Lie is the cheap weapon all the weak minded people have.

When nothing goes right, they indulge in propagating lies that seemingly make them appear distinctively big for some and dishonestly small for many.

When hard work eludes, success eludes.
When success eludes, weak mind takes over.
When weak mind takes over, sinister plans emerge.
When sinister plans puts into action, wrong narratives are set as cover.
And the wrong narratives come out as blatant lies.
When the lies are exposed, shame doesn’t bother.
And new lies are mouthed again.
The cycle continues as it takes a deep root in behaviour and attitude.

Haven’t we come across these pathological liars or mythomaniacs in our circle of contacts in personal, professional and public life?

Beware of these people for they don’t hesitate to pull you down to achieve their plans.

#personality

Today parenting is challenging

Yes, in the world of insta, reels, advertisements and movies, the influence of parents on their children is going away. Children, especially the teens are hardly seen with their elders and not even on the dining table once a day. Parents on their part go out all the way to provide more than comfortable environment for their kids.

Separate rooms, trendy clothings, smart phones, pocket money and fine dining have all made the youngsters think that they are entitled to these perks and their parents have to give them all these because they brought them into this world. The school goers are no different than their elder brothers and sisters. They ape them and also their young moms and dads who too fancy swanky life style. The disposable incomes are raising with both the parents are working and extrvagent spending of parents catches up with their children.

Do we blame the parents when the kids go astray and pick up habits and talks that are detrimental to their intellects and social behaviour? The blame is always on the children. If there are family or social gatherings, teenagers stand aloof and out of place. The grand parents look sad because neither they nor the parents are unable to get the children to be a part of any festival or weddings.

The malaise of both children and parents ignoring what is good for them is seen not only with affluent families but also with those who just earn to live on. Their children have different challenges as they try to aspire for what they see on the movies and phones. Their parents always quarrel and do not spend time with them. They see their affluent neighbours and yearn to live like them. They become angry and frustrated. They pick up bad habits and turn rebellions.

Parents, please come out of your own world. Be kind and converse with your wards. Create an atmosphere at home where they freely discuss their issues. Be a listener. There are 100s of things that impact their education and thoughts. We don’t have to be watch dogs but be attentive to what they do and speak with their friends.

Today parenting is on high alert than what it used to be with our parents decades ago. High end phones, make-up kits, costly clothings and expensive holidays do not always help to get the children to be responsible. The more the exposure the more is the damage to their education and careers.

Gen Z has grown up in a digital world and the impact is seen in the way they appear both inwardly and outwardly. They are setting up an example for the next generation and we, the parents, better wake up.

Exit Interviews: A Missed Strategic Opportunity

Most organizations—especially in the technology sector—fail to use exit interviews effectively. The problem is not a lack of process, but a lack of intent. These conversations are often treated as formalities rather than strategic opportunities to understand why talent leaves.

Exit interviews should not be about last-minute retention efforts. They must focus on the employee’s aspirations and on what their next employer is offering that the current organization is not. Compensation is rarely the sole driver. Employees leave because they seek meaningful challenges, faster growth, and exposure to new roles—opportunities they no longer see internally.

Critically, exit interviews should be conducted face to face by the employee’s direct manager, not delegated entirely to HR. While HR plays an important role, managers are far better positioned to understand the business context, the technology, and the realities of the role. Yet in most organizations, HR alone conducts these discussions, resulting in superficial insights and lost intelligence.

When managers lead exit conversations, the feedback can be aggregated and presented to senior leadership to reveal how competitors are structuring roles, building capabilities, and attracting talent. This intelligence is invaluable. Organizations that ignore it will continue to lose people for reasons they claim they “didn’t see coming.”

ExitInterviews #TalentStrategy #Leadership #HRmanager

The countdown has begun for another new year.

Looking back we wonder what we have achieved since the beginning of 2025 or for that matter in all the past years.

Well, we don’t look at each year to be filled with only achievements. If achievements only determine our life, then do we expect them to repeat it every year with a fresh set of goals?

When does it end?

