Signs of the Times

The present state of unemployment in the United States is all too well known. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us that the unemployment rate is 10 % in November 2009; the job losses in the previous 3 months average 135,000; the number of unemployed persons was 15.4 million and the number of long term unemployed ( those unemployed for 27 weeks or more) rose by 293,000 to 5.9 million. But life is not about stats. alone!

Filed under: Trends , US economy

A Coaching Conversation

How many times have you come out of a conversation - particularly with an employee- feeling that it didn’t quite go the way you would liked it to? Perhaps you were too abrupt. Perhaps what you had to say did not have the necessary impact on the employee.  Let me share a couple of examples: ” I gave him all the facts but it didn’t seem to sink in!” complained one manager.  ” I was most considerate and spoke to him ever so kindly” said another. Both were right- and both were wrong.

Filed under: Executive Coaching, Executive Effectiveness , coaching conversations

PepsiCo’s Board Meeting In India

It was only the second meeting of the Board of the $ 43 billion-PepsiCo outside the US. CEO Indira Nooyi chose to have the meeting at Mumbai, India. Guess who spoke to this distinguished Board which includes the Chairman & CEO of Novartis and the President & CEO of Colgate-Palmolive?

Filed under: Organisations, People , Mumbai's dabbawalas

Unforced Errors

I like this idea of using lessons from tennis to describe mistakes we commit in our careers. That’s what Jeffrey A. Krames does when he writes about the 7 Worst Career Mistakes You Can Make. A well compiled list with mistakes all of us can relate to as we have come across them in our careers.

Building on this theme, some of the common ” unforced errors” I have seen include:

Filed under: Careers, Sports , career mistakes, Jeffrey Krames, tennis

The Entrepreneur

More and more people these days seem to want to be entrepreneurs. Some do so out of a feeling that they are best suited for it- others because they sense opportunities they believe have not been exploited.  What kind of life do you lead as an entrepreneur? Is it the dream world that it is often made out to be? What are the challenges involved?

Filed under: Entrepreneurs, Work Life Balance

Prof.C.K.Prahalad

Making the news once more, is Prof. C.K.Prahalad, who was voted the world’s most influential management thinker recently. Prof. Prahalad has this honour for the second time in a row.

Filed under: People , Management, Prof C K Prahalad

Indians to get highest pay hike

Good news is around the corner for executives in India. So it would appear from the results of the latest survey by Hewitt. It says that the biggest pay hike in the Asia Pacific region in 2010 will be in India.

Filed under: Indian Economy, Trends , Executive Coaching, executive compensation

Diwali- Festival of Lights

One of the biggest festivals in India is Diwali- the Festival of Lights.

Diwali signifies the triumph of good over evil and is characterized by the lighting of colourful lamps.

It is celebrated with zeal by the rich and poor alike. People greet each other with sweets and burst firecrackers- though this is fast dwindling these days because of a growing concern for the environment etc.

Here’s wishing all of you a very happy Diwali.

Filed under: Personal , Diwali, festivals of India

Young & Bright Minds

It’s well known that we are at our creative best when we are young. The older we get, the less creative we become. It was nice to see that a creative idea of a 15 year old girl from India, Sarojini Mahajan, has been picked up by Stanford University.

Filed under: People , creativity, IGNITE, NIF, Stanford University

Latest HR Carnival

Have a look at the latest Carnival of HR- on show at Jon Ingham’s Strategic HCM blog.

The theme is largely on teams and social networking. I liked many of the blog posts. I hope you too will find them informative and useful.

Filed under: Blogs, HR Function , HR Carnival, Jon Ingham