The red balloon will stay with you forever. It can make you wrestle with the very idea of what a story is. A great story is incomplete. A story is never complete in itself. A good story becomes complete when the audience or the reader merges into it. A great story transcends the desire for completion. The red balloon ends after 34 minutes but it stays incomplete. ‘ What is the story about’ has ready simplistic answers at hand. ‘What does the story mean’ has no one answer. And that is so beautiful about experiencing it. Searching for the answer leads us onto the familiar conceptual tool-kit of metaphors, allegories. We can bandy about words like narrative and structure and impose some sense. And this movie just like its red ballon floats away from the sense-making world. Which is why it is such a compelling watch for all those who seek to make a living out of story-telling, be they artistes, writers, or trainers. The movie restores mystery and magic to its unassailable place in explaining what makes a great story possible. And…
How to Slack off on Your Gym Workout & Sabotage Your New Year Resolution!
It is not if you break your New year resolution, it is when. And on that positive note, let us begin. Here are the masterly tips to make or fake on the way to a fitter, slimmer & healthier you. You know as well as I do that the journey is better than the destination, don’t you? Let us do all we can to prolong the journey. First tip : Choose wisely. It begins with the choice of the gym. Gyms with personal fitness instructors are a strict no-no. They are not to be tolerated. Personal fitness instructors are sadistic monsters, aren’t they? They get paid for counting reverse from fifteen to zero while you are busy hauling boulders on your shoulders. And guess what, they make a hash of even the counting. They slow down the count just when you are pushing yourself to the limit egged on by the steady momentum of their countdown. How cruel can they be! So, don’t choose these monsters. Choose a gym where a number of people will work out together under the eyes of one instructor.…
Can People Open up & be Authentic in a training program? – An experience.
Can people open up and be authentic to the core in a training program? I have an interesting experience to share. We, a group of coaches, were in a self-discovery workshop. Most of us were regular acquaintances, some could call each other friends, and a few were new to the majority of attendees. What connected us was that we called ourselves coaches and we had a monthly meeting fixture for all things coaching related. In this workshop, we reached a point where people started giving feedback. One person at a time received feedback from all the rest, one at a time. So, when one person spoke, everybody listened. This was candid feedback about how I perceive you, what I appreciate about you, and what I don’t! And as these things go, everybody was getting hooked onto what was being said. It happens all the time, doesn’t it, that when people stop being politically correct and shed formal niceties, they become irresistibly compelling to each other and the whole group! As we were going about the whole thing in turns, we awaited a quiet lady; let…
Less Direct, More impactful. Thoughts on training.
Aspiring to be a better communicator? Expand your vocabulary. Modulate your voice. This is familiar advice. The direct approach. Could the areas to work on be less direct, and more impactful? An individual becomes a better communicator if the area he or she has worked on is clear thinking. If there is a quality workshop or a course on ‘effective thinking’, I would advise every individual intent on becoming a better communicator to choose that over a communications training program. I believe it will be more impactful. No individual on becoming a better thinker fails to communicate better. Further, an individual becomes a better communicator if he or she has become one with silence. Yes. Silence. We learn to inhabit silence and our peace and comfort grows. In that space, we find immense power to regather our real self. We become one – with silence, with ourselves, with the moment. Better communication results. Let us move onto a group scenario. If an entire unit of people at the same level – shop floor assistants, telecallers or operations staff – is…
The downside of feel-good stuff! How the endless streaming of ‘positive’ content on social media affects our lives.
