Mentoring is not same as the coaching

Budhha went to great pains to understand secrets of life. Gautam Buddha realized the ultimate truth and was in possession of pure knowledge. Then there was a sudden need felt to spread his wisdom to reinvigorate the thought mechanism and life of people. He chose five mentees and his task was to groom and equip them with his core principles and practices. With those five mentees he laid the foundation of a movement and a strong organization devoted to upliftment of mankind not meant for pecuniary advantage. He saw them as performers helping them hone their abilities and advised them on navigating new challenges. Buddha mentored them. He documented his principles and trained his disciples’ thoughts so as they can pass the wisdom to others that till date it is being preserved without an iota of change. He defined the process of knowledge transfer down the hierarchy line. Buddha invented modus operandi of teacher and disciple relation that even after thousands of years his movement is going smooth with no alterations and his principles and practices are carved in stone. Buddha accomplished his mission in a role of mentor leading thoughts of the people. On the same lines business leaders are busy taking a leaf from Budhha’s book of successful leadership structuring their roles following his footsteps. In a new role of mentor they are busy in looking out for mentees with whom they will share the secret formula of business to make it as a legacy, to make a business system that is loaded in favor of gen Y.

There is a substantial paradigm shift noticed when it comes to the concept of leadership. It’s now more about coaching than command. From every captain it is being deserved that he should coach his subordinates. In order to survive, the organizations have realized that first generation leaders should pass their knowledge and wisdom to coming generation leader. Days of “One man show” seems to be outmoded. Now organization leaders wish that people should remember it as a stalwart brand for generations and to achieve this purpose mentoring is new buzz word.

Normally mentoring is an activity that is being looked upon as post retirement activity where you train a team. When you choose to become a mentor it is not a time to handover the reins of power. Mentoring is a logical progression a far bigger role then leadership. Mentoring shouldn’t be mistaken as coaching. Coaching is done to achieve short term goals and for immediate returns whereas mentoring is a long inning to achieve a vision. Coaching is a common string tying mentoring and leadership. Ideally a Chief Mentor Officer is a person who is seasoned Chief Executive officer. To become a mentor a CEO should detach self from daily operational responsibilities. As a coach mentor helps team to achieve short term goals of increasing profitability of the company. In principle he shortens the learning cycle of a mentee and accelerates his performance. As a Chief mentor officer he focus on organization and its leadership and design a strategy that will help leadership of company to sustain for coming hundred years.

A manager today cannot plan a career growth for self keeping career plan of his colleague at back burner. To climb the organizational ladder one has to adopt part time coaching/ mentoring techniques along with career planning of peers. This is a typical boss and peer relationship. However CEO and mentor relation is like of a teacher and seeker. As a skilled teacher mentor coaches his CEO to deal with macro anticipatory problem that business faces. Mentor equips CEO with techniques of dealing with global competition, governments, global client without interfering in his job. If a CEO discovers a true leader with potential then he must start pondering over his role as that of Mentor. CEO as a business leader will take care of financial years whereas mentor takes care of company’s growth in coming decades.

In three cases a CEO must ponder upon to become a CMO. First if he is realizing that he has achieved and shrouded with feeling of have been there and done that. Secondly he feels burn out and full of battle fatigue and lastly, there is an overwhelming need where company requires new direction and aggressive growth. In all three scenarios he must ponder to become a mentor. He must select mentees and take them under his wing. He should groom mentees to face challenges in a given function he specializes in. He should become a sounding board. Mentoring helps in building an informal environment where people can air their grievance at the meeting to mentor. Most important, it’s all about shaping people’s perspectives. It’s to prepare the leaders who are well equipped with information outside the realm of their day to day job. It could be stakeholder management, winning investor’s confidence, protecting environment and designing strategies to assure sustainability of company during turbulent times.

