During a recent Webinar that I co-facilitated, a participant asked me a question most of us have grappled with at some point in our careers:

How do I deal with a stakeholder that is nasty & argumentative?

My mind immediately went to: “Is your heart at Peace or at War”?

This is the foundational principle of the “Anatomy of Peace”, a book which is the story of Yusuf al-Falah, an Arab, and AviRozen, a Jew, each lost his father in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The story revolves around how both these men moved past their bloody histories, their hate, pain and animosity &and how they came together to help warring parents and children resolve their differences and find peace in their relationships.

When we approach a conflict, most often we do it with a heart that is full of anger & a mind that says “I am right”. This comes in the way of us being able to see the other person’s perspective, leading to a far deeper conflict.

The solution is really simple, when you walk into a conflict situation, you need to ask yourself, “do I really want to find a solution or do I want to be proven right”?

If your heart is at peace and you truly want to resolve the conflict, you will be able to remove your ego, personal hurt & the accompanying negative feelings. You will be able to “see” the other’s viewpoint. This attitude is enough to resolve most conflicts.

On the other hand, if you really just want to be proven right and then you approach the conflict, your heart is really at War. With this attitude, in all likelihood you will say and do things that will lead to an escalation of the conflict and not a move towards a resolution.

When you approach a conflict situation, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What is it that I really want from this situation? What is my best case scenario?

2. What could the other person be thinking, feeling, seeing, hearing?

3. What can I do that could move the situations towards a resolution?

You may not be able to resolve every conflict satisfactorily & you might still have unpleasant stakeholder situations but the one thing that will change is that you will take the correct steps to resolve the conflict. This will bring peace to your mind.

The next time you walk into a conflict, just ask yourself “Is my heart at peace or is at at war”?

Try it…the results may surprise you !!!!!!!!!!!!

Work from Home was concept that was completely alien to Indian Companies. The lockdown changed all that!!!

For a work culture that’s taken pride in long hours, constant monitoring of productivity, and strict attendance, suddenly not being face to face proved a challenge. The initial days were tough.

CEO’s of several Indian companies initially expressed reservations on the entire WFH concept. Subsequently they realized that given the right policies, WFH actually worked in the organizations favour.

So what changed?

1. Shorter and more focused meetinghas led to an increase in Productivity

2. Measuring output instead of policing has produced higher levels of engagement

3. Flexibility in allowing people to work out their schedules has worked in favour of organizations

4. Commute time was spent on learning: personal & professional

The learning for me in all this is flexibility and openness to experiment and change should be a cornerstone of our work culture. We should not need a Pandemic to force us to experiment and uncover possibilities!!!!!!

Read on for positive experiences of WFH for Leaders at India Inc.

https://www.mid-day.com/articles/how-indian-corporate-firms-have-managed-a-successful-wfh-culture-amid-lockdown/22816290

The COVID 19 pandemic should be viewed as an opportunity to grow and not to slow down.

It sounds counter intuitive but I personally feel it rings true. The more I think about it, the deeper grows my conviction.

The Human Resource function has often been regarded as a support function. Thanks to the pandemic, it has now become a critical function.

1. To ensure business continuity

2. To prevent isolation

3. To provide a clear line of sight through ongoing communication

4. To balance economics and empathy

It is the HR department that has taken the lead… and its obviously an opportunity to take centre stage.

Some steps that the HR leaders at companies like HUL, Flipkart, Deloitte and Dunzo have taken include:

Continuous coordination with state governments and local authorities

Virtual bonding initiatives (like meetups, discussions, webinars and games) to boost morale

Engage more actively and intently with employees, without any agenda

Set up systems to Monitor employee productivity online through a structured work plan

Evolve a clear communication strategy,

Deploy digital tools like a 24×7 employee assistance helpline, i

Inspire employees to take voluntary pay cuts

These steps have been at the forefront of their respective company’s proactive response to the pandemic & the HR departments have been the face of the response

Read on…..

https://www.forbesindia.com/article/coronavirus/human-resources-during-a-pandemic/59339/1

Is there a mental cost of#WorkfromHome? Is permanent work from home desirable?

These are some questions that I have been mulling for the last couple of days, because:

I miss sitting around the lunch table with colleagues

I miss the “I’m glad the weekend is here” banter

I miss the 2 minute informal connect with clients before & after a meeting

I miss just the “#humanconnection” that comes with a physical workplace

In a recent interview with the New York Times,Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella said that permanently working from home can be “damaging for social interaction and mental health for workers”.

This statement resonated with me.

Humans are social beings. If you take them out of their natural habitat, it will be damaging in the long run.

While the current pandemic has made it necessary for us to Work from Home, communicate via video conferences, its not the same as the connect of a physical meeting.

Attending online classes for students is not the same as being at school or college. One of the nicest parts of growing up is being around friends at school.

Virtual classrooms are necessary in today’s times and can be a valuable tool to reach audiences at multiple locations. However, the richness of communication that emerges in a physical classroom cannot be ignored, especially while addressing competencies related to Personal transformation.

I personally feel, Work from Home is great in some situations but moving to this paradigm as a permanent state of affairs will come with a cost!!!!!!

Read on:

https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/permanent-work-from-home-can-be-damaging-for-mental-health-of-employees-says-satya-nadella-1679313-2020-05-18

I choose to look at the silver lining in the dark clouds.

“The times that are most troubled are also the ones where we learn the most.” If we reflect on this maxim, I think it holds true for most of us!!!!!!

The current crisis is exactly the same. It should be a time to #reflect on what #life post COVID will be. What the skills we need to develop in order to thrive? What are the lessons for leaders from this crisis? What do organizations need to do in order to grow?

All of the above questions are causing a fundamental shift in the way even business schools evaluate success. Some important themes that are emerging are:

1. Its not just balance sheet management that is an important criterion for Leadership evaluation; stockholder welfare to stakeholder welfare is equally critical

2. How organizations treat their stakeholders during these difficult times gets reflected through the characteristics displayed by its leader

3. Leaders have some tough decisions to take during these difficult times, how they communicate these decisions to their stakeholders is going to be extremely crucial

4. Above all resilience, how do we shape up and take proactive steps to deal with this situation

This article has some interesting thoughts on how the current crisis is getting even business schools to change their curricula, sensitize potential managers to the changing world view and the new competencies needed to Grow in chaos

Read on:

https://www.livemint.com/education/news/iims-to-tap-covid-learnings-in-a-bid-to-mould-resilient-leaders-11587316237496.html