People at Work & Play

Kris Gopalakrishnan had to pay a fine of Rs. 500000 recently says the Economic Times. Infosys informed the US SEC that their CEO had inadvertently failed to notify the company within one business day of the fact that he had inherited 12,800 equity shares of the company following the demise of his mother. According to Infosys, this amounted to a violation of its insider trading rules.

Mr. Gopalakrishnan was directed to pay the fine amount to a charitable organization of his choice.    
Acts like these re-inforce the very high reputation Infosys enjoys in corporate circles. An example of living by their values.

The values of Infosys ( and I quote from their website)

• We believe that the softest pillow is a clear conscience. The values that drive us underscore our commitment to:
• Customer Delight: To surpass customer expectations consistently
• Leadership by Example: To set standards in our business and transactions and be an exemplar for the industry and ourselves
• Integrity and Transparency: To be ethical, sincere and open in all our transactions
• Fairness: To be objective and transaction-oriented, and thereby earn trust and respect
• Pursuit of Excellence: To strive relentlessly, constantly improve ourselves, our teams, our services and products to become the best

Not just articulating values but living by them embodies excellent organizations like Infosys.

The difference between successful people and others is often that successful people know what they want to do and work towards achieving a plan. The same principle holds good for planning your career as well.

Erin Malone has described the planning process in a series of steps. I recommend her article “Planning Your Future”.

Many of us are so busy with our day to day activities that we have no time to plan - or even think- of the future. Living by the seat of our pants takes you only so far. To succeed in the long run, we need to take responsibility for our own careers. The first step in this is to have a plan.

So the next time you have a break, take some time off to think about your future.

Look at Career Planning at About. com for some structured ideas.

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