What happens to us when we don’t achieve them? We become remorse, sad and sullying. If these take away our happiness and time, why do we need to set up goals and try to work crazy to achieve them? We become unmindful of near and dear ones and it leads to disconnect with them that we work for.

Could we expect to get promotion at work every year? We will then become a CEO at 20’s. Do we scale mountains every year? Do we break our own record every year? Do we want to be a winner all the time? Do we realise that gets us more enemies than friends? It is humanly impossible to do it year after year but we keep going at them.

Have we thought about putting up a stop to these pursuits that saps our energy and makes us sick?

Life has a higher and bigger purpose. Don’t we agree?

What does a happy life mean?
Money? Fame? Status? Luxurious life style?
What will we do if we get them all in a few years of our living with our own money or with that of an inherited money?
What will we do in the remaining years of life? Blow out the money doing nothing?

Then what are we celebrating at the dawn of a new year?

Every year we yearn for new hopes, success and happiness. Do we get to accomplish all of them?

Do we realise we have some unfinished agenda that has defined our existence? What are they?

Peace.
Peace to self and to others living with us in our homes, neighbourhood, city, country and world.

Preserve Nature.
We don’t exist if nature turns against us. And we do everything to destroy it. As we become more knowledgeable in worldly matters, we become less knowledgeable in protecting and preserving Nature. We learn new things and also unlearn olden good habits and practices.

Preserve Health
It is easier said than done. Inspite of our eating food more than what we need for our bodies, the same food makes us ill. We eat what causes harm to our bodily parts. Human body is designed to function in a specific manner and we do everything to alter it. Medical advancements make us to reset our body but the damage is already done and we only attempt to do how further damage should not be done and live on medicines.

Balance the wealth
Bridge the gap between the super rich and the utterly poor. It is good to be decently wealthy only for you and family in your lifetime. Accumulating wealth for the next 3 or 4 generations is meaningless as we don’t know if they get to enjoy them. Entitlement doesn’t keep them happy too. They may be deprived off that wealth one fine day by a Government of that time. Because it may be possible there will be a huge no of poor people who needed that money.

Recognise and Praise the Super natural power that brought us to the earth.
Millions of sperms died before one sperm met the egg to become what we are today. That sperm caused us to arrive at the world. And who designed that sperm or the biological / physiological nature of our body? It is The Creator who created the universe and a countless lives of humans and non-humans. Do we thank him enough everyday? Or do we say He is non-existent? Isn’t that foolish to do it when the earth that we live on is only a tiny dot in the universe that is controlled by the Supreme power?

The New Year is just hours away. Let us take a pledge that we work towards the unfinished agenda. We create happiness around us and let us be our own creators and seek God’s help to achieve it. It is the real achievement and an accomplishment that we will be proud of. It is not philosophical to think that way but a practical way of leading a life with a purpose.

newyearpledge

happynewyear

purpose_of_life

Mentors, Coaches, and Internal Grooming: Knowing When to Seek the Right Support

The most successful executives are not those who face every challenge alone—but those who know when, where, and from whom to seek support.

Recognizing the right form of guidance at the right time can define the trajectory of a leadership career.

Leaders often speak about the importance of seeking expert guidance at various stages of one’s professional journey. Yet a critical question remains: when should an executive seek such support, and from whom?

Every career progresses through distinct phases, each presenting its own set of challenges. Not every challenge requires external intervention, nor is it practical to seek help at every crossroads. Often, a mentor plays a crucial role by offering perspective and outlining possible options. A mentor does not prescribe solutions; instead, they encourage independent thinking, enabling individuals to assess their circumstances and choose the most appropriate path forward.

A business coach, however, takes a more structured and goal-oriented approach. Coaching engagements typically occur within a defined timeframe and are focused on specific developmental objectives or transitional challenges. Business coaches are frequently engaged under formal agreements with an organization and work closely with executives preparing for expanded leadership responsibilities. This may include building capabilities to engage effectively with key stakeholders—peers, board members, line managers, customers, and the broader workforce. For executives stepping into senior roles, coaching often extends to managing interactions with industry analysts and the media.

