In a Teacup

In a Teacup

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In a Teacup38 articles
Hospitality is a state of heart
In a Teacup

Hospitality is a state of heart

Our education and sophistication seem to build walls and teach us to despise one another. These people were among the poorest in the world, deprived, discriminated against, so-called lower caste. Yet their hearts were full of compassion, generosity and abundance. What is the secret? It is to see another human being as a human being. Shorn of our titles and labels. Just another human being. This is what we need to learn and teach. This is the secret of putting out fires and of survival. This is our lifeline.

8 min read
discriminationgenerosity
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The Door of Dialogue
In a Teacup

The Door of Dialogue

It is not an exaggeration to say that at the leadership level the most important thing is not subject knowledge but interpersonal communication skill. The excitement of leadership is that every day comes with the possibility of a new experience. Some of them quite unexpected. Your success depends on how you can turn a potential disaster around and covert it into a competitive advantage.

16 min read
angercommunication ability
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Fact is stranger than fiction
In a Teacup

Fact is stranger than fiction

Some experiences happen that leave you dumbfounded. I have had many such. This is one of them. They are markers for me that Allahﷻ is there and watching and protects us with His Mercy.

6 min read
Ambadidreams
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Riding Elephants
In a Teacup

Riding Elephants

The importance of habitat conservation in the protection of avian and animal species can hardly be overemphasized. This is why when logging companies talk about reforestation, by planting millions of trees of one species in the place of the multi-species forest they demolished, it is such a farce. Especially the animals, birds, insects, amphibians, and reptiles that used to live in the natural forest and which died with the trees, will never return. That is why when you walk in one of these so-called forests, plantations really, there is dead silence. The silence of the grave. While when you walk in a natural forest, as Hashim and I were doing that morning, the forest speaks to you.

16 min read
Anamallaiselephants
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Climbing mountains to build teams
In a Teacup

Climbing mountains to build teams

The biggest leadership challenge, irrespective of the situation, is the ability to build self-motivated, autonomous teams. Teams who after you have built them, work without you and don’t consider you necessary for their success. My greatest success in my years managing profit centers was in building such teams. This is tough because making yourself redundant is not easy, especially on the ego.

11 min read
leadershipmentoring
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A factory, Karpusamy, and a Masjid
In a Teacup

A factory, Karpusamy, and a Masjid

My learning in this incident of the bulldozer was the fact that to build credibility it is important to be able to lead from the front. You do not have to do people’s jobs for them. It is not even desirable to do that. But you do need to demonstrate that you know what they do and can do it if necessary. It is when subordinates get the impression that you know nothing about what they do, that it makes them nervous, and they lose motivation. The good ones feel a little lost. The crooks take you for a ride.

23 min read
Anamallaisculture
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No pain, no gain
In a Teacup

No pain, no gain

In this whole incident the one thing that is not logically explainable, but an essential part of leadership is the willingness to trust your inner voice. When you do that, you enter a state of grace. It is a state where you do things that you did not know were possible. You will find yourself saying things that you were not aware that you knew. You will find your mind working at a heightened state of awareness. You will feel more alive and full of energy than you ever did before.

21 min read
communicationcourage
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Monkey Business
In a Teacup

Monkey Business

But hunger is the best motivator. The newcomers are hungry. The early movers have eaten. The newcomers know that if they don’t succeed, there will not be anything left for them. They are desperate. Their stakes are higher. That is a winning combination, in business. Even in monkey business. If you want to succeed, get desperate about it.

6 min read
competitionfood
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Memories of Anamallais
In a Teacup

Memories of Anamallais

It is difficult to describe the beauty of the place where we lived; a place that changes the scene from season to season. In the summer, when it is hot and dry, the waters of the Parambikulam Reservoir recede towards the dam and the submerged land becomes visible. It is a surrealistic scene of a Salvador Daly painting. Gaunt, dry, tree trunks dead for years, look like they have been blasted with dynamite. Crumbling walls of what had once been villages. Homes where people lived and from where they moved, leaving the homes to be covered by the rising waters of the dam. Earth that is black with silt and initially looks dead. Then as the ground dries out a little and the sun touches it, old seeds germinate, grass starts to grow and covers the land. Where did the seeds come from? What happens to them when the water inevitably rises and covers them??

15 min read
Anamallaisfriendship
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1985
In a Teacup

1985

These years and incidents were tough on the one hand but were enormous opportunities for me to learn about myself, develop resilience, patience, and perseverance. They were proof that if you take the pain, then the result is worthy of it. I had taken the pain to insist that I would not let my injury come in the way of work and worked hard to establish productivity and quality standards that I look back on with great satisfaction. I stood for what I believed in and did my best. I was fully supported by people like Bertie, Jaikant, Norman, Taher and others and I am most grateful to them for their friendship more than anything else. Truly in the plantations, our relationships were far beyond good colleagueship. We were friends in a sense deeper and more meaningful than I can describe. I am most grateful.

29 min read
Anamallaisfriendship
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Every end is a new beginning
In a Teacup

Every end is a new beginning

My planting story ends on a very happy note which always brings great happiness to my heart. After spending three years in Ambadi, I decided to quit planting and seek my fortune elsewhere. One year later in 1994, I launched by consulting company, Yawar Baig & Associates, in Bangalore and have never looked back. Planting was a very beautiful part of my life which I thoroughly enjoyed. I made great friends who I have remained in close contact with ever since.

4 min read
Ambadicommunication
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AMM-HSS – Turnaround story
In a Teacup

AMM-HSS – Turnaround story

I set some ground rules. I told them that if they identified a problem, I also wanted them to think it through and suggest a solution that we could apply. I didn’t want them to become ‘professional protestors’. I wanted them to become problem solvers. Whatever problem they mentioned would be their problem and who better than they to suggest the solution? The second rule was that the syllabus was a non-negotiable. That had to be completed. So, if they wanted to take time off one day, they would have to work extra time on another day to complete the syllabus. Finally, I reiterated that they would be treated with respect, but that they would have to treat teachers with respect. That meant that what they wanted to do, they would have to discuss with their teachers and get their agreement. I would be happy to facilitate that if they wanted me to, but it was their responsibility. We would not impose anything on them without their agreement. And the same courtesy would apply to the teachers. Everyone agreed. They didn’t know how it would work in practice, but it sounded nice. Teachers also looked happier after hearing this.

18 min read
AmbadiAMM Arunachalam
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