The Angel Who Saved My Life!

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With no money to pull on beyond a week, the only option I had, was to put best efforts in getting a long-awaited refund of half a million from the Income Tax department.

The concerned official happened to be a young lady in her early thirties. I met her for a minute and explained my situation -- more through body language than any verbal communication.

She could sense my desperation and put all her senior officers on the job, instantly -- something unusual in a  government run set-up.

Finally, the problem, that was lingering for more than a year got sorted out in hours. Surely, it wouldn't have been possible without her extra-ordinary intervention.

I'd always pray to God for her well-being, because she saved a life: Mine!

Thanks a lot my dear angel!

Could Personality Test be Used as A Lethal Weapon to Destroy Good Recruitment!

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You work hard to identify a relevant candidate from hundreds and convince him to look for a change; recommend him to your client for a detailed interview and he comes out in flying colors; and finally, Managing Director of the company meets and approves him for an offer. However, the result of a psychometric test, that he takes later, projects him to be a mismatch for the job under consideration and all your efforts go waste.

Yes, the 'you' that I mentioned above, is 'me.' It has happened with me, recently, and not once but a few times. I don't know, if my strained relationship with HR director of the company - may be because the MD of the company doesn't hesitate to call me whenever there is a critical position to be filled up on priority - has a decisive influence in deflecting the outcome but, something was wrong!

Well, there seems to be a major concern in intellectual circle over the relevance of psychometric tests in decision making as far as recruitment is concerned, as evident from the following analysis:

"It is important to understand that testing on its own should never be the sole
tool in selection decisions. There is any amount of research material and
validation studies that provide information on the predictive validity of various
means of selecting staff. Recent findings provide quite an optimistic picture of the value of the interview and rigorous reference checking as a highly valid method of selection." Click here to download and read this interesting analysis.

Also, the comments by participants in a linkedin discussion reveal how concerned but divided, professionals are, over the usefulness of psychometric tests in recruitment.

Digging further, I recently conducted a survey to find out what our HR folks think about its usefulness and surprisingly 90% of them ruled out its importance in final decision making, specifying clearly, that it may only be used as an additional tool to gain some foresight into candidates' personality -- nothing more!

All of them clearly opined that psychometric test, is, no doubt, an important predictive tool, but a wrong use may even put the organization in jeopardy in terms of picking up a basket-full of non-performers over a period of time.

So, personality test may be misused as a lethal weapon to destroy good recruitment and also the organization, if, there's some one committed to...

What do you say?

Do you think psychometric test as a decisive tool in recruitment is contextually valid, or an obscure manifestation of inflated intellectualism promoted by people with vested interests -- purely for business ( or individual ) gains?

Update: 20th Oct 2010

1. According to Businessballs: In most respects psychometrics tests and personality models are aids to personal development and to helping people understand more about themselves. They are not to be used a single basis for recruitment or career decisions.



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Abraham Maslow and Self Actualization!

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"Self Actualization is the intrinsic growth of what is already

in the organism, or more accurately, of what the organism is."

Abraham Maslow

Maslow argued: Humans intuitively have a natural drive to become the best possible persons in terms of both physical and mental health, including a high level of spiritual achievement.

Recruiters' Nightmare: Talent Crunch at Its Peak, in India!

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While executing a candidate search operation for one of my clients, urgently looking for two manufacturing heads for a particular product range at two different locations, I could sense the severity of talent crunch that many organizations in India are not aware of.

How to Edit Blogs from Smartphone Via Mobile Browser, and Completely Forget the Computer!

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The exponential growth of mobile technology is allowing smart-phone users to carry out most of the internet related tasks on their device itself, with no need to remain dependent on the availability of either a desktop or a laptop.

Social Intelligence, One of the Most Desirable Leadership Traits

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The other day while introspecting through my career achievements, in general, I suddenly remembered a professional with whom I had worked for a few years as his deputy .

The company was not in good shape, making huge losses, and the owner paid hefty compensation to get the best available talent for reviving the lost glory.

Having worked with one of the largest system driven organizations of that time, for many years, I was suddenly at loss of enthusiasm and initiatives on the very first day.

