Gathering Courage to Switch Tracks in Mid-Life

Circumstances and the call of the heart often push career changes in mid-life, forcing professionals to make life-altering decisions.

Rakesh Jinsi moved to the non-profit sector as the national director of the SOS Children's Village in 2009 after spending 32 years in profit-oriented organizations. His tryst with the corporate world began in the 1970s when he joined a leading manufacturing and consulting company with his engineering degree.

"There was an advertisement in the newspaper. I applied for it and was called for an interview," Jinsi recalls. Over the years, fortunes swung with the fluctuating economy. The dissonance began to show more acutely and Jinsi was not satisfied with the work environment he was getting into. "I was getting uncomfortable with this competitiveness. So, with that understanding, I also realized there is a certain personality and character of mine that needed to be addressed," he said. It was around then the offer from SOS Village came.

For former hardware chip designer Anand Dharmaraj, "Life is an adventure." After spending 17 years designing hardware chips, he quit at the age of 40 and started guided motorcycle tours across the country. His company, indiMotard, allows people to enjoy the sights and sounds of India on motorbikes. Dharmaraj does not regret his decision. "I found that very little original work happened in India in technology product development. Basically, I was a glorified outsourced worker," he said. A native of Kerala, Dharmaraj now works out of home and finds the new environment reflecting his style completely.

Finding our passion, while it may seem difficult, is not impossible. "We need to pay close attention to ourselves, our minds and the things that catch our attention constantly. But the most difficult thing about passion is to be able to put it in an organized manner that will fit neatly in our lives," says writer, teacher and management honcho K. Rajeshwari in her book, My Life; My Choice: Mid-Life Career Choices. The book, published by Macmillan was released in the capital Wednesday at the India International Center. Rajeshwari chronicles the lives of 10 dare-devils who gave up lucrative professions to listen to their heart. "It requires enormous courage and self-belief to walk away from all of these and say I want to do something else," the writer, a graduate of IIM-Ahmedabad, said.

Says former diplomat-writer and member of parliament Shashi Tharoor, who switched vocations several times in life as a UN official, writer, consultant, minister and a member of Lok Sabha: "It is important for us to be aware that the kind of choices people make in their career can change dramatically in the mid-point of their lives." Releasing the book, Tharoor said a child very much finds himself streamed in a particular direction. According to him, only a very small handful can, at a particular stage of life, reinvent themselves.

"I came first in science (in school) and I studied humanities. My parents said to do economics. I did history," Tharoor said of his own choices in life. "After my unsuccessful bid to take over as the secretary general of the United Nations - even though Ban Ki-moon wanted me to stay on - I decided to leave. It took me time to decide to take the plunge into politics. Too many remain trapped in what they are doing. Changing careers is not a bad thing," the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.

"It is actually about finding where your heart belongs," says CD Gopanith, founder of the country's low cost airline Air Deccan. Writing about his life in the book, Gopanith said he left the Indian army in the 1970s after spending seven fruitful years.

"The 70s in India was an era when jobs were scarce, the government followed protectionist policies and the pace of growth was very slow. When I quit, I did not even have a plan on what I would do for a living. But among the many other career choices I made, I started India's largest low cost airline," Gopanith said.

Career transition is stressful, says motivator and co-founder of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) Richard Bandler. In the book, Conversations with Richard Bandler, the NLP guru advises those in the throes of transition to 'identify supporters to enlist their help and adjust one's standards to reduce perfectionism.'

"A mid-career change may not always bring out the best in us. But middle age is the time when we reset the agenda for the rest of our lives,"writer Rajeshwari says.

Taken from Sify.com

Job Communication

For every person who is employed in any kind of business establishment, communication is very important. Often times, assertive communication, must be practiced to provide a disciplined atmosphere. But every day in the workplace, various kinds of communication happen, and it is very important to know what the most effective forms of job communication are.

Job communication takes place in different forms. There is a communication between a superior and an employee, or vice versa. There is communication between departments within the same establishment. There also exists communication between separate business entities.

Along with the directions of different types of job communication, there are those which could also be classified according to tone, such as friendly, commanding, reprimanding or warning.

Persons with superb job communication skills make valuable employees as they become skilled at working with others, befitting the company, and contributing to the objectives of the company. Improving communication is simple, and with a little practice, one would be able to develop his or her verbal and nonverbal communication skills necessary for workplace success.

All types of communication in the workplace are essential. Job communication skills involve:

• Written communication. Instructions, peer communication, questions, and answers are often given through verbal communication. Letters, memos, and other documents within the workplace intended to convey a message are also considered to be written communication.
• Nonverbal communication. Gestures, facial expressions, actuations and signals are all this type of communication. It often happens in informal work settings where there is no need for formal use of words to relay a message. In the work area, nonverbal communication includes eye contact, body language, and posture. At work, people often practice nonverbal versus verbal communication more frequently. Especially considering that you can't always talk in the workplace. But every movement conveys a message.

