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essentials for young leaders

The 5 Essentials For Young Leaders

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In our previous blog, we discussed about the importance of leading self. If one knows how  to lead self, he/she will gain respect and credibility in others eyes, which is fundamental for a leader to grow. Let us discuss the five essentials for young leaders. Realize that ego derails you: By ego, I meant an inflated view of oneself. One tends to think too much of oneself and tries to protect that inflated balloon through his or her actions. Take for example Sirish who has to send an internal report by the 10th of every month to another colleague. On one occasion, he was bitten by ego bug and felt that the other colleague should request him to send the report and only then he would send. When the colleague did not receive the report, he naturally questioned Sirish. “You din’t ask me” was the reply from Sirish, which was not at all acceptable to the colleague. The matter got escalated to the boss who called Sirish and reminded him of his responsibility. When he cools down and looks at the whole episode, Sirish would possibly realize how trivial the issue was. But what has really triggered this behavior If Sirish was honest to himself, he would admit that it was his ego, which derailed him. Several of interpersonal conflicts can be attributed to ego tussle. Carefully managing oneself to overcome and avoid these ego trips is an essential aspect of self leadership. Choose the battles that you want to fight: When you overcome the ego trap, you tend to ignore several of the trivial fights and move on to focus on something more meaningful. With such maturity, you need to develop discretion as to which issues are worth fighting for and which issues to ignore. In other words, you will refrain from being dragged into issues that you do not want to fight for. For instance, there might be a change of a policy related to office dress code. And there is another issue of deteriorating customer service in your organization. Which one will you fight for and which one will you take into your stride and move on? It is important to use such discretion to be taken seriously. If you keep cribbing and objecting  for everything around, you will be treated as a noise and disturbance. Raise your voice on issues that deserve a debate! Choose your battle ground: This is an extension of the previous one. Once you used your judgement to raise an issue, it is useless to keep airing your views in the corridor or on the lunch table. Use the right forum to express your views. Otherwise you will be seen as a loose talker and trouble creator. Arrest opinions and fixations: This is a terrible habit for a young leader to inculcate. If you tend to be too judgmental and form opinions on everyone around you too quickly, then you need to arrest this tendency. A true leader has to look at everyone around without any prejudice and bias. Quick opinions and fixations act exactly the opposite way. Without your knowledge, you end up passing loose comments about your colleagues. Such tendencies encourage statements like “Oh… that lady! She cannot understand what I speak”, “That guy has attitudinal issue, cannot perform”. A good leader needs to see how he or she can help others realize their potential. Focus on value addition and results: Finally the most essential perspective for young leader is to focus on results and not on activities. Some people claim how hard they are working. However, organizations recognize your leadership potential only when you strive to add value and deliver good results. Sit back and reflect on where you stand on these five essentials for young leaders! Article – “Five Essentials for Young Leaders”By: Dr.Raj, Published in HR Mirror, Hans India.Follow Dr.Raj on Twitter @drraj29

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Attrition

How not to quit a job!

