MMM Training Solutions

I heard a story yesterday that I wanted to share with the world. A group of salesmen were returning home after finalizing a multi-million dollar deal. The negotiations took longer than expected and they reached the airport without much time to spare. They grabbed their luggage and raced through the doors of the airport. In the rush, one of them caught the edge of an apple cart spilling the apples all over the sidewalk. However, even a moment’s delay would have caused them to miss the flight. They all continued without turning back.

The team heaved a sigh of relief when they got their boarding card and entered the flight. They were the last ones to enter and the air hostess moved to close the door. At that point one of them said, “Here is my wife’s number. Please inform her that I will be catching the next flight out. I have something important to do.” The puzzled co-workers did not get the time to question him before he ran out.

He wanted to ensure that the apples had been picked up. When he reached there, much to his amazement, very few of the apples had been gathered. People were rushing but no one seemed to notice the strewn apples. Suddenly he noticed the figure of a young girl, near the apple cart, huddled over and crying. He approached her and realized that she was about 16 years old and she was blind. She was the one who was selling the apples. She could not pick up the apples and was distraught. He was speechless. He reassured her that he would help her and started to collect the apples. A few of them had been damaged by the fall. He kept the damaged ones aside and stacked the good ones on the cart. Slowly the crying of the girl subsided.

After all the apples were picked up, he pulled out $40 as compensation for the damaged apples and handed it over to the girl. He apologized for his actions and started to walk away. All this time the girl had not said one word. In fact he wondered if she was mute as well.

After about 5 steps he heard a voice saying, “Excuse me sir. Are you Jesus?” Overwhelmed with emotion he did not turn back.

When I heard this story I was sad that no one had asked me this question till now.

Has anyone asked you this question? What have you done to deserve this honor? We would be delighted if you could share your story with us.  

“Do not stand on a high pedestal and take 5 cents in your hand and say, “here, my poor man”, but be grateful that the poor man is there, so by making a gift to him you are able to help yourself. It is not the receiver that is blessed, but it is the giver. Be thankful that you are allowed to exercise your power of benevolence and mercy in the world, and thus become pure and perfect.” –  Swami Vivekananda

“Things that are bad for you seduce you easily; you run towards them impatiently. But things that are actually good for you fail to attract you; you shun them creatively, finding powerful excuses to justify your procrastination…”
- Mythical character ‘Raavan’ as quoted by mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik in the Times (Times Life, July 4th 2010)

I cannot but agree with king Raavan as far as the above quote is concerned. Many times in my life I have been seduced by what was not good for me. Be it that tasty fried dish, that extra hour spent watching television instead of going to bed, lying about something so as not to lose face and all the other pleasures of materialism that come with being human.

A number of times I have shunned what was good for me – the cleaning up of a room, the exercise that I always wanted to get but never seemed to make the time for, the vegetables that were lovingly kept on my plate, being bold enough to swallow my pride and take responsibility.

How do I rise above this? How do I chase after what is good for me with a greater interest than what I show to all that is material?

The only answer I have found is ‘shifting my intentions’. Choosing to do the ‘good’ things; the ‘right’ things. I chose to eat more vegetables. I chose to take more responsibility. I chose the good. Surprisingly, it was not as hard as I thought it would be. It was by no means an overnight process but the power of a determined mind can take one to levels that a strong body cannot.

Good and bad exist within all of us. I believe that what you give power to (the good or the bad) is what will determine your path in life. Today, ‘goodness’ is something that I chase after. Today, the ‘truth’ is something that I constantly chase after. The challenge is separating the ‘truth’ from ‘subjective truth’. It is an arduous journey, yet one that I believe is the path of higher learning.

As a trainer and facilitator, I strongly believe that it is this path that will allow me to be a candle that will spark the learning of those around me.

“It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us…”
“…And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” – Mariam Williamson (Spiritual activist and author)

This scene is set in Chinnakkalpet on the southeast coast of India on December 26th 2004. Unsuspecting fishermen were returning with their daily catch, their kids playing along the shore while their mothers got to their daily chores. Little did they realize that the sea was going to embrace them all, in one giant leap, in a short while.

At 8.30am the Tsunami struck with a vengeance.

Dinakaran was the oldest of three children; he was 7 years old. His parents felt that he had the greatest chance for survival independently so they gathered up their two younger children and ran to safety. But the wave was too high and too quick for Dinakaran. Before he knew it he was being dragged into the depths of the sea. He tried to grab at the shrubs and the trees as the water pulled him with great force. He was exhausted and he resigned to death when suddenly he felt a bite on his shorts which penetrated into his skin. He thought it was a tree stump but for some reason it stemmed his flow into the sea. When he looked down to his utter amazement he noticed that he was being dragged back to the shore. His guardian angel was his dog, Selvakumar.

“Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.” – Sally Koch

Do we have the courage that Selva displayed? Do we handle situations with always the thought, “What is in it for me?” Can we display the selflessness that this animal showed in rescuing his friend?”

