Vision | Little Things That Matter

Work-Life Balance Or Work-Life Integration?

23 June 2015 By Lalita Raman Leave a Comment

“You are a OCD”. This was the remark I received from one of my colleagues when he heard that I try to make time to go to gym and yoga on a daily basis. I laughed it off and remarked, I enjoy being fit and thus make time for cardio, strength and some mindfulness on a daily basis. Don’t you feel like doing so? Well, I don’t find the time, was his remark.

⇒Is it not finding time or not having the inclination to make time?⇐

Work-life balance is one of the commonly faced challenges by executives – senior, mid-level managers in organizations, and business entrepreneurs and individual contributors. It continues to be one of the primary issues facing almost every leader.

What is work/life balance? Is it spending equal or balanced time on work and home?

Who determines the balance?

Is this balance scripted or something we have set expectations on?

For over 10 years, out of the two decades, that I had spent in the Corporate world, my day started at 5:30 am and did not finish till 9 pm. My days used to be packed and I did not find time to go to the gym till 8 or 9 pm. I used to get Saturdays and Sunday’s off. We had to take at least two weeks off for mandatory compliance reasons. There were other days I could not go to the gym or yoga and I had to find ways to keep myself energized. I have had times when I have had to waste my yearly vacation because there was so much happening in my work-world.

When I left the Corporate World, to pursue my dream of becoming a Leadership Coach and Facilitator I was aware of the risk and financial impact this would have. This also meant not taking holidays in the same way I was able to do before, working on Saturdays and on many occasions working on Sunday’s too. However, on the flip side, I have on many occasions been able to structure my day in the manner I want. I work late and if I don’t have early meetings or any trainings or workshops to facilitate, I wake up late. I used to feel guilty about this in my first year of this transition.

The guilt came from the fact that the standards and routines that I had set myself, I was not following. I started questioning my efficiency, and my productivity. This especially in my first year of this change lead to frustrations because a lot of time was spent on business develop,went, trying out things, learning ways to do things that I had never done before. So basically my day was unstructured and some things took more time than I had set for it.

I realized over time, that in fact it was not about my efficiency nor me wasting my time but that I had to let go of the routines that I had set myself which worked, when I was in the Corporate World. I had to learn to let go of the rigidity and become more flexible in a day that consisted of business development, content preparation, reading, making calls and meeting clients and prospects on a day when I was not facilitating a training session.

In these three years, I have learnt to gradually let go of beliefs, practices and routines I used to live by. It is work in process because no day is the same.

Bottom-line, it is not about work-life balance but work-life #integration. #life #leadership

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Each day is different and whether you are part of a structured corporate world or not, managing your day and time is essential and you need to be flexible about doing so. That is an imperative part of your work/life integration.

How can you achieve your work-life integration ?

1. Determine what is your personal vision

This is what you are in 3 months or 6 months’ time. Having a smaller vision for a month or 3 months within a broader vision is a good stepping stone to encourage you along the way.

Be aware about your core values and your actions and behaviors that reflects who you are to guide you on your journey to achieving your vision. I had to set many smaller goals and still setting goals along my way to achieve my ultimate vision of making an impactful difference in people’s lives across the globe.

2. Prepare a list of nonnegotiable

These are the list of activities that enables you to be who you want to be. It could include “me” time (meditation, gym, walk), reflection, spending time with your kids and your partner, sleep time, spending time with your family and friends, keeping up your word on the deliverables you have promised.

If you have the #inclination, you’ll make the #time. #life #leadership

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3. What are your daily, weekly and monthly must-do’s?

This is essential to achieve your nonnegotiable. Some of your nonnegotiable may have to be done daily, others weekly and yet some others fortnightly or monthly.

4. Review your list of nonnegotiable and other activities

Life’s journey is not the same daily, make your #choices count. #life #leadbyexample #leadfromwithin

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Structures and routines you may have set for yourself may be outdated and irrelevant.

5. Let go and adapt

Because that is where the development and growth happens. Most successful people are able to harness their passions and reality with the power of their attitude and willingness and bring various parts of their life together to achieve what gives them fulfilment and satisfaction.

For further tips read “Top Five Questions On Work-Life Balance“

⇒How are you bringing work-life integration daily?⇐

Do You Want To Manage Your Work Life Integration better? Do You feel yourself overwhelmed? Do you want to move from stuck to unstuck? Please feel free to connect with me. Let’s have a chat

For group coaching, facilitation of workshops, and/or one-on-one coaching please connect with me.

Empower And Energize The Brand Called “You”

1 June 2015 By Lalita Raman Leave a Comment

Well something’s lost, but something’s gained
In living every day.

I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all

I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all….

