Author: S Ramesh Shankar

Born in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India, I have been brought up in different parts of India. Graduate in chemistry and post graduate in personnel management and industrial relations. Have been a HR practitioner for 38 years in the industry and have experience in working in steel , automobiles, FMCG and engineering industry. Was head of HR for Siemens in South Asia based out of Mumbai till March 2019. Currently founded hrishti - joy forever, a social enterprise to give back to society and work as Chief Joy Officer.

Life may not always be fair…

Is life always fair ? Many of us may feel differently. Some of us, who have not yet faced inequality or unfairness may vouch for life’s fairness, while others may feel otherwise. This is the beauty of life. It is not the same for everyone . Each of us live life through our own experiences.

If one loses a young colleague, friend or relative due to cancer, you are torn apart. Especially if that person has been a good human being, you feel life is not at all fair. Then you see you see a young and healthy colleague, who keeps fit, has no vices and dies of a heart attack – you are convinced on the unfairness of life.

On the other hand, when you read about a young student from a slum topping the civil services exams or representing the country in Olympics, you realise, how equitable life is and vouch for goodness and fairness of life.

Life is like that. While it is fair for some, it may appear unfair for others. Each of us go through our own share of fairness and unfairness. We feel good when life is fair to us and feel cheated when life treats us unfairly. This is human.

Now, the question before us as what we could do to ensure that life is always fair and equitable to all. I am a born optimist. I always have believed that life would be better tomorrow than today. Even while going through some of my toughest moments in life like losing my parents or missing a promotion in my career, I have never given up.

It may be easier to write about being an optimist than actually being one when you are tested by the challenges of life. However, I believe the true test of a human being is when we go through the hurdles of life. It is easier to drive on a freeway but tough to wade through slushy hill side during the monsoon. Life is no different. It is at these times, we need to calm down, think of all the good things that have happened to us in the past and express gratitude.

Gratitude helps us to be grounded. It strengthens our resolve to face all the unfairness of life. It gives us the courage to stand up even when we are knocked down multiples times in the bout of life. It is like the sportsperson who loses a match but resolves to work harder for the next learning from the failures of why he lost the previous match

While we go through a challenge in life, it may be difficult to be grateful or reflect on our mistakes. But, as soon as we are able to pick up ourselves from the doom and get up and walk again, that is the time to sit down and reflect. It is the time to express our gratitude and put in our best foot forward.

I have always believed that hard work pays for itself. Sometimes, we may not be able to correlate our efforts and the concomitant rewards which we may be expecting. But as long as we are sure of our efforts, results can never be far behind.

As in the photo above, you may sometimes wonder “Why it happens to me only ?”

We need to learn to be fair to ourselves even when life is most unfair to us. We need to learn to get up every time we fall down. We need to learn form our mistakes. Last but not he least, we need to bow in gratitude.

Life is fair or unfair, the way we perceive it.

Time to change our perception.

S Ramesh Shankar

15th Nov 2020

Substance over style…

I was watching a cricket match recently when one of the commentators made a very pertinent comment. He said he liked one of the young and aspiring cricketers of India for his style. But, it is time that he shows “ Substance over style”. This set me thinking.

Many of us spend our life time trying to sharpen our styles. We forget the fact that Substance is more important than Style in everything in life. While style make get you temporary accolades in a particular match when you score well but if you do have substance and are not consistent then you may fade faster than you could imagine.

This point is equally true in every aspect of life. We tend to focus on the outer behaviour and forget the inner one. We tend to be outwardly well behaved without a human heart. What is the use of being the best dressed man in the office if we end up being the worst behaved manager at the workplace.

While dressing for the occasion may be important but dealing with people humanly is more important than our dress. We may never remember the best dressed persons we have met in our lives. But, we will always remember the people, who made us feel special on all occasions.

It is like being a great orator in a debate. While our diction and style of delivery can get us admirers, we will be remembered more for the content and quality of our debate than the style of delivery. This does not mean style is not significant. What is being emphasised is that substance should always prevail over style. If we have substance and deliver in style that could be the best option before us.

Even when we listen to speeches of great parliamentarians in India or abroad, we look for substance over style. While a great orator with an eloquent command over the language impresses us in the moment, it is the content of her delivery, which lingers in our thoughts forever.

I remember one of my college professors who had great substance and no style. He was grounded, simple and down to earth. He did not have a sense of dressing too. But all of us as students used to admire his content and even nicknamed him as a walking encyclopaedia in college. He was knowledgable , modest and had quest for learning and sharing with others. This proved that substance always prevailed over style.

Another important learning for me is that people with substance may not necessarily need to focus on style. Whatever style they adopt, their substance overflows and takes care of any deficiencies in style. However, it cannot be the other way around. If we do not have substance, style cannot compensate for it.

As in the photo above, while style is good, substance over style is also critical.

It is time to lay the foundations of substance before we mould our style in life. We need to focus on substance first and style next and not the other way around.

If substance is there, style will always follow.

What do you think ?

S Ramesh Shankar

9th November 2020

Can work be fun ?

One of the questions I have often been asked in my career is -“How to enjoy your work ? The answer is simple. If you know what you enjoy and do that as your work, then its easy to enjoy your work. This is the most difficult in life. First to understand -“What you enjoy ? And second to get to work in that space, which you enjoy.

I was recently watching a video of two pilots who have been grounded by an international airline. They have taken up alternative employment as bus drivers. One of the drivers during the course of an interview actually said – “If you enjoy your work, you don’t actually work, do you ? This was an inspirational statement and made me think. That statement inspired me to write this blog.

In life, it is possibly easier to know what you don’t like rather than what you enjoy. It is important to realise that this is a challenge for all of us. Some of us get it earlier than others. I know of some people, who changed the course of their career almost in their mid careers and there is nothing wrong with that.

Quite a few years back I was reading an article in the Harvard Business Review which was titled – “ Job Sculpting”, where the author beautifully explains this concept. The author explains that we need to keep sculpting our jobs till we feel we found our choice. It is possibly like the sculptor keeps chipping till she feels that she has made the best sculpture.

The authors go on to explain how people in different vocations around the world have found their calling at different stages of their career. I remember the standing out example in that article was that of a software programmer who spend more than two decades in programming and suddenly during a holiday on the coast realised that he enjoyed being a coach for skiing much more than anything else he did in his career till then. So, he quits his job as a programmer after two decades and undergoes a coaching course for skiing and then evolves as a coach.

We may not know or realise what we enjoy. If we put in some efforts we may but we should not be afraid if we do not. The day we realise and understand what we enjoy then it would be great if we can explore our career in that space. For eg. if I enjoy travelling and I am working as a HR manager in a factory, it may worthwhile to explore if I could become a travel guide or even a travel blogger. That way I would work in an area, which gives me maximum joy.

While some of us may find it easy to get to work in an area of our choice, some of us may be stuck to vocations we don’ like for reasons beyond our control. But, it may still be worthwhile to find the right time and place to take a break and do what you enjoy. This way work becomes joy and not work anymore.

I love travelling and writing. So if I have to start my career all over again I possibly would love to be a travel writer.

This may be easier to write about than actually try out. But most things in life are not easy to accomplish unless we are willing to take it as a challenge and do it. Our work and career is also one such thing. If we enjoy what we do then work is sheer fun. If we don’t, then every day looks longer than the previous day at work and even our health gets impacted in this process.

It is time to challenge ourselves and discover what we enjoy. If work is fun and we enjoy it, it is no longer work for us.

Do you agree ?

S RameshShankar

9th November 2020