How to face the review?

How to Face the Review

Source: Men's Health.com

A review is one of the least understood traditions on Planet Work. Employees are taught to see it as a good thing. It's not. Fact is, your boss gives you your real performance review every day, at the coffee machine, at the urinal. But you need to know how to handle one of these.

But first let me tell you about my friend Dhruv, because he made all the mistakes you're not going to. He'd logged six years at his company and never once had a review. So he pushed for one, instead of just asking for a raise like a normal person.

Dhruv and the boss sat down and right from the start, Dhruv took a poke here, a punch there. He was occasionally late with a project, his boss noted and he could, at times, work better with others. Faced with this catalogue of disappointments, Dhruv couldn't even stammer out how he'd been doing the work of three people because of cutbacks, and how he'd been without a promotion for years.

The boss filled the silence: "As you know, company raises cannot exceed 12 per cent. You are doing a good job all in all, so I feel confident I can approve a 15 per cent increase for you."

A whole bunch of thoughts rushed to fill Dhruv's mind. You can take that and shove it, was the first. But he remained silent and slunk out to fight another day. To live on the same title and salary longer. And it was all his fault.

I don't want this to happen to you. So please-I beg you- follow this advice.

Rule 1:Never ask for a review

Like I said, the best review is the one you hear every morning when the boss says, "Hey, man, let's grab a cup of coffee." That tells you all you need to know. But you don't want to run away from the process, either. There are some bosses who feel that their pleasures and complaints aren't expressed well enough every day. They want to exercise that muscle on you, and you have to let them. Soak it in, and let it wash over you. Chances are you'll leave feeling a little bit aggravated, but having endured this.

Rule 2:Say very little

Reviews and appraisals remind the boss of his critical function (to be critical) and charge him with a responsibility to teach, instruct and produce change whether it's necessary or not. Don't try to address his every point. I've found it's good to say things like, "Ah, I see" and "I hear you" as much as possible. If you must respond, try, "I've been aware that you felt that way for quite a while" or "I appreciate what you're saying".

Rule 3:Agree with the disagreeable

No matter what kind of idiocy your boss is spouting, how obnoxious his observations are and how absurd or dredged up his criticisms sound, you must keep your temper in check. The illusion to maintain is that you're thoughtful and grateful for the insight you're receiving. Anything else brands you as immature and uncooperative. This can be a thorny area for proud, competitive types like you. Your natural inclination is to shout, "No! I'm not hotheaded, you fool!" Better to just nod. If you must disagree with a statement that is patently wrong, do so politely and non-defensively. So, if the boss says, "Didn't I give you a raise only last month?" it is permissible to say, "Actually, it was 2006."

Rule 4:Listen very hard to what's being said

You may be asked to make some changes based on the content of your review. If, for instance, you're kicked in the shin for being late, it may be productive to be early for a while. See? Bosses don't like to feel that these reviews are being done for their health, even if they are.

Rule 5:Listen very hard to what's being unsaid

Many bosses, unless they are angry, have trouble expressing negatives to somebody's face. Yellers in particular are surprisingly shy about it. This may lead certain bosses to couch unpleasant things in smiley wrapping paper. Conversely, there are certain tight-sphincter types who simply can't squeeze out a compliment. Again, the formality of the setting may make generosity of spirit even more trying for them. So, see "What Your Boss Is Really Telling You," below.

Rule 6:Take one good shot

You may want to save up all your ammunition for one great salvo at the end of the session. This is a crucial. It should be one part flattery, one part bravery and one part cool calculation. What are you after? A stronger relationship with the boss, a line on whether you have a chance at further growth and a raise in excess of what Guptaji is getting. Try a line like, "I've enjoyed this review, Uday (or Mr Joshi, if that's how you address him). I respect your opinion and will do everything I can to justify the confidence you have shown in me. I want you to know that I'm ambitious and want to take on more responsibilities. I'll make you see I'm capable of that kind of career growth."

And, as you leave his office with your head high, turn and say: "Oh, by the way, can I have that big fat raise I've been angling for?"