………………………………………..From Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell

As I was listening to this song, I couldn’t help thinking that life is an untrodden path for each of us and we live day-to-day with a cup full of expectations. To have expectations is human and when you strive towards achieving your vision, it means making a conscious choice to clear your mind of misperceptions and preconceptions. It is about approaching your goal, as if it was for the first time, especially when things don’t go as per your expectations.Why? Because, otherwise, you will be sitting in judgment of yourselves, be on a critical path and not progress to what you want to achieve.

A vision is knowing who you are, what motivates you, where you are going and what will guide you in the journey of who you are.

Personal #branding is about being present, #passionate, #positive and #powerful.

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In order to produce the results we seek, we need to engage in some activities and to engage in doing those things, we need to be real and willing to be flexible.

What Matters In Your Personal Brand ?

Who you are?

Who you are is Your purpose by which you are driven by even in the dullest moment of your life. This purpose is not about you but something in the big picture and one that enables you to set your path to achieving your vision and enables you to be who you value being. e.g. I am driven by inspiring and motivating others and helping people to believe in their positive potential.

Where are you going?

To have a picture of your future is important, otherwise you will feel you are on a road to nowhere. A result oriented future is important to know where you are going. This has to be specific and something that will motivate you in whatever you are doing and whoever you choose to be in getting there. It is about believing in yourself that you have unlimited potential, you are willing to learn from your mistakes and start afresh if necessary to get to your desired future. We are visual learners and having a mental image increases the likelihood of achieving it.

What guides you in the journey?

When you consciously act from your values, you can treat yourself and others with respect. Your Values guide you in being who you are and in what you do and finally achieving your purpose. Determine what your core values are and how are your actions and behaviors display the same.

What we do is important to each of us, in work and life and let’s not forget that this can be a source of fulfillment, financial and non-financial rewards, challenges, excitement, growth and one that gives meaning to our life. Brand “You” is about making that happen for you. It is about recognizing and understanding the You, so that you can give your best. It is about bringing your head, heart and soul in whatever you do and whoever you are.

Build a #Brand “You” that enables you to represent who you are. #EnergizedLeaders

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→How are you building your Brand You?←

I recently co-authored a book with 15 others from around the globe. If you are an executive, a working mother, a corporate leader, a student, a parent, a small business owner, or a person who is looking for encouragement, support and motivation, I invite you to check out our new book “Energize Your Leadership”.

In this book 16 human beings from around the world come together based on a shared commitment to re-ignite the spark of leadership that is all too often dimmed by the intensity and challenges of modern life and work. This book is about our real life stories and how each of us in the journey of life have experienced frustrations, and have walked in your shoes and yet, got out of the low energy moments, to be who we wanted to be, in our life.

 It will encourage and motivate you because it is based on our lives. Available now on Amazon.com. Get your copy now. You will not regret your decision to make this investment.

Are you looking to enhance your executive presence, improve the way you communicate and inspire others as a leader? Please connect with me for one-on-one coaching or group workshops or webinars or learn more on what suits your needs.

Why Brand You, Brand Your Organization Matters In Your Success?

23 April 2015 By Lalita Raman Leave a Comment

Excerpt from my “Energize Your Leadership” chapter.

For me, identifying and connecting to my vision, helped me Energized My Brand and What I do.

I was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at the age of 8. I gradually learned what it means to live as a diabetic, from adapting my diet to self- injecting insulin doses daily. You could say I had a head start in resiliency-building, learning along the way that I did not have to let the process of managing my health keep me from pursuing my dreams and goals. With my family’s support, and my own determination and adaptability, I have successfully managed my condition ever since.

When it came time to decide on a career, I gravitated towards those vocations that would allow me to help people. Based on my doctor and my parents advise to achieve my vision of helping people through a different path, I chose a faculty in Business and Commerce, different from my first choice (medical doctor).

After graduation, I became a chartered accountant and began living my new dream of joining an International Bank. My trademark resilience and drive came into play despite my fears about the aggressive nature of the investment world. I thrived and excelled in a male-dominated industry, positively impacted the ROI of my clients and grew a loyal client base.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was building a personal brand of Resilience. Years later, a conversation with a friend prompted me to revisit my brand – specifically, what did my brand mean? What did I want it to represent? Yes, I was resilient – it was who I was at the core, but how was it manifesting itself more widely than simply as a reactive stance? In other words, how was I to take my personal brand and actually be proactive in doing something with it instead of just pulling it out when confronted with challenges?

This was when I realized that I wanted to use my brand to help others recognize theirs. This was my “aha” moment – where I reconnected with my purpose, inner drive and vision of helping people. I wanted to build an organization and a life where not only I was resilient, but the organization itself was based on the concept of resilience.

So I quit the corporate world and set up my company. By becoming an executive coach and trainer, I reinvented myself and translated my vision into one that could help people on their own journeys of growth and development.