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Most of us discuss, plan and exercise caution while joining a company. We check out the job profile, we inquire about the work culture; we benchmark the salary and other perks before giving our nod to join a company. Further, we also ask for time to join and seek help to settle down. All this while, companies are usually considerate and allow us to take our time. However, we often fail to do the same when we are about to quit a job in that company. It is an irony that the same people who take extreme care while joining err while exiting the company. Read the below instances as to how people quit a job and think about how it impacts your professional credibility. Leaving for wrong reasons: If you quit a job from a company, you must have genuine reasons. Leaving in a huff or for some emotional reasons may not augur well for your professional growth. Therefore, one must be careful in timing the exit as well as trigger for exit. When caught up in an emotional swirl, it might be tempting to run away from the job, a moment of pause will bring back the balance and help your professional standing. Another aspect that one must pay attention is to check if they are leaving behind some meaningful contribution. If not, they must realise that it is not an appropriate time to quit. Leaving in a hurry: It is often seen how excited people become when they get an offer for a new job. As they are delighted about the new job, they make a mistake of showing excessive hurry to leave the present job. Some executives who are good with numbers will quickly work out some arithmetic as to how much extra they would earn if they join the next job with higher pay. They seldom remember how much time they had taken at the time of joining.While it is not wrong to be more concerned about one’s own career and earning, the move should not be in haste. Just as you need to regulate your negative emotions, you need to maintain your balance even during happy moments. Early switch off and disengaging: The moment they decided to quit, some people show it up in their body language. They become very casual, they turn up late, they take excess leave, and they skip meetings and so on. It all amounts to shirking responsibility and disengagement. Many a time, it surprises the organisations how quickly talented people switch off with the least concern to the ongoing issues. They become insensitive to the fact that they are still serving the notice period and that they are receiving the salary. Probably, it is their psychological comfort of their next job that gives them confidence to behave this way. However, they need to realise that how they carry themselves even after securing the next job speaks of their professionalism. Snapping ties with people: You do come across some people who behave very differently, rather indifferently, with colleagues soon after receiving a plump job offer. Their style of interaction almost indicates as if they don’t need you any more for their career advancement. One need not be excessively expressing gratitude towards their manager or colleagues; at least, they need not be callous towards them. Such people may not realize that the same colleagues or manager may cross the roads at some stage of their future career path. Think how would you feel as a manager or as an organisation if one of your employees demonstrates any of the scenarios described above; what would be your impression on such an employee? To be a true professional, one needs to plan and execute the exit process also as meticulously as joining a new job. Important points to keep in mind while planning the exit will include: 1. Don’t over celebrate. 2. Keep your personal issues as a second priority and focus on some logical closures for the tasks on hand 3. Continue to be cordial and work with an intention of sustaining the relationships 4. Be committed till the end of your notice period; continue to contribute as much as you can; do not shirk. 5. Leave a positive trace of you behind. This article was published in: HR Mirror, Hans IndiaFollow Dr. Raj on Twitter @drraj29

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How HR is using Social Media

Leave a Comment / HR Views & News / /

“If you are a potential candidate seeking employment, your profile may be verified on the social media. HR people can check your online activity and attempt to understand your personality.” In the last post we discussed on how businesses use Social Media! Moving forward, let’s find out how HR folks are using it and what is in it for you!   How are HR folks using the Social Media? HR folks are not far behind in using social mediums. In some specific areas, we find HR department heavily using it. For recruitment: I would rate hiring as the top most use of social media for the HR professionals. You open LinkedIn; you will be inundated with job postings. Recruiters find these mediums as a rich source to spot potential employees. They may be posting the openings and invite the interested candidates; or they may proactively track sometalented professionals and engage in headhunting. For profile verification or reference check: If you are a potential candidate seeking employment, beware; your social profile may be verified. They can check your online activity and attempt to understand your personality. In addition, the recruiters may also reach out to some of your friends in your social media groups to carry out a reference check. Employer Branding: In these times where talented people are in great demand, organizations need to build their brand among the potential candidates. Social mediums are a powerful channel to share about company culture, project their leaders, and create interest for potential employment. For this reason, you find the photos, events and updates being posted on many company social media pages. What is in it for you? When you understand how organisations and HR departments use social media, it clearly offers some leads for you to use it smartly! More than a casual presence on the several available mediums and platforms, if you can use it in a more planned way, there are benefits to reap. In addition, one needs to exercise some caution to prevent negative online reputation. Watch out this space for more personal tips on appropriate use of social media! This article was published in:  HR Mirror, Hans India Follow us on Twitter @hrfootprints 

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Are you ready to be coached?

