Entries Tagged 'Landmark' ↓

Context is the reference. It is something that’s operating in your mind whenever you are taking any action, or even thinking.

Dictionary.com defines context as: 1. The part of a text or statement that surrounds a particular word or passage and determines its meaning. 2. The circumstances in which an event occurs; a setting.

Context decides the outcomes. If a person has sight problem, and can see only yellow and blue color, everything in life would be either yellow or blue. Probably green, if he would try hard and the senses would be able to mix yellow and blue. Most of the things in our life are driven by the context we have for them.

If I think a colleague is dumb, all my thoughts and actions will be determined by that. The way I talk to him, even if it has a layer of encouragement or knowledge sharing, will always be driven by my context of him being dumb. When I work with him, I will always feel that I will have to do his job because he is not going to be able to do it nicely. And guess what, the colleague would certainly become dumb!

The reality could be different. He may or may not be dumb. Nevertheless, if I change my context, it can bring in very different results. If the context changes to be “he is quite good, but may be stuck on an area or two. What can I do to support him?”, then you can imagine the results it would produce.

Context is decisive. Not content!

I assisted in the Landmark Advanced Course on 18th September. The left home at 6.30AM and reached back at 4AM! But the twenty one and half hours were worth the experience!

I reached Jai Hind College (the venue) half an hour early, so took a stroll by the sea side at Nariman Point. The morning breeze was full of oxygen and I took enough of it to go for the whole day! Met the Production Supervisor of the course at 8 and got started.

The first task was to clean up the area - the stage area from where the coach speaks and the audience area of chairs. The rule - the job should be done with velocity and must be impeccable. I sweat was dropping off my forehead by the time I finished the task. Then was cleaning the water glasses and arranging them in an orderly manner. Then to fill them up.

I have never worked under somebody. I have always been the boss. Performing these chores got me the experience of following instructions; the struggle to perform an impeccable job in a time bound fashion, and the occasional grumble towards the boss. I also experienced what are the qualities of an effective employee - ownership, creativity, aptitude, persistence, communication and the ability to handle situations.

The supervisor asked me if I am good with Internet, I grinned! I then ran out to take an article from the Internet for the session. Managed to pull together the piece on time and got a big appreciation for it. And I said to myself, I am good at what I do for a living!

In one of the exercises, I got to sit next to the leader on the stage. The exercise was related to media. We had selected a story from a newspaper in the morning that I would read. Accidentally, that whole page was missing from the paper when it reached me on the stage! I then had to resort to my creativity and imagination to narrate the story - without it actually being on the paper! It was action packed and I learnt from the leader how to keep my cool in the worst of situations.

A lot of other things and lessons. The firefighting to get the tables arranged, taking care of the water stations as needed, the task of doorman, and post midnight toil to move the tables back to their original place and do the packing. And then to find taxi to get home. And to sleep on the way back!

The day’s high moment was to witness the new possibilities course participants invented. The whole group was excited, overjoyed and ecstatic. They recited poems and danced. And we couldn’t stop but celebrate.

It was indeed a day where I got three times worth the time spent!

I was discussing with a friend who’s done Landmark and an insight appeared. One possibility needs another! For any possibility to be fully present, you will have to have a lot of other possibilities present as well. It’s like a chain, one needs other, the other needs another.

I am the possibility of trust and freedom. Now trust and freedom can not survive on their own. If there is no love, self expression, power, creativity or integrity. If there is no love, there is very weak foundation to the trust. If there is no self expression, love would be paralyzed.

Possibilities work in tandem. They can’t live in isolation.

What is your possibility?

About three years back, I went to Germany to attend CeBIT. Magnet was doing very well and we were looking at new markets. There was a strong team in place and we hoped to find some partners in Germany who would subcontract work to us.

The CeBIT experience was good, but the IT industry had not yet recovered from the 9/11 shock. Companies informed that they themselves were looking for work in Germany and there were enough low cost and efficient resources available from eastern Germany and even other nearby countries. Bottomline – no business benefit from the tour.

There was some more bad news in the pipeline. When I returned, the IT scene in India was improving, and within three months, almost all the top brass of the organization left for better prospects. Many others followed. We were down to about 35 people from a head count of more than 50 in just three months.

This was a major shock for me. All the people I trusted, on whose promise of support, we took risks, were gone now. Only those remained who were closest friends.

I decided not to trust employees.

A lot of incidents happened in the next years which only strengthened the belief.

Then I did Landmark Forum this June.

The forum altered my views of the situation. I realized that I missed a lot of good qualities of the employees because the trust was not there. My behavior with the team had changed and that limited the growth. I also have to accept that in the IT industry, you can not expect people to stay with you forever.

A lot of things have changed after this realization. I have grown closer to people; I now take active interest in employees’ growth; and my outlook too has changed. The results have been fabulous. People feel much better now, the company performance has improved (of course, a lot of other factors contributed too), and people simply enjoy working in Magnet a lot more.

I am not stuck with the question about trusting employees. Now, I work on how I can inspire trust in my people.

How does it feel when you realize that people trust you?
It was a humbling experience for me! I created the possibility of trust and freedom in my Landmark Advanced course and here I was stunned by the trust people put in me.

After completing the four days of the advanced course, I was in the office on Monday. We have a joint meeting for all MagNeteers on Mondays. That day, I spoke about the results I experienced in my life because of Landmark and how I was sure that the course would make a huge difference in each MagNeteer’s life. There was a good amount of discussion and debate about how such workshops do not work, how people know all that they need to make their lives better, and how people are happy with what they have. I maintained my stand!

Tuesday evening is the completion evening for the course. You can invite your guests on that day so that they can also get a taste of the work of Landmark and can register for the course if they like. I had invited everybody in the office on Monday and was out on meetings for the whole of Tuesday.

I expected a few people to turn up for the evening session. Well, five turned up! And after the session, four of them registered too! When I asked them why did they register, there came the answer: Because you said it will help me! And when you recommend something, I am sure it will be good for me.

Of course they saw value for themselves in the course, were impressed by the treatment they got as guests that evening. What touched me the most, was the trust they put in me.

It was a small incident, but I realized how much people value relations, and how important trust is, even for near strangers. I felt honored and elated by seeing my possibility be reality!

And how does it feel when they tell you that you made a difference in their life?
Two of the friends who registered for Landmark Forum, are completing their course today. When I met them on Sunday, I had another insightful high moment in the waiting.

Manick recently left Magnet, but had registered for the Landmark Forum. Manick and Rashmi are engaged. I hadn’t met Rashmi before that Tuesday evening. And last Sunday, in the Forum, Rashmi tells me: You didn’t know me and neither did I. But you got us here and this work made a huge difference in my life. Thank you.. I was happy that both of them got tremendous value out of the course.

What I also realized was the immense satisfaction of making a difference in somebody’s life. My commitment towards trust and freedom is getting stronger everyday!