As with any deep and worthwhile journey, there are still challenges and setbacks along the way.

I’ve had to remember to be patient and kind to myself. I am still living – and creating – this transition from an investment banker to an executive coach and trainer. When I look at the transition, I see that I’ve made it a success by training and coaching myself, practicing relentlessly and living many aspects of my life out of my comfort zone.

I love to #motivate, #inspire and #support people’s positive potential #EnergizedLeaders

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Helping my clients to be their best and become better communicators and better leaders brings me a joy that I never found in the investment world.

My resilience, persistence, willingness to take risks in life and follow my vision with not only passion but patience and endurance have given me invaluable insights to energized leadership.

Reconnecting with my vision has not only helped me steer through difficulties and challenges, but has helped me define myself and my brand, and develop the resilience to joyfully embrace this journey called “My Life.”

LESSONS LEARNED

My values and vision have shaped who I am and what I do, and have guided me through my corporate career of 20 years and into my current journey as a coach and trainer.

A brand needs to have a strong foundation. The foundations of authentic brands are found in the people who support those brands and the individuals who see their personal brand as being synchronous with the organization’s brand.

How do you become a force of your own life? I have learnt invaluable lessons along the way of my journey. More in-depth insights are provided in the book Energize Your Leadership.

This article is an except from my chapter in “Energize Your Leadership,” a collaborative book project with 16 experts advice on how to ignite, discover, and breakthrough. Order your copy now!

Connect with me on Transitions Intl Ltd.

You Snooze You Lose

6 May 2014 By Lalita Raman Leave a Comment

Photo Credits : Lalita Raman

“Use it or lose it.” That is what happens when you don’t use your muscles. And when you use such muscles after a long time, they are sore and when you have your next workout or a stretch or yoga you notice how misaligned you feel. You realize that there is more pain or imbalance on one side v/s your other side. Of course, we all have our dominant side, but when you do yoga or core exercises you see the stark difference between your left and right side. You choose to ignore this and when it becomes unbearable you decide to correct the poor alignment. You resolve to go regularly to yoga or stretch or in some cases to the chiropractor or to the physiotherapist.

What happens if you choose to continue to ignore ?

How often have we seen in organizations where executives spend too much time drafting, redrafting vision, mission and values statements. Over time they become ignorant or indifferent to poor alignment. They spend nowhere near enough time trying to align their organizations with the values and visions already in place- Jim Collins

If the people in a business or company are not aligned with the values and vision of the organization, you often see the majority of people pulling in a direction different from the overall vision, or scattered aimlessly. The organization as a result starts to fall apart. Values are such an integral part of who we are and if our behavior and actions are different from our inherent values, conflicts arise and we begin to suffer from the negative consequences. Sometimes the actions are different from values because of fear especially in cases of abuse or violence or though being a believer in being environment friendly you might not always buy organic food and so on.

When it comes to organizations how can you tell that the values are not in alignment? Values exist at each individuals’ level and if the organization has a high engagement level, with a deep level of trust, commitment and where employees are appreciated and recognized, and growth and progress of individuals and the organization is taking place, there is a high likelihood that the values are in alignment.

An organization which has all or some of the following attributes is seriously misaligned:

1.Lack of trust and faith among the team members within departments and across multi functions. No faith in senior management
2.Customer complaints and dissatisfaction is high.
3.Culture is one of criticize, condemn and complain. There is no appreciation or constructive feedback given to the employees at any level.
4.Command and control style of management. Information is not shared.
5.There is resentment, cynicism, blame and subversion
6.Profits and revenues are lagging those of competitors and on a downward spiral.
7.Turnover is high and engagement levels are low to abysmally low
8.Constant fire-fighting instead of progress and development
9.Costs are high and yet no new innovations or product lines are being introduced
10.People within the organization feel like a cog in the wheel and most have checked out mentally.

These are the warning signals and an organization which sees an increase in any or all the above aspects needs to look into what is going wrong? Working in line with the values is a daily process and starts from the time the vision is laid out, people are recruited to the firm and continues on an ongoing basis by reflecting on what is going well and what needs to improve and asking questions and listening to what the employees of the company have to say.

How to Understand People’s Workplace Values

1.Have a recruitment process where you find talent that is best in line with the organization values.
2.Identify such talent by asking focused questions at the interview stage. Get to know the person, their action and behaviors in different aspects of their role in an organization and in their life.
3.Look at their past work history. What were their attitudes with regard to matters of conflict or where they were in disagreement?
4.Get to know people, develop a positive attitude.
5. Where essential, do psychometric tests.

As leaders, listen, observe, communicate, appreciate and give positive feedback. Click To Tweet

Let your behavior as a leader be inspiring and worth modeling and let it show your values. Click To Tweet.