There is a sudden surge in mentoring programs and it is top on the agenda of top management. They are feeling to accelerate the development of top performers and their long term retention either as employee in many cases or as a partner in exceptional cases. Mentoring is integral part of leadership. It’s duty of every leader to retain talent within his circle of influence. But a mentor goes outside circle of influence and augment span of his leadership. He can help mediocre performers, revitalizing midcareer executives, and closing skill and ability gaps on the staff. He deals with soft issues that have direct impact on balance sheet of the company. A more correct perception about mentoring is that it is no longer a feel good initiative. Mentoring is a valid strategy for developing individuals while saving the organization dollars. A developed and motivated individual add millions to balance sheet of the company. Not every organization can have a Chief Mentor officer as it largely depends on the context of work and nature of business. But every organization should have a mentoring program at all the levels. Retention rates are very low and there is a shortage of talent. Those who are performers are always hunting for an opportunity, a better organization. These people are to be tapped and preserved. Their potential should be unleashed by mentors with perfect business coaching. It is a soft issue and difficult to measure but mentoring program should be looked upon as an investment.

A seasoned leader can list down all the mistakes that his peers are likely stumble into. He can point out top five missteps that young managers take during startup. As a perfect coach he trains the guns of top performers when it comes to issues that can doom a company. As a mentor, a leader is in a league of his own.

Happy Independence day

We have seen lot many people coming forward forcing government to introduce reforms. There have been large scale movements we have witnessed. If we are not capable of creating a movement we still can make our country progress.

On this independence day let's take a vow:

That we will not litter rubbish on the roads

That we will follow the traffic rules

That we will make sure before we buy any property, vehicle we follow the set procedures

That we will pay our taxes honestly and timely

That we will conduct our businesses with honesty

That we will do our jobs passionately

That we will not accept bribes or kickbacks

That we will donate some time and money to organizations devoted to social causes

That we will encourage our kids to take interests in sports

And there are many such little changes if we bring in our lives the nation will march forward. Any reformed and progressive nation means reformed and progressive citizens. And at the same time a corrupt nation means corrupt citizens. Think about it!

On this independence day let's take vow that we will reform our nation while bringing reform in ourselves. We do not need a team and schemes to grow our nation but a willingness is enough.

Story of a shrine - Seremban Gurudwara Malaysia

Story of a shrine – Seremban Gurudwara Malaysia

I now have a brick and I will make my palace soon. I now have a piece of land and I will make my kingdom soon. This anonymous saying is a tribute to spirits of Sikhs based in Malaysia. Sikh history in Malaysia is traced back to 19^th century when they have been bought here by British Army and got stationed in places like Penang, Manting and Seremban. The Sikh regiment’s main purpose was to safeguard business interest of British empire especially tin mines in Malaysia. Because of their onerous duty and generous attitude they earned respect among British officers. As mark of respect towards their faith they donated piece of land near to present railway station to build a Gurdwara. In 1905 they moved Gurdwara to its present location on Jalan Templer which now is erected on area almost half acres. Seremban gurdwara foundation was laid down by a British officer and its management comprise of sikh police officers. They slog day in and out to raise it as shrine and adobe of social activities. After independence there was a resurgent of thick set Sikh comprising 600 police officers residing there.

During 1942 Japanese attacked and occupied Seremban. A Japanese soldier hurt a sikh woman because she refused to bow her head. Then all sikh came forward to negotiate and occupied middle grounds with Japanese. As cumulative effect comprising mixed feelings of fear and respect Japanese army funded ration of Gurdwara. Prasad that Sikhs cooked with rice, corn flour, ragi-flour and palm oil was give a nick name of “karate Prasad”. Till 1945 they maintained a cordial relationship with Japanese army and act upon as bridge to connect them to soldiers of Netaji’s Azad hind fauj.

“In proximity of Gurdwara there is a church and hindu temple. We have people from all walks of life taking darshan of Granth sahib”, explains Sardar Payara Singh, an eighty year old strong built sikh who landed in Malaysia in 1949. He is royal descendant of king Johar Singh wala family of Punjab located near Mogha district. “From 1969 onwards I got actively involved in activities of Gurdwara and was president of committee till 2005. After independence of Malaysia this place was renovated and the then second Prime Minister of Malaysia Abdul Tun Razak laid foundation stone. Today we have more than 500 families associated to this shrine. We build it brick by brick and today this two storey has an air conditioned prayer hall, fully operational and well equipped kitchen and store room, a langar and multipurpose hall, a library and several rooms. We have well furnished rooms where people from all over the globe come and stay to devote their time in well being of community.” Said Pyara Singh. Latest trends like Information technology aren’t neglected. With an estimate investment of $ 40,000 committee set up computer labs and automated various day to day activities of shrine.

