Today’s ever changing corporate environment calls for new kinds of people management skills.
From managing teams to peoples problems and handling customer service,an empathetic approach helps create a positive difference and transform work culture.
So what is empathy after all?
Empathy is about being able to perceive and understand another’s point of view using their frame of reference.
To sense the flow of the moment with another.
To communicate with & be able to understand another’s perspectives insecurities and pain points.
Empathy is a positive approach aimed at improving teamwork and building teams , bridges gaps of communication implementing changes through appreciation, support & encouragement than unnerving others with negativity & criticism that can be rather demoralizing.
Empathy can create and build trust and rapport that you can tap into. In using empathic responses, problems can find meaningful and lasting solutions.
In using empathy with skill, you show respect & value for another.
There is a huge wave of empathy oriented approaches in businesses across the world. This is truly valuable and must be encouraged.
After all empathy is a main contender in a list of skills that show emotional intelligence quotient of an individual.
Can you waltz on ice?
When winters turn grim and cold
Can you create joy and cheer?
Even in moments of melancholy.
Can you see a silver lining of hope?
In the dark dreary night to help you cope
Can you see beauty in every dusk and dawn?
Letting go of fear & doubts in the twilight hours.
Can you instill trust in another & move in faith?
Inspite of not knowing the way as yet.
Can you believe you can lead the way?
Inspite of being in a maze in the now.
Verily you are stable in balance
And you have taken your stance.
Clearly then you are dancing in this moment.
Clearly you are waltzing on ice.
We can seem totally confident and be raring to go one day and feel completely strained and stressed out on another day.
We are only human and its perfectly ok to feel so.
We don’t have to prove anything to anyone.
It’s our life and we have just this life and this moment with us, if we are not living with joy in our heart then perhaps we have some questions we need to answer for ourselves.
Ask yourself these questions honestly…
Do you dare to be as you are?
Do you express yourself without doubts and fears?
Do you mince words, avoid stepping forward, play too safe
That you hardly dare to live your life?
Do you wear what you like?
Feel comfortable with what you wear
Or choose to conform to fashion trends or what’s expected of you?
Do you eat with all your heart?
Do you binge or fast in guilt or insecurity?
Or do you care to nourish and nurture yourself with food?
Do you check your weight?
To be sure you are in a healthy range.
Or do you find yourself too often on the scales, almost every day?
Do you dare to speak your mind,
To voice what’s in your heart.
Or shut up in fear of ridicule, of what others will say?
Do you measure your words to talk
In fear of being judged or criticized.
Or…to be the best version of you.
Are you happy in your skin
Do you care about your appearance
To the extent that it ruins your day
Or to feel good for yourself.
Remember you are most beautiful when you wholeheartedly accept the way you are.
Do you wake up because you have to?
Or do you have the joy of waking up…
To a new dawn in the hope of possibilities.
Make this moment special the best you can as you are.
Remember every moment in every day is a challenge
It sometimes gets easier or even tougher in the ups and downs.
Everyone had tears in their eyes on the day of his farewell.
One of the employees said,
“Sir, there is one thing we want to learn from you.
You worked here for so many years.
Leave aside about scolding your subordinates,
we have never seen you even shouting at them.
We have scolded our subordinates on the pressure of work or for other reasons.
We want to know about the seed of your patience.”
The Boss said,
“This all comes from the incident of my childhood.
My father was working as a lower-level employee in an office.
He was a very nice person.
He was respected very much in our family.
It happened one day,
I was studying in the 4th standard.
I had gone to the office of my father for some reason.
I saw that my father was not on his seat.
I waited outside.
After some time,
the door of the Boss opened, my father came out of the door.
I saw the face of my father had turned red.
He went straight to a corner and stood there looking outside through a window.
He had not seen me.
I went to him and called him slowly.
He was taken by surprise and turned back to look at me.
I saw a stream of tears flowing down his eyes.
He was slightly disturbed seeing me. He did not find time to wipe out his tears.
Can my father cry anytime?
He was the strongest man in the world for me.
