B66 Sriram , What do you really do ?!

Very often i am asked by people , Sriram we know you are a consultant , but what do you really do ?

The crisp answer is " I enable organisations and people change to realise meaningful goals " .Also help them address differences and resolve conflicts. 

My evolution over the 21 years of professional consulting since August 1999 has been four fold

1. Evolving from a pure HR functional consultant to a broader organisational one ( I still do the former whenever the context demands)

2. Ability to impact results ,from being a designer of the "right structures and processes"
3.Flexibility in working with organisations of varied sizes, scale, contexts ,ownership structures and varying stakeholders .
4. Greater readiness to wade into minefields, conflicts , uncertainities, the unknown , though the pull to safety keeps tugging at me.

Have had my share of challenges, failures and some success

and the journey continues ..........

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mpsriram_aventuspartners-people-performance-activity-6671658704066236416-0TXj

B65 Talk about your Work to serve !

Talk about your work and your organisation not for ego gratification or to feel superior but with a desire to add value and to serve.

I came upon this line that i had written to myself over a decade back .Helps one stay focussed on our true purpose.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mpsriram_aventuspartners-people-performance-activity-6671236963070304256-a6FR

B64 Encouraging people to be authentic

 Our assumptions of how we ought to behave /project ourselves, fuelled by the expectations of organisational roles takes many of us away from our natural authentic selves.

Fostering a culture  that encourages and enables people be their authentic selves could help root out some of the unhappiness/ disengagement and anxieties that we see around us in organisations today.

Having honest conversations confronting reality however painful, being nonjudgemental are some of things that encourage people become more authentic and shed their masks .

Would be interesting to see some cases and experiences of companies encouraging and enabling people be authentic

B63 Silence -The field of all possibilities

Silence is truly the field of all possibilities. I have learned through personal experience that solutions to problems however complex they might seem or appear, emerge out of silence. It calms your mind, nerves , helps you see things as they truly are , helps you communicate your views with clarity, makes you a better listener .... I can go on and on .

Just sit quietly wherever you might be ie all thats needed and see your fears, anger getting replaced by possibilities, opportunities and energy and inspiration for action.

Do practise silence. It strengthens you all around.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mpsriram_silence-aventuspartners-people-activity-6670876827181027329-RcHM

B62 Clarifying Purpose and Values

 No amount of time spend in clarifying our overarching purpose, goal, and a very small number of non negotiable values is wasted. For sure it takes time to become clear.  It's value in decision making during uncertainty and great internal conflict ( dharma sankat) is immeasurable.  Applies as much in our individual lives as in organizations.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mpsriram_aventuspartners-purpose-values-activity-6672108861547278337--fXc

B61 Lifestyle & Workstyle changes are both internal

 The last few weeks have been a wake up call for many an organisation. Especially the ones who have been struggling with cash flows, unsure of when and how their customers will return etc. Having got over the initial shock and firefighting ,organisations and leaders need to start answering some hard questions on what all led them to their current situation .Have no doubts Covid19 was just an external event. The problems and solutions are internal.

Some of these solutions need to be thought through carefully as they can have deep implications ( Eg laying off people). Some changes you were contemplating for long, much before the crisis might need acceleration.

Compare your organisations situation to a human being who has had a heart attack or a stroke. Recovery will be painful but unless fundamental changes to permanently mitigate whats caused the situation are not taken , just like the person the organisation will be exposing itself to recurrence when the external stressors reappear.

B60 It’s a difficult path but it’s the only way forward

It’s a difficult path but it’s the only way forward.

Conflict brings out the worst in us. People say and do things they regret, are not proud of and contrary to what they normally are.

We carry in our minds what people said and did to us while at their worst as well as feel ashamed of what we did at our worst.

A few things that I personally do and encourage others to do, to overcome these residual feelings.

1) Do not “attribute “motives /intent to their actions. Make an effort to understand them and their circumstances better. This helps us understand motives even if we don’t agree with it.

2) Tell yourself every time you see the individual or are reminded of the situation that the same “Divine spirit energy “flows through everyone. This makes you more compassionate.

3) Be grateful for the good that the individual has done to you. Am sure there will be at least one thing

4) And the most powerful healer , Seize the opportunity to do something useful for the other; be it the person with whom you behaved badly or those who behaved badly with you. This paves the path for forgiveness.

It works ! As humans , we all long to be at peace with ourselves and with each other.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mpsriram_aventuspartners-people-performance-activity-6627801006396751872-mh2H

B59 Blessed to be in Gods own country

Salute! #Kerala government for taking care of its #people

While millions in india are facing huge difficulties a first hand account from kerala.

Mohini chechi (in picture) our domestic help dropped by after 7 weeks. With buses not running in kochi, she walked and hitched a ride as she says she was fed up of sitting at home.

She narrated how the government has taken care of her family of 5 during the lock down. Her husband and sonin law are daily wage earners and have no income since lock down . She and her 2 daughters a nurse & an accountant got their salaries on line (I too have send it regularly,twice sofar)

They hold ration cards for people below a certain income level ( not sure on the exact figure) which ensured they got 25 kgs of rice from the ration shop and another 25 kgs from the panchayat ( 5 kgs per head). An additional 5 kgs was given by the local ward member. They also got 2 sets of kits containing 17 items including 1 kg wheat, lentils, soaps etc. All this she says of good quality and zero cost.

She says other than feeling bored and having body pains because of sitting idle, she has had no problems.

I salute the #Keralagovernment & the machinery for taking care of its #people .

Blessed to be in God's own country.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mpsriram_kerala-people-keralagovernment-activity-6665465936881025024-RAlw

B58 Make choices

Make choices and keep moving . Some will turn out well . Some wont . Just focus on doing your best !

B57 My goal is to remain Non- Judgmental for an Hour at a time

If there is one thing that the events of the last few weeks have taught us , it is the limitations of our carefully laid out plans and assumptions. We sometimes get stressed, anxious , othertimes become optimistic , even buoyant with every piece of information that we get, person that we talk to ,webinar that we attend....

A time tested way to deal with life and the circumstances that it puts us into;

1) Accept reality , people ,situations and events as they occur
2) Stay non judgemental ; Not labelling situations and events as good /bad , favourable/unfavourable . I am sure you are familiar with the famous zen parable of the " Man and his horse "

Easily said than done .

The method i was taught to strengthen this frame of mind and remain equanimous is to take it by the hour . Set yourself a goal to remain non- judgmental for one hour at a time and keep building on it. Needs patience .

But i guess thats the best way to embrace life !


https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mpsriram_aventuspartners-people-change-activity-6658197774212915200-d6Pk