Conversation with a Ethiopian Student!

I have worked in Ethiopia for four years. A country with rich culture, inhabited by very beautiful people. I had the fortune in teaching some of the most brilliant students. They have been very knowledgeable, intelligent and very good. They were very appreciative of Indian teachers. Ask any Ethiopian and he would talk glowingly about Indian teachers. Indians are known as great teachers and enjoy tremendous good will in Ethiopia. Reproduced below is a chat that I had with an Ethiopian student today at 2100 hours (13^th November).

Hyder Ali: Hi sir do u know now I was writing message for you

Dr. M. Anil Ramesh: Yes Hyder

Hyder Ali : Oh long time I missed you so much my dear unforgettable teacher  You Know sir, There are always peoples that will have a power to attract individuals as their role model , for me you are one of those few peoples that always have special place. Sir, after I graduate from Bahirdar University I worked in the regional Management Institute in the administration and training posts, then after that i completed my master degree in Public financial management

Dr. M. Anil Ramesh: my pleasure Hyder, really very happy to get such feedback from you. You made my day. Your English is very good. You should try your hand at teaching

Hyder Ali: Thank you sir, now sir i followed your footsteps and i am out of Ethiopia for teaching job in one of neighboring country i am instructor now

Dr. M. Anil Ramesh: great you are in which country?

Hyder Ali: Do you hear Somali land

Dr. M. Anil Ramesh: can you send me your photo?, Yes I have heard

Hyder Ali: Of course sir, very peaceful country and they are paying also in us dollar

Dr. M. Anil Ramesh: Excellent any ideas of doing PhD?

Hyder Ali: i am very happy now and I am helping my parents, yes sir always I like to continue my education

Dr. M. Anil Ramesh: Try in development economics or in market initiatives in Ethiopia?

Hyder Ali: ok sir, I will always take your advice

Dr. M. Anil Ramesh: Okay

Hyder Ali: tomorrow i will attach my picture now i am inside internet cafe after 1 hour i have a part time class

Dr. M. Anil Ramesh: Post your photo in your profile, Class at night time, which subject?

Hyder Ali: ok, sir how are all your family, hope you are doing well I know your wife and your son. i am teaching now public finance and taxation for economics graduate class

Dr. M. Anil Ramesh: Everyone is nice. Son is in 11th daughter is in 6th, wife working in a school and I have become a director of a business school. This time of the night I am always on the net

Hyder Ali: ok I will try to keep in touch with you,

Dr. M. Anil Ramesh: Okay bye, prepare for your class. God bless you and all Ethiopian people!

Hyder Ali: Good Night sir,

Dr. M. Anil Ramesh: Bye 

Suspense is everything - bengali novel

I was the head of the department for marketing in a famous B-school at Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh. One day our course coordinator hauled up a sheepish looking young man to my office. The complaint was that the young man was reading a 'Bengali novel' in the class. 

This stumped us as both I and my course coordinator did not know a word in Bengali. We summoned a Bengali girl and asked me as what this novel was all about. The Bengali girl turned ashen. She shyly responded saying that it was a romantic thriller. It was apparent from her body language that the novel was clearly what in India is classified as a masala novel. Full of action of all sorts and a farfetched story. But what the heck people love pulp fiction. 

I admonished the young man and told him that I needed his father's mobile number. This really shook the boy. He pleaded with me and said any punishment is okay as long as it was not telling his father. On enquiry it was found that the young man was very scared of his father. He was of the opinion that his father would beat him up if he knew that he was reading pulp fiction. 

Warning the student not to repeat the same I locked the novel in my cupboard. 

The young man turned up at my office after three days. In his hand was a slip of paper. The paper had the mobile number his father. I asked him why he was giving his father's number now. The boy replied "sir, please call him, he would scold me and when I return home may be I will get more scolding and even get slapped. But I need to have that novel back”. 

Puzzled to the core I asked him" What is so great in that novel that you want to have it in spite of the fact that the same would be told to your father and you might get a whipping of your life". 

The boy replied “oh sir, that will happen when I return to Calcutta. The suspense in the novel is killing me. I need to know who committed the murder (in the novel). Also this particular novel is gifted by my girlfriend. So I hold it dear to my heart". 

