FB...

Taking the train downtown.

Fair skinned, jean-clad bloke on the next seat working his Blackberry.

First he's on his email, addressed, 'Team, ...', followed by instructions, so I guess he holds a minor position of authority.

Then he's on a call recommending a corporate bond investment to a client (picked up a useful tip there myself).

Then he works Facebook, in between taking the time to reply to a response received on his first mail.

Then something happened that made me laugh.

He makes a call -- from the tone I can tell he's speaking with a subordinate.

So he goes, 'Han, tu office main hai kya, kidhar hai tu? Facebook pe dhada-dhad tere updates dikh rahein hai mujhe!'
(the dangers of adding your boss on your FB friends list! :)

At which the subordinate made a weak excuse of having seen his first mail and already having replied to it.

At which the fair bloke returned, 'I've already replied to your mail, tune mera reply dekha?' -- floored :)

The bloke chuckled, asked the sub to check his email and hung up.

FB! Can't live with it, can't live without it!

I Believe I Can Fly!

How much of a difference does it make,
when you love your work.

When you find people with whom
you have a meeting of minds.
It energizes you.

When the people who select you for the job,
hold great expectations from you.
You become driven.

When a colleague tells you,
they heard your boss say 'that guy was one
of the best we selected on that day'.
It pleases you.

It changes your paradigm.

You make light of a 3.5 hour commute,
because you know when you walk through that door,
there are a bunch of great mentors in the form of leaders,
and friends in the form of colleagues,
who share a common goal and passion.

You smile at old-world mindsets,
the very surroundings in which others seem to chafe
- they don't bother you, for you know the reason
why you get up in the morning and go to work.

You feel fear. An anxiousness that you might exceed
not only the expectations of your mentors, but your own,
and at the end of each day, stand proud and tall!

You start to dream and to believe,
that you can fly!

The Runaway Employee - with apologies to Julia Roberts

A column in an HRD magazine on the lead indicators of an employee about to resign brought back some memories. The author presents a common sequence of events indicative of an employee about to fly. Managers typically ignore these leads and make Quixotic statements during a face-off with the employee who's just resigned.

I had a good friend called Sonova Rockstar, who got a really bad increment. This guy was a conscientious fresher, hard-working and committed. He'd give his best irrespective of whether he was on a crappy project or a good one. At the time he was a shadow, non-billable resource (an unacknowledged phantom), doing the work of a senior resource who was being billed to the client. He was so to speak, wearing shoes a size bigger than his own.