Some basic rules: Help others feel the sincerity in what you say. Keep your mouth shut unless you have something worth saying. And then, only when you know what's being discussed.

Job communication also requires a clear delivery of a message as well as knowing when to speak and when to listen. Sharing worthwhile information with others in the workplace provides a good way to establish a rapport with fellow workers. Good communication should be direct and definite when speaking with a co-worker.

In making sure that good job communication is maintained throughout the office, one must always think before speaking. The words you speak will build harmonious relationships with others, and will gain their trust. This way you will improve or help the company progress. 

Taken from Typesof-communication.com

Listening Communication

Listening is an important aspect of communication, and the role is played by the receiver of the message. Communication is successfully completed with listening and understanding with the use of any of the types of listening communnication. Understanding the different types of listening is important to be able to apply the right one for the right situation. Although listening is not communication in itself, it is still an integral part in communicating, thereby giving it more focus in the classification of the types of listening communication.

People are taught to read, to speak, and to write, but are not taught to listen, not to mention analyze the types of listening. In fact, 45% of all communication activities are made up of listening, which is big enough to have room for the thorough discussion of the types of listening. This way, people can become better listeners and have a better understanding of the various types of listening, but also the utter need for it. Besides, the fact that any of the types of listening are coming, may it be at home, the workplace, or any gathering, further stresses the need to become better listeners.

As mentioned, earlier, the types of listening are used for certain scenarios. With the use of certain skills, listening can be beneficial by rewarding the person with new information, better relationships, appreciation of things, and more. With that, the types of listening are informative listening. In addition, three variables come into play when engaging in this: vocabulary, concentration and memory.

There is a type of listening that calls a person to build healthier relationships with others through deeper understanding of other people. This is known as relationship listening, which has further specific types. Although information is needed to understand, the stress is placed on the person rather than the information about the person. The behaviors involved in this type are attending, supporting and empathizing.

A type known as appreciative listening involves enjoyment, such as listening to your favorite music, watching movies or TV, or simply listening to nature's sounds. It is affected by presentation, perception and previous experiences.

Critical listening involves more attention than the others. It plays an important role in shaping opinions and bringing about changes. The things that encompass critical listening and thinking are the credibility of the speaker, the logic of the arguments and the psychological appeal.

The last type of listening is discriminative. This is perhaps the most important since it is inherent to the rest of  them. This is because it is usually used in conjunction with the other types of listening. Your hearing ability, awareness of structures in sound, and nonverbal cue integration must be considered when keeping up with this type.

Having a good command of the types of listening communication can tremendously improve the way you communicate and receive messages. Listening communication is used in daily living, so making a conscious effort in improving your listening skills will make the most out of your ears!

Taken from Typesof-communication.com

Nonverbal Communication

The various types of nonverbal communication are basically forms of communication without words. You might be led into thinking that this form is rather inhibiting, but the types of nonverbal communication are perhaps the most pervasive and can even become unconscious habits. In addition, enhancement of the messages that the sender intends to deliver can be achieved with the various types of nonverbal communication, not to mention that they comprise the highest percentage of communication.

You may not know that you are employing different types of nonverbal communication in your everyday life. Even seemingly nonsensical sounds can fall under one of the types of nonverbal communication. Specifically, the types of nonverbal communication are facial expressions, gestures, paralanguage, body language, distance, eye contact, touch and appearance. These can all be done through the use of the different senses.

Facial expressions are the most common among the types of nonverbal communication. A lot of messages can be sent through a smile, a frown, a twitch of the eyebrow, a purse of the lips, and many more. Feelings and emotions which are harder to put into words are better made known with the different types of nonverbal communication, specifically this type, such as bliss, melancholy, rancor, dread, and many more.

The wave of a hand, the point of a finger, and other conscious body movements are called gestures. The messages associated with each gesture may vary, depending on location and culture; so sticking your tongue out at somebody may not always mean the same thing to every person that you meet. This is among the types of nonverbal communication that people have to be wary of when using.

Paralanguage has a thin line separating it from verbal communication that makes itself one of the types of noverbal communcation. The inflection, loudness, pitch, and tone of voice make up paralanguage. These are all used to stress a point, to give disapproval, to show disinterest, and others that can either make or break the flow of conversations.

Body language such as posture and stance can give away a lot to people around you, making it another of the types of nonverbal communication. This is important because it defines the level of relationship that you have with others. The distance you maintain adjusts according to situation, personality and familiarity.