The reply shocked me to the core. I somehow drove the young man out of my office (without giving him the novel). Oh yes the boy did collect his novel the day he finally left for his home town after finishing his course. 

Inaugural Speech delivered by Prof M.Anil Ramesh on the launch of SSIM's second shift, 2nd batch programmes on the 25th of August 2011

The age of mother earth is said to be 4.54 billion years. In that length of time 64 years of independence pales in comparison. But for a young republic like India every year is a celebrations and a thing of pride. Likewise an educational institute surviving even for 10 years in the present turbulent times has become a cause for celebration. 

In comparison a group like Siva Sivani celebrating 50 years of its existence is a source for grand celebration and lots of admiration for its founder and his vision. I am indeed very happy and thrilled to be standing in front of you in this golden jubilee year and inviting you to become members of this great family called Siva Sivani.

Last year SSIM second shift started its journey and I am very proud to say that we have grown in a year. Added more faculty and we are learning very fast and starting to do very well. The senior students are through with their three trimester are they are doing very well.

But as the Director Academic I would like to put some things in perspective. 25 years ago I too was a student of MBA. But what a difference! At that time India had only around 40-50 institutes offering around 3000 seats in the MBA space. We had no induction programmes, no extensive mentoring or training progarmmes and to be very frank we were quite innocent and were like babies in the forest.

Things have changed drastically and how! Now we have around 4000 B-schools offering 4,00,000 seats in the MBA/PGDM space and there is a Tsunami building and gathering momentum.

The students have become more street smart and are more technology savvy. At the same time they get better trained and are expected to be more employer ready. The opportunities are more and salaries have sky rocketed. On the flip side the expectations from the industry have gone up. They expect the students to be job ready from day one. Training span in the organizations has been reduced and tolerance for mistakes has dramatically comedown. In very few words the corporate mantra for survival is “perform or perish”.

I would like to advice the students to consider SSIM as a temple of learning. Not only as a temple of learning but also as a place for discussions, arguments, counter arguments, introspection, deep thinking and place for idea generation and germinations. Learn to unlearn and learn again and relearn. Challenge the holy cows and internalize concepts.

Say with pride that you are a student of SSIM and I am sure that will be your USP for a life time. It is time for putting your ideas into action. Your days in SSIM will be crammed with class work, assignments, case studies and many other activities. You will have to be a excellent time manager to manage a good performance and pass out with a good grade. You will have to adhere to rules and regulations and there is zero tolerance for any violation of set rules and procedures. But at the same time there would be a tremendous human touch and I or my faculty colleagues are always available for any suggestions or feedback at any point of time.

For all practical purposes you will be treated as if you are employees of a corporate organization on a loan to SSIM. Behave and adapt as if you are employees of a new organization and I am sure that you would be learning a lot from this institute. Every day in the institute would be a challenge in itself.

There would be ample scope to learn and to be grasp many nuances of management. It is said that management education is an art and not a science. One needs to be taut as a violin string but at the same time not loose. Over tautness would break the string and looseness would mean no music at all. You will need to learn the fine balance of what is right or what is wrong – nay what is perceive as right and what is perceived as wrong. So it is said all battles have to be fought and won and that too in your own minds, later in the minds of the customers and finally in the minds of your organizations where you would be working.

Welcome onboard strap yourself for a journey of a life time. I am sure the next two years will be the best two years of your life. A two years stay at SSIM that you will always very fondly remember as the two years that changed your life forever.

Thanking one and all.

Presentation tips for Marketers

KISS is an acronym for the principle "Keep it Simple, Stupid!” Other variations include "keep it short and simple"^[, "keep it simple AND stupid" or "keep it simple and straightforward". The KISS principle states that simplicity should be a key goal in everything we do and that unnecessary complexity should be avoided.

4 x 4 principle:  Frequently used in business communications. It means that any slide that is used in a public presentation should follow the 4 x 4 principle. There should be 4 lines in a slide and 4 words per slide. If a picture is used minus 2 line and eight words. That is if a picture is used then the slide should use 8 words only. The font size should be a minimum of 18. Less is better in presentation. Use matter and visuals to create an impact and do not read out your slides.

A picture is worth a thousand words: Most learners are visual in nature. Use visuals wherever necessary. Visual can create an impact and are difficult to forget. Check out the visual on the left. It left an inedible impression of the attack on the twin towers in the USA.

