Flying high!

I'm a little averse to sitting through long lectures, being exerted and told as to how to run my life. Yesterday was an exception. I sat through a fairly lengthy talk by Capt.Gopinath, the founder of Air Deccan, who spoke on the occasion of the first ever convocation ceremony at my Management Institute, Alliance Business School.

The talk was, his story, his life. All guts and glory. From a poor village boy, to army captain, to entrepreneur he has seen it all. He dared to dream and pursued his dream and won. The story was riveting. He exhorted young students to follow the straight and narrow and remain ethical at all times. Shortcuts to success are not the Captain's mantra.

He also spoke of the distress that farmers face when they lose land in the name of development. Many of us have lost touch with what happens in our villages and an agitation by farmers is just newspaper chatter.For many farmer's loss of their land is akin to a loss of life and are reduced to being refugees in their own state or country. A tragedy that many of us cannot even comprehend.

I was also touched by his mention of his seventh grade teacher who assisted him in getting admission to a Sainik school. Not the type who forgets people who helped him realize his dream.

Capt.Gopinath's mantra has been perseverance and patience. A view that I endorse.

Jai ho!

The other day, a return trip, to Bengalooru from Delhi, turned out to be as non eventful, as most other flights, that I've been on.

However, the flight to my mind was very different & significant, as, I hark back to my first flight, in 1986. This aeroplane was piloted by two very smart young ladies, a first for me, on an Indian domestic airline. Back in the 1980's through the 1990's, piloting a plane was the sole domain of men and women confined themselves, to being cabin crew.

While, the lady pilots flew their bird, very well, I was very impressed, by the efficiency of young Srikanth, who served us, through the flight. Extremely deft and in control all the time, his manners were perfect.

One day, in the near future, I hope to see, ships, 'manned' by a all woman crew. Maybe I should have used the word 'womanned'.

This is not a piece on the training methods at Jet Air, but rather, my curios interest, in the role reversal that I'm seeing all around. To me it would appear, that growth in India, is inclusive, though slow and I'm prepared to live with that.

If you look at India's long history, you would see, that we started with a superb system of division of labor ( Caste system), which fell apart as we went along and turned increasingly ugly, rigid, exploitative and non inclusive. This non inclusion of major chunks of our population, ( Dalits) in our growth has plagued India, through recent times and we have labored with divisive politics, unequal growth and a lack of national unity.

Though the pilot story, may seem insignificant, to me, it provides a window to peer into the future and if you can see through the fog, you would see an India, that is inclusive, non exploitative and strong, as against some of our neighbors, who thrive on the business of terror or who have made rapid progress through exploitative growth.

I'm prepared to wait and live with our model, because I'm convinced, that short cuts can take you only that far and not the distance. Our growth story must be sustainable.

Over the many years that I've flown the fear of landing has not left me & as I shut my eyes and prayed as we descended into Bangalore, the pilot made a perfect smooth landing.

Jai ho.................

July, August & World History

I do not know if I'm prejudiced or it's my perception, that events in the month of July & August, have shaped world history, in more ways, than events that have occurred in other months.Let us look at three events that happened on the 9th of August, in different years.

August 9,1329 - Quilon the first Indian Diocese was erected by Pope John XXII and Jordanus was appointed the first Bishop.

August 9, 48 BC - Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt.

August 9, 681 - Bulgaria is founded as a Khanate on the south bank of the Danube, after defeating the Byzantine armies of Emperor Constantine IV south of the Danube delta.

The above events, all occurred on August 9th, and all of them, are important enough to have found a place in the history of the world. However if you looks closely, you will probably see that the establishment of the first Indian Diocese was the lone peaceful event amidst the defeat of the Byzantines and the battle at Pharsalus.

History will also consistently show, that, Western Civilization as a rule have been at the helm of wars, death and destruction. However Western spin doctors, have also fairly successfully managed to paint most things non western, from Carthage, to the Inca's, to ancient India as barbaric, uncivilized and decadent.

Europe has, in general, been the epicentre of most wars and so much so when asked, as to what he thought of Western Civilization, Gandhi, replied that, 'He thought, it a good idea and nothing more!' I guess he summed it up brilliantly.

