31 Thursday Jul 2008
Posted in A Step A Day
Today’s Times of India carried a small article titled “Hardware, Software & Parenting”. It speaks of the thoughtfulness of Infosys, the Bangalore headquartered tech giant in providing an on-line network for its employees – who are parents. Infosys has around 90,000 employees world wide. As per the article ” over 10,000 of its employees and 15,000 of those employees children across 72 countries are expected to benefit from it”.
30 Wednesday Jul 2008
Posted in A Step A Day
Alcatel-Lucent has become yet one more victim in the long list of companies which have not got the promised synergies following a merger. Serge Tchuruk, the French Chairman and Patricia Russo, the American CEO are both leaving. The results of the merged entity – created in a $ 10.7 billion merger two years ago-have made poor reading. Analysts have been disappointed that the new entity did not deliver the results expected when the merger took place in 2006. The merged entity announced its second quarter results recently- a net loss of 1.1 billion Euros or $ 1.7 billion.
29 Tuesday Jul 2008
Posted in A Step A Day
A few days ago, I had a post dedicated to Dr. Randy Pausch who sadly passed away on July 25. He was a person I came to admire- for his courage, optimism in spite of the heavy odds against him and his consideration for others overlooking his own pain.
There is so much on the internet about him- which is truly inspirational- that Tara Parker-Pope of the New York Times has put together a compilation of links to major sites about Dr. Randy Pausch called “The Online Legacy of Professor Pausch”. Thank you, Ms. Parker-Pope for this effort.
This is a useful compilation- strongly recommended for people who want to know what optimism can do for them in their lives- to browse at their own pace. One item at a time.
There are so many lessons there for all of us. Thanks to you, Dr. Pausch.
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This is Post No: 239 of the “A Step A Day” series : To provide perspective and provoke thought to facilitate self-development across a wide spectrum of issues- big and small- crucial for executive success.
28 Monday Jul 2008
Posted in A Step A Day
Reputations don’t matter. Performances do. How often have we come across this phenomenon – in the world of sport as indeed in the world of business. A case in point is the performance ( or should we say non-performance) of the Indians in the first cricket Test in Colombo recently. The much vaunted Indian batting crumbled to lose the Test to Sri Lanka in the fourth day itself. The margin of defeat ? A staggering innings and 239 runs. The scorecard makes sad reading.
27 Sunday Jul 2008
Posted in A Step A Day
This post is prompted by the recent terror attacks in my city of Bangalore- followed by one the very next day in Ahmedabad. The manner in which the serial blasts took place clearly indicates that it is the handiwork of a terrorist group- seeking to create panic in India’s cities. The safety of its citizens is the prime responsibility of the Government. Yet we find that terror attacks continue in India. Reuters lists the major attacks in India since 2003. The recent serial bomb blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad bring to light the dangers of allowing terror outfits unfettered freedom to operate in countries like ours. This seems to be largely due to the Government’s mistaken belief that as a democracy – we should shelter everyone including our enemies. Continue reading
26 Saturday Jul 2008
Posted in A Step A Day
Sad to read in the New York Times of the demise of Carnegie Mellon University’s Professor of Computer Scinece, Prof. Randy Pausch. Everyone knew that he was suffering from pancreatic cancer, diagnosed in September 2006. The end came yesterday – July 25. He was only 47.
25 Friday Jul 2008
Posted in A Step A Day
In the recent decade, India’s has stories of entrepreneurs who have made it big in the tech sector, in manufacturing and in real estate. It was a welcome change for me to read recently ( and I was very impressed, I must add) in Business Today about two entrepreneurs from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu who have succeeded in the field of poultry. It is clear that B. Soundararajan and G.B. Sundararajan who have formally studied upto Class 11 and Class 12 respectively have what it takes to be effective entrepreneurs. Continue reading
24 Thursday Jul 2008
Posted in A Step A Day
One of the best books I have read in recent times has been Rajesh Setty’s “Beyond Code“. A little over 115 pages and an easy read. Written in a simple yet effective style, the book delivers what it seeks to do: Give the reader ideas to “learn to distinugish youreself in 9 simple steps.”
23 Wednesday Jul 2008
Posted in A Step A Day
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Many executives, independent professionals and management students are avid bloggers. As bloggers we need to be sensitive about copyright. Ever since I began blogging, I have been conscious of the fact that we should be careful about infringing on other’s copyright. Over the years, two posts that I had made came up for criticism. I apologize.
22 Tuesday Jul 2008
Posted in A Step A Day
In a recent conference I was struck by the differences between two executives. Executive A – for he shall remain nameless- came across as a live wire. Though he was about 40 years old, data spewed forth like a machine gun. It was very evident that he had his facts and figures on his finger tips. Answers to queries were answered with confidence and they came at a well modulated speed- neither too fast nor too slow. He was alert, maintained good eye contact and made a very favorable impression.
Executive B – who shall also not be named- was a different story altogether. Although he had been on the job longer than A, he was groping for details. His answers were not fluent. They were halting and it appeared that he was straining to put things together in his mind before making a point or answering a question.