Unique

It is a strange feeling when you interview with other consulting firms. Some give a case, some ask you basic questions, some try to figure out what you have not done. Sometimes, you get a feeling that the person at the other end is perhaps as smart as you, and you are now in a wrong place. Then you log off from the entire system and wonder where your vision is. Not a good time to pen thoughts now.! :(

General Tips on Preparing for Case Interviews

From the Tuck School of Business - Case Study document:

While each case interview is unique, here are some general tips that should serve you well in most of them:

· Bring a pen and a pad of paper. It helps to scribble and doodle while thinking-through and presenting your analysis. At times, drawing a picture
(like a decision tree) will help communicate your thoughts to the interviewer and will help structure and guide your analysis. Lastly, it is
often much easier to do basic calculations on a piece of paper than in your head—remember, you will probably be a little nervous and addition errors
do not inspire confidence.

· Feel free to pause. After being presented with the case, feel free to tell the interviewer that you need a minute to structure your thoughts. Reflect
over the case presented and do not be uncomfortable with the silence that follows.

· There is never a reason to panic. Do not panic if you know nothing about the industry the interviewer is asking about. Ask questions to get clarifications. You are not expected to know about all industries, but rather the underlying principles that are common to all. Some interviewers will answer one or two questions and then abruptly ask you to present your analysis. Do not let this rattle you; make assumptions and proceed.

· Structure your analysis before you begin. Before presenting your analysis, outline what you are going to say by presenting what you think are
the key issues. Structure is extremely important.

· Be clear about your assumptions. If you feel your analysis has led you to contradict something you assumed or said earlier, do not be bashful about
admitting it. Incorporate the new information in your analysis and proceed.

· When hopelessly lost, ask a question. If you get stuck at any time during the interview, do not hesitate to ask for clarification. What do you
have to lose at this point? By getting right back on track, you will greatly enhance your ability to impress the interviewer.

· Silence can be golden. It is better to be silent and think than it is to ramble pointlessly or ask irrelevant questions.

Preparing for Case Interviews

During the MBA program, business schools recommend you to read "How to" books on consulting. Here are a few that was recommended to me. The Case in Point book was the most useful one to me. I have bolded the ones that I have read or glanced through during my MBA program


Wetfeet’s Guide to Industries and Careers for MBAs. A basic but standard starting place for many candidates

Vault Guide MBA Career Bible. Encompasses more topics than Wetfeet’s Guide and can be accessed and downloaded through the MBA portal.

Unwritten Rules of Highly Effective Job Search by Orville Pierson.

How to Interview like a Top MBA: Job-winning strategies from Headhunters, Fortune 100
Recruiters, and Career Counselors by Shel Leanne

Case in Point – Complete Case Interview Preparation by Marc Cosentino

Crack the Case: How to Conquer Your Case Interviews, 5th Edition by David Ohrvall.

The Insiders Guide to the Best Jobs on Bay Street by Joe

The Exceptional Presenter by Timothy J. Koegel.
The Minto Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto (www.barbaraminto.com).
Say It With Charts: The Executives Guide to Visual Communication by Gene Zelazny.

Meet Ram Charan the world's most influential consultant

From the Economic Times, a business daily in India

If the sheer number of CEOs who came to shake hands and meet Ram Charan at the Economic Times Awards For Corporate Excellence is an indicator of the purchase he has amongst corner room occupants, then it's easy to imagine how popular he would be in the US where he has primarily practised his craft. There is a reason why Fortune calls him ‘the most influential consultant alive’ and the who's who of business seek his advice when the prophets of doom are at their doorstep.

‘Purpose before self’ is the motto this corporate mystic lives by and the motto was tested when he landed in Mumbai mid-afternoon after a rough transatlantic flight and rushed straight to the hotel to sit in the lobby rather than rest for a couple of hours (he didn't want to go to his room lest he fall asleep).

