P for “People at Work & Play”

Tags

A to Z Challenge, blogging, career development, future of HR, professional blogs, Work Life Balance

I had posted earlier about the ongoing Blogging A to Z Challenge. When I got to the letter “P” it was without any hesitation that I said, P for me is for “People at Work & Play” this very blog which has given me a lot of pleasure over time. I am happy to see that even if my posts have become rather infrequent, people still check out the old posts that caught their fancy. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to know that the material here is of some use, especially to young professionals starting out in their careers as many posts have information which can help them succeed at work.

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“Go Put Your Strengths To Work”

Tags

career development, Performance improvement

They say a good title for a book tells you up front what it is about. “Go Put Your Strengths To Work” by Marcus Buckingham is one such title. It’s all about an area which traditionally has been relatively less addressed as executives the world over have scrambled over each other, causing themselves and others great stress in the bargain, to overcome their “weaknesses.”

“Not For $ Anymore”

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career development, cross- cultural working

Tips for Globalising Indians is the blurb for ” Not For $ Anymore” by Kalyan Vaidya, an old friend from my Wipro days. Kalyan is the head of his own management consulting firm based in Singapore called Valinnova. The book at 140 pages is slim and can be read very quickly. For a very reasonable price of Rs. 150 ( published by Cedar Books), this collection of tips, personal reminiscences and anecdotes puts together a lot of value for the reader, particularly those whose work takes them to Asian countries.  

Post-Recession Career Plans

Tags

career development, Executive Coaching

One thing is for sure. Bad times don’t last forever.  The recession that has hit people all over the world has changed the way people think.  Peter Roche, Executive Coach and Founding Partner of  The London Perret Roche Group has an interesting post ” What Do You Want To Be When The Recession Is Over?”

One More Time-To Help People Grow

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A Step A Day, career development, Executive Coaching, self-development, Work Life Balance

Even if I say so myself, I am honestly amazed and quite gratified to see that “A Step A Day” has completed one year. Yes, there have been 365 posts in this series which was kicked off with the first being posted on November 27, 2007.

Self Starters

Tags

A Step A Day, career development, training & development

One more training program was over. We were discussing the program and how well it went off. The subject naturally turned to how much of the learnings the participants would actually put into practice back on the job. This is a matter of some concern for all associated with people development. To what extent do participants actually attempt to incorporate their learnings into their managerial styles/individual behaviours when they get back to work?

Don’t Be Self Deprecating

Tags

A Step A Day, career development, self deprecation

The conference was to start. There was a large audience with differing backgrounds and lengths of professional experience- there were many nominee executives from various organizations as also many eager young students.

” I am not the best person to speak of this” began the first speaker. Instinctively I thought to myself. “Then why are you here?” . I am sure many others in the audience got the same thought. The speaker was being self deprecating, even though , as things turned out, he did know a lot about his subject.

Who Cares For Your Career?

Tags

A Step A Day, career development

As the evening came to a close, a few of us were discussing career development. What did today’s exectutives who are responsible for this in their organisations think about career development as a people management tool? Did they see the individual as well as the organisation benefit through a partnered approcah? What are the main factors which influence choice of career?

Building Your Career

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A Step A Day, career development, Jennifer Williamson, Penelope Trunk

Came across this interesting article by Jennifer Williamson titled” Four Lies Your Parents Told You” in Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist blog.

This set me thinking of how times have changed in the sphere of work. Old taboos are no longer applicable ( ladies don’t take work which involves night shifts) , old assumptions are no longer valid ( people of a certain race/religion/creed cannot succeed in corporate life) and it’s a different world.

Coaching & Career Development

Tags

A Step A Day, career development

Since this is the 100th post in the “A Step A Day ” series, I do hope this has been as informative and educative to my readers as it has been to me as the blogger.

As an executive coach, I consider myself to be a facilitator in the development of your career. My job is to offer unbiased advice when it comes to the matter of making career choices.

Smart people do not allow themselves to be overtaken by events. They know what they seek and work actively to reach their goals. Career goals differ vastly from person to person. A factor like high pressure at work which may be the biggest driver for one may quite easily be the main factor for another to seek a change.