Although I was told about the background and also the current state of affairs, living with it even for few hours happened to be a different kind of experience. Only news worth mentioning was: My new boss would be joining the next day.

Well, he came; mingled freely with all of us; and in a few days became extremely popular. In less than 3 years he turned around the company from a blacklisted entity to a self certified vendor supplying precision engineering products to a galaxy of public and private sector organizations.

I followed him blindly, rather he made me follow him blindly, which I did not realize at that point of time because his ability to inspire and motivate people was remarkable.

Entire team worked round the clock, happily, embedding in mind a single objective of reviving the lost glory of the company in terms of reputation as well as profitability.

He successfully removed all other priorities of life from our mind channelizing our strengths in one direction and, finally achieving the objective.

What made him such a good leader, is a million dollar question!

I think it's his 'Social Intelligence' skills, exhibiting empathy and becoming attuned to our moods literally integrating his own brain chemistry with that of ours, his followers. He actually removed the "Fear of Failure" from our mind....

Apart from professional issues we could confide in him about personal matters also, taking his guidance time and again and in that process made him an integral part of our life.

It was a unique biological synchronization or brain interconnectedness through which he guided us to develop a genuine interest in the purpose, fostering positive feelings in us.

Well, a recent discovery of mirror neurons in widely dispersed areas of human brain confirms above connectivity, that help us detect, consciously or subconsciously, someone else’s emotions through their actions and our mirror neurons reproducing those emotions. Collectively, these neurons create an instant sense of shared experience: Mirror image!

Perhaps, because of those mirror neurons' intervention we minutely observed and followed his actions moving seamlessly towards the goal -- no longer his, but ours too.

That's why, I strongly believe that 'Social Intelligence' is one of the most desirable leadership traits.

What's your take? Pl, share!

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Always Remember You're Already Perfect

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"A powerful realization that has helped me is simply this: You’re already good enough, you already have more than enough, and you’re already perfect.

Try saying that to yourself, as corny as that might sound, just to see if it sounds true. Does it resonate as something you already believe (in which case, you can probably stop reading now), or does it not feel right? Do you feel like there are things you still need to improve?

Read full article at you’re already perfect | zen habits:

Should Talent Sourcing be Attached to Corporate Sourcing Function?

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It's a wild thought, but based on some logic: Why is Talent Sourcing - or recruitment - a part of Human Resource Development function, when, the process demands more of sourcing expertise and less of people development skills.

An Enlightened Experience of Meeting A Great Leader

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For several decades we've been talking a lot about customer delight, and with both 'Marketing Generals' and 'Scholars' from all over the world re-inventing the concept - several times - to ensure that every dealing leaves a permanent impression in consumers' mind, don't you think the same may apply to enlightening every contributors - internal or external - in human resource value-chain also?

This thought came my mind immediately after attending a meeting with one of the top ten HR professionals in India, who has grown much beyond the domain 'HR" and currently holding several other key responsibilities - in addition to HR - in India's one of the biggest and most admired companies.

"Face is the index of mind; so is HR for the organization," said a HR stalwart a couple of years ago, but what it actually means I experienced while meeting this great leader: Right from preparing the gate-pass even before I entered the premises; followed by security personnel meting out a huge welcome and handing me over to a cab driver for taking me to the destination, and he, finally, escorting me to meeting spot and introducing to the meeting coordinator ( Personal Secretary) - everything happened so smoothly, and quickly. 

The coordinator, adding a silver lining to an already unbelievable welcome procedure, escorted me to a conference room making me comfortable to the extent that I've not experienced for a long time. A few minutes later I was with him, seeing him after a decade.

After exchanging initial pleasantries and remembering the old days we got into a formal discussion about his initial days in the organization, and then it quickly turned into an informal thought sharing platform with him explaining: How he fought against all adversities to change company culture and eventually transformed the company into what, that I experienced.

A down-to-earth personality and gifted with crystal clear thought processes, he never let me realize - during the course of discussion - the huge difference that exists between his stature and of mine.

