Showing posts with label MBA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MBA. Show all posts

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Narcissism in MBAs

I felt it in some of my colleagues during my MBA. Narcissism can be defined as an exceptional interest and admiration for oneself. A study presented at the Academy of Management in Montreal approves that it is present in MBA students more than in others.

http://alturl.com/erz4i (Redirects to Business Week website)

The researchers measured the narcissistic tendencies among the students by using a metric named Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) score. And they found that business students had the score much above the other graduates!

Should we say, Watch out, MBAs!

- Rahul

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Management lessons from Mahabharata

Coaching or Mentoring is a great tool in management for talent development. This small piece tells how the Mahabharata teaches us the key points:

Trust in coaching: Krishna and Arjuna

In the Mahabharata, the Pandavas are shown to have fought with the Kauravas on a matter of principle.

Arjuna was the person on whose shoulders the morale of the Pandavas rested. His well-being heralded victory and he stood for all that was supreme Pandava valour and glory. He had two biological older brothers, so he was not solely responsible for looking after the family. However, Arjuna was a little vain and sensitive, and felt he had nobody to look up to. Krishna filled this void. Krishna’s style of mentoring relied on certain building blocks.

Krishna proclaimed his love for Arjuna publicly and attached the highest importance to his friendship with Arjuna. They spent much time together and Krishna took every opportunity to demonstrate his love for Arjuna. On one occasion, they fought a battle which pleased Lord Indra. Lord Indra offered Krishna a boon. Guess what he asked for? He asked that his friendship with Arjuna continue forever! This built great trust in the relationship. Trust is the first building block in the mentoring.

The second feature was that Krishna was always supportive of Arjuna but never interfered with his life. At no point did Krishna take the decisions or the actions required, he merely offered his advice to Arjuna. At any rate, Arjuna had a fragile personality, the kind that would not accept interference by someone else. Krishna ensured that after proffering his advice, he gave Arjuna his own space so that the protégé felt no sense of dependence on the mentor.

The third feature was that the relationship was one of cheer and warmth. Arjuna took his tasks very seriously and had frequent outbursts of temper. Krishna showed himself to be a friends and comrade despite the moodiness of his protégé, so that Arjuna felt free to open his heart to him.

The fourth feature of Krishna’s mentorship was that when required, he criticized Arjuna’s decisions openly but never insulted or denigrated him personally. Krishna’s focus was on the issue, not on the person. Thus he was always non-judgemental.

The fifth feature was that Krishna never left Arjuna to fend for himself just because he had chosen a path which Krishna was not supportive of. When Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu was killed in battle by Jayadratha, Arjuna vowed that by evening he would either kill Jayadratha or commit suicide. Krishna did not think this was a good idea, but he stood with his protégé to help him complete his difficult task. Lastly, when Arjuna faced a personal crisis on the battlefield, Krishna came to his rescue by propounding the Gita; it was not a mere sermon but a way of looking at the issues he was facing and helping Arjuna to resolve his dilemmas himself.

(Taken from the book “The Case of the Bonsai Manager”, by R. Gopalakrishnan)

Monday, December 10, 2001

Book Review: Maverick by Ricardo Semler


‘Maverick’
By: Ricardo Semler
Arrow Books
ISBN 978-0-712-67886-5

Semco has been one of Latin America’s most successful and fast growing companies, best known for its innovative and democratic business practices and philosophy. The credit to all goes to Ricardo Semler who grew the company with himself. This book, first published as Virando a Própria Mesa ("Turning Your Own Table") is a best seller in which Ricardo spills the beans about his company and its practices.

The book captures the historical growth of the company. For this purpose, Semco and Ricardo Semler are no two separate entities but one. Reading about his ways and the kind of revolutions he made in the way businesses are conducted, I had to consistently fight my disbelief and skepticism. Semler has shown us that it is possible to run a company where every employee feels great about his/her job, a company which is most ethical in practices, where all employees are empowered irrespective of anything, where there are no hierarchies, and no rules and policies!

If you are interested in business management, this is one book you just can’t miss to read!

- Rahul


Here is a good capture of some stuff that make the Semco Way: