By Jaisurya Das
Is it true that women co-workers always fight with each other?
And it’s a wonderful evening here in Pune with the characteristic evening breeze setting in to mask the summer’s blazing sun. Ladies and Gentleman, welcome back to yet another edition of Dear MxM, India’s premier counselling column for the advertising, media and marketing world.
I read with interest a recent blog on ‘the poor urban youth’ or some such thing which I must confess made interesting reading. It’s been doing the rounds on social and attracting several hundred comments and reactions. For those of you who haven’t chanced upon it, its all about the youth going overboard spending just to be able to maintain a lifestyle that their peers lead.
False notions of success resulting in overspending, which in turn is leaves them with practically nothing to survive on..
Tragic to say the least, this is just another fall out of lifestyle and the ridiculous demands it makes off our lives. I often wonder why we behave like ants that crawl in a straight line, one behind the other wth the solitary objective of following.
I guess it’s human psychology to ape considering our ancestry?!
What a paradox to have someone adorn Zara pants and survive on Veg Manchow courtesy the cup noodle factories; Unfortunate but this is the truth. Several hundreds of these aspiring young live on their own in Mumbai and other cities matching their ambitions with colleagues and society at large.
They dine at Olive, and retire to their modest PGs night after night, burning the midnight oil over personal gratification. Yes, Ladies and Gentleman, this is the new order and our children are part of this era. Scary isn’t it?
For my young readers, I do hope this will be an eyeopener of sorts. Be selfish my friends and don’t allow the world run your life ! Live well, but carve your own space in this madness.. Believe me, the solitaire for your girl can wait. Sweet nothing will happen and if at all it does, she isn’t the one for you.
Success isn’t all about material gain. It’s about satisfaction that is unparalleled that no money can buy, it’s about chasing a dream that you have nurtured for years. It’s about going ahead with your life, adapting to what you have and yet aspiring for what you don’t! Don’t chase what you aren’t ready or equipped for, as it will get you nothing but grief and a hollow wallet!
Chase craft, chase expertise, chase great friends, chase colleagues and friends who believe in you well enough to push you to trudge along confidently on that long mile of discovery.
Yes, everything is possible but send the right signals to the universe else it won’t return it in good measure! This is the physics of well-being. Peace with what is ours and the strength and discretion to let go of what isn’t… Life is about living. Amen.
All our peace seekers for this week are strangely from the city of dreams.. Mumbai.
Amchi (Our in the Marathi) Mumbai, here are your answers!
Is it true that women co-workers always fight with each other?
He he!! Where in the world do my readers get such ideas from? Far from it my friend!
The women are as good or bad as the men. Seriously man, this isn’t true.
Fighting and disagreeing is pretty much part of life isn’t it? Don’t you enjoy a good fight? Yes, empirically the decibel levels are higher when the women fight, but that’s got much to do with the opera pitch more than their intention to be heard.
Having said this, I must confess I have witnessed a few high-pitched exchanges between women though fortunately almost always it’s on trivia. Contrary to what you may have heard, ego clashes are not restricted to any one gender in a corporate environment. In fact, most often they are related to a day-to-day task or a minor difference in opinion. In fact quite often the women are the steadying force in a team who bond well to keep the mood upbeat. Pressures are high in most corporates so yes, it has its share of quarrels and fracas but that all in a day’s work. I personally haven’t seen it ever extend to the next morning!
Hence, worry not my friend, for women are good both for the corporate and the soul!
My boss rejected a friend of mine who he said would make silly mistakes in his news reports – like getting the name or spelling wrong or the designation. He said my friend will never get out of making such silly mistakes. Do you think that’s a fair decision?
How did your boss figure this? Was there a test given to the candidate/ friend or has your boss been reading his work? To be honest, bereft of this information it’s tough to comment on this scenario..Judging a person’s capabilities or the lack of it is pretty much the discretion of the interviewer, be it this job or any other.
I would imagine your boss has the acumen and experience to screen and decipher the candidate’s pros and cons before he takes an apt decision. If this is his observation, I would give him the benefit of doubt for more than one reason..
