Disappointments that has to be turned to I great success - that must be the story of a successful executive.

At times, even the most experienced executive faces situations, which suddenly spin out of control and the opportunities, which just till then looked so plausible, turn to nothing. 

And when this happens at the hands of some ill behaved person and in temperate, person who starts talking  of something which he has no clue whatsoever but does so as if he is doing it day in day out, you are further peeved. You maintain the decorum in deference to the authority which is his because of his closeness to someone. This is a classic case where your failure turns to frustration and you do something rash. 

But a mature player, does take time off to think it through and converts the opportunity nevertheless. While one sets out to do it, he must prepare deliberately to avoid the coterie and if faced with must take it head on to close out.

I am setting out to do it and will share the entire story once it is successful. I for one have decided that there are situations which are not acceptable and I will correct it to have it my way.

Organization growth and your own agenda

Every employee, when he starts work at a place has his or her own plans for the future. After the initial few months or years they review their goals, modify or reaffirm their beliefs. Such actions have many common threads one of which is continuity and growth at the chosen place This is the accepted norm in the families of middle and upper middle class of working parents. The fresher or junior aspires to reach the levels of their mentor or the top post through diligent and dedicated work.

Growth in itself is gradual and graded. Definition of growth is difficult as it has different notations for each individual. For some it is synonymous with the best that has happened to their peers in other organizations. For some others growth it is to meet their cash needs caused by events at the personal front. May be it is due to life style changes or additions in the family, sudden expenses etc. The most successful career persons are those who do not fall into such traps and stay at the job which they like and manage their expenditure to the extent permitted by the salaries.

There is flip side to this. Management may take such individuals for granted and may try to deny their due. This is rare occurrence in progressive organization, but it will help for one to be vigilant about it.

The organization culture is another important aspect. If it is Multinational Organization, their agenda with respect to the country where you are serving is very important. If they are just willing to push the product manufactured elsewhere, without developing or manufacturing the products locally, it is time you moved on. As a professional one needs to have the larger picture in mind, when they devote their entire life to an organization.

If it is a national organization, owner driven, we need to see for professionalism exhibited in the key decisions taken by them, the consistency in their policies, tuning of the policies with times, and aligning the HR policies in line with the market trends. Lack of any one element is a concern, but manageable. Over time if it is not corrected or more unacceptable practices become the norm, then it is better to look at other better options.

The challenge for organizations, is to stay focussed and be responsive to the employees needs at all levels. Growth in the organization, will bring in many new additions and faces at all levels. While this opportunity will be used by the employer to weed out the non performing elements, the employee needs to be aware of the impact of such additions and additionally qualify himself or work harder or improve the functioning to deliver improved results.

Organisations move in directions in which its key persons direct it. Hence the top management are responsible for steering it propoerly for the benefit of all. Where it gets difficult is when there are major changes in the top management itself. It is at these times, one needs to stay and take a view of the changes (which percolate down due to the change) and then decide. There will be heart burns and individual loyalties which are challenged. But one should not allow such emotions to cloud one's decision.

Challenges at the work place

There are many challenges at the work place which we need to tackle.

Every action, interaction, every new effort which you take, brings with it, its own challenges. If you are lucky you develop a liking to these challenges and that is the best situation. Some times you allow these tendencies to become addictive which turns you to a workaholic. This is another challenge which you need to manage as it may take a toll at the home front.

There are some challenges which makes you tense and if you encounter many of them in a day's work then it is time you realized that you are in the wrong place! As they say the moment the work which you do makes you tense, it is time you changed your work or the work place.

As you move on handling these challenges, certain events bring disappointments and sadness. It is at these times you need to believe in your self and get on with it. If the disappointments are caused by some whose actions you cannot control, then the situation may need a directional shift. Else it could be a simple chemistry issue. Whatever it is, it is must be faced and resolved immediately, lest it becomes a bogey and you start looking at it for excuses.

Sibling Rivalry

It is with interest that one follows the court room battle of the Ambanis' in the Krishna gas field case. For some of us who still remembers the father Ambani, (as well as those who have seen "Guru"), these actions are painful. Painful because, the siblings have lost touch with their roots, shareholder base.

Dhirubhai mobilized large funds from public and deployed it very effectively. He created assets on global scale & quality which is delivering stellar performance over extended period of time. Some of the tactics used by him to secure permissions (through the control raj), market share and remunerative prices may not be acceptable to all, but he did it and shared the earnings with his shareholders, a modern day Robin hood if you will.

Having created huge wealth, (and the sons should be given due credit for their role as well, in creating this wealth) the siblings would have done well to focus and grow from these enlarged base. Unfortunately they have started competing amongst themselves and engaged in a one up manship game which does not produce any winner. It is a plain play of highly bloated super egos and will leave all the stake holders at a loss. Lawyers of course will be partly offset by the huge fees they will pocket, even though they may be loosing on their Reliance holding!