It was out of my wildest imagination that someone could hurt him.
I ran straight to the room of the Boss.
Father was calling me from behind.
But, listening to nothing,
I went inside and asked the Boss,
“Why did you make my father cry?”
The Boss was also surprised.
Thereafter, my father tried to make me understand.
But, that day I had decided to take revenge on the Boss.
From that day I decided that I will study well and become a Boss one day,
but I will not make my subordinates cry anytime.
Because, they are not only the employees of my office, they are also respected and dear father or brother or somebody of their families and belong to someone important.
People say it is not possible to control others without scolding them.
I say, what is love then for?”
People who come to work are the ones who devote their best and quality time of the day to work, leaving not much time for their families. They do deserve better treatment from their surroundings._
Ships don’t sink because of the water around them; ships sink because of the water that gets in them. Don’t let what’s happening around you and your circumstances get inside you in your mind and weigh you down.
Make your life such where peace becomes your priority and no negativity can exist in your life.
*Just because you’re angry that doesn’t give you any right to be cruel.*
*Anger, on the other hand, doesn’t solve anything, it builds nothing, but it can destroy everything.*
*Neurologist claim that every time you resist acting on your anger, you’re actually rewiring your brain to be calmer and more loving.*
*The less you respond to rude, critical, argumentative people… the more peaceful your life becomes.*
*Explain your anger instead of expressing it, and you will find solutions instead of arguments.*
Here are some interesting observations from office group meetings.
Office meetings are no different
From groups of human getting together
Human behaviour has an extensive range.
From shy to extroverted, bold to introverted
Myriad patterns of personalities
Manifest in business meetings.
There are those totally in charge
Setting the tones driving the agenda
There are those who are out to showcase skills at every opportunity.
There are others who are peacebuilders.
There are facilitators who are also great delegators.
They are resourceful in the absence of a leader.
There are those brimming with enthusiasm.
They are the ice breakers who reduce tensions.
There are the creativity enhancers.
They step beyond the box and think.
They can bring tangible and intangible to light.
They can be ambiguous or realistic in views.
There are contributors who just say a few words which make people rethink.
They may have voiced their opinion only after much thought.
There are those who blether on and on without consideration for others.
For, they love to be the centre of attention.
They forget it is a meeting with a time & agenda.
Then there are the team players who actually enjoy meetups.
They are adaptable, versatile and happy to help.
They are the bond that binds one and all.
They are juxtaposed with the reserved and silent ones.
They are those who are uncomfortable with the attention.
They are the wallflowers who may have many views but are quiet in a group.
They are great to tap into to hear alternate views.
Have you noticed those who are physically there in a meeting but yet not there?
They are lost in a realm of their own
They are wanderers who are free spirits actually.
They hate to be restrained in one space for even a while.
There is just one issue they hardly pay attention and hence may be unproductive at meetings.
Have you also met the pessimistic who always think it won’t work?
They can bring down the spirits and the morale of an entire team.
There are also the argumentative who always have a counter view without thinking.
Then come to the detail-oriented
Who never leave anything to chance.
They come prepared and are diligent.
They are at risk of seeming too intense.
They, however, can pinpoint the errors.
Their questions can bring clarity to the team.
Finally, there are those who rarely attend.
They saunter in without an agenda.
They have no idea what the meeting is all about.
They have never bothered to find out either.
They still can be channelised through proper directions.
Lastly, let’s watch out for perpetual latecomers.
They always may come in full of excuses but with the right interventions & time management skills.
They can be great contributors…
How many of these types have you observed in your office meetings?
Every person is unique, & likewise, every meeting is thus equally unique.
Through a positive approach, when utilized in the right way for the right skills…
Everyone can then, greatly contribute to the productivity of a meeting.
If we only could understand
Our so-called imperfections
Are pieces in the giant puzzle
Of life and living
They are meant to match
Another jigsaw somewhere somehow.
We are meant to piece together
Collaborate and correlate
The meaning of life and living
Of existence beyond the bread & butter.