Under his and Dr. Parim Singh stewardship there was again major renovation costing nearly $ 600,000 out of which nearly $ 250,000 were donated by locals.

“We give kitchen and hall to people outside our community too hold marriage parties at free of cost. We are among the pioneer gurdwara to initiate and establish an English medium school. We provide educational aids to poor and deserving students. We provide scholarships to students who have vested interest in further studies”. Continues Sardar Pyara Singh, “through this place of worship we have successfully connected our generations to spirits and values of Sikhism. We teach them that being a sikh doesn’t mean only to bear 5 K’s but it is about living a devoted life and embracing values that sikh gurus have advocated for. To profess this idea we regularly hold lectures, kirtans, music classes, sporting activities and invite knowledgeable preachers and saint to convey ideas of spiritual up-liftment.”

Very recently Government of Singapore appointed a sikh as chief of their army. This is an epitome of valor and wisdom a sikh inherits in their blood. To spread hands and beg is not they have in their veins. As a result of this quality they have emerged as powerful business community as well in South East Asia and they have played a pivotal role in raising Malaysian economy. During 1927 when economy went under depression the worshippers went out of the way selling their own belongings like jewelry and even livestock enabling committee to continue their services and services never lost momentum till 1929 when balance left was only $ 130.  Majestic and grandeur Seremban gurdwara is symbol of their straightforward equivalence between economic progress and social well being. 

Star - to be or not to be

Star - To be or not to be
Look above your head a widespread sky. On that sky see those shining and twinkling stars. What we see as shining star is actually continuous burning flame. This is what life of a celebrity, rich and famous (read) star is like. That burning ambition to be somebody got them at the top. Nevertheless they have to keep burning to maintain their shine. 
World admires their shine. What is more, people make celebrity as their role model. This ardent desire to be like star makes many followers to climb higher and they wish to touch the sky alike their role model. And this is a lifetime achievement of rich and famous when people follow their footprints. Hordes of cameras, hundreds of people are behind them. They want to know how they live their life as simple as how their bathroom looks like or what is their favorite color. What is their favorite time activity, who was their past beau, how they rose from rags to riches. Indeed a celebrity’s life is talk of the town. 


People look at their fortune but not spending of millions that they are doing to sustain stardom. On all the way to road to success they have won true enemies and false friends. Their personal life is a public show. Their personal affair makes the headline. Moreover they cannot come out in open freely to see the sky. Sometime they again look back at those lanes where they dreamt of becoming a star. They miss those moments and seldom weeps in a dark corner of their mansion. 


While seeing pains of life of rich and famous most of the time people do not want to become glitterati. In my opinion there is nothing wrong to be a shining star but it is matter of regret to be a falling star. Rich and famous have to pay the price of stardom they have achieved. Every achievement they make comes with a price tag. People who maintain their celebrity status for long have actually planned and visualized it while they were on streets. They calculated the price they will pay on road to stardom. Similarly one who has an ardent desire to become rich and famous should also know the price tag. They need to learn from lives of people who chose this path knowing pros and cons. In brief one who wants to become a star should know that he/she has to burn his/her life. 

Think before you smoke

Doctors worldwide are raising concerns on number of deaths happening due to lungs cancer. Globally governments have expressed their concern over cause of cancer I.e. smoking. They are pondering over new rules to exercise control over this habit that is taking toll over health of many. 

It's astonishing that it's not smokers whose health is more at risk but it's passive smokers who are more prone to risk. Both categories are prone to risk of getting lungs cancer and diseases related to heart. 
Gravity of problem is serious and all steps taken have proven futile to erase problem of smoking 100 percent. Given fact that you cannot force anyone to stop smoking is major hurdle which hasn't been overcome. 
Forcing directly means snatching away their fundamental right. 

We should take consequences to economy in consideration if smoking get banned totally. First it will affect revenue that government earn in form of taxes and duties imposed on sales of tobacco. Secondly, at minor level it will affect paper industry and hundreds of vendors selling cigarettes will loose earnings. Contradictory to it if government gain money in form of taxes they are imposing on sales of tobacco it could be utilise to improvise health services while slashing cost of such services. In my opinion government should hike the tax resulting in an increase in price of cigarettes. This in turn will discourage people to consume less cigarettes. 