Imagine seeing a rainbow. You see it, get excited, but it is so short and brief! If only you could see it often.. Now, imagine seeing a rainbow everyday! Would you be as excited on seeing it? What do you think? Before marriage, a couple dreams of spending all of their time together. After exchanging wedding wows, a couple saves their marriage by spending at least some time apart! What is happening? We are being human. That’s it. We surprise ourselves in how we respond to our own fond beliefs. One such fond belief is in the power of feel-good stuff to create positive energy in our life. So strong is it that we willingly flood our consciousness with the positive stuff – positive quotes, heart-warming stories, cutesy images, funny videos, ribtickling jokes. Social media is awash with the feel-good stuff. Every morning you wake up, the jokes & the motivational quotes have already queued up for you. Every official engagement ends with you checking your phone and getting onto the feel-good ride. You cherrypick the special stuff and selectively share it with whoever…
Waking Up before a Crisis : What Every Citizen Can Learn from the Chennai Floods
Chennai is flooded with water. Chennai is also flooded with warmth. People are reaching out and helping each other. A crisis brings us together. Together, there need not be a crisis. If we pull together beforehand, we can prevent a crisis or limit the damage.Provided we think, plan, and do the right things. What are they? One by One. Thinking : Thinking what? A good start would be to clear our minds. Get this : “Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened” Would you agree? There is no fame and glory waiting for us. No distractions. Clarity of purpose. We do it for ourselves. Next, ask, ” In what way are we contributing to the problem?” Yes, we must think that! The problem begins in how we perceive our role as citizens in governance.We believe that casting a vote is the only thing to do. Who cares about things going wrong in between elections? We patiently await the next polls. Meanwhile, vested interests continue causing irreversible damage to our habitats. They pass laws and undertake actions, all of them leading to polluting…
Events, Seminars, Conferences- Do you learn anything?
Business events are for networking and business generation. Well and good. They are marketed as learning opportunities. Not so well and suspect. In my limited experience, what you get to know are things that you could possibly know by reading on your own. If the speakers have inspirational quotient, go ahead and indulge yourself. Once you have indulged enough, even that becomes mundane. Why does the learning not happen? Dialogue is missing. An event can be a community in the making. But organizers do not look at it that way. To build a community requires staying connected throughout the year. A shared purpose, collaborative projects, assessments and surveys keep the fires burning. The event is then ripe for a dialogue, a conversation that goes beyond exchanging information. In a dialogue, people explore meaning, purpose, and values. They challenge and support each other by combining enquiry and advocacy. But most industry meets are seasonal events that are folded up lock,stock, and barrel until the next year comes. The events are ends in themselves. So, what do we have, right now? Instead of dialogue, we have experts addressing us. Sharing…
A spiritual leader speaks on ‘Conscious leadership’
I listened to Radhanath Swami on Saturday. His book, ‘ A journey home’ is a beautiful read. The event was organized by Artha forum, an endeavour that seeks to tap into ancient wisdom for the lessons it can offer to modern business. Here are the two things that are the heart of the matter to me. I use my words to convey his message whenever I cannot remember it verbatim. 1) Kunti in Mahabharata had this to say, ” The disqualification for enlightenment and self-realization or – whatever word you resonate with – is having too much of ….too much of wealth, too much of…beauty, too much of…skills, too much of… education…too much of power.” When you have too much of a worldly good, you tend to become arrogant. You lose your bearings. You lose your way. 2) What is the way to overcome this challenge? To not be accursed on account of having too much. Radhanath Swami invoked the idea of trusteeship, an idea steeped in India’s historical and cultural heritage. How does it work? Considereverything as the property of God. And…
Learning from every experience. A shift is all it needs.
It was an uneasy conversation. You have this very capable subordinate. She had asked for a change of job responsibilities and duly got it. But she is new to this work in which you are an old hand. So, you offered to help and mentor her. The immediate context was that you overheard her struggling to connect with a valued client. You just happened to pass by her desk when she was talking. When you called her in to offer help, she knew where this was coming from. And her demeanour showed she did not like this one bit. She politely declined any offer of help and said she will ask for help when she needs it. You quietly reflect on the conversation.Here was a capable individual who could do with a little help. But she takes quiet pride in her work and is very sensitive about any offer of help. She interprets such an offer as a lack of confidence in her. You accept you got it wrong from the word go. Given the context, she was going to react this…
A leader’s impact – what do you seek for yourself?
A leader has an impact. What kind appeals to you between the two that I share. The first impact. “I have full faith in my leader. I don’t have to think” This impact makes you as the follower feel everything is being taken care of. You do not have to figure anything out on your own. The leader has planted in you the vision. The leader has pointed to the destination and chalked out the path. The leader is walking down that path. All that is left for you to do is follow. Success is guaranteed by the leader. The second impact. ” I have full faith in myself. My leader makes me think” This impact makes you as the follower feel that everything is not taken care of till you take care of a few things. And you have to figure out a lot of things.The leader has shared a vision with you. The vision makes you see how you have it in you to uncover the destination and create a path. You see yourself walking down that path along with others.…