Of what makes us survive
In spite of the insurmountable.
If we could only begin to see
The beauty within us
We would learn to appreciate the beauty
That surrounds us.
We are perfectly defaulted
We are blessedly imperfect
As we are divinely manifested
To be the way we are.
We are but mirrors in the reflection
Across dimensions of space and time
Such is the eternal truth of our being.
We construct and deconstruct
In our imagined cosmos
The truth of our own existence.
We bounce and reflect our perspectives
In and on to each other.
We shine our brilliance.
We mirror perceptions.
We are vulnerable and yet volatile beings
Beaming energies boundlessly.
The task is to recognize the strength of our souls.
In our perfectly imperfect ways
We pattern our world along with us.
We are creation and creation is within us.
Our thoughts are powerful and with it
We are creating and altering the social structure of life itself.
Our world needs each of us.
To have our edges, sawed or not
Blunt or sharp
For actualising the purpose we are born for.
We are way bearers for the future
We are the torch and flame of life
Existence longing for itself.
Life can be fickle and yet very wise
The choice is ours to take.
There is much wisdom in integration, in finding meaning in the divergences.
What a poet relates to the truth in humanity.
What a scientist relates with theories of relativity
Are all drawn from the same well,
Of cosmic vibrations,
Of conscious awareness,
Of the eternal truths of life.
Where wisdom flows
There is Universal consciousness
Savvy
Here is a beautiful conversation I came across between the great minds, of Albert Einstein and Rabindranath Tagore…..when the two met and spoke at length.
Do take time to read this interesting dialogue between them in this article link below.
Umpteen number of years gone by Though I lost the count, Nature got it etched on my trunk. I can’t remember when I was a seed or sapling. Today I stand tall being a witness to the passing seasons. I wither and flourish, With each passing year My branches multiply tall and wide. Though my hands try to reach the passing clouds…
My roots stand firmly grounded on the earth. My secret of longevity I adapt to Nature Withering in Autumn Clad in the snow in Winter Rising to be alive with Rains Flourishing in Spring. Though I may look barren at times My creeper friends cloth me in green Till my canopy is filled with greens. To nurture and nourish withstanding Time.
Anjana
I am truly happy to share the above verses for this is one of my mother’s impromptu poems written in a flow, just a while ago, after I shared the above photo of a tree that I was drawn to capture with her.
Tall trees that seem to touch the sky …
devoid of leaves and blue skies with silver puffs of clouds floating by…
I am currently in France and while sitting in a bus stand admiring a tree at a distance, I decided to take this photo as I found myself drawn to capturing the vision of the sky from the ground below through the branches as a canopy of sorts.
Every manifestation of life is beautiful and significant in its own way. We often assume that a tree devoid of leaves is barren and ignore it. Yet there is so much to see and learn, respect & reflect from it.
I loved the above poem by her for many reasons one of which is because, it reflects the wisdom of nature, that flows through us all maintaining balance and sustaining us in life and living.
Art of Self Management for Self Employed & Entrepreneurs
If you are self employed it is certainly possible that you are actually having no downtime at all.
It is also likely that however rosy the picture is to be your own boss the truth is you are overworked and highly stressed as you are unable to delegate as compared to conventional job scenarios.
Maintaining work life balance is a continous work in progress.
The first step is working towards putting a good team in place.
You cannot managealone as your company grows . You need to be able to step back , step in and step up.
Avoid this inner conflict with yourself that as an entrepreneur you have to be hustling constantly all the time.
Avoid burnout… take a mini vacation time to time.
In today’s technological age you can step away and be aware and clued in on what’s happening at work easily.
Remember you are a human not a machine and you need to ease up as well.
Switch off to switch in.
Sleeping well is great way to destress but to boost your brain there is a way to renew your creative instincts
Simply Switch off from regular work
Switch in to a new or parallel interest .
Read explore paint draw dance sing write or research or reflect on complete opposite of what your regular schedule entails .
You will rewire your neural pathways to jumpstart your own creativity.
Savvy Raj 
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