A few days ago, I had a reunion with a few school friends. We met over drinks one pleasant evening. After an hour or so, I wanted to visit the restroom and stood up, a friend asked me where I was going. I replied - "When the going gets tough, the tough get going and I'm going" …. "to the rest room", I added in a lower tone and we all burst out laughing.
When I returned to the table, I reiterated the saying - "When going gets tough, the tough get going", and asked for votes on who believed in which interpretation, i.e.,
Interpretation 1: Whoever said it, probably meant that the people who are resilient and persistent keep on their tasks even when the circumstances are not very easy and encouraging.
Interpretation 2: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going, I'm going!".
Surprisingly, the group was divided and 80% voted for the latter…. My vote went to the former definition and I was expecting majority to vote the same way.
When I asked the 80% to explain their choice, they said - "when you have tried enough and know you cannot win in the current circumstances, you need to move on…".
What they were trying to tell me was that there is no point to die fighting, that we have limited capabilities and that survival is more important than martyrdom. They also said, move on while you are ahead…
What do you believe in?
Friday, January 3, 2014
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Leadership on Rotation
Leadership by Rotation is my attempt to develop leadership qualities and abilities at various levels in an organization…
About 8 years ago, I was faced with a situation when the Tech Lead of my team was facing a burnout and needed a break. At this time, as the Manager, I was responsible for product deliveries and for resolving the issue of leadership.
I performed a preliminary assessment of the Team Members and found that there were more than 1 eligible candidates for the Tech Leadership Position. If I chose one over the other, there would be dis-satisfaction and going ahead, there would be a power struggle and politics. There was a risk of disintegration of the team which I was not prepared to take.
It was here that I came up with the idea of "Leadership on Rotation".
I had 2 ongoing projects, and 4 more in the pipeline. I assigned one of the "eligible" candidates - Jack, as the Tech Lead for Project X and the other "eligible" candidate - Jamie, as the Tech Lead for Project Y.
The rule was that Jack was a Tech Lead for Project X and was also having a certain responsibility as a Team Member in Project Y. On the other hand, Jamie was a Tech Lead for Project Y and was also a Team Member for Project X.
This way, both Jack and Jamie were getting to be the Leader and the team member at the same time.
For a new Project Z, both Jack and Jamie were team members to a new Tech Lead John.
I had a reasonable amount of success with this concept - in deliveries and in creating a pipeline of future leadership in the company.
Here's a list of advantages of this approach:
About 8 years ago, I was faced with a situation when the Tech Lead of my team was facing a burnout and needed a break. At this time, as the Manager, I was responsible for product deliveries and for resolving the issue of leadership.
I performed a preliminary assessment of the Team Members and found that there were more than 1 eligible candidates for the Tech Leadership Position. If I chose one over the other, there would be dis-satisfaction and going ahead, there would be a power struggle and politics. There was a risk of disintegration of the team which I was not prepared to take.
It was here that I came up with the idea of "Leadership on Rotation".
I had 2 ongoing projects, and 4 more in the pipeline. I assigned one of the "eligible" candidates - Jack, as the Tech Lead for Project X and the other "eligible" candidate - Jamie, as the Tech Lead for Project Y.
The rule was that Jack was a Tech Lead for Project X and was also having a certain responsibility as a Team Member in Project Y. On the other hand, Jamie was a Tech Lead for Project Y and was also a Team Member for Project X.
This way, both Jack and Jamie were getting to be the Leader and the team member at the same time.
For a new Project Z, both Jack and Jamie were team members to a new Tech Lead John.
I had a reasonable amount of success with this concept - in deliveries and in creating a pipeline of future leadership in the company.
Here's a list of advantages of this approach:
- Those who want to lead, get an opportunity to do so.
- Those who get the opportunity to lead, understand & know that they have to be team members in their next project - this brings about a sense of empathy to fellow team members and solves the "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely", problem.
- Some team members who always have awesome ideas on leadership and how to run projects got to implement their ideas.
- We had a pool of leaders in the making.
By implementing this concept, I was able to identify "Adaptable" leaders, those who could Lead and Be Led. It was an eye opener for a few individuals who thought they could lead but unable to do so.
The implementation needed close monitoring and a lot of effort investment, but that is a small price to pay for the long term goals of the organization...
Friday, April 6, 2012
Kickstarting a Career...
I have had the opportunity to interview thousands of candidates for various positions in the Organizations I have been associated with in my career.