Policing all vendors is almost near to impossible as police cannot deploy extra force to see ban being observed by vendors and consumers. Making stringent laws doesn't mean that you can stop people smoking at public places. Rather they will find covert ways to continue with the habit. 

We agree that smoking should be banned but at the same time we need to ensure that individual shouldn't be deprived of their fundamental rights. Celebrity endorsement, ban on public places, encouragement to quit can minimise the problem but cannot erase the problem completely.

Mahatama Gandhi

Mahatama Gandhi

In a marathon race there is one difference between winner and looser.  The winner runs that extra mile that the looser is not able to run. This is applicable on our life and great people’s lives. They go an extra mile to serve the purpose. They take control over their life and renounce worldly pleasures and serve humanity at the cost of their life. One such person who influenced thoughts of many had the habit of walking miles and miles reaching out people. Spreading the message of peace and brotherhood he lead the Indian independent movement and bought down mighty British rule in India with his non violent movement.
When whole world was fighting a violent battle with guns for freedom from colonial rule, he lit the lamp of truth and peace in South Africa. When he was thrown out from the first class coach of train on Durban platform and was slapped that slap shook his soul. That was an awakening of a man who studied law in England and who was a very shy and reticent person. A short and fragile person who took mighty British Empire by its thorn was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi alias Mahatama Gandhi. He urged people to let down their guns and adopt non violence and advocate for their own rights. He asked for the basic right to live as human in a free and liberal society with equal rights during the time when racial discrimination was order of the day.
He raised his voice but not hands. He raised his concerns not pains. He devised techniques of protest advocating for truth. Protest march, fasting, sit down, non cooperation were some of his popular weapons he used against British killing their willingness to rule. Be the change what you want to see in the world said that he changed many peoples’ lives. 

Pune’s traffic problem – diagnosis and possible solutions

Pune’s traffic problem – diagnosis and possible solution

One of the way to get rid of problem is to bring it in limelight and to create uproar so as to create pressure on decision makers to come aboard and solve it. It is the best way not the only way. This statement made fits very well in context to Traffic problem in Pune. It’s not matter of a day or two but we have witnessed augmenting menace on roads for years and raised our voices blaming a system. It is time to ponder over other ways than blaming Ms. PMC and Mr. Politician.

At first hand we have to take responsibility to curb out this chaos on roads at personal level because at first we are victims of it affecting our lungs, eyes, hearts every part of body. Some youth organization came up and did some voluntary work distributing stickers and requesting people to obey traffic rule.

Traffic on any given road is like free flowing water and traffic signals serve the purpose of dam restricting & controlling movement and speed of vehicles. With given 105 chowks on near about 1000 sq. km of road is not a control measure but has totally affected flow of vehicles. Take a drive from Deccan corner to PMC HQ. You will come across some six signals at a stretch of road less than 2 kms of distance. One signal, two signal, three signal…and dam of patience got broken there and people start breaking signal rules. A India based software firm helped traffic police of London to overcome traffic related problem that they did virtual mapping of road and saw painful areas of situation. A similar approach has to be adopted by traffic department when it comes to planning movement and flow of vehicles other than blaming Ms. PMC and Mr. Politician for non-cooperation when it comes to widening of roads.

It is prime time when colleges should brood over to contribute to this gigantic problem and have to come forward to rescue of ‘Oxford of East’. We must follow South Korean example where every citizen came forward to wipe off debris and took vow to keep their streets clean and free from debris. Student population forms a major chunk of biking on the road. Authorities must think over on how to control this while only few have come forward and deployed buses for students. It's one of the way to create space on roads.

Local companies must enhance their social responsibility. Recently, one company decided to call off their operations from city. It’s running away from the problem and not a solution. But joining hands with traffic department sorting while discussing it can be of the way other than blaming Ms.PMC and Mr. Politician. Its time to control biking on the roads and to create space for large vehicles to carry people. It can be one of the way but not the only way. It is time to encourage cycling at least twice in a week. It is time to join hands to sort this problem and it is the only way to combat it, which is affecting our mind, body and souls including Mr. Politician and Ms. PMC.