LIFE SO MEERA.CULOUS

Another session of ‘musical chairs’ began!

Clearly it’s almost impossible to avoid our new RCH’s suggestion regarding the repositioning of our PE Sayed Hifzur Raheman, but I’ve been spending much more time this past week planning for the business for him. No doubt, his first favorite is, always, the Credit & Risk department and I’m, already, convinced of this fact long before and, for that reason, I knew it would be intense when I said ‘yes’ to that suggestion.

And, the one thing I forgot to ask Sujoy Bhatta about was the new designation of Raheman. Anyway, after lunch, I came back to office to send the mail to start another session of ‘musical chairs’ and, when I returned to office, today, I found the approval in my inbox. So, that is how, we ADD Raheman to the new segment!

Life of an intelligent fool!

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction.”
:Albert Einstein

Our discussion continued till 1:30 AM at hotel The New Marrion, yesterday and we left the hotel once the rain had died down. But, we couldn’t come to the decision of issuing 35. Our Pulsar-perfect and Nike-wearing PE, finally realizing the seriousness of the matter and without the hope of sustaining himself long in his job, is scarcely going to stop accusing himself because I ask him.

Nevertheless, often, I feel uncomfortable when those strange smiles come to his face – oddly secretive, as though he doubt something. By the end of the last week of the previous month, he was losing his concentration drastically which worried me though I had been told that this was normal. I know, his condition will continue till the middle of this month.

Yesterday, during the lunch hour, I noted an increase in his sense of urgency in this case of Aakarshan Sinha that I had always found hard to understand. Why, he approached again and again, was there so great a need for hurry? It’s too early to be sure, of course, but there may be a consequence of his recent fickle mindedness.

We welcomed Naresh, full-heartedly!

SCV (Small Commercial Vehicle) market behavior is in the early days of changing, and how the manufacturer vs. the dealer vs. the financier benefits is up for grabs. Especially, the SCV market in and around the ‘twin city’ is heading for a major up-gradation as we’re convinced, as of now, that our popular chota hati (Tata Ace), with the advent of new ‘stop-start technology’ by Tata Motors, is in no mood to stop it’s forward march in the near future.

And, this quick change in market scenario is forcing our branch’s SCV segment’s TBC to grow at double speed. So, yesterday, we’ve thanked the valiant effort of Somdev, our PM for SCV segment, for the big happiness (and possibly celebrations) during this period of ‘recruitment freeze’ and welcomed our new PE, Naresh, full-heartedly.

Playing ‘musical chairs’ is dangerous, sometimes!

In the beginning days of the ‘vertical’ system, our ED, our RPHs, our seniors and, even, my boss also had arranged several meetings proclaiming that the factors that determine the ‘capabilities and performance’ of an executive are much more numerous in this system than the old system of ‘no-vertical’ and, it took, exactly, two meetings (at different locations) for me to come to the realization that no-vertical means no-specialization.

And, consequently, we all realized that to sate the demands of our customers and to cope ourselves with the recent ‘cultural change’ within our trade, we’ve to create more and more specialized and efficient product executives and that is easier said than done. And, in our effort to do so, we’ve moved most against their interests and it produced little-bit uproar and interruption in business in the beginning. But, thanks God, matters are settled, now.

Try as you may, you won’t find anyone, now a days, to say anything uncomplimentary about this ‘vertical’ system. But, take the example of our most experienced and, also, popular product executive Syed Hifzur Rehaman! He was told to move from segment to segment in quick succession finding little time to learn the ropes and be perceptibly productive for the company. From Strategic to SCV and SCV to Tractor and, then, Tractor to Prime; whatever the causes of this game of ‘musical chairs’, it was most clearly observable that he was underutilized and, for that reason, that hampered his growth. Even he was not put through a proper, structured training programme at that period. Fortunately, the merging of branches in Orissa, during the early weeks of January, came to his rescue and he was transferred from Paradeep to Cuttack branch along with his colleagues. Again, thanks God, he is now settled in M&HCV (P) segment in Cuttack branch and his performance is at last showing signs of accelerating.

Happy Father's Day!

You are an awesome father!

Hey, today is Smile Power Day!

“A smile is an inexpensive way to change your looks.”
:Charles Gordy

Yes, indeed, smile has that magic touch. It has the ability to give someone’s day a great start. So, put on your sweetest smile to celebrate this Smile Power Day and infect all those around you and their lives with your contagious smiles!

'Operation Flower' to stamp out crime!

“Where flowers bloom so does hope.”
:Lady Bird Johnson

A campaign that has been started three years ago in a Tokyo district to stamp out crime is something unique in it. The residents and volunteers of that area are still using flowers as the main weapon in that wider crime prevention campaign. Read the full story here!

My discussion with Biswa about the TVR process lasted for few annoying minutes while we doubtless felt also that the fault was ours. Usually, I don’t like doing things I don’t know how to do. To be true, I can still remember that day when I had heard such awful things about Debi P and, I didn’t feel as bad as I had expected to. No doubt, life brings such cases and/or experiences again and again. But, D Rana is an important exception.

The recent drama of my resignation!

In a curiously mysterious manner, I searched through my sent mails and it was far below two dozen. I coined that term ‘curiously mysterious manner’ as I’ve never before faced such a behavioral shift in my life. I gave myself an energetic push and forward it again to my boss with a request to ignore the earlier mail on that topic.

So, that’s how I overcome my recent confusions, my frustrations and, for that reason, put an end to that ‘drama of my resignation’ that lasted for two weeks. The general idea you’re probably starting to catch by now is that there’s something serious in that drama. Anyway, I made of my mind to change my siege mentality towards my job role and my job, where, till now, I was behaving as I had behaved since last five years, just going about the simple, relentless, necessary business of staying comfortably within the boundaries of corporate rules and formulas. And, I learned few lessons:

1. See that your goals are specific and measurable and, always, set realistic deadlines for achieving them. 15th August and/or 26th January aren’t always workable.
2. Remember that in the corporate world, having a no-enemies policy is a bonus.
3. Push the limits. Although breaking the rules is a bad idea, bending them can get you ahead faster than playing by the book. To be precise, taking initiatives demonstrates your leadership qualities.

Thanks God, I’ve already started to think differently!

A relaxing afternoon...

A tension-free, relaxing afternoon of leisure...

Time to get serious...

“We learn from experience that men never learn anything from experience.”
:George Bernard Shaw

Otherwise, see the result! Last Truck Bazar result deserves a good laugh. 6 vehicles and 2 deal, only! I dialed one of our Strategic PE during that afternoon. And, his statements just did not hang together – he was lying or just, trying to make himself busy. For a fleeting second, I was tempted to say rudely. “Where are you? No improvement this time also, na?” and fought it back. Instead, I said, “Close the Bijay Swain deal, at least!”