He met a couple of CEOs in the lobby even as he prepared for his presentation to 400 CEOs that was to follow. Even in this hullabaloo , he didn't refuse an interview. This time around the questions we chose to ask were simple ones and not the complex variety that CEOs ask him. CD quizzed him about execution, CEO selection and Jack and Jeff. Edited excerpts:

He met a couple of CEOs in the lobby even as he prepared for his presentation to 400 CEOs that was to follow. Even in this hullabaloo , he didn't refuse an interview. This time around the questions we chose to ask were simple ones and not the complex variety that CEOs ask him. CD quizzed him about execution, CEO selection and Jack and Jeff. Edited excerpts:

How do you ensure you don't fail in the first 100 days?

First, learn what's happening in the company . Visit the customers first, then talk to your people and learn from their eyes what they think are the issues. Avoid the tendency to make quick decisions. Most people think they have to act fast. Avoid that because you have to sort out and sift out where to focus your energy in the first 30 days. You have to endear yourself to the organisation, you can make changes later. Don't go there and start making changes unless there is an emergency .

Most people don't fail in the first 100 days, they fail after the first year and then they get fired after two years. I can't recall a single CEO who was fired in the first 100 days. I think you have to consider how you use your first 100 days. In 1978, I knew a CEO of Sherwin Williams who came from an industrial company and was going to a consumer company. I recommended to him and he spent one full month in the stores of Sherwin Williams. He went on to spend 19 years with the company.

Why do so many leaders fail in execution ?

The first thing is that many of the people have come from the schools and they are intellectual, very conceptual, but don't have grounding in execution. The second thing is that almost all execution is done through groups, not individuals. The main reason for people failing is that they don't the follow through. Follow through is a major reason why people don't succeed. There are many people who believe that execution is not important but that's a different story.

In such a time of structural change what are the red flags to look at?

There are three. The first is that which everybody knows - when the customers are leaving. The second is when competition becomes hyper-competition , like in the telecom sector in India. Third is a new technology , or a radical change in the macro environment . I was in the US when Google announced they are going to sell their phone directly on-line . Will Motorola and Nokia just sit around or think it's time to change the model?

Steve Jobs seems to have a knack for that ...

He has. He made a big mistake when he let Eric Scmidt into his board. He has to give up this area and move into new areas. He has a good solid five years because touch technology is available at a cheaper cost. His differentiation right now is 1,00,000 applications which google will match sooner or later.

The role of boards is being scrutinised in the slowdown. What are the things that boards don't get?

When it comes to financial services industry, a large number of directors don't master the balance sheet. That I can tell you first hand. Not all need to do that, but four or five directors need to master the balance sheet. You need people who understand global financial system and also resource allocation.

How does one select the right CEO?

First, there is no such thing as a renaissance CEO. A right fit is very important. I'll bet you money that a person I can choose will not be able to run Mukesh Ambani's job. Its not that he is somebody's son but he is competent in his own right. If you bring in somebody else to run his companies, I'd say time out - he ain't going to succeed.

You have also argued that context is very important?

I can take a CEO from here to the US or vice versa and he may not succeed. One of the things I can do is predict ahead of time whether he will succeed or not. I can see the fit and the fit is seen through the eyes of his decision making.

You have spoken about identifying God's gift in an individual while planning succession. How does one do that?

You look at raw talent. I don't know Kumar Mangalam or Mukesh but I bet these guys will do numbers in their head like nobody. If you think they will read literature for you, forget it. It is not their calling . A person with raw talent will gravitate towards those things. He will go where success is. Some discover it a little late in life. I had not begun to write until I was 58. I was sitting with a CEO and he said I need this book for my company and I'd like you to do it.

When you worked with Jack Welch, how did you convince him and even oppose

You don't have to beat him. If you are honest with him you can take him on. Just be honest, even if you are in the wrong. The trick with Jack was to be honest , not to fib. In my case he would take my idea and develop it. And there are times when I have told him he was wrong, and he reversed the decision.

Will Jeff Immelt be able to fill Jack's big shoes?

In my life I have known about 200 CEOs or so. To my mind he is the best man to run GE. I know GE very well - this is my 41st year at GE. I know the board very well. Give him one more year and you will see the difference.

In simple terms what's the approach to take in corporate governance?