I have not seen many people who know exactly what they want to do in their careers. Most people have goals, that very generic like "settling down abroad" or "be a project manager in 5 years" and sometimes even "I need to buy and SUV next year!". That's not bad. A career does not depend on whether one has goal or not, what one needs is an opportunity!. My Blog Post on Opportunity explains what one needs to do to encash an opportunity.
When I interview candidates (I am referring to young Job Seekers, who are looking forward to their first job!), I get to hear the following expectations from their jobs;
When I ask them what they can contribute to this company at this point in time, they unabashedly say, "I don't know much now, you Train me and I will perform!".
I have not seen many people who know exactly what they want to do in their careers. Most people have goals, that very generic like "settling down abroad" or "be a project manager in 5 years" and sometimes even "I need to buy and SUV next year!". That's not bad. A career does not depend on whether one has goal or not, what one needs is an opportunity!. My Blog Post on Opportunity explains what one needs to do to encash an opportunity.
When I interview candidates (I am referring to young Job Seekers, who are looking forward to their first job!), I get to hear the following expectations from their jobs;
- No more than 8 hours at work
- Assignments abroad, frequent trips to different countries
- Working on New Technologies
- Change of Projects every 6 months to handle boredom
- Want to work on only X Technology and not on A, B or C
- Will work on Programming only, will not do any support activity
- Willing to work for a max of 2 years in this company
- No Work on Weekends
- Work-life balance
- Flexible Work Hours
- Lots of Training and Learning
- Vacation Time
- Free Transportation
- Free Food
- Recreation facilities at office
- Growth in their careers
- Good Salary to start with and raises of 30% year on year
- Loans for buying Vehicles and Home Appliances
- Sponsored Courses in Institutes of repute
- Time off to do a Post Graduate Course
I can go on and on. I have met very few people who have said, "I need this job and give me any work, I will do it". People come to interviews with closed mindsets, they come with a lot of expectations without willingness or intentions of earning any of it. Some candidates are so arrogant that they were not willing to work for less than "N" in salary as it is "Too Less", they did not even see, that their earning is 0 now, and that something is better than nothing...
Not one realizes, that the first step in one's career is To Secure the First Job. What assignments one works on, the career path, the technology, salaries offered, facilities provided in office are all immaterial.
There is so much of competition now. The loss of one candidate is the gain for another one. If one candidate refuses an offer, there will be 100 candidates who will be willing to accept the offer. It's time that the Job Seekers change their mind sets, set low expectations and grab any opportunity that comes their way. Career Management can happen later and there will be a lot of time for that...
Friday, March 30, 2012
I can't live without you...
My BlackBerry and My MacBook!
I spend a considerable amount of time with these two hi-tech devices each day. I am so addicted to these devices that I look at these even before I say good morning to anyone at home. I searched on Google for rehabilitation camps for this addiction... I found some interesting sites. So, this is a valid form of addiction and there are other people in this world who are also addicted and there are also some organizations that help in rehabilitation....
Yesterday, I sat thinking about what will happen if I shut both the devices off for a FULL MONTH. Here's what I discovered...
No Reminder Service
No Phone Book
I don't want to go to stone age, I can't live without you... my BlackBerry and MacBook!
I spend a considerable amount of time with these two hi-tech devices each day. I am so addicted to these devices that I look at these even before I say good morning to anyone at home. I searched on Google for rehabilitation camps for this addiction... I found some interesting sites. So, this is a valid form of addiction and there are other people in this world who are also addicted and there are also some organizations that help in rehabilitation....
Yesterday, I sat thinking about what will happen if I shut both the devices off for a FULL MONTH. Here's what I discovered...
No Reminder Service
- My Bills will never get paid as my reminder service will be shut.
- I will get beaten for not remembering Birthdays and Anniversaries.
- I will miss my "Favorite" TV Program because I don't remember which day and at what time it is telecast.
No Alarm Service
- I will not be able to get up in the morning as my Morning Alarm will not go off.
- My daughter or wife do not understand the "Snooze" function, so I guess I won't be woken up again, till I open my eyes on my own.
No Banking
- I have to walk to my ATM and figure out my bank balance!
- I cannot pay bills online! Have to figure out alternative ways to pay my bills.
No Phone Calls and Messages
- I cannot call my friends and relatives.
- I cannot register my complaints on service providers.
- I will not be able to call my wife as I do not remember her phone number.
- I have not used a Land Line in ages and I don't know what a Telephone Directory looks like. Even if I get my hands on one, I have to figure out how to use it.
- I cannot take photographs on the move.