Selva teaches us to do what we shy away from doing most of the time – to help without expectations. While we race to compete and excel in our lives, it is important that we pause for a second and lend a helping hand to those in need. We would be living in a better world if only we could criticize less, ridicule less, mock less and help more.

“The hands that help are far better than the lips that pray.” – Robert Green Ingersoll

As the world celebrates Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May every year, it is time we looked into what goes into the making of this symbol of pure love.

As a resort to understanding what makes mothers special, I realized that an important aspect of motherhood is communication.

Mothers teach children how to deal with everyday life. They teach children how to communicate. They are taught words and told when to listen. This amounts to verbal communication.

Mothers watch as their child draws the first doodle, and helps them to write while they are in school. They understand their child’s unspoken words and understand what it is going through. This amounts to non-verbal communication.

So in the end of it all, when you look at the whole concept of motherhood, you begin to realize that the epitome of effective communication essentially begins with the mother!

We wish all women a Happy Mother’s Day, and celebrate their ability to make a difference to tomorrow by being here today; for the countless opportunities and the infinite challenges that make them what they are!

“A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.”
~ Tenneva Jordan

I was recently watching the Hollywood movie, Sister Act, (1992) starring Whoopi Goldberg. The movie is about how Deloris (played by Whoopi) impersonates a nun and unwillingly accepts the responsibility of managing the church choir – while she is in hiding under police protection. I would like to talk to you about a particular scene where I was reminded about Emotional Intelligence.

In the movie, Deloris is a lively pop singer. While she is there, she revamps the lifeless and archaic choir group and transforms them into passion-filled, lively singers who effortlessly captivate the audience. Deloris was fully aware that this would not garner the approval of Mother Superior but she did it anyway as she believed, with certainty, that this would be beneficial both for the audience as well as the singers. At the first performance, the Archbishop was overwhelmed by the passion of the singers and the involvement of the audience. Much to everyone’s surprise, the Archbishop praises Deloris for her efforts to bring change and depth into choir worship. Deloris, though taken aback, humbly tells the Archbishop that this whole effort for change was instigated by Mother Superior.

This may sound trivial, but this is a transformational and touching moment in the film. Deloris demonstrated that if we have passion for whatever we do then we will be able handle people and situations effectively. She wisely handled others’ emotions in a way that everyone basked in the glory of success in the end, thereby bringing happiness into the picture.

This is, essentially, what the core foundation of Emotional Intelligence lies upon – the ability to live in the moment. It is the sustained ability to always get into the act, and do what is required to augment group success and individual happiness.

Stress has been known to cause serious impediments in our body and mind. The only way to resolve it is through self awareness. It helps to know your natural reactions to stress. This will help you be better prepared in the face of a crisis.

Stress Management techniques teach participants to channel negative stressful energy into a more positive tone. Through my years of experience as a Soft Skills Trainer and Executive Coach, I have seen that the audience imbibes what is taught with regards to stress in a brilliant manner. This goes on to show how important it is to expose ideas such as stress management tips to employees in the organization.

Many times, the under-current of despair and hopelessness get ignored during the monotonous struggle of daily organizational tasks. The management needs to bring this to light, recognize it and be proactive so that the culture of the organization is not affected.

Due the above substantiation, we have made Stress Management Training an important element of our Soft Skills Training program. We aim at providing the participant with long-term and easy-to-use methods that would help them not only in their profession, but in their personal life as well. We firmly believe that a happy employee means a happy organization. And happy organizations definitely means a happier world to live in.

As an ending note, I would like to bring to light the instance of the carrot and the egg. When both a raw carrot and an uncooked egg are dropped into a pot of boiling water, what happens after a while?
The raw carrot which was initially hard now becomes soft, and the egg which was soft within, now becomes hard.

Now ask yourself, under stress, which is equated here through the pot of boiling water, what are you like – the carrot or the egg?

I recently watched an Oscar nominated 1946 English classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life” , by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart and Donna Reed. The story is set shortly after WW – II, and is about a deeply depressed but good man who gains the attention of his guardian angel. The movie, loosely based on Philip Van Doren Stern’s short story, “The Greatest Gift” is a beautifully woven eye-opener that gets viewers to see the brighter side of life.

Human beings are a progressive lot. We have the inborn nature and ability to succeed in whatever we do. This is why we strive to achieve perfection in our work, life and all that we set out to accomplish.

Take the instance of the golfer. Every golfer tries to drive the ball to a long distance. In the process, errors tend to occur because the game involves the strategic coordination of simultaneous movements. The golf coach always
advises that direction is more important than distance.

This is indeed the same with life. Despite one’s best attempts, there always will be ups and downs. The factors that stand between success and an individual maybe many – family pressure, commitments and work, to name a few. We need to focus upon having a deeper perception about what is occurring around us to be able to rise above our circumstances.