There are two ways to look at corporate governance: fixing what is measurable and focusing on what really matters. Fixing what is measurable is how many independent directors, number of committees , criteria of selection of directors. That is the measurable side that has been abused in the past by not having independent directors, not having expert directors , and the legislation is coming to separate the CEO and chairman.

But this is not what really matters. What happens is inside the boardroom, inside the committee rooms and in between the meetings. How do you create value? What is the measure of the effectiveness of the board going forward? In you want to create value for India and your company play the game of what's measurable and focus on what really matters.

What really matters is the following : The board's effectiveness is measured by the output not by the input . The outputs are not daily, or monthly . It could be one or two in a year or even one in two years. Here you have to decide as a CEO what are the outputs you are looking for your company in next two or three years. That can help you work backwards on what is measurable . It's the CEO who must take this initiative because he will know the business more than any of the others.

What areas should the Board focus on?

Help companies think through a set of opportunities and decide which one to focus on. Two, focus on enterprise risk which is more than just financial risk. People need to learn about the global financial system. Three, are you developing a pipeline of profit and loss managers for the future, which has the time lag of 5-15 years? Fourth, what is the best strategic option that balances the short term and the long term objectives.

All izz Well..

I went to a nearby Hospital early today morning for a comprehensive medical checkup. I had turned 30 a few months earlier and I wanted to check if heart, BP, Kidney, Liver were functioning well or had given indications that the worst was yet to come. I wanted to do these checks as a preventive action. The consulting stress and travel has taken its toll on me. My weight has varied, from a 25 kgs loss to a 15 kg gain, my lack of physical activity, poor eating habits, and unnecessary stress has made me fatigue. Honestly, I was unsure what would I expect from these results.

Thanks to God, everything turned out well. ECG, BP, Kidney,Cholestrol, Blood etc was all in normal condition.During my physical consultation with the doctor, I told him about my lifestyle and the weight loss/gain that I have observing.He was a few years elder to me (about 35). He was quite upset that I had stopped exercising and mentioned that if I don't loose 25 kgs more (as my BMI showed overweight), I was heading towards high BP and high cholesterol.

He suggested that I turn vegeterian or at least watch what I eat.! My resolution now is to loose weight and get in shape.
Here are a few steps I have thought of
- No sugar in anything (This is a test of my determination)
- Very small intake of meat, only once a week (Almost no lamb, very little chicken, some amount of fish)
- 7 hours of sleep
- Buy a weighing scale and monitor weight gain/loss every week
- Physical exercise (atleast 3 times a week).
- Drink 3-4 litres of water everyday
- Maintain a log of what I eat or when I surrender to temptations (Ice cream, Samosa etc)
- Listen to some soothing music

Plan to Retire

Sometimes when I am working hard or spending a lot of money during shopping, I stop for a moment - How am I going to live post retirement.

Actually, my key questions are
- When will I retire?
- What will I do when I retire?
- Will I be able to maintain a good quality of lifestyle?
- How should I plan so that I have a consistent source of revenue during retirment?
- How can I maintain my health during the old age.

Once I turned 30, and gained weight, I have got worried about these things. I better plan and act fast!

Who is Your Competition?

An interesting management article that appeared in Wall Street Journal (india.wsj.com) written by Dr YLR Morthi, faculty member of IIM Bangalore.


"Have Breakfast… or…Be Breakfast!"

Who sells the largest number of cameras in India?
Your guess is likely to be Sony, Canon or Nikon. Answer is none of the above. The winner is Nokia whose main line of business in India is not cameras but cell phones.

Reason being cameras bundled with cell phones are outselling stand alone cameras. Now, what prevents the cell phone from replacing the camera outright? Nothing at all. One can only hope the Sony’s and Canons are taking note.

Try this. Who is the biggest in music business in India? You think it is HMV Sa-Re-Ga-Ma? Sorry. The answer is Airtel. By selling caller tunes (that play for 30 seconds) Airtel makes more than what music companies make by selling music albums (that run for hours).
Incidentally Airtel is not in music business. It is the mobile service provider with the largest subscriber base in India. That sort of competitor is difficult to detect, even more difficult to beat (by the time you have identified him he has already gone past you). But if you imagine that Nokia and Bharti (Airtel's parent) are breathing easy you can't be farther from truth.