- I cannot share these photographs with my friends and relatives.
- I will not be able to write new blog posts. So, I have to switch to writing on a notebook. OMG!, there is no backspace, no editing, no taking a break to consolidate my thoughts, I have to "Do it Right the First Time, Every time!".
- I will not be able to publish my blog posts each week.
No Writing To Communicate
No Facebook- I have forgotten how to write letters now, my daughter said, I got to walk to the neighborhood post office and buy an "Inland Letter" and write to anyone I want to.
- Oh, I have to write with a "Pen", I have used my pen only to sign Cheques and Application Form (my agent fills the form out for me).
- OMG!, my handwriting is pathetic with no practice over the years, and I was complaining about my Doctor's bad Hand Writing the other day. I used to type my Covering Letters in Microsoft Word and the print out on A4 sized sheets.
- Friends will not know what I am up to as I will not be able to access Facebook.
- I will not know what is happening in my friend's lives as I rely on facebook to tell me, I know of no other simpler ways to find friends and keep in touch....
- Some teams will stop functioning as they won't get responses to their emails.
- I won't get my Pay Slip & Income Tax Computation Working!
- Boss and Colleagues will forget that I exist.
No Research, Study & Reading
No My Time Piece & Calender- No Google, so I will not know where to search for information
- No Wikipedia to find consolidated information
- I have forgotten what a Library is and even don't know where I can find one!
- I will be tired of carrying books around as there is no pdf versions.
- I won't know what time it is, if someone asks me.
- I won't know the date as well.
- No Solitaire, No Word Mole, No Bejewelled
- No YouTube
I don't want to go to stone age, I can't live without you... my BlackBerry and MacBook!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Learning, while you are Earning
A few weeks ago, a 26 year old and very able professional resigned from the services of his company. Reasons for this decision was stated as continuing education and that his company was not willing to provide sufficient flexibility with respect to the 10 days of leave that he was asking for preparing and giving examinations.
This professional, started his career when he 16 years old, right after his 10th Grade examinations. He decided that "Studies" was not his cup of tea, so he dropped out, started working and gradually worked his way up be gathering experience on various assignments. He was fairly stable in his current organization where he had worked for more than 5 years. Something happened in his life that he decided that he should continue his education and get a Graduate Degree through Distance Education. So, he enrolled for a Degree that had little value add to his current role and responsibility, but more to do with the satisfaction of his own ego as he would be a Graduate. In his 2nd Semester, he requested for 10 days off to study and give his examinations and his request was approved in principle with a caveat, that he would be available in case of some problems because there was no one else in the company who could handle the department. So, our hero decided to get a small job in another company and decided to throw the existing job, where he was doing well, out the window and pursue his "Education". He was obsessed with the idea of being a Graduate.
I was confused about the intent of this man, he sacrificed his Education for a Career when he should have studied, and then 10 years later, he is sacrificing his Career for an Education, when he could have worked and grown...
I have gone thru' the Executive General Management Program at IIM Bangalore myself, and it was tough managing the day to day work, studies and family expectations. That 1 Year, I went thru' hell. I had to manage the dis-satisfaction of my family, my boss and my friends. Looking back, I really don't know what kept me going!.
I chose to go to school again because I was felt that my career was plateauing, I was solving problems with age old techniques and was finding it difficult to innovate at work, I needed a new perspective and I had to re-invent my thinking process. I achieved most of my objectives from the course.
Organizations pay for the value that one brings to the table and a small percentage is attributed to the individual's scaleability. People generally don't recognize this and take up an unrelated courses more from the Continuing Education purpose instead of Executive Education perspective. These courses add more soft skills instead of hard skills. Soft skills are intangible when compared to hard skills. Intangible skills take time to get recognized hence the "eagerly awaited" change in compensation and benefits take time to come by and then disgruntlement sets in.... people get upset and leave. Switching jobs after an Executive Education Degree or Certificate is easier as one can project/present oneself how he/she likes and get the new job. It is usually harder to stick around in the same company and wait for opportunity to come by and then rise up in the Organization Chart, one has to exhibit a lot of patience.
Executive Education Courses should be chosen carefully to enhance one's skill set or to add a certain missing skill set so that there is a Value Enhancement On The Job because it is this job that is providing the Bread, the Butter and the Jam.
