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As you sow, so you reap
In my entire career as a general manager, it is a matter of pride for me that I did not give a single paisa as a bribe to any union leader to get what I wanted. I always stood on principle and was able to win every single matter that went for arbitration simply based…
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Ambadi, the turn-around strategy
When you are working in a high conflict environment a particularly important strategy is to proactively reduce the issues on which conflict may happen. The fewer the conflicting issues, the easier your role in resolving them. Remember, the key is to do this proactively without being asked. The more issues you resolve unilaterally, the more…
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Leadership is content independent
I stressed in my Staff meeting that if my Staff did what I asked them to do wholeheartedly, I would take responsibility for any failures. I learnt from experience that when you have a team that is skilled, but not motivated and afraid, then you as the leader need to be able to take the…
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The power of the extraordinary goal
Any great enterprise needs people. People who you can share your vision with, people who resonate to your tune, people who can hear the drumbeat to which you are marching. This is the biggest challenge that any leader faces. How do you make others dream your dream? Like most things in life, this also involves…
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Manners make the man & woman
As was the custom of the plantations when anyone got married and returned with his wife, there was a round of parties to meet the couple. So also, in our case and since I was the Secretary of the Anamallai Club, I had more than my fair share of friends and so we had a…
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If it can’t make you cry, it can’t make you work
Fear of failure has many respectable names: Consolidation of gains, Stability, Creating Permanence and so on. What is forgotten is that life is about change and positive change is growth. That growth is not looking in with a satisfied glow at what exists, but always to seek what might be. And that all growth is…
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Hit the road running
A senior manager in Dubai who I am coaching asked me this question. Question: I want to be able to improve my self-belief the way you did this while in the plantation industry and later on in America when you stuck to your guns to become a highly paid consultant. Increasing my Imaan would be one…
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Grass Hills, Anamallais
I used to go to Grass Hills as often as I could with my two companions, the Raman brothers. They were cousins and had the same name. We would leave my motorcycle in the garage of the Assistant Manager of Akkamalai Estate – it didn’t matter if you knew the person or not. It was…
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Guests in the Gardens
Guests were very special in the gardens. There were no guest houses or hotels, so whoever came, stayed with you. Official guests stayed with the General or Group Manager, Manager or Assistant Manager, depending on who they were in terms of their rank or significance for the Company. Your guests stayed with you or sometimes…
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How to behave around snakes
Keeping wild animals as pets is not a good idea at all. Whether that is snakes or anything else. Wild animals must be left in their natural habitat and enjoyed there, watching and photographing them. Taking them out of their environment is cruel on them and if they escape or are released in an alien…