Beyond mentoring and coaching, many organizations emphasize internal leadership development as a strategic priority. Senior leaders—often the Chairman, CEO, or Managing Director—identify high-potential executives at the second or third leadership level and actively prepare them for future roles. With a deep understanding of an individual’s strengths and development areas, these leaders groom talent to ensure continuity and stability when critical positions become vacant. Organizations that invest in this approach demonstrate a strong belief in growing leadership from within rather than relying solely on external hires.

As you reflect on your own leadership journey, consider this:

Are you relying on the right form of support for the challenges you face today?

Share your thoughts or experiences—mentoring, coaching, or internal grooming—and let’s start a conversation on how leaders can better prepare for what’s next.

Stretching too far

The recent incident of Indigo reminds us of the need for exercising caution and restraint in running an operation in a factory or in a service sector like Airlines. In such a lifeline of an industry, the risk assessment needs to be far more vigilant and awareness of risk mitigation procedures. A business turning a blind eye is vulnerable in the long run. A CEO cannot work only to please the promoters and investors.

We had seen earlier that Sahara,Jet Airways and King Fisher got into different version of risk and the basic reason for their failures was a poor assessment of debt servicing and greedy promoters. ‘One cannot eat more than that can be chewed’ is an apt proverb that describes these case studies that made the lenders and investors poor with liabilities and litigations. Another glaring case study is the failure of Future retail group that borrowed more than it could re-pay and the business didn’t anticipate the risk of a new selling model – on-line sales that Amazon & FlipKart pioneered in India. The boards of these companies ignored their role in protecting the investors and customers and fell prey to the hypes surrounding the short lived successes of these airlines. The watch dogs of the government, the regulating bodies,turned other side and let the promoters have their own ways. The control mechanism woefully failed.

Another recent case study is that of Byju that was among the pioneers in online tutoring model but fell short of preference solely due to it becoming financially unviable and a loss making start-up venture. High profile advertising, heavy expansion across the country and the low cost competition aping the model.

An operation in a factory or a service line is capable of with standing a certain limit with a tolerance factor and stretching it both on financial and humanitarian fronts is inviting big trouble that cannot be undone overnight and calls for rebuilding absorbing the fianancial loss and losing the goodwill of customers.

#safety

#riskassessment

#operationalsafety

Resistance to change – how our brain works

If we want to take to a new habit or a new routine or a new home, our brain doesn’t accept it for some days because it is used to the same way of doing things. It offers resistance when we change our habit or routine.

We are used to wearing our watches on the left hand and when we move it to the right, we feel it weighs more. We want to switch it back immediately to our usual hand. But when we keep wearing it on the right hand for some days, the brain accepts it and we no longer feel it weighs more.

Similarly we are used to do our morning walk on the streets we are familiar with. When we change to a new route, our brain doesn’t feel comfortable for a few days.

Any new habit or routine takes time to get used to.

Achievers, as they say, do things differently to be successful.

Watch this interesting clip on how we need to embrace change from the routine.

#newhabits

#brainfunction

https://lnkd.in/enkgv-FV

Rural India – what it needs besides income generation

I don’t know if there is an index like Rural Improvement Index – RII or Ri2 index. I am also not aware of any Indian or state government agency tracking these metrics and taking corrective actions for a sustainable and happy living.

This index needs to define the following metrics and is published as a score of x/10. The coordinating agency must work with individual government initiatives addressing these important aspects rural population and rural India. The mass migration of rural youths migrating to bigger towns and cities must be arrested for a better balance of opportunities and economic progress.

*Health – Reach, infra and affordability

*Education – Relevance, Vocational curriculum and affordability

*Jobs – New jobs, employability and geo relevance

*Entrepreneurship – growth areas, financial assistance and mentorship

*Governance – People friendly, optimal resource utilization, Merit focused

*Sustainability – Preservation of wet lands, water sources and forests

Perspectives – there is no right or wrong.

It is all about perspectives that shape the opinions of people. Every action or complaint has two versions of perspective – one of the doer and the other of the onlooker. The justifications of action or complaint determine if the action was right or wrong.

Example: an interesting forward in my WA feed. Source unknown. But beautifully put across….