This professional, started his career when he 16 years old, right after his 10th Grade examinations. He decided that "Studies" was not his cup of tea, so he dropped out, started working and gradually worked his way up be gathering experience on various assignments. He was fairly stable in his current organization where he had worked for more than 5 years. Something happened in his life that he decided that he should continue his education and get a Graduate Degree through Distance Education. So, he enrolled for a Degree that had little value add to his current role and responsibility, but more to do with the satisfaction of his own ego as he would be a Graduate. In his 2nd Semester, he requested for 10 days off to study and give his examinations and his request was approved in principle with a caveat, that he would be available in case of some problems because there was no one else in the company who could handle the department. So, our hero decided to get a small job in another company and decided to throw the existing job, where he was doing well, out the window and pursue his "Education". He was obsessed with the idea of being a Graduate.
I was confused about the intent of this man, he sacrificed his Education for a Career when he should have studied, and then 10 years later, he is sacrificing his Career for an Education, when he could have worked and grown...
I have gone thru' the Executive General Management Program at IIM Bangalore myself, and it was tough managing the day to day work, studies and family expectations. That 1 Year, I went thru' hell. I had to manage the dis-satisfaction of my family, my boss and my friends. Looking back, I really don't know what kept me going!.
I chose to go to school again because I was felt that my career was plateauing, I was solving problems with age old techniques and was finding it difficult to innovate at work, I needed a new perspective and I had to re-invent my thinking process. I achieved most of my objectives from the course.
Organizations pay for the value that one brings to the table and a small percentage is attributed to the individual's scaleability. People generally don't recognize this and take up an unrelated courses more from the Continuing Education purpose instead of Executive Education perspective. These courses add more soft skills instead of hard skills. Soft skills are intangible when compared to hard skills. Intangible skills take time to get recognized hence the "eagerly awaited" change in compensation and benefits take time to come by and then disgruntlement sets in.... people get upset and leave. Switching jobs after an Executive Education Degree or Certificate is easier as one can project/present oneself how he/she likes and get the new job. It is usually harder to stick around in the same company and wait for opportunity to come by and then rise up in the Organization Chart, one has to exhibit a lot of patience.
Executive Education Courses should be chosen carefully to enhance one's skill set or to add a certain missing skill set so that there is a Value Enhancement On The Job because it is this job that is providing the Bread, the Butter and the Jam.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Working for a Tyrant Boss!
My 1st Boss was a Tyrant, 2nd one was Friendly Back Stabber, 3rd one was Heartless Task Master, 4th one Hands off Delegator and I don't want to talk about my 5th and current boss for obvious reasons!.
1st Boss: Very loud, everything he says has to be done or someone gets yelled at. He gives me my first assignment and asks me how I will to go about it!, I had no idea where to start, no idea what I should do, people tell me that I will be torn apart. I sat thinking how I will solve it for about 30 mins, could not find the answer, had to close the task on the same day, so I mustered up courage, accepted martyrdom and walked into the Lion's den, I said, "Sir, I don't know how to solve this problem". Boss smiles, sits me down, explains step by step from fundamentals... a lesson I have not forgotten till date. From then on, he was my favorite. I was awed by his practical knowledge. No one dared to challenge him, because, he was never afraid to roll up his sleeve and complete the task without any help. He was fearless and would never buckle under pressure, because he had "been there and done that".
Lesson:
Lesson:
Lesson:
From my experience with all the bosses I have worked for, I hated the demanding bosses the most, but I got to learn a lot from them. They challenged me to do more, and do better, they were never satisfied with what I said or what I did. All suggestions I made were "wrong" and there was always a better "solution" that I was not aware of. Result was that, I was getting better and better and I was growing.
I have also had the opportunity to work for very capable and demanding bosses who used to insult, humiliate and waste time by conducting 8 hour meetings to punch holes in a 5 slide presentation just to demonstrate their power. I got a lot to learn from this type too, but what I learned was what "Not To Do".
Under the "not so demanding" bosses, life was stagnant, I never grew, I never learnt and I failed.
I have realized the value of my demanding bosses long after I left them, but deep inside my heart, I am grateful to all my bosses who pushed me hard, demanded more than I could deliver, it is because of them I am where I am and I do what I do...
Thank you my Tyrant Boss!.
1st Boss: Very loud, everything he says has to be done or someone gets yelled at. He gives me my first assignment and asks me how I will to go about it!, I had no idea where to start, no idea what I should do, people tell me that I will be torn apart. I sat thinking how I will solve it for about 30 mins, could not find the answer, had to close the task on the same day, so I mustered up courage, accepted martyrdom and walked into the Lion's den, I said, "Sir, I don't know how to solve this problem". Boss smiles, sits me down, explains step by step from fundamentals... a lesson I have not forgotten till date. From then on, he was my favorite. I was awed by his practical knowledge. No one dared to challenge him, because, he was never afraid to roll up his sleeve and complete the task without any help. He was fearless and would never buckle under pressure, because he had "been there and done that".