He proved beyond doubt: True leadership is beyond the scope of all those hypothesis we keep reading -- actually it's about genuinely valuing and respecting the humans, in every form and stature.

Remembering this interaction which kept me spell-bound  for several hours after the meeting was over, my thought process continued evolving: Isn't it high time to replace the word 'Development' in 'Human Resource Development' with 'Enlightenment.'

Don't tell me it sounds funny, or a bit off the track, because, it isn't. After all, the ultimate objective of any development is to create enlightenment!

Update: He meets every requirements of effective leadership identified by Dr. Warren Bennis,

"What does it take to be an effective leader today? The essence of leadership is still character. The essence of character is integrity, passion, curiosity, daring and a guiding vision, without which a leader doesn't know what he wants to do or where he wants to go. Unlike the old command-and- control style, those who want to be leaders in the 21st century will have to be highly flexible and have a broad range of skills. In order to lead and keep great people, leaders must be articulate, energetic and empowering. They must be willing to inspire a collaborative approach that lets them tap into the endless source of ideas, innovation, know-how and knowledge of the people they lead. Read more at  Leader Values

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When You Have None To Talk!

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You're sitting in remote corner of a crowded place desperately wanting to talk to someone over phone.

I Was A Failure, So I'm Confident of Success Now!

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Your work is to discover your world, and then with all your heart give yourself to it. #The Buddha
 
"I was a failure; I'd destroyed a similar venture in recent past. But now I know: Why and how it happened and also, what should have been done to avoid it," said an entrepreneur during his presentation to the management committee of a large corporate - competing against a dozen big firms - staking a claim for handling a prestigious project.

Let's Accept Both Success And Failures, Gracefully!

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We hope, a lot, against all hopes that everything would be alright — one day. And it starts happening also, may be slowly but with all positive indications until one fine morning, when the mirage disappears suddenly and we realize that we’ve not really moved ahead  — still confined to the same black hole of hopelessness.

Leadership vs Myelin: Are All of Us Born with Myelin sheath of Same Thickness?

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Sangeeth Varghese's analysis of the 'Physiology of Leadership' in the light of Daniel Coyle's book "The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How," is interesting.

The Eternal Debate: Money Vs Happiness

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The findings of a recent survey that, money can buy you happiness but up-to a certain point only, is, not surprisingly, in line with 'Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.'

Yes, is it possible for a hungry person, or for that matter a homeless person, to pursue an intense love affair? Not at all! So, his primary objective remains accumulating sufficient wealth so that his basic needs are successfully met, and once done it gives him immense satisfaction making him happy.

It's only after those basic needs are met, one can completely get rid of anxieties pertaining to ensuring the survival, and then, perhaps look for emotional satisfaction through creative achievements -- independent of monetary inputs.

However, beyond that critical point of meeting decent survival needs, money may not buy you more happiness any more but it certainly acts as a catalyst improving the probabilities to gain further -- depending on how you define your happiness.

So I agree with the conclusion of this study, that "Money can buy you happiness – up to a point," but with a slight deviation as mentioned above.What about you?

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Only One Chance: Make It Happen in Life

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There is no way you can make it unless you believe in it. And, the common human tendency is: Not to believe in what we can really achieve.

Let me share with you an excellent video highlighting the power of mind: How, if stretched beyond limits, it can make our dreams come true.



So if you nurture a dream that sounds ridiculous to others, chances are that you would be successful in achieving it -- if you truly believe in yourself.

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Are Recruiters Prostitutes?

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With all my patience and maturity level being tested with the toughest invasion of self-respect, I was rendered speechless, today, when one of the business heads of a client I've been associated with for close to a decade, blasted: "I'm paying you for whatever services you're offering, so you must do what I tell you do."

I must thank Robin Sharma - whose book, "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" I'm reading now - for helping me accumulate a huge self-control demonstrating an unusual maturity level of -- laughing insults away!

However, I'm confused now! Did I really show an exceptionally high maturity level by keeping quiet, or my silence was simply a manifestation of the fear that I'd lose a client if I had reacted.