Man biting a dog is news rather than dog biting the man:  Always strive for a dramatic impact. You could always say that there are many animals that eat shit for living. That will wake up any slumbering giants in the audience. You could always quickly add that you are talking about dung beetles. This would leave the most serious person with a smile on his face.

Paraphrasing: Many times the listeners of a presentation ask the presenter questions and some of these may be complicated or not properly structured. The presenter needs to repeat what was asked in order to verify the meaning of the question posed. This is called paraphrasing. The term simply means repeating another person’s ideas in your own understanding but retaining the thought of the statement or question.

If I heard you correctly, you were asking if the process is reversible or not …”

“You were asking that less than 60% is a fail grade…Is that right?”

“As I understand it, you want to know if the break will be for 5 minutes only…. Am I correct?”

“So your question is about the maximum limit of pages in the project …”

Humor: Audience likes to associate themselves with cheerful presenters. Always have a smile on your face. It takes 71 muscles to frown only only 21 to smile. So smile and smiling is very inclusive. Don’t worry if you make a mistake in the presentation. Most listeners have empathy and will forgive small errors and mistakes.

My beloved teachers - Part - IV

The teacher who had a funny bone and who enthralled us with his satire was our teacher of Management theory and Organizational Behaviour. He would drawl in his traditional slow voice “You boys are like never-ready batteries and all the girls are like Eveready batteries”. He would crack jokes like “In USA there are one car and two car families, In India there are be-kar families (be-kar in Hindi means useless).

His favorite joke was “Every street corner in Hyderabad will have a bakery. It will have only two employees a be-kar and a loafer”. Loafer is a person who makes bread but loafer in Hyderabad means a person who does nothing and who loafs around.

The final ode in my MBA College would be for my HOD Prof E. G. Paremeshwaran. E.G as he was popularly called was a fountain head of knowledge and satire. One day we had bunked a boring class and were lounging in the corridor. We were happily sitting on the floor and chitchatting. E.G walks by and does a double take when he notices us. “Hey boys what are you doing here?” he says. “Nothing sir” responds a brave heart “ the lecture was too boring”. E.G sits next to us. He never forces us into the class. He explained the relationship between the student and the teacher.

He said “You have a role to play. Raise doubts and ask for clarifications, When a teacher does not know the answer his or her ego will get hurt. That will make him/her prepare better and that teacher is on the road to become a good teacher”. Today when I have became a Director – Academic I reflect on his words I understand the magnitude and the meaning. The student is only as good as his teacher and so is the case with the teacher, the teacher is as good as the performance of the students.

My beloved teachers - Part - III

The teacher who made my path in management easier was Prof Maruti Ram my teacher in Managerial Economics. As I was mentioning in my previous blog posting I come from Science background and management classes proved to be lot of Mumbo Jumbo to me. I was not getting head or tail of Economics, Financial accounting and Statistics. I went straight to Prof Maruti Ram and told him that I was not at all doing well and that I want to quit and join M.Sc Anthropology. He laughed and said “don’t you worry. Those Commerce background students appear to be very knowledgeable. But at end of the day it is the hard working guys who come out at the top”. Those words inspired me but the niggling doubt remained.

One day I met Prof Maruti Ram in the bus. We had just finished the first semester examinations and I was very curious about the result. When asked about the students’ performance, Maruti Ram sir said “Most people did okay. One student reproduced the same examples which were given in the class and it was a good attempt”. When the result was out, it was a huge pleasant surprise to note that the student who caught Prof Maruti Ram’s eye was me and I topped Managerial Economics. I got 37/50. I am still proud of that achievement.

Prof Shyam Sunder was our marketing faculty. A brilliant teacher he could cite examples and do complex calculation with the élan of a well trained surgeon. He had such finesse that he got dubbed as the “Kotler of Osmania University”. He was very quick to the retort and students loved and were quite frankly terrified of his ready repartee.