Nokia confessed that they all but missed the Smartphone bus. They admit that Apple's I phone and Google's Android can make life difficult in future. But you never thought Google was a mobile company, did you? If these illustrations mean anything, there is a bigger game unfolding. It is not so much about mobile or music or camera or emails?

The "Mahabharat" (the great Indian epic battle) is about "what is tomorrow's personal digital device"? Will it be a souped up mobile or a palmtop with a telephone? All these are little wars that add up to that big battle. Hiding behind all these wars is a gem of a question - "who is my competitor?"

Once in a while, to intrigue my students I toss a question at them. It says "What Apple did to Sony, Sony did to Kodak, explain?" The smart ones get the answer almost immediately. Sony defined its market as audio (music from the walkman). They never expected an IT company like Apple to encroach into their audio domain. Come to think of it, is it really surprising? Apple as a computer maker has both audio and video capabilities. So what made Sony think he won't compete on pure audio? "Elementary Watson". So also Kodak defined its business as film cameras, Sony defines its businesses as "digital."

In digital camera the two markets perfectly meshed. Kodak was torn between going digital and sacrificing money on camera film or staying with films and getting left behind in digital technology. Left undecided it lost in both. It had to. It did not ask the question "who is my competitor for tomorrow?" The same was true for IBM whose mainframe revenue prevented it from seeing the PC. The same was true of Bill Gates who declared "internet is a fad!" and then turned around to bundle the browser with windows to bury Netscape. The point is not who is today's competitor. Today's competitor is obvious. Tomorrow's is not.

In 2008, who was the toughest competitor to British Airways in India? Singapore airlines? Better still, Indian airlines? Maybe, but there are better answers. There are competitors that can hurt all these airlines and others not mentioned. The answer is videoconferencing and telepresence services of HP and Cisco. Travel dropped due to recession. Senior IT executives in India and abroad were compelled by their head quarters to use videoconferencing to shrink travel budget. So much so, that the mad scramble for American visas from Indian techies was nowhere in sight in 2008. (India has a quota of something like 65,000 visas to the U.S. They were going a-begging. Blame it on recession!). So far so good. But to think that the airlines will be back in business post recession is something I would not bet on. In short term yes. In long term a resounding no. Remember, if there is one place where Newton's law of gravity is applicable besides physics it is in electronic hardware. Between 1977 and 1991 the prices of the now dead VCR (parent of Blue-Ray disc player) crashed to one-third of its original level in India. PC's price dropped from hundreds of thousands of rupees to tens of thousands. If this trend repeats then telepresence prices will also crash. Imagine the fate of airlines then. As it is not many are making money. Then it will surely be RIP!

India has two passions. Films and cricket. The two markets were distinctly different. So were the icons. The cricket gods were Sachin and Sehwag. The filmi gods were the Khans (Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and the other Khans who followed suit). That was, when cricket was fundamentally test cricket or at best 50 over cricket. Then came IPL and the two markets collapsed into one. IPL brought cricket down to 20 over’s. Suddenly an IPL match was reduced to the length of a 3 hour movie. Cricket became film's competitor. On the eve of IPL matches movie halls ran empty. Desperate multiplex owners requisitioned the rights for screening IPL matches at movie halls to hang on to the audience. If IPL were to become the mainstay of cricket, as it is likely to be, films have to sequence their releases so as not clash with IPL matches. As far as the audience is concerned both are what in India are called 3 hour "tamasha" (entertainment). Cricket season might push films out of the market.

Look at the products that vanished from India in the last 20 years. When did you last see a black and white movie? When did you last use a fountain pen? When did you last type on a typewriter? The answer for all the above is "I don't remember!" For some time there was a mild substitute for the typewriter called electronic typewriter that had limited memory. Then came the computer and mowed them all. Today most technologically challenged guys like me use the computer as an upgraded typewriter. Typewriters per se are nowhere to be seen.

