Think before you ink

One of the best lessons I learnt in my career ,was to “think before I ink”. I started my career ,in the early eighties ,in India. I worked in a steel plant, which was a complex process industry and had millions of people employed ,in the country.

Most of our communication in organisations ,were through written notes for decisions, approvals and so on. We had not seen computers or any other electronic ways of transmitting information ,till the late eighties. This meant we could only talk to each other or write to each other, to exchange information and take decisions.

As youngsters starting our career in large public sector organisations, we were trained ,through a structured programme of how organisations worked and then made to work in teams ,to get things done. We had just come out of our colleges and many of us were keen to express ourselves and show off our command over language, through our notes.

I can share one such incident in my career, which taught me, one of the best lessons in communication ,at the work place. I was exchanging notes with a colleague on a contentious issue, where both of us had conflicting views ,on the same subject. While we sat ,just a few meters away from one another, we were trying to excel in the language of our communication ,more than the content or the value add. When this note went to our our head of the department, he called both of us ,to his room.

If you are not able to talk ,since the other person is sitting a few kilometres away or in another city, then kindly pick up the phone and talk to each other and sort it out. Only if you are not able to walk across and talk to each other or talk on the intercom, which the company has provided, will you write a note from today.

He further went on to explain ,how a written word on a note is irreversible and may create a deeper misunderstanding ,than one can imagine. While talking, we may agree to disagree or even forget any harsh words exchanged. But, when we exchange rough language ,in written communication ,it is etched in paper and in our hearts. So, kindly remember ,this basic skill of effective communication from today.

He told us, that he has gone through our notes and was impressed with our use of language. We both thought we were being appreciated for our command ,over the english language. He then made us sit down and told us ,that he wants to share a simple rule of communication in life and work. He said that ,you both sit just a few meters away from one another. So, at the first instance, if you do not agree with the other person, just walk across and talk to the other person and resolve the differences.

Even if we think of it today, this advice is invaluable ,not only at work but in life as well. We have to first speak to one another, preferably in person. If not possible, at least on phone before we write to one another. A written document could become ,like a ballistic missile , which could boomerang and hit us back, before we realise it.

Even in the days of whatsapp and email, this lesson is very useful. We need to remember that email and whatsapp ,do not have emotions but humans do. So before we write an email or send a whatsapp, we need to speak first and then think ,before we write.

We could recall email and delete whatsapp messages , before they are read but it does leave a trail that an email has been recalled or a whatsapp has been deleted and that may also create avoidable misunderstandings ,in the minds of the receiver.

So, let us learn to think before we ink, from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

4th May 2025

Look before you leap

A common saying from our childhood days ,will always remind us that we need to “Look before you leap”. This may look simpler than we can imagine. In the competitive world of today, where we want to ,out beat one another ,in minutes, rather than months or years, the need to jump into action ,may be irresistible.

The risk-return analysis ,may need time and we may imagine ,we do not have it. So, we tend to jump ,at every possible opportunity before we realise ,where we have landed ourselves in. In my book, there is space for every individual, in this world.

But some of us ,may not agree to this. We may believe that we are not running a marathon but a short distance race and hence we need to leap ,before we can even look. The risk of jumping before we look ,may be deeper ,than we could imagine.

Let me illustrate this point ,with some real life examples ,I have come across ,in my life. The first time I experienced this, was when the Y2K phenomenon hit the corporate world. Everyone believed that the world will come to a halt with the advent of Y2K ,since our computers were not designed for this transition and hence they need to do something about it.

Many dotcom companies spurned up in the late nineties and the best of talent from the corporate world, jumped into this bandwagon. They were enticed with swanky cars and huge salary packages. The Y2K ,did not shake the world as anticipated and thereby ,many of these dotcoms disappeared as fast ,as they came up. Thereby ,many of these talented employees lost their jobs ,along with their benefits. They had come to back to the real world and their real pay packages.

The next phenomenon ,was in the early part ,of this century. The IT and services industry ,boomed in India and the world. Many youngsters got posting in the developed world ,with great salary packages and ended up ,investing in multiple flats and other assets at home. This resulted in monthly EMIs to bank and lending institutions .when some of these people lost their jobs during the next recession, they had to sell their flats ,at below market prices and came crashing down to mother reality.

So ,the lessons of life are real. We need to look before we leap ,always. Today is the age of start ups, they appear even before the sun dawns in the east. Many of us at various stages of our career ,are jumping into this scenario. Some of them wind up ,even before the sun sets in the horizon.

The start ups provide a great environment to take risks and also experiment and try out new things. So, there may be nothing wrong to try out this way of working. But, we need to realise ,that the start up world is different from the rest of the corporate world, before we join them. They may start, grow and flourish and we may become millionaires. On the other hand, they may wind up ,even before they launch their product or service and hence we need to have the financial capability ,to survive this storm .

Life is the art of balancing risk and reward. We need to learn to look before we leap. We can leap if we have ,all the grounds covered and are ready to take the risks ,associated with them.

Let us learn to look before we leap from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

4th May 2025

Your reputation travels before you

I have always believed that our reputation travels ,before we arrive at any place. Once, while I was changing jobs, I had to move from one city to another. As I arrived at the new city, I was invited by our Union for an introduction meeting. The Union President informed me that we are aware of your personality before you have physically joined us.

I was surprised. They told me that my reputation of being an employee champion and stickler for fairness, in all my decisions, had reached their organisation ,before I had joined them. I promised them that I will try my best ,to live up to that reputation.

It is a fact that our reputation travels by air ,while we may most likely travel by train or by road. The fact is that our actions speak louder than our words. This directly implies ,that our actions have carried our reputation before we have physically arrived ,in any situation.

In today’s world of social media, our reputation travels at supersonic speed. Just as organisations may track our social media profile to check on our credentials, our team members may track us too, to understand how good a leader we are.

Today the world is fully connected. We are connected by social media and all our business needs also happen through the net. This makes our credentials more transparent than ever before. Even a bank looks at our CIBIL ( Credit Information Bureau Limited) score ,before approving any of our banking requirements ,since all our financial transactions are online and are measured in the form of a CIBIL score, which is transparent.

Life is no different. Even in the past, our reputation always travelled before we arrived. A simple experience would be, in social circles, children would flock with adults, who were fun to spend time with. If they found you to be grumpy or short tempered and have heard stories about you that way, they would avoid you ,rather than spend their valuable time with you.

I am passionate about driving ,since my early adulthood. So my friends’ children always preferred to sit in my car, whenever we went for a picnic together. The reason was simple. My reputation of being a fast and safe driver had reached them before they entered my car or even decided that they wanted to travel with me.

It is equally applicable in organisations. If team members were given a choice to choose their leader, they would all have some people in their mind ,as their reputation of being inspirational ,would have reached even before they joined that organisation. On the other hand, if we are known to be demotivating leaders, most team members may be reluctant to join us ,unless they have no alternatives.

The realisation that our reputation always travels faster than us ,has to be sooner than later in life. If we are conscious of this basic tenet in life, our actions will build our reputation and we have nothing to worry. On the contrary, if we think our position can help build our reputation, we may be mistaken. People respect great people and not the positions they hold.

Let us build our reputation through our actions from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

1st April 2025