ANIMALS OF THE CORPORATE JUNGLE - HIPPO

 HIPPOPOTAMUS - BOARD MEMBER

1. Almost everyone loves to see a hippo, as his eyes are laid on the face and not set in as in other animals.

2. His tiny little ears wag in excitement, one going forward and the other backward at the same time, showing that he has an ear for details from all sides.

3. Hippos are rather slow in movement and love to relax, ignoring other animals around them, and inspite of their size, they have a mild temperament.

4. However, they have insatiable curiosity that can often land the management into trouble with uncomfortbale queries.

ANIMALS OF THE CORPORATE JUNGLE - LION

 LION - MANAGING DIRECTOR

1. Being the most regal of the beasts, the noble lion is dynamic in nature.

2. When he roars, the whole jungle trembles and often powerful animals too keep a low profile.

3. If anyone crosses his path when he is angry, he will attack him.

4. His forte is his strength and courage, which is required for survival in the jungle at all times.

5. Outside his den sit his faithful mates, whose job is to ward off undersirable visitors, especially when his majesty is having his usual afternoon nap.

6. In fact, these mates are more formidable with their razor-sharp claws and sharp tongues, and it's their job to to keep their boss well fed and happy.

ANIMALS OF THE CORPORATE JUNGLE - ELEPHANT

 ELEPHANT - BOARD CHAIRMAN

1. With his natural dignity and impressive size, he is treated with respect and seen as a father figure.

2. He is a placid beast since he has to fear no one, but his intelligence and perception should not be underestimated.

3. His small eyes are sharp enough to notice anything that is amiss or wrong.

4. He has an excellent memory and can remember your wrongs even years later.

5. It is not, therefore, good to take liberties with such a person.

IF I AM NOT AN INDIAN, WHO AM I?

 1. Today, let us forget our cynicism and think of tomorrow's India, although too many of us are too concerned with finding faults with each other and the country.

2. The fact is that we have survived nearly 75 years as an independent entity, and inspite of several wars having been thrust on us we still seek peace worldwide.

3. The fact is that a large population notwithstanding, we have made progress - in agriculture, in technology, in industry, in education and a host of other areas.

4. So when I look around me I feel proud when the national flag flutters in an independent breeze - I feel a lump in my throat.

5. I think of all giants of their time who fought to make me what I am today - FREE.

6. When I see the Lions of Asoka pillar, I feel protected; when I see the peacock in all its spleandour, I wonder at the beauty of nature that surrounds me.

7. When I see the yellow-brown stripes of a tiger flashing past, catching a ray of sunshine, I feel a sense of awe at its raw power mingled with an enviable elegance.

8. And I feel a sense of love when I see a son touching his mother's feet or a brother putting a protective arm around his sister.

9. This love, this respect, where else would I find it? Except in my JANMBHOOMI.

10. That is why I feel proud I am an INDIAN, because if I'm not, then I'm NOBODY.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED SINCE HIGH SCHOOL?

1. High school years are about more than just fond memories and friends.
2. In profound ways, those years continue to shape our lives, for better or worse.
3. The fortunate among us would feel that they have gotten to know themselves better and have come to appreciate their own unique, innate qualities.
4. I hope that they have also discovered that "what lies within us" is paramount to knowing "what lies behind us" and "what lies before us".
5. Understanding what lies within us is the single most important factor that distinguishes those who enjoy great success from those who don't.
6. Knowing your "wiring" and applying that wiring productively is the key to leading an accomplished and fulfilled life.
7. So, if you are one among so many people who are unaware of their talents and strengths, and yearn to know what to do about it, you can start by remembering what you most yearned to do in your high school years, as it is a fact that these offer clues to identifying your strengths.
8. Every one of us has yearnings, urges that drive us to do the things we do; discovering what those yearnings are, and matching them to a career choice, is what the most successful people do differently.
9. And of course employers should also carefully select and develop their employees for roles that are tailored to their strengths.
10. Research shows that from about the age of 15 onward, our patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving are pretty much set; what most likely changes thereafter is his awareness of what lies within him and his intentional expression of his talent.
11. Remember that suggestions and instructions of our parents, teachers and friends, along with the demands of our jobs, our lives, our families, and even our society itself, often pull us away from our high school yearnings.
12. Before we realize it, our truest feelings become suppressed by what is expedient or what is expected, although our yearnings do not change and we don't lse our strengths.
13. Instead, we simply tend to focus on our weaknesses, like the majority of people in the world do, by ignoring our yearnings and turn a deaf ear to that nagging voice reminding us that we used to enjoy these natural activities till our high school years.
12. Since high school, too many of us have become boring and bored, not because of age, but because we have failed to focus on our strengths.
13. We have not grown as much in self-discovery as we could have - and still can, if we listen to the yearnings already within us since our high school years.