One last illustration. 20 years back what were Indians using to wake them up in the morning? The answer is "alarm clock." The alarm clock was a monster made of mechanical springs. It had to be physically keyed every day to keep it running. It made so much noise by way of alarm, that it woke you up and the rest of the colony. Then came quartz clocks which were sleeker. They were much more gentle though still quaintly called "alarms." What do we use today for waking up in the morning? Cell phone! An entire industry of clocks disappeared without warning thanks to cell phones. Big watch companies like Titan were the losers. You never know in which bush your competitor is hiding!

On a lighter vein, who are the competitors for authors? Joke spewing machines? (Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, himself a Pole, tagged a Polish joke telling machine to a telephone much to the mirth of Silicon Valley). Or will the competition be story telling robots? Future is scary! The boss of an IT company once said something interesting about the animal called competition. He said "Have breakfast ...or.... be breakfast"! That sums it up rather neatly.

Discover the Diamond in You

Priyanka Chopra, Rishi Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan and Gul Panang all had been raving about it. So, I had to see if that was a PR stuff or was there really some substance in the book. I read Management guru Arindam Chaudhuri's latest book ‘Discover The Diamond In You’ at the airport. The book is positioned as a 59-minute guide to success. The book has a foreword written by Shah Rukh Khan and has been released in 14 languages simultaneously in India.

Honestly, I am disappointed by the contents in this book. The first book "Count your chickens" was reasonably okay but this one does not have any meat in it. There is no story telling in the book, the contents have not been thought through. If the book positions itself as a self help book, one is better off reading "You can Win" by Shiv Khera.

The author claims that this book is for the "common man". With about 100 odd pages in the book and a price of only 150 bucks, the book perhaps is for young minds who need some inspiration. The press release claimed that "the book is meant for those who are brave enough to 'be' the change they 'want to see'.. Using the diamond as a metaphor for human beings, the author has drawn parallels between the 4 Cs of a diamond and corresponds it to 9 qualities in human beings

I was not impressed or inspired.Read this book if you are stuck at the airport and bored. That is what I did!

Tuesdays with Morrie

One of my new year resolution is to read atleast 30 books (all kinds, size and types) this year and this one was the start.During my flight to Mumbai, I read a book called "Tuesdays with Morrie".

Here is the background of the book:
Courtesy: Lib Store

Morrie Schwartz was one of Mitch Albom’s college professors. Since his college graduation, Mitch and Morrie gradually lost touch; however, Mitch rediscovered Morrie during the last months of his life and they were able to rekindle their friendship. Mitch visited Morrie every Tuesday, in his study, which turned into a private lesson
on how to live life. Tuesdays With Morrie is the magical result of Mitch and Morrie’s time spent together in the months leading to his death.


Two great quotes in the book:

"Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live."

"You closed your eyes. That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too-even when you are in the dark. Even when you're falling."

Setting up a mini-bar at home is Easy!

Nice article in Business World

Here are some tips on how to go about creating a basic but complete mini bar at home.

LIQUOR: Obviously, the basic essential. though the variety of spirits will depend on how frequently you entertain your guests and also on your finances, a good bar at home will need four basic liquors: whisky, vodka, gin and rum. As Indians prefer whisky to any other liquor, stocking 2-3 bottles is a good idea. A good single malt such as The Glenlivet and some blended scotch will add value to your mini bar. For scotch, Chivas Regal or Black Label is best, though 100 pipers or Ballantine’s are equally good. A bottle of bourbon whisky, such as the Famous Grouse will add variety as will some good Irish whisky.
Women prefer vodka to any other liquor (majorly because it doesn’t smell), so a bottle of absolut vodka would be best, or else even smirnoff can keep your friends happy. gin and tonic water is a hot selling drink in most bars, so is rum with coke or soda. so, a bottle of old monk (dark rum) and bacardi (white rum) will just complete your bar cabinet’s liquor stock. also, given the popularity of tequila shots these days, a bottle of imported tequila would come handy any day. it can also help you mix some great margaritas.