From another perspective the case which is being battled in the courts can be said to be - "Should RNRL take its profit before RIL does or after wards?" If the Gas is priced at $2.42 per MMBTU, to RNRL, RIL will take may be another 10 to 15 years to recover their investment, while RNRL will reap the benefits immediately. This is not natural justice as these shareholders did not share the risk of developing the field. They parted midway and have to therefore wait for their turn. They are however entitled to share the benefits having been the members of the larger family of Dhirubhai Ambani in the undivided Reliance Industries, the parent company.

So, RNRL share holder have their claim on the Krishna Godavari gas, which can be likened to their claim on ancestral property, being original members of the Dhirubhai share holder legacy. But since they have chosen to be separate, they will have to wait for their turn, which will be as per the policies guided by the Government of India.

Both the companies, the whole world knows can influence government decisions. It is therefore more or like the Two cats and monkey story, where the monkey eats the entire "Dosa", attempting to equally apportion the bounty. The Government monkey is already at work by artificially jacking up the price and promising major portion to RIL. RNRL is peeved and hence the case!

Wake up Anil bhai; have a heart. After all you are the younger brother and I am sure your turn will come. You are also equally capable of creating huge wealth in the field chosen by you Power & Telecom. Focus on that and create values, so large that the Reliance share holders start crying foul and the Mukesh bhai camp starts scheming to refer to the "Family Agreement". the all encompassing, dark invisible document.

My experience at the Endoscopy table

The pain in my stomach which was intermittent over the last two years, increased in intensity and frequency, which caused a little bit of anxiety to me and family. This prompted us to look for a competent doctor near our apartment at Adyar. We therefore landed at Dr. JinaDas, who after preliminary examination, recommended that I do an Endoscopy to profile my internals.

Initially, I resisted; but wanting a permanent solution, decided to go for the same.

It was a Sunday and all was very nice. I went for my morning walk as usual to the beach and took in my day's quota of Ozone, together with vitamin D from the morning rays. That day's podcast was also very interesting; Podcast from "The Economist" - Technology Quarterly .

Since I was to report to the Endoscopy center empty stomach, I starved till 9:30 and reported promptly 5 minutes ahead of my appointment at the centre. The girls there were very pleasant and efficient. I believe it is in their genes being Keralites! I was put through the normal drill of basic measurements by the malu girls and then made to wait for the Doctor.

When it was my turn with the Doctor, I entered the room with my wife eagerly tagging along. I was briefed by the Doctor in a very professional way and I could sense that he was attempting to make me feel at ease.

After that he started working on his desktop and looking at the monitor he shot a series of questions at me; all to understand (and I presume record)the symptoms, habits, background, previous illness, causes of allergy etc. I presume he was satisfied with my answers and he did not show any strong reaction(which I presume is natural).

MY wife had to move out of the room, when the test started (and I understood through the process why she had to go) and in the first step I was given a portion of bitter liquid which i had to gargle for a minute and then swallow. The Doctor made sure that I had no dental problem before administering the dose. He had told me that the liquid was a local anesthesia, which would remove the sensation in the path through which the endoscopy probe will travel. I realized that the anesthesia had started its job, only when the probe was being inserted.

The probe is a small cable, some thing similar to the clutch cable you will find in cycle, but with an optic fiber embedded in it, At the leading end of the probe, a tiny camera with bright light source is attached. Patient's mouth is kept open by a plastic wedge which the patient has to hold between his teeth and the probe is inserted through a hole in the plastic wedge.

As the probe travels, it captures the images, which are recorded and simultaneously displayed on a small screen, which the patient can also see. The Doctor sees the same screen and this Doctor was giving a running commentary of the advancement of the probe(may be his voice was also being recorded). It was all nice as it started and all was pleasant.

As the probe was passing adjacent to my heart, I suddenly felt the sensation of the probe. Immediately my system took over and I was trying to vomit out the probe. I was pushing out the probe through my internal system with all the force I can muster and it was very scary. The Doctor banged the head table where I was resting my head and warned me that I could create a major situation if I continue to do try and push out the probe. I could sense that there was tension in the theatre as I could feel multiple hands presumably of the nurses, till then not visible, but now preparing to hold.

The Doctor was by now shouting "Relax there is nothing you can do; you will only harm yourself if you try to do something!!". Believe me; I consciously decided to listen to him. I relaxed and in the next few seconds everything was back to normal.

The probe completed the travel as planned and identified the Ulcer, which has just formed. I am now being treated for the ulcer.

The experience, has given me the confidence to face any eventuality with total resignation; may be that is what people call near death experience!!