On that eventful day I was getting otherwise engaged at the back of the class and promptly Shyam Sunder Sir caught me. He asked me a question. Frankly I didn’t know the answer. I gave a rather long winded response. By his looks I could make out that Prof Shyam Sunder Sir was getting angry. I could see the storm coming. He said “Hello what is your name?” “Anil sir” I responded. “You will be a good MBA” he said. My heart swelled with pride. Getting a compliment from Shyam Sunder Sir is like an Indian actor getting an Oscar from the academy. “Master Bull Shit Artiste. That is what you are” was his crushing reply. “Be short and precise. Your answer was very long but none of it made any sense. Be more clear in the future”, suitably christened I sat down and made myself a better student.

My beloved teachers - Part - II

The next set of teachers includes our Zoology teacher in Intermediate Mrs. Seshamma. Mrs. Seshamma taught us the finer elements of understanding the animals and for an animal lover like me they were valuable lessons. She taught us how to dissert the nervous ring in the earthworm. She was a great teacher.

But one of my friend’s actions stumped her. He started sporting a pink rash on his face and he finally went to a dermatologist who blamed it on our poor zoology teacher. Not exactly the zoology teacher but the animals taught by her. Let me present the mystery of the pink rash in the same way as it unfolded. Dermatologist “My friend this very peculiar, this type of rash in only found in lizards and specifically in frogs and toads. How is that you have this rash?” My friend promptly feigned any knowledge about the pink occurrence. We learned later that my friend wanted to sport a manly look. He wanted to shave off his stubble. Not daring to ask his father this YOUNG MAN used his dissection blade (the blade with which he disserted the frog) to shave. That is how he got his pink rash. Talk about the travails of young boys who want to quickly grow up to be MEN!

The next set of teachers who were a great influence were my teachers at Nizam college, Hyderabad. Nizam is a prestigious college that boasts of illustrious alumni including Rakesh Sharma the first Indian in space, Mohd Azharuddin, Bala Krishna the telugu actor among others. The teachers who I remember very fondly are Prof Ramaiah my botany HOD, Prof Shahbaz Khan my Zoology HOD and Prof Afzal who taught me organic chemistry. Nizam College and its teachers left a indelible impression on me.

After Graduation I had to decide whether to do M.B.A or M.Sc in Anthropology. The choice was not really in my hand. My rank was not good enough to get me a seat either in the first list or the second list in M.B.A. Disheartened I was preparing to go to Tirupati to do M.Sc Anthropology at Sri Venkateshwara University. The time was around 3 in the afternoon. I am preparing to go to the railway station when a employee of Osmania University walks in. He informs me that the auction seats ( any vacant seats are filled in with any eligible candidate present with rank cards and certificates) were filled up on that day and that I could get a seat. The problem was I was not present in the university.

This anomaly was noticed by a senior professor Prof C. Madhusudan Reddy who did not want a deserving candidate lose out the seat. He found out my address from the application and sent that employee all the way to my house. And my house was 15 kilometers away! I along with my brother-in-law rushed to Osmania University and paid the fees and took that last seat just before the scheduled closing time of 0500 p.m. This was solely possible because of the quick thinking of Prof C. Madhusudan Reddy. Thank you CMR sir, it is only because of you that I could join Osmania University and get my Masters in Business Administration.

My Beloved teachers - Part - I

A popular telugu saying “ Purushulandu Punya Purushulu veraya " meaning among important people some are more important. A very apt saying for the teachers. Many claim to be teachers but very few can really be called teachers. Like somebody had said “don’t call me a teacher call me a facilitator”. Being referred to as a teacher is a very big honor. I definitely don’t want to be called a teacher. I am a facilitator. I facilitate the process of the learning. I inculcate the interest for the subject among the students. I fire their imagination so that they discover the subject themselves and become fascinated by it.

Real teachers are very few. They are people like Jesus Christ, Gautama Buddha or other saintly men who have professed on something new that no one has professed before. Ordinary mortals are more like lecturers, tutors, readers and professors.

But students neither care about designations nor care about the fancy degrees that the so called teachers possess. They admire and like a teacher who fires their imagination. They like a teacher who appears very enthusiastic and passionate about the topic or the subject being studied. No student likes a cold fish treatment of a subject. ( a cold and impersonal presentation).

I would like to mention ten great teachers who have moulded my personality and made me what I am today. The first among them is my English teacher “Phillips”. Phillips was my English teacher in the school. He was very strict about grammar and about pronunciation. He would give us knuckle jarring taps with his iron scale whenever a mistake was committed. Scared of him I picked up the nuances of English, English grammar and pronunciation. He taught us Shakespearean dramas like Merchant of Venice, to be or not to be, Julius Caesar and others. His recital of “friends Romans countrymen lend me your ears, I came to bury Caesar not to praise him” still ring in my ears.

Students would get confused between defense and defence. Same is the case with advise and advice. One is a verb and the other is a noun. But which one was the verb and which one is the noun? The students were nonplussed. Phillips Sir gave us a very simple solution. He questioned “which comes first C or V” “ C” came the answer. “Same rule for advice and advise. The word that has c is the noun and the word that has s is the verb. AdviCe is a noun and AdviSe is a verb. As simple as that” he added.

The second teacher who had great influence on me was my social science teacher named Mrs. Mathews. Mrs. Mathews was a wife of a senior diplomat from the government service. She loved teaching. She taught us the measurement of time difference using lattitude in a very easy and lucid way. I can still calculate the difference between GMT and IST which is 82.5 degrees lattitude. The time difference between any two lattitudes is 4 minutes and 82.5 x 4 = 330 minutes. That is 5 hours and 30 minutes which is the difference between GMT and IST.

One simple minded student had remarked sarcastically “Madam, how is that a person who is not good at calculations remember the time difference between GMT and IST”. Without batting an eyelid Mrs. Mathews responded "very simple, turn your watch upside down, the time that you read when the watch is upside down is the GMT time”. The student was nonplussed by the witty answer. For example, if the time in the watch shows 1p.m the reverse will show 7.30 a.m which is the GMT time. She also taught us a very easy way to remember the nine planets. MARY VERY EARLY MADE JOHN to SHAKE UP NELLIE’s PILLOW. The first letter in the sentence will give the nine planets in the same sequence as they appear from the Sun. Thank you Phillips Sir and Mathews Madam.

Director - Academic speech - delivered by Prof M. Anil Ramesh on 3rd September Inauguration of SSIM second shift programmes - Part II

Ask for no quarters and none will be given. You would be treated justly but firmly. Discipline would be sacrosanct and only a disciplined mind can do the job on hand. So please do not expect us to be lenient. You will have to stand on your own and experience this wonderful world of education.

When asked “who is a good student” the answer that is commonly given is “the one who gives the right answers”. I disagree “a good student is the one who asks the right questions” Any one of us would have taken the apple that has fallen on our head and would have eaten it. It took a Newton to ask that question albeit very a basic as it sounds to us today, “why is that the apple has fallen down, why has it not gone up?” Awaken the Newton in you.

Inculcate the habit of positive questioning. Question yourself. Raise questions in the class. Have intellectual arguments with your classmates and with your teachers. Internalize the concepts and make them your own. Once the process of internalization sets in you would find a transformation in yourself, in the way you do things and you would find your bearings. I did the same and still do it. In my heart of hearts I am still a child who is eager to explore and is very greedy to lap up all the new things that management as a discipline has to offer. After all management is the art of doing things – right. Let the process be continuous.

A word of caution for all the parents. Let your child explore the world himself or herself. There is nothing called the right career or a right job. Yes money is very important should be considered in taking up a job.

Job satisfaction and happiness are equally important. Let your child be happy doing whatever he or she likes. It is said “when your hobby becomes your job you are the happiest person this world” Let your wards explore and decide what are going to be their hobbies. You and me especially me and my team of dedicated teachers and staff are always ready to advice and counsel them. We will set them on the right path and see that they discover their yearnings and achieve their goal. Thank you for the opportunity given and let us pray to the almighty that he gives us strength, vigor, force and direction to achieve what we have set out for. Au revior – till me meet again.

Director – Academic Speech - Delivered by Prof M. Anil Ramesh, on 3rd September Inauguration of SSIM second shift programmes - Part - I

It is a great honor to stand before you and deliver this speech as the Director – Academic. I stand before you with a mixed bag of emotions. The emotions include a tinge of sadness, happiness, sense of achievement and more than anything else a sense of purpose and determination. The sadness is because I am leaving a great department that is the department of marketing where I have worked in this prestigious group. I had a lovely team of people and it was great working with them. But things have to move on and so have I. But I promise that my heart always beats for marketing and any time the department wants my services I will be there as a loyal soldier.