Lesson:
- Knowledge is power!.
- Never show resistance to do what you expect from your team members, when you lead, you lead from the front. If you expect your team to put in 16 hours to complete a task, you be ready to put 20 hours, be available to them, just in case they need anything.
- When team members come to you for help, spend time to mentor them, if you are able to help them, they will be independent soon, which will give you some spare time to add another skill and grow.
- Never be afraid of approaching your boss and saying you don't know or I need help, he cannot take your life, worst case, he can fire you, but you can always find another job...
Lesson:
- I failed because I did not work hard enough and took it easy.
- It is not ok to fail, never be carried away with re-assurances that tomorrow will be a better day, there is no tomorrow if you don't make the best use of today. Don't go to bed if you know that you are going to fail tomorrow.
- You get paid for performance, not potential.
Lesson:
- I learned to find my own solutions to my problems, not go running to my boss for solutions, I learned that by owning up the problem, by thinking hard and trying really hard, we can find solutions to any problem.
- I learned multi-tasking.
- I learned to prioritize.
- I learned to observe how my Boss thinks and be prepared with answers ahead of time. I was careful not to make assumptions using "my bosses' thought process" as a shield.
- Learnt the difference between Aggression and Assertiveness and when to use each.
- To win, you need to set a target better than the current record.
Lesson:
- I did not grow in this set up, I was contributing all my knowledge from my previous jobs into this one, and was not adding any more.
- I was working very hard to ensure that all was well, while someone else was walking away with the credit, it's glory and the accolades.
~o~o~o~
From my experience with all the bosses I have worked for, I hated the demanding bosses the most, but I got to learn a lot from them. They challenged me to do more, and do better, they were never satisfied with what I said or what I did. All suggestions I made were "wrong" and there was always a better "solution" that I was not aware of. Result was that, I was getting better and better and I was growing.
I have also had the opportunity to work for very capable and demanding bosses who used to insult, humiliate and waste time by conducting 8 hour meetings to punch holes in a 5 slide presentation just to demonstrate their power. I got a lot to learn from this type too, but what I learned was what "Not To Do".
Under the "not so demanding" bosses, life was stagnant, I never grew, I never learnt and I failed.
I have realized the value of my demanding bosses long after I left them, but deep inside my heart, I am grateful to all my bosses who pushed me hard, demanded more than I could deliver, it is because of them I am where I am and I do what I do...
Thank you my Tyrant Boss!.
Friday, March 9, 2012
How to destroy a Career!
This is a story about a young professional, a star performer, a potential future leader and how he destroyed his career...
He joined the company when he was fresh out of college. He was enthusiastic, quick witted, lively and knowledgeable. He joined the company with 14 others, within a week, they voted for him to be their representative, they gave him a nickname "Captain". This incident was noticed by the company management.
Captain topped in all assignments during the Induction Program and quickly grew in popularity. All the Project Managers wanted Captain in their teams. At the time of Project Assignments, the Resource Allocation Team gave him the option of choosing his own project, a rare distinction. Captain evaluated all available projects and chose his project.
Quickly Captain won accolades from other team members, he was faster than most others, would take just about 60% of the allocated time to complete an assignment, would move on to the next one as soon as he would finish his current task. The Project Manager was having a tough time keeping Captain "busy" with interesting assignments.
The next 3 years went by quickly, Captain was promoted to be a Team Leader.
One fine day, a senior in the team asked Captain, "why are you working so hard? Are they paying you too much?" --- this got Captain thinking. He was flabbergasted. The question made a lot of sense. He starting seeing other people around him, they were leaving at 6:30 PM, they were enjoying their lives, he realized that he was one of the first to come in to office, and the last to leave. He was doing almost 40% of the project all by himself, while people who were senior to him and who were getting better salaries than him, were getting away by contributing much lesser.
Captain started losing interest, his work hours were getting lesser and lesser, his efficiency suffered, he would come in at 9:30 AM and would be out the door at 6:30 PM. He was only doing what was being assigned. He was able to finish the assignment in 60% of the time, but never reported the completion of the task to the Manager before the deadline. In the spare time, Captain would chat with friends, browse the internet and while away time in the cafeteria. The story does not end here. Captain's interest fell further and his tasks were averaging a delay of 25% each time.