GLASSWARE: It’s often said that good food looks tempting only if it’s served well. Same goes for drinks too. Glasses don’t make any difference to the taste of a drink, but they do add panache to one. People often stock their kitchen cupboards with a variety of them, but go wrong with the selection. The basic glass that is a must for any bar is the tall glass or the Collin’s glass. It is used for serving juices, mocktails, cocktails and other long drinks. The old-fashioned glass comes next, which is best for serving whisky on-the-rocks. Goblets and wine glasses come handy in serving cocktails and also give a lot of scope for garnishing. A martini glass is strictly for a drink with no ice. Lastly, beer and shot glasses can be kept in stock too. Glasses should essentially be colourless; it is the colour of the drink that adds value to it and not vice versa.

CORKSCREW: A small but an absolute essential. again, you are spoilt for choice for a tool to open champagne and wine bottles. From the old-fashioned wooden one to the sommelier’s knife to the twin-pronged cork puller, all serve the purpose. The best, however, is the one with wings that has two arms that rise when inserted into a cork. You then press down on the wings and the cork pops out. And the more expensive ones add a touch of class to your mini bar.

MEASURER: though most of us tend to measure pegs by guess, using a measurer is recommended. Particularly, if you are following a cocktail or mocktail recipe. There is a variety of measurers available in the market, but the double-sided metal one that measures two pegs (30 ml on one side and 60 ml on the other) is most useful. For cocktails, a glass or plastic one with markings on one side is best — it is bigger and can be used to measure other liquids too.

ICE BUCKET: and ice rushing to the refrigerator every other minute to take ice might be both inconvenient to you and your guest. A good ice-bucket with tongs can help you save time and effort, more so if you have a large number of people to attend to. Ice buckets these days come in great variety, in wood, silver, plastic and glass. For a personal touch you can opt for monogrammed ones too. Our advice is it should serve the purpose, so no point getting too flashy. Also, you must ensure a good supply. Running out of ice can prove to be quite a dampener for your party.


JUICES, MIXERS, SAUCES, ETC. Yes, these are important too. how else do you think you can ever make cocktails and other mixed drinks? Lemon and orange juices are most commonly used, so they should always feature in your bar. Freshly-squeezed ones are incomparable, but given the time crunch we all live in, bottled ones can work too. For classic drinks, such as the Bloody Mary, some tomato juice in stock would always help. Men (particularly Indian) would any day prefer a hard drink to a cocktail so, a bottle each of club soda and coke should be kept for their whisky and rum intake, respectively. Tonic water goes great with vodka and gin, which makes it a must have too. If you love mixing drinks for your guests, there’s more that your bar should have. An evening of cocktails will require sugar syrup and some mixers such as ginger ale and grenadine. Lemon-flavoured aerated drinks such as 7up or sprite are favoured with white rum. So, more the merrier!

Your evaluation as a consultant

As you do well in a consulting organization, you are evaluated across 4 parameters.
The weightage of each parameter changes depends on where you are in the hierarchy.

The four blocks are
1. Client Delivery
2. Firm Development (Recruiting, Mentoring)
3. Though Leadership - Intellectual Property developed
4. New Business Development - Key Success Factor if you are hoping to become a Partner.

Why Firms Fail

Kotter proposes eight reasons

1. Not creating a sense of urgency /allowing too much complacency
Kotter argues that leaders sometimes underestimate how difficult it is to shake people out of their 'comfort zones.' In addition, staff can be put off by the unpleasant realities of change.

2. Failure to create a powerful coalition
It is vital to establish a coalition of the most influential people to get behind the idea. Without visible management buy-in, staff will not be convinced.

3. Lack of a vision
It is the explicit task of the change champion or person tasked with dealing with the change to establish a compelling and pragmatic vision for the change programme. The vision must appeal to the organisation as a whole.

4. Under communicating the vision by a factor of 10
Communication should always be open and transparent.

5. Permitting obstacles to block the new vision
Any potential obstacles to the vision must be removed. These might include the organisational structure, compensation or appraisal systems, or unwilling individuals in management positions.

6. Failure to create short term wins
It will be extremely difficult to keep the entire organisation onside if there is not visible evidence of success within the first few months (12 months or 100 days) of the change restructuring.

