I am not sure if my mobile is dependent on me or me on my mobile. In all likelihood, the way I am behaving nowadays I seem to be more dependent on my mobile rather than my mobile on me.

Now the next question to ask is – whether it is good or bad. Most people may say that there is nothing good or bad in life but everything is relative. However, I sometimes wonder what will happen to me if I become too much dependant on any thing or person.

As a kid you may be dependent on your parents, then on your siblings, friends and colleagues in life. As you grow into an adult, you want to be independent in most aspects of your life.

Similarly, today technology gives you many gadgets to make your life easy and comfortable and thats a good development. However, as we tend to become addicted to some of them, then it may be time to reflect and ask a question to ourselves – am I getting addicted to it ?

Today I realised the same and asked myself – am I dependent on my mobile or is it the other way around. I realised that I have become dependant or I may even say addicted to my mobile. Addiction in any form may be more harmful than helpful.

I tend to spend a lot of time on my mobile from the time I get up till I sleep. While I have justifications for all the time I spend, may be it is time to challenge myself. I may feel that I am connected to the world. I get to know what is happening around the world in seconds thanks to the news app.

Similarly I am connected to family and friends all the time and can share my joy and sorrow through social networking apps. The email and communication apps keeps me connected to my world through emails and messages. However, the question I need to ask myself – is it worth all the time I spend on my mobile ?

I need to recall the quality of time I spend with my family and friends in real time. Do I have to time to pick up the phone and talk to people ? Do I remember birthdays or other important occasions of my near and dear ones. Do I surprise friends or family with a personal visit ?

How much time am I able to spend learning new things or living my passion ? Is the mobile phone and other gadgets invading my personal space and thereby reducing the quality of my life.

I have decided to challenge myself and ensure that I use my mobile and other gadgets only to enable me to be more productive. It may be worthwhile from time to time to ask myself – is it time to reset my buttons . There is no absolute in life. Everything is relative and we need to be our own judge. Let not others judge us and give us advice. Let us be our own bosses and steer our life the way we want to.

Is it a good wake up call ?

S Ramesh Shankar

5th April 2021

I find it amusing when people have different yardsticks for themselves vis a vis others. This phenomenon is seen in families, organisations and society at large. As a parent, I can go anywhere without informing my spouse or other family members but nobody in the family dare do it.

In organisations, we commonly see bosses demanding punctuality, timely submission of reports and so on but feel offended if reminded of not doing the appraisals of their team members on time.

Life appears to be of double standards most of the time. One standard for me and one for others. I may get away with double standards at home as long as I am the oldest and respected but the day my kids turn adolescent they will see through me and I will lose all respect.

Even in the organisation, I may survive till I am able to wield power and authority. The day I get a boss who leads by example and demands the same from others, I am doomed. I wonder how managers and leaders imagine that they can live with double standards for long.

In my book on leadership, we can never have double standards and be inspirational. Whether it is family, organisation or society at large, the concept of double standards is never sustainable. One can fool oneself for sometime and think we can be that way but time will catch up and we will be caught unawares on this front.

Lets examine it in the family space. As a father and being the oldest in the family, I may escape till my spouse rebels some day or my children do. It could also be that my siblings or neighbours, who teach me a lesson and then I change.

In the organisation, people think they can slip through if they hold senior leadership roles. Yes, they survive till the day they get dis-respected or hurt by a feedback from a colleague, customer or supplier. That day will make them change and change for the better. If they dont change, they may lose their leadership position sooner than later.

It is important to realise that leaders are respected not only for results but their behaviour as well. In my book, behaviour is as important as results, if not more. Both in life and career, behaviour will be the ultimate differentiator between good and great people.

Many people go scot free in the short term with double standards. This makes others believe that it is ok to have them. However, it is important to realise that it will never work in the long term. The sooner we realise it, the better it is for us and others around us.

We can never have two standards for anything. All standards for life are absolute and it is the same for everyone irrespective of social level, position, race, colour or nationality. The day we realise this basic tenet of life, we may realise our full potential.

As in the photo above, it is like my advising others to take a metro to reduce carbon footprint but I drive my own car every day of my life.

We need to remember there can never be double standards for anything in life.

S Ramesh Shankar

22nd February 2021

I am a fan of cricket but do not claim much knowledge about the game . I have been in the corporate world for almost four decades and believe that we have lessons to learn from any sport for us. I was fortunate to witness on TV this historic victory in Brisbane, where India defeated Australia after more than three decades on this ground.

I have tried to summarise the lessons organisations and individuals can learn from this fabulous victory. This can enable ordinary individuals like us and organisations to turnaround from any crisis situation.

1. Failure can teach you more than success: After India lost to Australia in Adelaide and were bundled out for 36, many critics had written the team off. This happens to us in real life too. A big failure can lead many of our well wishers to lose faith in our abilities. It may also lead to demoralisation. This incident reinforces that failure can teach you more lessons than success. The lowest score by any Indian team in an innings was enough to wake them up and resolve to look forward and excel in the next three tests.

2. Leaders lead from the front: After our captain returned to India due to personal reasons, we were led by a young unassuming leader. He not only led from the front by hitting a century in the next test but also gave space and encouragement to his team members to give in their best to the team.

3. Every crisis can bring out the best in you: This humiliating defeat in Adelaide was a great wake up call for all the team members. They literally rose from the ashes and conquered. The resolve to win and give their best was seen in every movement of the players. Every individual was not only giving his best but also was enabling each other to excel.

4. Team work produces greater results then individual brilliance: While every team has individual players who are excellent, it is established through this win that team work provides better results than individual brilliance. A leader needs to work like a conductor in a symphony orchestra so that he is able to get the best out of every team member.

5. Focus and commitment enables you to get over adversaries: We had some players being abused racially. This is not only deplorable but unacceptable. However, these players not only gave their best but responded to the abuses by speaking through their ball and the bat rather than abusing back to the irresponsible spectators.

6. Nobody is indispensable in any organisation: There were only two or three players who played all the four test matches. This happened more by default due to injuries rather than by design. This however re-established the fact the nobody is indispensable in any organisation leave alone a cricket team.

7. Merit alone leads you to success: While many people still believe that success eludes those who do not have resources or necessary connections in life. At least four players in this team, who hail from humble backgrounds have proved that merit alone determines your success in life. Hard work can take you wherever you want to reach in life.

8. Resources are only means to an end and not an end in itself: The limited resources of the some of the players in the team before they played for the country did not deter them from excelling. This means that resources are only a means to an end and not an end in itself. We can succeed even with limited resources if we are determined to do so.

9. Critics can demoralise you but cannot prevent you from winning: While almost the whole cricketing world including the so called pundits had written the team off after the Adelaide loss, they proved that critics can only make you more determined to win. This is equally true in organisations if we take the criticism into our stride and learn from the mistakes of the past and move to on we can give our best in the future.

10. Humility gains more respect : A leader who leads from the front and is calm and humble gets you great results. This victory has proved that humility is still a great virtue for a leader to possess especially to tide over a crisis and lead the team to victory literally from the ashes.

I learnt a lot from this episode as an individual and I hope organisations, teams and individuals do the same as we reflect and rejoice on the Indian team’s historic victory down under.

As in the photo above, one can learn from every sport in the world even sitting outside the fence.

Failures can lead you to greater success if we convert a crisis into an opportunity.

S Ramesh Shankar

22nd Jan 2021