Leave a Comment / Personal And Professional / /

“In our experience, there has been ample evidence on the success of coaching engagement wherever openness and commitment were present!” – Dr. Raj Follow Dr. Raj on Twitter @drraj29 Many organizations these days are choosing ‘coaching’ as a vehicle for manager or leader development. They engage a coach – usually a professional from outside – who will have a series of dialogues with the identified managers on a one-to-one basis over a period. Coaching process will have its own metrics or indicators to track the progress. Before we get down to tracking and measuring, there is a very important aspect that will determine the success of the coaching engagement. Readiness on the part of the manager is essential to reap the benefits out of coaching.  Two specific behaviors that indicate whether you are ready to be coached are: Openness: One must be open to be coached Manager need to go into coaching with an open mind that there is something to be learnt or improved. Openness is also required to ideas that emerge during the coaching conversations. Openness is also required to receive feedback from the coach. Commitment: One must be committed for improvement: Commitment is required firstly to stick to the coaching schedules. Commitment is essential to try out fresh ideas or perspectives that might emerge from the coaching conversations. Finally, commitment is required to improve oneself. So, are you ready to be coached on your way up the ladder. Try and implement the mentioned behaviors to ensure maximum learning and development. Follow us on Twitter @hrfootprints  

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How to tackle professional weaknesses?

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“Since hiding weakness is a burden, some people resort to declaring it openly. They confidently say `I don’t know’ or `I am weak in this’ and thereby lessen the expectations. But is that the right approach?” Follow Dr. Raj on Twitter @drraj29 It is true that every professional ­ fresher or experienced ­ carries a set of strengths and a set of weaknesses. Some may be aware of the same and some may not be in the know readily. Many authors suggest that we must discover our strengths and play to it. It’s true; such strategy works very well and it does give professional success. However, it is also true that we think about our weaknesses more than our strengths (Yes, you can pause at this moment and think for yourself)! The areas that we are not good at keep haunting us. They affect our confidence. They hold us back in our professional endeavors. Approaches to deal with weaknesses:  While we are aware of our weaknesses and we know that they affect our professional and personal life, what do we do to deal with them? I notice the following approaches to deal with the weaknesses. A)  Hide your weakness B)  Declare your weakness C)  Work on your weakness D)  Ask for help At this stage, you are most likely thinking about yourself; you are wondering which of the above approaches do you adopt in dealing with your weaknesses. While it is true that you must be following different methods at different situations, it is important to study if there is one approach that you use more often than others. Accordingly, you can decide if you wish to bring about some changes in dealing with your weaknesses. Pros and Cons of the methods:  Each of the above approaches bring with them some advantages and associated challenges. A)  Hide your weakness: Most often adopted approach is to hide one’s weakness. It comes very naturally. It is almost instinctive to wear a mask and cover-up the weaknesses. Take for example a conversation in which the other person is almost assuming that you know the subject and flowing with the topic. Though you don’t know the topic, you act as if you know it and try managing the situation. To your misfortune if the conversation on the topic were to continue, your weakness will get exposed. Obviously, you are in a hurry to conclude the conversation and move away! Therefore, it is clear that hiding your weakness is possible if the relationship is transitory and not prolonged. If you attempt this approach at workplace where your colleagues see you everyday, you will be mostly seen as a fake personality!  B)  Declare your weakness:  Since hiding weakness is a burden, some people resort to declaring it openly. They confidently say “I don’t know“ or “I am weak in this“ and thereby lessen the expectations. They instantly feel lighter because others will not expect anything in the areas of their weakness. For example, I hear some saying, “I am very bad with numbers“. Such an approach does sound genuine and does work for its honesty. However, the flip side is that you will not work on the weakness because you have already managed the expectations. You tend to live with your weakness. C)  Work on the weakness: This is a practical approach and healthy when used in conjunction with “Declaring weakness“. In other words, you first admit that you don’t know and then you will strive to improve in the areas of your weakness. It will add to your credibility professionally. For example, if someone says, “I don’t know how to use excel, but give me a few days for me to learn“, wont you like that person? D)  Ask for help:  This is also a good approach in some situations, especially after you exhausted (B) and (C). That is, you admitted your mistake and tried improving. If it did not work, one should not feel shy in seeking help. That is the only way to deal with your weakness. Imagine yourself not asking for help; you are most likely to go back to (A) ­ that is hiding the weakness! Look back at your professional or personal experiences; reflect how you tend to react and approach your weakness. Change your approach if it is not working. Remember one thing ­ mishandling of weaknesses will surely hamper your professional development and damage your professional credibility. This article was published in:  HR Mirror Hans India Follow us on Twitter @hrfootprints