One Story, Two Perspectives

A famous book writer sat in his study. He took out his pen and began to write:

“Last year, I had surgery to remove gallstones. I was bedridden for a long time.

In the same year, I turned 60 and was retired … quitting a company that I loved so much. I had to leave the job I’ve been doing for 35 years.

That same year I was abandoned by my beloved mother who passed away.

Then, still in the same year, my son failed his final medical exam because of a car accident. Repair costs from the car damage marked the peak of bad luck last year.”

At the end he wrote:
“What, what a bad year!”

The writer’s wife entered the room and found her husband who was sad and pensive. From behind, the wife saw the husband’s writing. Slowly she backed away and left the room.

15 minutes later she came back in and put down a piece of paper with the following words:

“Last year, my husband finally managed to get rid of his gallbladder which had been making his stomach hurt for years.

That same year, I am grateful that my husband was able to retire in a healthy and happy state of mind & body. I thank God he was given the opportunity to work and earn for 35 years to support our family.

Now, my husband can spend more of his time writing, which has always been his hobby.

In the same year, my 95 year old mother-in-law, without any pain, returned to God in peace.

And still in the same year, God protected our son from harm in a terrible car accident. Our car was seriously damaged by the accident, but my son survived without any serious injuries.”

In the last sentence his wife wrote:
“Last year was a year full of extraordinary blessings from God, and we spent it full of wonder and gratitude.”

The writer smiled with emotion, and warm tears flowed down his cheeks. He was grateful for a different point of view for every event he had gone through the past year. A different perspective of the same events now made him joyful.

Dear Family and Friends, in this life we ​​must understand that it is not happiness or joy that makes us grateful. It is gratitude that makes us happy/joyful! Let’s practise seeing events from a positive point of view and keep envy away from our hearts.

”We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
Abraham Lincoln

Good to re-read this piece even though you may have read it before.

Have a nice day 😊😊😊

Image courtesy: Silaii.com

How much enough is enough?

We keep multiplying wealth all the time. It is very rare that people don’t have this habit. We always feel so insecure in both our career and profession, we tend to think far ahead about us and our children. Additionally we have the fear that our life is unstable as countries go to war, calamities strike nature, people protest and diseases are on the rise.

Many of us have heard about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that has 5 stages starting from Psychological needs followed by safety, love & belonging, esteem and self-actualisation needs. But over the years researchers added another need as you could see from this below research report.

“In the time since Maslow published his original paper, his idea that we go through five specific stages hasn’t always been supported by research. In a 2011 study of human needs across cultures, researchers Louis Tay and Ed Diener looked at data from over 60,000 participants in over 120 different countries. They assessed six needs similar to Maslow’s: basic needs (similar to physiological needs), safety, love, pride and respect (similar to esteem needs), mastery, and autonomy. They found meeting these needs was indeed linked to well-being. In particular, having basic needs met was linked to people’s overall assessment of their lives, and feeling positive emotions was linked to meeting the needs of feeling loved and respected.”

When all these needs are taken of,what makes people to accumulate wealth more than they need in their life time or in the life time of next generations. We used to hear in villages about wealthy people that they have accumulated wealth for 7 generations.

In a country like India where per capita income is not as high as some western countries, the income doesn’t get distributed to the needy or there are no avenues to make that per capita income higher. We don’t have to follow communist mind set to distribute wealth equally but resources cannot be cornered by people who are already wealthy and they have to be made available to every citizen rather than the super rich ( businessmen, politicians etc) going on the crazy path of wealth accumulation.

To get back to the topic’ enough is enough’, how do we develop a mind to say No to further wealth creation. Will that erode our confidence or create a sense of contentment? Will the mind refuse entitlement and let go to others? Will it diminish our superiority in the society? Will it make us less powerful and authoritative?

It is not only we develop this attitude of ‘enough is enough’ but inculcate it to younger generations because they are the ones who are poised to create a world that is peaceful and orderly.

‘Enough is enough’ needs to go deep rooted in our minds.

#enoughisenough

#wealthdistribution

#hierarchyofneeds

* https://www.thoughtco.com/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-4582571