It is important to see, that, in 1329, a Christian Diocese was welcomed in Kerala. This was a time when religious strife was rampant in other parts of the world.

August, also has the ignominy of Hitler's horror's in Belo Russia at the height of 'Operation Barbarossa or the German invasion of Russia and the Americans dropping the atom bombs on Japan, to 'end the war'. These are stories that I would like to talk about later.

India, as such has wonderful secular credentials, and much of the time we are at the receiving end of cleverly disguised propaganda. Historical fact, on many occasions, sets the record straight.

To answer the question as to my bias towards July & August, well, my wife & I were born in these months.

3rd August.........

The Pinta

3rd of August, in my opinion, is one of the most important days in history. On this day in 1492, a sailor, by the name of Christopher Columbus, sailed out with three ship, from the Spanish port of Palos, to find a sea route to India. What he discovered were the Americas.Columbus was not the first European mariner to sail to the New World—the Vikings set up colonies (c.1000) in Greenland and Newfoundland (Leif Ericsson)—but his voyages mark the beginning of continuous European efforts to explore and colonize the Americas. Although historians for centuries disputed his skill as a navigator, it has been proved that with only dead reckoning ( a method of estimating one's position at sea without the aid of the sun/moon/stars that traditional navigators use) Columbus was unsurpassed in charting and finding his way about unknown seas. During the 1980s and 90s the long-standing image of Columbus as a hero was tarnished by criticism from Native Americans and revisionist historians. With the 500th anniversary of his first voyage in 1992, interpretations of his motives and impact varied. Although he was always judged to be vain, ambitious, desirous of wealth, and ruthless, traditional historians viewed his voyages as opening the New World to Western civilization and Christianity. For revisionist historians, however, his voyages symbolize the more brutal aspects of European colonization and represent the beginning of the destruction of Native American peoples and culture. One point of agreement among all interpretations is that his voyages were one of the turning points in history.

Seafarers!

A great many folk quiz me about life at sea. A few of them, have a look of horror & incredulity, as they seem to wonder how such life can be endured. A laundry list of the common myths and stereotypes, that are carried about sailors are:

1. They are drunk for better part of their life on board a ship.
2. They are uncouth.
3. Their family ties are not as strong as those that landlubbers share.
4. Sailors have no rules.
5. They are loose with their morals.
6. They earn a great deal of money with little effort.

While I'm not going to defend sailors in this short, piece, I will recount, a story from last week, involving an Indian Captain and his ship off the coast of Taiwan, in the China Sea. I'm quite familiar with these waters & can tell you that the density of fishing craft is high.

The ship, with the Indian captain, apparently did not stop to assist a sinking fishing trawler. It so resulted that some of the fishermen perished, in the rather turbulent seas that the ship was traversing.

The Captain has since been arrested & charged with' second degree man slaughter', which could lead to a fairly lengthy jail sentence. The captain's defense is that, he was not on the Navigation Bridge, at that point of time & was not informed by the navigating officer, cuts no ice with the marine court that has been constituted. He was the Captain and so takes the cake! He is simply responsible for what goes on on his boat and not assisting another sea farer in distress is desertion and is a strict no no in marine parlance.

Mu question, is, how many of us stop on the road to assist, an accident case? Do we care at all? The CEO of an IT major at Bangalore was surprised when, he was held responsible, for the death of a lady employee who was raped & murdered. The CEO's punishment, was but a slap on the wrist.No jail term for him. No penalties for those of us, who turn away, in horror from a road accident & move on.

Life at sea is very well regulated and disciplined. Most ships do not allow the consumption of alcohol on board and sea farers are some of the most greatly trained folk around. Their commitment to work is simply superb.

Next time you bite into, your favourite nan or roti, remember the sailor because, he would have ferried the wheat for you from a Canadian or US port. The next time you take your favourite SUV out for a spin, remember the sailor because, he got the petrol for you.

As for our Indian captain, when last heard he was cooling his heels in a lonely cell in Taipei and possibly contemplating his rather bleak future.

I rest my case with the question, as where do you think life is more civilized?

HR at cross roads?