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tackling tricky situations

Tackling tricky situations at work

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“One must be aware of the organisational politics, though you will not be party to them. Beware that you may be used as a pawn; play it delicately until you are sure of the organisation.”  Several times, we encounter situations where there are more than one way of handling them. They bring with them several dilemmas, doubts, temptations, and sensitivities. Dealing with them in one way can lead certain gains, but may cause damage in the longer run. Therefore, they call for a more balanced and well-thought out response. Let us discuss some tricky situations at work by taking examples. Situation-1: Ramesh was in a frustrated mood. His application to an IT company got rejected and as per the company policy, he could not apply again for at least another six months. In such a mood, he received an advice ­ rather a smart one! The suggestion was to change the way he wrote his name and his father’s name, hoping that the online software that filters the applications would fail to catch it. In the first instance, the idea was appealing to Ramesh, though he wasn’t sure if it was the right thing! Though the sheer need of the job momentarily tempted Ramesh, he thought about the other likely consequences. What would happen if the software caught him for manipulating willfully? What would happen if he was cornered during the personal interview? Would it not cause a permanent damage to his career? Moreover, he felt there must have been some reason for the company to have such policy of not re looking at the rejected candidates for at least six months. How would they look at Ramesh if he did not even respect a simple policy? What confidence will they have on his to offer a job? Weighing the long-term professional implications, Ramesh chose not to manipulate his name. Situation-2: Ramesh could not muster courage to manipulate the names in the applications. He was still in need of a job and desperate to get one. He then received a call from a friend asking him whether Ramesh could organise Rs 50,000. The proposal was to pay an agent fifty thousand who will get Ramesh an entry-level job in a company. Also, it was stated that it is a very common practice and even HR people know it. While Rs 50,000 was surely a big amount, Ramesh was more tempted with the prospect of a job! Options like this may get a job, though not sure if the agent would not cheat and run away with money; the bigger question, however, is how one would grow the career after finding an entry thorough the back door! Situation-3: Suman is a junior member of the HR department. Given his flair for numbers and comfort with operating software packages, his manager placed him in the confidential payroll cell. Given the role, he was privy to all the personal and confidential information of almost all the people including the top management. His work place was also located a little away from the rest of the staff. However, Suman makes it a point to join his peers and people from other departments at the lunch table in the cafeteria. Using the informal rapport, some senior people from other departments tried enquiring Suman about others salaries. While they are more senior than Suman, given the role, Suman finds it delicate to share the info.In the first instance itself, Suman needs to assert and differentiate between personal rapport and professional integrity. If he compromises on professional integrity for want of personal relationships, he would not be trusted with any responsibilities. Situation-4: Suman reports to the HR Manager, who in turn reports to the Head of HR department. One day Suman was called by the head of HR and he was asked about some feedback about his manager. Suman was encouraged to be candid and honest in his feedback and he was promised anonymity.With that assurance, he spoke his heart out. After about a month, the HR manager was asked to go and Suman was left with huge shock. Until today, Suman worries if his feedback caused his exit! One must be aware of the organisational politics, though you will not be party to them. Beware that you may be used as a pawn; beware of such tricky situations at work when you encounter them; play it delicately until you are sure of the organisation. As one gains more experience, people will get seasoned in tackling tricky situations at work. However, during the early stages of the career, you may be vulnerable; watch out! This article was published in:  HR Mirror Hans India

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