7. Declaring victory too soon

8. Neglecting anchoring changes in the organisation's culture

New behaviours have to be rooted in the culture, values and daily practices of the organisation. If they are not, it will be all too easy to move back into old habits.

How to determine if you are made for Consulting?

To be sure that I was cut out for a consulting profile, I undertook the Career Leader test to check my best fit into the industry.

Based on my test, I found out that three things that truly motivate me :

•Altruism (the position offers the satisfaction of regularly helping others with their individual or business concerns)

•Intellectual Challenge (the position offers consistent intellectual challenge)

•Variety (the position offers a great deal of variety in the nature of the work performed)

Based on that, I concluded that Consulting or Product Management would fit my needs. I gave a shot at consulting and got in here.

Why do you want to make a career in consulting?

Here is my answer:

Fast-paced, dynamic and exciting...These are the three words that first strike my mind when I think of consulting. One of the factors that motivate me is the satisfaction of making an important difference in business and creates an impact. And I think Consulting is that position.

Prior to joining Management Consulting, I had interacted with a few of my friends who are in Consulting and all of them have one thing to say “Consulting is challenging but a highly reward profession”. It will offer one the opportunity to regularly help others with their individual or business concerns

While deciding on a career choice on completion of my MBA, I was looking forward to a certain set of qualities in my job.

Highly interesting work: I yearn to do something that is not only exciting but also meaningful for business and society. Working with X who have diverse projects will give me an opportunity to do that.

Work with very intelligent and articulate people: It is no secret that the consulting industry consists some of the brightest and the smartest people in the industry. They are people who are talented, creative and have the ability to find solutions to problems and help the client.

Learning curve never ends: It is a demanding environment with a steep and constant learning curve, but supportive colleagues also make it an incomparable opportunity for personal growth

Exposure to many interesting industries

Exposure to working with the senior management at an early state for the way they think, act and analyze the problems.

Differences in working environment: India and West..Do you agree?

The differences in working environment: India and West:

Communication: US and Canada focus a lot on communication. To them, it should be clear and straightforward. However, it is cautious and less direct when it comes to Indians. When you are communicating with North American counterparts, one can face a disagreement straightly and frankly. However, when communicating with Indians you may observe that you don’t sense a lot of disagreements. Though they do not agree, they might not say so explicitly. You have to probe your Indian counterparts to get a clear picture.

Flexibility: For Americans, work is completely separate from personal life. They tend to adhere to timelines for both. But Indians tend to value their work much more than personal life. Also, the position or job is very important when it comes to how much respect one gets in society

Leadership: It is mostly hierarchical. People in higher positions tend to show authority and people in lower positions expect authority. In a meeting, a leader might not face much resistance or opposition which might not necessarily mean that team members agree with you. They just keep quite out of respect to position or seniority.

Conforming to time: Americans take time very seriously. If someone is coming late to a meeting, it is perceived that he is disrespecting others time. However, it is taken in a bit easier fashion in India. People would not usually mind if you come 5 minutes late.

Process

Act Fast - Job Tip

Act Fast
Source:David Perry

You may think it’s nearly impossible to stand out at one of those “cattle call” job fairs typically held at hotels. But you can make a great first impression -- and get hired -- if you take the initiative.

That’s what Patrick C. from Texas did.

“I interviewed with an insurance firm and I thought they liked me. As I was leaving the interview, I thought, ‘I want this job. I’m going to try something different,’” says Patrick.

“So I went to the front desk and asked to use their word processor. The hotel secretary let me type up a thank-you letter that re-emphasized all the reasons I thought I was a perfect fit for the job. Then, I paid a bellhop $5.00 to take it up to Mark Jones in suite #101 – he was the guy I interviewed with.”

The result?

“I got the job. When the hiring manager called me the next day, he remembered me from the ‘instant thank-you letter’ I had sent.”


Action Step: Every employer wants go-getters on the payroll. If you follow up FAST and creatively after every interview, you’ll prove that you have what it takes, no matter what the job.


Compliments of David Perry and Kevin Donli