While we are at it, we should remember never to fall into mediocrity and the false feeling of self sufficiency; they are vices detrimental to our growth and success. Constantly endeavour to develop yourself through learning. Enhance your skills through soft skills training. We offer a range of Soft Skills Training to enhance one’s career skills and progress during the economic slump – communication skills training, leadership training, time management training and stress management training, to name a few. Our post training Corporate Programs evaluation have shown a substantial positive increase in organizational productivity (For further reference, please feel free to visit http://www.mmmts.com/softskill_training.htm)

Don’t let the economic recession dampen your spirit of creativity and the fire of enthusiasm – it may look like there is nothing much to look forward to during this dark spell – but take it as a learning period. Things will always look brighter after a while – and when the time comes, you don’t want to be unprepared. It helps to realize that by using one’s potential to the maximum, there is a feeling of achievement, joy and satisfaction. In other words, let success be defined internally for you. When happiness emerges from within you, better satisfaction is gained than trying to gain appreciation from external sources.

In relation to this context, it is worthwhile to remember the saying, “The night is always darkest before dawn.” In today’s age where recession has gripped the global economy with fear, we should smartly and diligently work with the perception that there is hope for the future. Today, we can make the best happen through what we have. Now is the time to work shoulder to shoulder with each other to navigate choppy waters.

Now is the time to look to the future and say, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Former President A P J Abdul Kalam gave a regaling talk to an enthralled audience at a “Times Avenues” event on career options recently. [Kalam Tell Students To Follow Their Heart, Times of India – June 23rd, 2009]

Speaking in his typical anecdotal manner, Kalam doled out advice on issues ranging from current prospects for aeronautical engineering to the need for reform in appointment of primary school teachers.

The key point he made to the students was to follow their heart. It had the audience both amused and inspired.

I completely agree with Kalam’s viewpoint. Following one’s heart is the most vital ingredient of success to all that we do. It is possible to achieve both success and happiness by pursuing the kind of life, career or hobby that we are deeply interested in. Recounting episodes from his childhood, Kalam stressed that he was able to succeed in what he did because of his passion for what he did, that automatically tied to the will to succeed.

You need to find your seed of success and nurture it to growth. There maybe instances when weeds threaten to hamper the growth of your dream, but you should remain steadfast and strong, not stopping until the goal is achieved.

So always remember to do something that is close to your heart. In doing so, there is no coercion, and all your energy is effortlessly harnessed towards achieving what you set out to achieve. This will lead to happiness and fulfillment in life.

Mr. R. Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director – Tata Sons gave a talk at the Indian Institute of Management, a premier MBA institute of India one day. In his discourse, he addressed the youth of today’s world. One of the points he touched upon was about enjoying one’s work. I would be covering many more of his points in my subsequent blogs.

“There is no greater fun than hard work.”
~ Sir James Lipton

In the dynamic corporate world of the 21st century where work dissatisfaction and attrition is the norm, it is evident that one has to make sincere efforts to “enjoy” one’s work. Gopalakrishnan pointed out that all individuals should not only work towards achieving happiness, but should strive to work as happy people.

These two concepts are very different.

When we work with happiness, it gets reflected in everything that we do. It is all about the attitude. Happiness should be a means to an end. We should be happy in whatever we do.
Hence work and career should help an individual in reaching full one’s full potential. Indeed, the satisfaction that is derived from this is overwhelming.

Through the myriad instances of life, it is vital to maintain a sense of humour. We laugh a lot as children, and then somewhere along the way, we forget what it means to laugh open-heartedly.

Many people get uptight and impersonal when they start ascending the ladder of success. They feel that sharing a good laugh with old friends and subordinates would make them look less powerful than what they perceive themselves to be. This is beautifully summarized in a quote by General Joe Stilwell (1904-1946, United States Army four-star General best-known for his service in China and Burma) below:

“Keep smiling. The higher the monkey climbs, the more you can see of his backside.”

So laugh a lot and be happy. Love your work – this approach gives a fresh new outlook to life. The satisfaction and fulfillment you will derive from this will surpass all boundaries within which you have been restricting yourself.

“If only we’d stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.”
~Edith Wharton

The Obamas’ struggle to achieve victory

A new book called Renegade recounts US President Barrack Obama’s unlikely run for the presidency. An article relating to this book in the Times of India newspaper (dated June 8, 2009) recounts a particularly tense period in the personal lives of the Obamas during the year 2000.

The Obamas’ marriage was supposedly on the brink of collapse because of Barrack’s political aspirations and First Lady Michelle’s experience as a first time mother.

This particular episode is long past. They are now known today, as the most romantic First Couple of America. Which now brings me to my question – is it necessary to dig up the past and exhibit information that has no relevance to the present? Is journalism about reporting relevant facts or has it become about providing shock value to the reader?

In my opinion, I think we should focus on the fact that amidst all the pressures in their life; they were able to rebuild their marriage. In life we all fall down, but the ones who succeed are the ones who pick themselves up, dust themselves off and keep moving without looking back. This shows that Obama is tenacious and is capable of leading a broken down country – it shows that he is a man who achieves his missions. This is what the learnings need to be for the reader.

Let’s not get tangled by the volume of information that hits us day after day. Let us approach daily news not from the perspective of the journalist, who wants as many newspapers to sell, but as a reader who wants to learn from the lives of people; who have reached unimaginable levels in their lives through sheer persistence, focus and vision. This will help us to reach not only those levels but beyond those levels.