Firstly, this is your boss’ professional prerogative and if he’s been entrusted with this responsibility am sure he must be good at what he does!  Secondly, habitual offenders (read grammar and syntax) often find it tough to get over this lacunae. In all probability this is what your boss is probably referring to in this case.
I honestly think you shouldn’t be taking this to heart and worrying about it being fair or otherwise. It’s just professional judgment versus your friendship. Period. And, yes, am sure your’e buddy will land a better job soon. Have him focus on overcoming his shortcomings in order to sail through his next interview.
All good wishes to both of you!
Don’t you think it’s incorrect for bosses/ managements to give a bad increment without enough warnings about performance through the year?
Agreed though I must confess that often it’s not the appraiser who decides how much needs to be given as its greatly dependant on the budgets approved for increments year on year. At times the appraiser isn’t even in the know when it comes to what each rating will sum upto to in terms of actual money.
I have experienced this myself and in all the avatars;I have been an appraisee who was most unhappy with the COLA (Cost Of Living Adjustment) handed out in the guise of an increment, an appraiser who had the power to rate, but not to pay, and as the top management deciding the appraisal budgets for departments in the organisation. Believe me, contrary to popular belief, your boss isn’t always the culprit!!
Having said this, I do agree that an appraisal is the culmination of a years performance good or bad and thus, the progress must be shared on the floor. This is a leader trait and hence a practise that good mentors follow wherever they are. Holding hands and moving ahead is a virtue that differentiates the true mentor from a leader..
Frankly, I do hope we see more of this breed as we go along. Amen.
Recently I read that a certain news channel has adopted a strict dress code. But why do that? Aren’t employees responsible enough to wear decent clothes? Please offer your verdict on the issue.
Oh yes, this was in the news and all over social quite recently! Well, I figure this has upset you quite a bit and to the extent that I am guessing if you were one of the affected few in this channel.. Are you?
But jokes apart, why not a dress code? Isn’t it customary for people to wear uniforms when they work in their professional environment? Why is it so different in this instance? We are the first to complement people on how smart they look in the Defence services, the Police, Medical Services like Doctors, Nurses, and so on and yet when it comes to our work, we protest !
Why the hypocrisy? Decorum and being well-turned-out at work, only adds to the persona of the individual as well as the place they work for and yet there is this disconnect. All because it’s media? Why the need to conform ? We need the freedom to decide?? Let’s for a moment imagine that your hospital decided to shed all its uniforms and you had casually dressed Doctors, nurses, surgeons et al.. Would you be as confident of getting yourself treated by them?
Sorry, I don’t see a problem with this. It’s not really about not knowing to dress well; This is about giving it a certain elegance and uniformity in line with the organisation and its objectives. A TV channel comes into contact with several hundred people across the globe and I can understand what it means to have a common dress code to befit its professional expertise.
Yes, what this dress code should be on the ground is something that needs to be decided keeping in mind comfort, adaptability and the weather condition in various parts of our country. This is what is important.
I put add that a common dress code also ensures that there is no visible parity between the staff, irrespective of what level/ background they enjoy. So, my friend, I think it’s best you take a deep breath and wear what you’re asked to. And moreover there’s no point in cribbing about an organisation that you work for !
Take it well or leave it !
And this brings us back to Do, Re, Mi…. 🙂
On that musical note from the all-time favourite Sound of Music, I take your leave for this week but, not before wishing all of you a splendid weekend and much fun! God bless you with loads of happiness and good cheer always.
We will be back with our customary precision next week, same space, same day, with a fresh set of questions and some rocking answers! Meanwhile do keep writing in to the editor@mxmindia.com with ‘Dear MxM’ and your City as the subject. Goodbye and take care, Jd
Jaisurya Das, the maverick media-evangelist eats, sleeps and romances brands. His cerebral consulting interventions are aimed at making brands powerful and sustainable. Â He is also Contributing Editor of MxMIndia. For more information on his work visit www.xanadu.co.in