The way you look can also convey a lot of signals and messages. Eye contact is very similar to facial expressions, giving away more emotions than you think are possible with the way you blink, stare, and with the way your pupils dilate.

Touch can mean a lot of things, but in this aspect, it is yet again another type of nonverbal communication. Touch can be therapeutic, meaning a single tap of encouragement can mean a lot to distressed persons. More so, lack of touch can cause problems in the development of a child, affecting his or her social and psychological spheres.

The final type of nonverbal communication is appearance. Your choice of clothing and hairstyle can say a lot about your personality and who you are in general. Other people may interpret and judge you by merely looking at your appearance. Furthermore, some people resort to this type in order to deliberately send a message to everyone, which is more commonly termed "fashion statements."

Taken from Typesof-communication.com

Types of Communication

Humans live their daily lives through a series of communications without which nothing in this world would be achievable. The medium through which men convey their innermost thoughts and will are expressed through a variety of communication channels. When you take a closer look at the number of expressions and responses that human beings make everyday you begin to understand the types of communication that exist in the world of homo sapiens.

The types of communication that humans use come in different forms. It may be verbal, which means that there is the use of words, and nonverbal which denotes communication through actions and behaviors. It can also denote, whether an event is formal or non-formal. The types of communication used indicate that some things can be described with the use of words or paragraphs. There are also things that words could not fully describe. Where only an action or gesture could express the real meaning that the speaker is trying to convey.

Knowing that there are many types of communication opens your mind to all the things that are happening daily in your surroundings. Imagine if a person knows only verbal communication and has no inkling that nonverbal communication is possible. Then, he is an alien in that realm of communication.

Without the existence of a variety of communication options, your life would be a less rich experience. Knowing only the verbal side or the nonverbal side may lead you to miss out on things that you want to do.

You must keep in mind that any conclusions you come to are by default, flawed. This is because all of your decisions about what things mean are filtered through your own experiences and beliefs. This is what Heisenberg described in his uncertainty principle. Just the mere act of observation will affect the outcome.

Learning the various types of communication available to you, enables you to enhance your communication skills, whether verbal or nonverbal. For instance, it is important for a child to learn the way that his or her parents speak so that they can also communicate in return. It has often been said that babies understand some verbal communication before birth.

However, research shows that a child you don't talk to, will, to a large extent, lost the ability to learn to speak after they reach a certain age.

To expound further on the types of communication is to make a direct inquiry into the heart of every known language. Isn't that because of the existence of the types of communication, a French man marries an American woman? Even without words from the very beginning, he just looked her way, she looked his way, and it ended in tying the knot. No words were used, just a look, and maybe a smile.

The types of communication also enable one to distinguish the differences between a simple meeting and the big meeting. It helps the person know when to make a "Morning!" and when to say "Good morning ma'am." In this case there are only two types of communication - formal and informal. Formal communication is done in cases where a formal tone is needed and adherence to certain formal rules or principles in communication must follow. These are seen in business meetings, business correspondence, memos, official letters, government related documents, and so on. Informal communication, on the other hand, can be used in communicating with friends, families, peers, etc. It has no standard format.

All types of communication present in this world are unique and it makes everyone special and different from one another. It creates harmony, and enables the expression of thoughts and emotions so together we can all fully understand what it is to be human.

Taken from Typesof-communication.com

The Top 10 Leadership Qualities

A leader with vision has a clear, vivid picture of where to go, as well as a firm grasp on what success looks like and how to achieve it. But it's not enough to have a vision; leaders must also share it and act upon it. Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric Co., said, "Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision and relentlessly drive it to completion."

A leader must be able to communicate his or her vision in terms that cause followers to buy into it. He or she must communicate clearly and passionately, as passion is contagious.

A good leader must have the discipline to work toward his or her vision single-mindedly, as well as to direct his or her actions and those of the team toward the goal. Action is the mark of a leader. A leader does not suffer "analysis paralysis" but is always doing something in pursuit of the vision, inspiring others to do the same.

Integrity is the integration of outward actions and inner values. A person of integrity is the same on the outside and on the inside. Such an individual can be trusted because he or she never veers from inner values, even when it might be expeditious to do so. A leader must have the trust of followers and therefore must display integrity.

Honest dealings, predictable reactions, well-controlled emotions, and an absence of tantrums and harsh outbursts are all signs of integrity. A leader who is centered in integrity will be more approachable by followers.

Dedication means spending whatever time or energy is necessary to accomplish the task at hand. A leader inspires dedication by example, doing whatever it takes to complete the next step toward the vision. By setting an excellent example, leaders can show followers that there are no nine-to-five jobs on the team, only opportunities to achieve something great.