The sense of purpose and determination is the bigger emotion that is swirling in my mind right now. It is very rarely that a person gets a chance to associate with an organization right from the time of its inceptions. I am honored to have that distinction. The sense of determination to prove to the management that I am up to the challenge and the goal that has been set for me and my team.

Yes the challenges are many and they are worth a mention. The challenge to set up an organization that is equal to the standards that have been set by Siva Sivani institute of Management (first shift). I have an advantage which is that I have all the stalwarts associated with SSIM standing next to me ready to extend a helping hand. I can always approach them in any case of need.

The next challenge is to groom the students to see that they emerge as equals and be compared as being as good as the students of the first shift. They will have to stand on their own and make a place for themselves and I am sure that they would take up this challenge earnestly and prove me right. The present set of students have a solemn goal in first of them. They are going to be our first batch of students. It is up to them to set the tone and tempo of students’ affairs. They will have to set a high bar of excellence. A high bar that can be scaled but only with a great effort.

An appeal to the young students who have assembled before me. You are all bright eyed aspirants of this hallowed magical kingdom called management education. Pause for a second and visualize your thoughts. Let me speak out your thoughts. Why I am doing this PGDM? Is it for money, a great job, is it because my parents have said so, or is it because it is the in-thing or the fashion or is it because somebody else has done the same. If It is for any of the above reasons it time you have revisited your own thoughts. Management education for me is an attitude changer and personality builder. It is not education but it is a career that we are grooming you for. I will treat you as employees on a loan from the corporate world.

An ode to the teacher (on the eve of S. Radhakrishnan’s birthday – Celebrated as teacher’s day)

Teachers are revered in India. India has the deep rooted tradition of the Gurukul in which the student becomes the part and parcel of the Guru (teacher). He serves the teacher like a son. The teacher’s word is his command. He does all the work assigned including household work. The student tags the teacher. The teacher teaches the student in a very natural way throughout the day.

The role of the student is given a lot of importance. How can anyone forget the dedication of Karna who bore the extremely painful bites of a bee on his thigh (the bee is a god who wants to thwart the penance of Karna) rather than wake up his sleeping guru. The guru was sleeping resting his head on the lap of Karna.

The Indian mythology talks about Ekalavya the ultimate student. Ekalavya is refused tutorage by Dronacharya the expert martial art trainer. Undeterred, Ekalavya trains before the statue of his guru Dronacharya and becomes an expert archer. His name and fame spreads. This leads to heartburn in Arjuna the favorite student of Dronacharya. Dronacharya had given a word to Arjuna that he would be the best archer in the world.

To fulfill his vow a tearful Dronacharya asks the ultimate Guru Dakshina (a parting gift from the student to the teacher as a thanks giving for the education and knowledge imparted) the thumb of Ekalavya. Ekalavya cheerfully gives off his thumb for a guru who has not taught him anything. But he gives his thumb as a respect for the image of the guru that he trained under. That is why Ekalavya is regarded as a epitome of a good student. In his heart Dronacharya had realized who was the best student among Arjuna and Ekalavya but his vow stopped him from admitting that Ekalavya was better than Arjuna. Blessed is the teacher who has a student like Ekalavya.

The relationship between the teacher and the student is interesting. The teacher takes the raw student under him and moulds him to become an expert in his field. The teacher has to be selfless and impart all the knowledge that he possesses. A telugu saying goes like this “Guruvunu minchina shishyudu” meaning the student who is better than the teacher. It is only a very selfish teacher who does not impart all the knowledge, like a wrestling coach who does not give all the tips to a trainee wrestler. The student also has an important role to play. He has to remain a faithful student till the end. He will have to remember the teachers and follow the directions set by his gurus. Blessed is the relationship between the teacher and the student. A Sanskrit saying “Mathru Devo Bhava, Pithru Devo Bhava, Acharya Devo Bhava”. Translated into english “Mother is the first god, father is the second god and teacher is the third god”.

What is not taught in B-schools (Part 2)

Given below are some golden words that have to be used very judiciously.

I: The one word that you should use as less as possible. The usage of “I” word bores people.

You: The one word that you should use as frequently possible. The usage makes people happy and makes you the most popular conversationalist.