The Manager stopped giving interesting assignments to Captain, he stopped relying on him for delivery, his team was now reporting to someone else, Captain was reduced to a team member's role.
Captain started bad mouthing the company policies, he said that the Management does not know how to take care of loyal employees and his "own version" of the story of why he was demoted to a team member's role, he said it was because, his Manager was considering him a threat and so on.
Captain was fired after 4 years of service with the company.
Summarizing Captain's story;
Step 1: Captain listened to and more importantly, believed a manipulative senior,
Step 2: compared his contributions and salary with others', then lost interest in the work,
Step 3: started wasting time and subsequently introducing unnecessary delays in the task,
Step 4: lost out to others in the team for being more reliable, was demoted,
Step 5: then he started bad mouthing the Manager, the Management and the Company Policies.
This is how Captain initiated and architected his own downfall, but somehow, it was the Manager's fault.... he did not realize that his career was his responsibility and not his Manager's or the Organization's.
What captain did not realize is that;
He joined the company when he was fresh out of college. He was enthusiastic, quick witted, lively and knowledgeable. He joined the company with 14 others, within a week, they voted for him to be their representative, they gave him a nickname "Captain". This incident was noticed by the company management.
Captain topped in all assignments during the Induction Program and quickly grew in popularity. All the Project Managers wanted Captain in their teams. At the time of Project Assignments, the Resource Allocation Team gave him the option of choosing his own project, a rare distinction. Captain evaluated all available projects and chose his project.
Quickly Captain won accolades from other team members, he was faster than most others, would take just about 60% of the allocated time to complete an assignment, would move on to the next one as soon as he would finish his current task. The Project Manager was having a tough time keeping Captain "busy" with interesting assignments.
The next 3 years went by quickly, Captain was promoted to be a Team Leader.
One fine day, a senior in the team asked Captain, "why are you working so hard? Are they paying you too much?" --- this got Captain thinking. He was flabbergasted. The question made a lot of sense. He starting seeing other people around him, they were leaving at 6:30 PM, they were enjoying their lives, he realized that he was one of the first to come in to office, and the last to leave. He was doing almost 40% of the project all by himself, while people who were senior to him and who were getting better salaries than him, were getting away by contributing much lesser.
Captain started losing interest, his work hours were getting lesser and lesser, his efficiency suffered, he would come in at 9:30 AM and would be out the door at 6:30 PM. He was only doing what was being assigned. He was able to finish the assignment in 60% of the time, but never reported the completion of the task to the Manager before the deadline. In the spare time, Captain would chat with friends, browse the internet and while away time in the cafeteria. The story does not end here. Captain's interest fell further and his tasks were averaging a delay of 25% each time.
The Manager stopped giving interesting assignments to Captain, he stopped relying on him for delivery, his team was now reporting to someone else, Captain was reduced to a team member's role.
Captain started bad mouthing the company policies, he said that the Management does not know how to take care of loyal employees and his "own version" of the story of why he was demoted to a team member's role, he said it was because, his Manager was considering him a threat and so on.
Captain was fired after 4 years of service with the company.
Summarizing Captain's story;
Step 1: Captain listened to and more importantly, believed a manipulative senior,
Step 2: compared his contributions and salary with others', then lost interest in the work,
Step 3: started wasting time and subsequently introducing unnecessary delays in the task,
Step 4: lost out to others in the team for being more reliable, was demoted,
Step 5: then he started bad mouthing the Manager, the Management and the Company Policies.
This is how Captain initiated and architected his own downfall, but somehow, it was the Manager's fault.... he did not realize that his career was his responsibility and not his Manager's or the Organization's.
What captain did not realize is that;
- A negative talker has a ulterior, sinister and selfish motives. He should have reported the incident to the Management immediately.
- By working harder, he was the one who was amassing experience, what others taking 1 year to achieve, Captain was achieving in 0.6 years.
- It is unfair to compare one's salary to some one else's in the company. What one gets is what he/she deserves. One who is "underpaid and more productive" has a better chance to survive a layoff than the one who is "overpaid and under-productive". The same applies to getting a new job as well.
- Wasting time and introducing un-necessary delays on a task is a sin!, it is our duty to report the completion of a task as soon as it is done and move on to the next task.
- Bad mouthing the Management and Company policies is a crime. If one has a problem with a policy, then one should contact the Human Resources Department Representative or the Project Manager and not vent "feelings" in the Cafeteria with other employees.
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