Magnanimity means giving credit where it is due. A magnanimous leader ensures that credit for successes is spread as widely as possible throughout the company. Conversely, a good leader takes personal responsibility for failures. This sort of reverse magnanimity helps people feel good about themselves and draws the team closer together. To spread the fame and take the blame is a hallmark of effective leadership.

Leaders with humility recognize that they are no better than other members of the team. A humble leader is not self-effacing but rather tried to elevate everyone. Leaders with humility also understand that their status does not make them a god. Mahatma Ghandi is a role model for Indian leaders, and he pursued a "follower-centric" leadership role.

Openness means being able to listen to new ideas, even if they do not conform to the usual way of thinking. Good leaders are able to suspend judgment while listening to others' ideas, as well as accept new ways of doing things that someone else thought of. Openness builds mututal respect and trust between leaders and followers, and it also keeps the team well supplied with new ideas that can further its vision.

Creativity is the ability to think differently, to get outside of the box that constrains solutions. Creativity gives leaders the ability to see things that others have not seen and thus lead followers in new directions. The most important question that a leader can ask is, "What if....?" Possibly the worst thing a leader can say is, "I know this is a dumb question..."

Fairness means dealing with others consistently and justly. A leader must check all the facts and hear everyone out before passing judgment. He or she must avoid leaping to conclusions based on incomplete evidence. When people feel they are being treated fairly, they reward a leader with loyalty and dedication.

Assertiveness is not the same as aggressiveness. Rather, it is the ability to clearly state what one expects so there there will be no misunderstandings. A leader must be assertive to get the desired results. Along with assertiveness comes the responsibility to clearly understand what followers expect from their leader.

Many leaders have difficulty striking the right amount of assertiveness, according to a study in the February 2007 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the APA (American Psychological Association). It seems that being underassertive may be the most common weakness among aspiring leaders.

A sense of humor is vital to relieve tension and boredom, as well as defuse hostility. Effective leaders know how to use humor to energize followers. Humor is a form of power that provides some control over the work environment. And simply put, humor fosters good camaraderie.

Intrinsic traits such as intelligence, good looks, height and so on are not necessary to become a good leader. Anyone can cultivate the proper leadership traits.

Taken from HRWorld.com  

Experimenting with New Presentation Styles

Like a lot of folks, I was inspired by Dick Hardt's presentation in the Lessig style of presenting. It was my first introduction to this fast-paced, minimalist approach - and far cry from the denser presentation style I usually use.

I probably wasn't alone in thinking: I could do that with my next presentation and bask in the glow of my audience's admiration. Stephen O'Grady at Red Monk seized the opportunity and put together a great example of a Lessig-style presentation. At Juice, we're always looking for new and better ways of communicating with our clients and have been paring down the visual complexity of our presentation recently. After trying this approach with my last couple client presentations, I thought I'd share a few thoughts on my experience.

• A Ying to the prevailing Yang. The dominant style of presenting, the one that Cliff Atkinson tenaciously rails against, can be best identified by its long lists of bullets and mind-numbing detail. The Lessig/Hardt camp offers a diametrically-opposed alternative - one that requires the presenter to focus on the flow of the story. Trying this approach was a great reminder that you should be telling a compelling story, first and foremost. It also asks you to break the ingrained habit of throwing everything you know on each slide.
• Dazed and confused. From my experience, you have to be careful not to leave your audience in a Roadrunner-esque cloud of dust. The Lessig/Hardt style starts off fast and doesn't slow down. Particularly if you are well known to your audience, there is an implicit contract between you and your audience. The audience has expectations about your communication style and it is jarring to them when you change. On the other hand, if you bring the skill and commitment of a Dick Hardt, the audience is likely to recover from the initial shock and quickly get into the flow of the presentation.
• Be your own stylist. All of which made me wonder. Is the value in Dick Hardt's presentation popularity asking us to reconsider how we present information - rather than suggesting we simply copy his approach? There isn't one right style for playing a song, making a movie, or writing a book - why do so many presentations look alike? Some would blame it on the tool, but I think it stems from basic corporate conservatism.
• Fit style to the story. After trying pure Lessig, I wondered whether we were trying to force a style of presentation that needed something different? Maybe each presentation - and even parts of presentations - have a best approach for imparting the information. Remember when MSFT had presentation "starter packs" that would build a 15 page presentation for you with stubs on different pages? Interesting that the content varied for the different presentation objectives, but the presentation style/approach didn't. The default style in PowerPoint becomes the "right way" even if it isn't. A better way to present is to consider the characteristics of the information. High-level, conceptual points may be well-suited to a single word, phrase, or picture. In contrast, a rich display of data can be equally compelling if you need to impress the audience with your homework and deliver a foundation to support your case. We have even started to experiment with using separate handouts with the important raw data to supplement a sparse, story-telling style of presentation.

Taken from JuiceAnalytics.com