We: The word for teamwork. This denotes that you are a part of the group and not above it.

Thank you: Two words that open the doors of the world for you. Try it in all the available occasions and see the difference in treatment from all the sundry including the auto driver and the liftman. “Kindness begets kindness”.

I am sorry: Three words that turn foes into friends. While it is difficult to accept that you were at fault, once you say sorry you would be amazed at the easiness with which your apology is accepted. However, one needs to say it with the heart.

You are most welcome: Four words that will make you an again very popular.

I am proud of you: Five words that will make your team members root for you as the best leader. All of us get work done but how many of us acknowledge the fact and give the praise. Praise can move mountains. An apt compliment at the right time is a very good motivator. Try it out and see the difference.

Many of us have lost the art of writing good letters. The style of typing the date and the signature on the right side of the letter is outdated. The in-thing is to type everything on the left side of the letter. The addressing of Mrs. and Miss is out and Ms is in. It is definitely less confusing. The latest is to just say “Dear business associate” or “Dear student”. No gender specific addressing that would confuse many foreigners.

At the end of the letter the salutary signoff was usually - yours truly, yours faithfully or yours sincerely (only in the letter). The latest signoff is “with regards”. Keeping to the topic of signing off at the end, the Internet has its own protocol. Follow it or you would be considered a uneducated or uninitiated one. For e.g.: Typing in capital letters on the Internet means SHOUTING at the other person.

All of us have to remember that we can’t see ourselves except in mirrors and others see us all the time and make their assessment based on how we appear and how we behave. Like the saying goes “the first impression is the best impression”. So let us strive to make the best impression and get an unfair advantage in life. One that can propel us into the continuously evolving cauldron – life in a corporate world.

At the end, one can conclude that in most cases our bark is worse than our bite. Let us practice the art of right barking.

What is not taught in B-schools (Part 1)

Manners that are often taken for granted by us are the building blocks that decide where we end up in an organization. As a wise management guru remarked “a man is known by his dress and his address”. That is what the person wears and how he behaves or communicates. The emphasis is not on the acquired knowledge but on the social etiquette. One might have the best of the knowledge but the wrong presentation would be in simple words, fatal.

IT in USA stands for Indians and Taiwanese. Indians make the best software, Taiwanese make the best hardware and the Americans make all the money. The rules of the game are very clear. Be fine tuned to the concept of soft skills. Soft skills are man management skills that are not taught in any business school or university. Discussed below are some things that go a long way in improving business manners.

Telephone manners: Telephonic manners need to be impeccable. The other person judges us by our voice. One needs to talk clearly and precisely. “Who is that speaking?” we bark. How very impolite. The correct way is to identify oneself first and later ask permission to speak with the person. When queried, “Can I speak with so and so” the usual response is to say, “you are”. Can is the physical process of speaking like I can eat, I can walk etc. The correct way is: “May I speak?” which is requesting permission to speak to the person intended.

Workplace manners: One can judge people by what they say. When asked for volunteers for a task one worker says, “Yes! I volunteer, what is the work?” and the second worker says, “What is the work?” When told about the type of work he volunteers. No prizes for guessing who would be given the work and the recognition.

Scold in private and praise in public: Always praise in public as it acts like tonic to the others and scold in private as the person scolded can always come out with his personal pride intact. However, a public bashing would be akin to stripping him naked. You are going to scar him for life. His self-esteem would be shattered.

Smile: As a quip put it, nothing in the world looks bad, if you put on - a smile. One needs 72 muscles to frown and only 21 to smile. So, lets us all smile and face the world. You would be surprised to note the difference in the treatment that you would receive from your colleagues when you smile.

“Standing up” for a lady: Most of the guys think that chivalry is dead and gone but ask any lady and she would wax eloquently about how well she was treated by so and so. To put it in simple words LIKE A LADY. It irritates one to no end to see many a strapping young man callously sitting in his side of the car while the lady struggles to get in. It is considered to be very bad mannered. Same is the case if you receive any refreshment from a lady in a sitting down posture. One is supposed to get up and greet the lady.

“Standing up” in business: A friend in sweets business had remarked, “one of the prerequisite in our business is the ability to stand for many hours without sitting. Not for me the type of sales people who sit on high stools and take orders”