The following recent story is indicative of the trials that those in the HR profession face. While the issue of whether HR professionals really contribute to an organizations bottom line, has been a topic debated, for some time now, drastic changes as brought about by General Motors, in replacing their HR head with a person from a technical field, have rarely been seen and is sure to get the HR community up in arms.

Personally, I feel that this would have been a decision, taken by GM's top management, based on current requirements and would probably see a change, with management. Remember GE & Six Sigma or the policies of the legendary Jack Welch.

To me it appears that the organization, is looking for a major revamp, and it was felt that a technical person at the helm of HR would do a better job, in pulling GM out of its current crises. Only time will tell, if the decision was right. HR in India are often accused of going soft on 'firing' employees. Apparently HR managers in the US are no different.

Read the story and decide for yourself.......

General Motors Shakes Up HR LeadershipSource: Workforce - 7/31/09

General Motors head of human resources and longtime executive Katy Barclay is stepping down, the automaker said Thursday, July 30. She will be replaced by Mary Barra, a top executive with an engineering background who worked closely with former GM chief executive Rick Wagoner.The leadership change comes just weeks after the new GM emerged from a structured Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the goal of overhauling the company’s bureaucratic and bloated corporate culture, especially within its executive ranks. The shift completes GM’s executive restructuring, though the company has yet to bring in executives from outside the corporation.The HR change will officially take place October 1, which is GM’s deadline to reduce its salaried workforce by 4,000 people. Saturday, August 1, is the deadline for reducing the company’s union workforce. The company said it wants to trim the number of union workers to 40,500 from 61,000 a year ago.The retirement of Barclay, 53, who has been vice president of global human resources since 1998, was seen as long overdue. According to a 2005 article published in Automotive News (a sister publication of Workforce Management), Barclay said her first automotive job was as a human resources professional at GM in 1978.“She is one of the same senior leaders who is responsible for the destruction of the company,” said Rob Kleinbaum, managing director of auto industry consulting firm Rak & Co. “She is responsible for it and should be accountable for it.”Barra, 47, is vice president for global manufacturing engineering and has been with GM since 1980. She has served in a number of engineering, manufacturing, management and communications positions and was plant manager for the Detroit Hamtramck assembly center. Barra was appointed executive director of vehicle manufacturing engineering in 2004 and was named to her current position in 2008, the company said in a release.Appointing an engineer with no HR experience as the department’s head suggests the company is looking to infuse it with a greater sense of the manufacturing principles of continual improvement and operational efficiency.“It’s a positive sign they want to make deep changes in HR and don’t want to draw from the HR community,” Kleinbaum said.Before her current position, Barclay was general director of human resource management for GM North American operations. Other positions include director of human resources for GM vehicle sales, service and marketing, and director of compensation for GM.CEO Fritz Henderson, who has made changing the company’s culture a top priority for the new GM, announced the changes to employees Thursday, July 30, as part of an overall reduction in the company’s executive ranks.“Our goal was to streamline our leadership team and put some of our best executives in positions where they can use their diverse perspectives and extensive global experience to create the new GM,” Henderson said in a statement.The company appointed Mark Reuss as head of global engineering, replacing two executives, Jim Queen and Ed Koerner, who have been with GM a combined 72 years.In a post on the company’s blog in June just after the company declared bankruptcy, Henderson wrote, “It’s important to remember that the reinvention of GM must start within GM, and we all need to be part of the process.”Henderson then formed a team to look at the company’s cultural issues, “like how the new priorities of customer/product focus, speed, risk-taking and accountability become a natural part of our behavior,” according to a memo to employees.Henderson has since appointed Chris Oster, head of organizational change management, to lead the company’s overhaul of its corporate culture.The changes come a week after GM announced that the human resources seat at the proverbial leadership table would be eliminated. The company replaced its Automotive Product Board and Automotive Strategy Board, on which Barclay sat, with a new nine-person executive leadership committee.The smaller committee is instead composed of executives from marketing, manufacturing, finance, labor relations, corporate planning, sales, and supply chain units. The new Executive Committee was created in hopes of speeding up day-to-day decision making.Barra will report directly to CEO Fritz Henderson, a spokesman said. Author: Jeremy Smerd