Believe me, I've never experienced such a demoralizing incident during my 15 years of an otherwise fulfilling executive search career, so far.

And, having embraced the job of a recruiter, out of passion and not under compulsion: Like, let's do something until a break in the corporate happens - as I'd already worked with the largest corporate of that time, Bajaj Auto Ltd - I wonder, is there a methodology available for identifying the line of control beyond which self-respect must take over the demonstration of maturity -- independent of the circumstances?

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Is Hiring A Peanut Job, or Something Much Beyond?

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'What's your degree of involvement in talent acquisition for your organization?' Before I could prepare myself for a reply, he, the CEO of a 1000 crore company, shot back, 'deeply, while recruiting for all senior level and critical middle level openings!'

Yes, what he said reflects an increasing awareness among top management: The importance of hiring the right candidates for leadership positions -- both macro and Micro.

Some of these trend setters are successfully breaking away from a century old mindset: Oh, hiring, that's HR's job, and the HR head, seconding boss's idea, pushes it down the hierarchy, finally to a freshers -- with no idea about either its importance, or the right methodology for a successful execution!

Gradually, without realizing the impacts of this negligence, top management continues with recruiting the candidates: Who're either good for nothing, or bad for everything, eventually laying down the foundation of a spacious organizational graveyard big enough to accommodate both the entire top management and also the stake-holders..

When I asked this CEO, 'any specific reason for such a deep involvement in hiring?' He answered, "Abhijit, I'm working hard to grow in my career which is possible only if the organization grows, and that would happen only if I've a team consisting of the right professionals supporting me achieve what I intend to." He added further, "hiring one wrong candidate for a critical position may sabotage my entire effort.Why should I let it happen?" What an explanation, and such a truthful analysis of prevailing business environment.

Let's not live in a fool's paradise: There is a huge talent crunch and sooner the leaders realize better it is, for them. Nothing, but the right talents would dictate the organizations' future in prevailing business environment, and our beloved CEOs, MDs and Lalas ( in India, the owner of a family run company is lovingly called as 'Lala' ) must realize this fact as soon as possible, and act accordingly.

So, the leaders who're of the opinion that hiring is a peanut job and nothing beyond, are not likely to survive, professionally, for long!

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Can You Take Me to the Real World?

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Forgive but Remember -- Do Not Forget!

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How to Keep Your Customers Mesmerized Ensuring an Everlasting Relationship!

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A Cruelly Innovative Retention Policy!

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Today I called up a candidate to find out if he is willing to move out of his comfort zone, I mean open to explore a challenging assignment elsewhere.

It's a regular affairs for me, because most the clients I handle strictly believe in recruiting candidates who're not actively looking out.

A difficult job, but the more you do it, more you love it: Putting your best efforts to convince those candidates that they must look out for better opportunities -- ultimately, help them building a better career.

Okay, let's not get deviated from the theme of this article.

The candidate I was talking to, is working for an organization where management strictly believe none of its employees should ever join a competitor. And to enforce this policy, they would get employees sign a legal document also -- I've strong doubt about its validity though.

When I disclosed to him that the proposed assignment is with one of the competitors, he politely declined to pursue it further saying he is keen to explore challenging options but only with non-competitors -- for the reasons stated above.

All my efforts to convince him about impracticality of that policy came to a grinding halt, when he shared that some of the ex-employees who challenged this peculiar policy - by joining competitors - were subjected to endless harassment including legal proceedings that lingered on for years.

Interestingly, contradicting its own policy, management of that company seem to be too happy to recruit potential candidates from its competitors.

In a nutshell, the company can recruit candidates from competitors but would never allow its employees to join them.

Does it sound funny? Yes it does, but there's a limit to behaving funnily. Isn't it?

Well, I'm not inclined to analyze it further and suggest any corrective action at the moment, but, would like to ask you a simple question: Have you ever heard of or come across such HR policy in your career so far and if so, what's your take on the validity of such cruelly innovative retention policy?

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Faith And Leadership !!!

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In current competitive business environment , faith plays a major role in shaping up leadership qualities through spiritual interventions.

Classical definition of Faith is the affirmation of belief, without any practical or logical evidence. The realm of Faith starts, when we venture into the space beyond evidence or logic.

Now ,if you look at religious interpretations:

In Christianity, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.

In Hinduism, Faith means unshaken belief and purity of thought and it is recognized as a virtue.

In chapter 17 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna mentions the three types of faith:

1.Faith rooted in Sattva
Those with sattvic faith are said to worship the GOD.

2.Faith rooted in Rajas
Those with Rajasic faith are said to worship Demons.

3.Faith rooted in Tamas
Those with tamasic faith are said to worship Ghosts and Spirits.

Faith in Buddhism refers to a sense of conviction, regarding setting a goal and the determination to accomplish it, while drawing a sense of joy and also live by what is learnt and accepted, rather than believing something outright.

Faith in Islam is called Iman and it signifies an instinct of the human soul, refined through upbringing into specific religious or spiritual paths.

Even Scientific discovery begins with a scientist's faith that an unknown discovery is possible requiring a passionate commitment. However , this faith is based on a set of assumptions and extrapolation of the fundamental truth towards a predictable conclusion but without any idea about the nature of final outcome.

All these above interpretations are strickingly similar, clearly confirming a decisive role of spirituality in defining the degree conviction and the extent of determination of the Leadership to achieve the ultimate business objective.


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Written a year and half ago

9 Best Inspirational Quotes -- Never Give Up!

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These are the 9 best ‘Never Give Up’ quotes – in my opinion – I have collected over a period of time and sharing with you now.

1. God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless. # Chester W. Nimitz

2. Nothing could be worse than the fear that one had given up too soon, and left one unexpended effort that might have saved the world. # Jane Addams

3. The man who wins may have been counted out several times, but he didn’t hear the referee. Never quit or give up….never…..never give up. # H.E. Janson

4. Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. # Satchel Paige

5. Never give up, never give in, and when the upper hand is ours, may we have the ability to handle the win with the dignity that we absorbed the loss. # Doug Williams

6.Never, never, never, never give up. # Winston Churchill

7. Think of the long view of life, not just what’s going to happen today or tomorrow. Don’t give up what you most want in life for something you think you want now. # Elder Richard G. Scot

8. Never give in! Never give in! Never, never, never, never – in nothing great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. # Winston Churchill

9. When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. # Harriet Beecher Stowe

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Never Say, "Thanks to 'Everyone:'" It Hurts, Silently!

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I was surprised - long ago, while working for a large Indian Corporate - when someone during a course of discussion on relationship management said that our divisional manager would always make it a point to send personalized greeting cards to his contacts -- four separate cards to a family of four members.

But what never surprised us was, his immense popularity at least in his professional circle. Now, I can make out how he achieved that: He always respected and acted - to acknowledge and recognize individualism!

Then came the era of email, sms and now status updates: Real-time communications. However, it still holds good and effective -- personalized communications.

Like or don't like; accept or don't accept: Everybody seeks importance, and when you receive a group message against a personalized communication making you part of the crowd -- you hate it, may not express, though!

Small things in life matter and most of us overlook that, but at what cost? Nothing visible at the moment, though -- they do matter in the long run.

So, please use the name while thanking someone who took out a few minutes to say something good about you, instead of saying: 'Thanks to everyone,' -- unless  it's too big to handle, or you're a celebrity!

Thanks: RedCat, on Flickr

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Can We Learn Re-Invention Lesson From LG Success Story in U.S.

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Amazing: 3 attempts in four years, it took for LG, in 2002, to launch its brand in the US market and today it's the top seller of refrigerators and washing machines with 24 percent market share.

"Today, some 95 per cent of American consumers view LG as a premium foreign consumer electronics brand, lagging only behind Sony in terms of brand recognition, according to a survey commissioned by LG last year. But as recently as the late 1990s, the company had marketed its products under the Goldstar brand, which American consumers viewed as low quality. To establish a premium brand image and achieve a broader penetration of the US market, the company re-launched its products under the LGE brand in 2002."

Can we learn some lessons from LGA's success story -- in terms of re-invention?