (necessary) in you life at some point and you haven't been in touch with them; this could be the trigger to get in touch. Get in touch and rekindle the old memories). Think about it !! If you liked the suggestion and are going to act on it, you ca...

  Prepare in 2022 ... to Take Charge of 2023 ...   We are in the last quarter of 2022 and soon, 2020 will be '3 years ago' or 'long time ago' ...  Three years is a very long time in modern times. It would have been 3 years since we all experienced lock-downs and masks. Countries and Cities all over the world are now relaxing and doing away the masks ... the last remnants of the COVID times. We are back to normal living with a lot having changed inside as well as outside.  We are already talking in terms of BC/AC - Before Covid / After Covid - as if it is a landmark milestone event that changed the course of history. In many ways, it actually did.  It has triggered a working culture change and also a mindset change for a significant portion of the population out there.  Many are ReThinking their Life, their priorities, their jobs, their working style (office, hybrid, WFH or full-time versus freelance or even moonlighting). The Work Life Balance tilted to the...