Link participation in the adoption of values and the behaviors and actions needed. Reflect, celebrate wins of your team and praise every improvement and give people a fine reputation to live up to. Click To Tweet.

Understand what influences the values of your team and how if at all they are developing and changing over time. Is this change healthy or for the worse?

How do you lead with passion and in alignment with your values?

For Coaching, Speaking or Training let’s connect.

Does “Employee Engagement” Matter?

24 April 2013 By Lalita Raman 8 Comments

John was with his company for a little over two years. He was one of the senior management reporting directly to the CEO and Chairman. He was very soon expected to take over as CEO and Chairman. However, John was frustrated and has been mulling over leaving the firm to pursue other opportunities. John had joined this firm with a lot of expectations in terms of the vision he saw for this company. This was the second firm in his 15 year career so far.

Employee engagement has become a key word and an area of focus within organizations more so from the point view of retention. What is employee engagement? Employee engagement is the emotional commitment that a person has to their organization.

What is the Key to Employee Engagement

From Gallup

12 questions for Employee Engagement

1) Do you know what is expected of you at work?
2) Do you have the materials and equipment to do your work right?
3) At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
4) In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?
5) Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?
6) Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
7) At work, do your opinions seem to count?
8) Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?
9) Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?
10) Do you have a best friend at work?
11) In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?
12) In the last year, have you had opportunities to learn and grow?

Key questions to ask to retain good people

Please refer this LINK

In John’s case, he had always surpassed what was expected of him, he was also a strong candidate tipped to become the next CEO and Chairman. But yet he wanted to leave.

The key question here is was he ever asked by the CEO and Chairman How can I, and the company, help you fulfill your career goals and your vision ?

Whenever you have changed organizations ask yourself what is that you lacked the most. Was it just a promotion and salary hike or one or all of the following

Appreciation – As leaders it is key to deliver the recognition in a manner that the employee is comfortable. Just saying “Hey good job” delivered in a no care attitude hardly does the job. Recognition and appreciation has to be specific (with referral to what was done well and the efforts that they put in) and timely.
You Matter – being appreciated, recognized and made to feel You Matter is a continuous process rather than a onetime event. A true leader realizes that it is important to create and maintain such an environment. It is about them and not about you or your achievements.
Larger goal – engagement is high when what we do is linked to a larger vision or purpose. True meaning is achieved when we can connect to something bigger than us.
Tone – delivery of words of praise has to be meaningful and sincere. Tone in which the message is communicated matters most.
Clarity – you have to be clear and focused in what you liked the most and how it contributed to the overall vision of the company or goal of the project. Sandwiching too many compliments makes the feedback confusing. The Sandwich Approach also undermines your message.

No one is perfect and we all learn from mistakes. While correcting the employee for their mistake the following should never be done

Public humiliation – none of us like to be embarrassed in front of our team. Even when circumstances warrant you to correct someone amongst a group, the way the message is delivered is important.
Not walking your talk – you need to spend time with your team. You need to deliver on your word. Motivation is badly affected when you as a leader don’t lead by example.
People skills – communication of the goals, developments, changes in management structure is imperative. Employee engagement will be low when you keep your employees second guessing. Many employees learn from media as to what is going on within their company rather than from their managers.

John was recognized for his performance but the communication lines had broken down. The company changed its vision which was never directly communicated to him, the ‘why’ was never answered and ‘what’ he was hired for was forgotten along the way. Bottom line of career management is to align right people to right position, doing the right thing = operational performance + productivity + profit.

Employee engagement is a three-way process and requires responsibility, accountability and ownership from the employer, the employees and the organization.

Useful References

Research on Employee Engagement

Leadership & Women

30 April 2010 By Lalita Raman Leave a Comment

We Often hear that Women shy away from the limelight and many a time it is because of their cultural background. I read in a Tweet today that the thought of stepping into a leadership role often intimidates women. Is Leadership only about Showing Up, Speaking Up and Stepping Up??

Here is a Woman, Elham Al Qasimi, who has shown not only mental & physical courage but also set out to achieve what she had set her mind on. Qasimi, a former investment banker who was born in Dubai but lived in the Unites States until she was 12, is believed to be the first Arab woman to set foot on the North Pole.

As Qasimi says “Women in the Middle East are half the population, They’re half the human capital, and they’re half that hasn’t been invested in properly.”

Qualities that makes Qasimi a leader, notwithstanding her expedition raising money for PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools) and the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, are

*Clear Cut Vision of the future.

*Will to prepare and a methodical plan to achieve her vision

*Commitment in-spite of the odds & challenges she faced along the way.

*Empowering herself to do what she had set out to achieve. Translating words to action.

*She strived to achieve something that was greater than herself and for the greater good.

For the full article read CNN.COM

Work-Life Balance Or Work-Life Integration?