IS IT NECESSARY TO PRAY?

1. God is an unseen, unknown entity who's both feared and adored by human beings.
2. The concept of God defies definition, as it is the best imagination of man.
3. A prayer should be a form of thanksgiving, whereas it has been increasingly converted into demands from God.
4. When you express your gratitude, you're not asking for anything, and if that's your prayer you'll not be dissapointed.
5. For this, it's not necessary to believe nor deny God's existence, and one can even be an agnostic in this regard.
6. So, it is not necessary to have a God, or the concept of perpetual, in mind at all because you can't connect at all with someone whom you don't know - whether a male or a female or a common gender or some other entity.
7. If God is an entity like we human beings, we can definitely ask what pleasure is gotten by putting the world in so much troubles.
8. There are so many godmen and gurus, full of arrogance, who can't lead humans from unreal to real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality, through their humility.

SEVEN LIFE-CHANGING HABITS

1. Be proactive - take initiative and responsibility

2. Begin with the end in mind - establish and live by your values

3. Put first things first - prioritize

4. Think win/win - find solutions that help both sides

5. Seek first to understand - then to be understood

6. Synergize - making the whole of any group better than the sum of its parts

7. Sharpen the saw - renewing your physical, social, emotional, mental and spiritual self

MANAGING A COMPETENT BOSS

1. A competent boss is a rare commodity and very difficult to locate.

2. For coping with him, do your work honestly and diligently.

3. For a winning strategy, compromise on peripheral issues, but stand up on matters of principle.

4. Never try to become a "yes-man" in front of him.

MANAGING A STRIKING BOSS

1. A striking boss always finds fault with whatever you do, especially on things he knows best.

2. For coping with him, do your work as much as possible when he is on leave or out on tours.

3. For a winning strategy, delegate upwards to the boss and let him do your work too.

MANAGING A PLAYBOY BOSS

1. A playboy boss is always well dressed and surrounded by women employees.

2. For coping with him, don't ask his women devotees to do any work, and always talk sweetly to them.

3. For a winning strategy, start a cocktail circuit, and become its active member.

4. Recruit more and more women employees in your department.

MANAGING A BULLYING BOSS

1. A bullying boss is insecure and incompetent himself.

2. For coping with him, avoid him as far as possible.

3. Go on offical tours whenever he is in station.

4. For a winning strategy, ask him to shut up when the crunch comes, after proving that you are intellectually superior to him.

MANAGING A STATISTICIAN BOSS

1. A statistician boss is actively involved in making graphs, bar charts, etc.

2. For coping with him, feed him with data, relevant or irrelevant.

3. For a winning strategy, prepare reports with more appendices than the text itself.

4. Appendices should contain all sorts of data.

5. Also get a prestogram board fixed in his room and keep it updated.

MANAGING A GAMESMAN BOSS

1. A gamesman boss is active in playing corporate games.

2. For coping with him, never come in the way of his games.

3. For a winning strategy, keep him updated with all organizational gossip.

MANAGING A DEVELOPER BOSS

1.  A developer boss loves teaching.

2. For coping with him, invite him for guiding in-house training activities.

3. For a winning strategy, never contradict him.

4. Admire him profusely as an unique example of self-development.

MANAGING AN ARTICULATE BOSS

1. An articulate boss loves talking.

2. He calls meetings even for small things.

3. For coping with him, call some more meetings and invite him to talk.

5. For a winning strategy, become a member of local management associations and ritzy service clubs, and arrange to invite him to address them.