What Life Is About!

Life isn’t about keeping score. It’s not about how many friends you haveOr how accepted you are.Not about if you have plans this weekend or if you’re alone.

It isn’t about who you have kissed,It isn’t about who your family is orhow much money they haveOr what kind of car you drive.

Or where you are sent to school.It’s not about how beautiful or ugly you are.Or what clothes you wear, what shoes you have on,Or what kind of music you listen to.

It’s not about if your hair is blonde, red, black, or brown,Or if your skin is too light or too dark.Not about what grades you get how smart you are, how smarteverybody else thinks you are, or how smartstandardized tests say you are.

Life just isn’t.

Life is about who you love and who you hurt.It’s about who you make happy or unhappy purposely.It’s about keeping or betraying trust.It’s about friendship, used as a sanctity or as a weapon.

It’s about what you say and mean, maybe hurtful, maybe heartening.It’s about starting rumors and contributing to petty gossip.It’s about what judgments you pass and why.And who your judgments are spread to.

It’s about who you’ve ignored with full control and intention.It’s about jealousy, fear, ignorance, and revenge.It’s about carrying inner hate and love,letting it grow and spreading it.

But most of all, it’s about using your life to touch or poisonother people’s hearts in such a way that could havenever occurred alone.

Only you choose the way those hearts are affected, and thosechoices are what life’s all about.

NOTE: Got form friends diary and seriously liked it! 

Money V/s Experience -- :)

Money Vs Experience -

Money has no memory. Experience has. You will never know what the total cost of your education was, but for a lifetime you will recall and relive the memories of schools and colleges. Few years from now, you will forget the amount you paid to settle the hospitalization bill, but will ever cherish having saved your mother's life or the life you get to live with the just born. You won't remember the cost of your honeymoon, but to the last breath remember the experiences of the bliss of togetherness. Money has no memory. Experience has.

Good times and bad times, times of prosperity and times of poverty, times when the future looked so secure and times when you didn't know from where the tomorrow will come… life has been in one way or the other a roller-coaster ride for everyone. Beyond all that abundance and beyond all that deprivation, what remains is the memory of experiences. Sometimes the wallet was full… sometimes even the pocket was empty. There was enough and you still had reasons to frown. There wasn't enough and you still had reasons to smile. Today, you can look back with tears of gratitude for all the times you had laughed together, and also look back with a smile at all the times you cried alone. All in all, life filled you with experiences to create a history of your own self, and you alone can remember them all.

The first time you balanced yourself on your cycle without support…
The first time she said 'yes' and it was two years since you proposed…
The first cry… the first steps… the first word… the first kiss… all of your child…
The first gift you bought for your parents and the first gift your daughter gave you…
The first award… the first public appreciation… the first stage performance…
And the list is endless… Experiences, with timeless memory…

No denying that anything that's material cost money, but the fact remains the cost of the experience will be forgotten, but the experience never.

So, what if it's economic recession? Let it be, but let there not be a recession to the quality of your life. You can still take your parents, if not on a pilgrimage, at least to the local temple. You can still play with your children, if not on an international holiday, at least in the local park. It doesn't cost money to lie down or to take a loved one onto your lap. Nice time to train the employees, create leadership availability and be ready for the wonderful times when they arrive. Hey! Aspects like your health, knowledge development and spiritual growth are not economy dependent.

Time will pass… economy will revive… currency will soon be in current… and in all this, I don't want you to look back and realise you did nothing but stayed in gloom. Recession can make you lose out on money. Let it not make you lose out on experiences… If you are not happy with what you have, no matter how much more you have, you will still not be happy.

Make a statement with the way you live your life: How I feel has nothing to do with how much I have.

YOU! ARROGANT HR!

YOU! ARROGANT HR!

“Your friend is terrific; he doesn’t have the courtesy and doesn’t know how to speak with employees.” I had a new employee who was referring my old friend in HR, working in one automobile industry.

“She never speaks right, deviates the subject and very arrogant. Her nature is threatening.” Another person was telling his impression about his earlier HR colleague.

There are certain HR professionals who give the bad impression about the profession. Why HR professionals fail to earn respect? Somebody may say that the HR profession is thankless. We are perceived differently by the employees. Employees take convenient stand. If something goes against the employee, he will curse the HR. At one side, we have to enforce the policies, rules and regulations, at another side we are expected to be good with employees, how it is possible?

Valid reason. But still, as the HR professional I am not convinced.

People misinterpret aggressiveness for assertiveness. Every professional should be assertive & not necessary aggressive. Some people say that in sales you need to be aggressive. Imagine if you are aggressive with the customer, will he tolerate you? Customer is the king and as a customer one can not tolerate arrogance. Your assertiveness will help you put your points.

Assertiveness and Aggressiveness are not similar words. You should be assertive and not necessarily aggressive. Aggressive itself defines arrogance; however assertiveness is perquisite for any profession. Most of the times, these two words are considered same.

“Earlier General Manager was replaced because MD thought that he was not enough aggressive.” I heard this statement from senior level employee, “He was good and very through professional.” It happens in owner driven companies. In fact I have seen some HR professionals who are very impolite and arrogant. They behave in such a way that they know everything in the world and they claim that they are the people who manage the show in the organization. God knows what they do?

Most of the times, candidates are the victims of such behavior. Just check with your HR person who is coordinating recruitment. She doesn’t understand that talent attraction is very difficult, but she can make the mess just because she has the privilege for screening somebody.

“For now, avoid HR like the plague. They are not your friends, and can be your worst enemy, and, most of the time, they are.” I heard this while one senior level marketing professional was telling his friend.

“Most HR professionals are trained only to screen people out. This is fine for a fork-lift driver or clerk. Do they know how to assess a candidate?” this is one of the perceptions among other professionals.

“HR loves to have power. The HR departments in most companies are trying hard to grab more and more power. This department is concerned with the safe, the tried and true, and the stodgy. These are, of course, the very things that keep a company from actually rising above the competition and getting noticed.” One another myth, but mere perception.

“HR is not trained to evaluate executives. HR people are trained to read job descriptions, not people. Their track record for selecting the right people is not likely to be very stellar. They can choose people who, on paper, are qualified, but not necessarily the best person for the job. They also don’t understand the duties of executive level personnel, nor technical personnel”. I heard this during networking session in one conference. This can be true because he must have shared his own experience. HR likes to obstruct and take lots of time.

Somebody may say that this all is applicable to all professionals in their respective area. Why to blame HR only. I believe that HR has the major role to play. All professionals should be on right track and should not exhibit the traits which I explained.

“Vinod, Every line manager is a HR manager now a day; hence HR should play the role of godfather.” Mr. Sharad Phadake, the then GM, Igatpuri plant of M&M advised me.

“We, HR professionals are from different school of thoughts. They claim that they have the expertise in People Management and hence it is their responsibility (and also accountability) to exhibits the same in day to day interactions. HR should play the role of coach, mentor to these professionals.

The competencies like interpersonal skills, communication skills, team skills, change management is not only for other professional. HR also needs this. Values like respect for people, Empathy, credibility, customer orientation are necessary for every employee, and every include HR also.

And believe me; it is possible to earn the respect for HR. In spite of different paradoxes, you can earn the respect provided you are open to change; you are open to new ideas.