Muralidharan Saravanamuthu

Some of you may be a bit surprised with the title. In an earlier article, I had mentioned about how, during my MBA days, I was fascinated  with Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Model. Just to recap, as per this model, leadership styles need to be different for different people based on the maturity of the person being led and the relationship of the person with the leader. Broadly, there are 4 leadership styles: Telling style:  This is simply telling and directing people to do what is desirable and not do what is undesirable.  This style is applied when the maturity of the person is very low and the relationship of the person with the leader is low. Selling style:  This is encouraging and motivating people to do what is desirable and not do what is undesirable.  This style is applied when the maturity of the person is low and the relationship of the person with the leader is high. Participating style:  This is collaborating and guiding people t...

To read Astrology - k(no)w future? My father, who was an Allopathic physician, was a believer in Astrology. When I was in my 8th standard, I was scheduled to take an exam on a Wednesday afternoon.  My father told me to leave home before 12 noon, as on Wednesday, Rahukalam, considered inauspicious period, falls between 12 noon and 1:30 p.m.  I chose to ignore his suggestion and started from home during Rahukalam.  While crossing a side road to take a bus, a cycle-rickshaw turned abruptly into the side road and it's iron folding rod tore my shirt pocket and injured me on my chest.  Since I didn't have enough time to go back home and change, I went and wrote the exam in my bloodstained shirt with pocket hanging out and the cut injury visible to all.  From that day, I too started believing in astrology. My first day classes of 11th standard were scheduled to commence at 9:30 a.m. on a Monday morning but my father told me to reach the school before 7:30 a.m. as Rahuk...

Random views on economy and governance shared during lockdown with my engineering batchmates: Most governments, in times of global crisis, have attempted to stimulate the market with short-term sops which further aggravate the situation in the long run.  It’s like treating the symptoms and not the root cause.  Most banking challenges are due to Non-performing Assets (NPA) norms which are not in sync with the ground realities of different sectors and sizes.  This results in invoking Bankruptcy law without giving sufficient time for the businesses to recover which in turn depresses business sentiments.  Credit off take will happen naturally when businesses are optimistic about the future.  I see that the Government of India is not resorting to any knee-jerk reactions to the current situation and are still focused on fundamentals.  But a sector specific credit, recovery and NPA norms are the need of the hour.  This would mean delinking ourselves from glob...

Humility is the quality of having a modest or low view of one's importance. Antonym for humility is pride.   I prefer the word ego (pun unintended). Ego is a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance. Definitions: courtesy online dictionary. Humility is perceived differently by different people. Tangible manifestation of humility or ego The way one appears... People are unaffected when they see other people live in accordance with their means - rich or poor.  They take it in their stride with the underlying perception being, "They deserve it." But they are offended with other people who live much beyond their means and call them ostentatious. Likewise, they are impressed with other people who live much below their means and call them humble: When one can afford to travel first class but choses to travel economy. When one can afford to drive a Ferrari but choses to drive a Fiat. When one can afford haute couture but choses to wear khadi. You get the drift right?...

In 2006, as part of an Executive Recruiters Association (ERA) program in Chennai, I was nominated from Datamatics to make a presentation on Goals. I made a PowerPoint presentation which was well received. Later, in Equitas, when we were celebrating completion of one year from the date of incorporation, I chose to make the same presentation to our employees, about 50 of them, in the presence of Mr. P N Vasudevan, our Managing Director.  After I completed my presentation, Vasu came on stage and, in his inimitable style, said something to this effect in Tamil, "I knew Murali has loose screws in his head but I didn't know that he had so many loose screws."  After this friendly dig, he went on to appreciate my presentation. After I took charge of Gurukul schools, I went around to all our schools and made this presentation, only the first 8 slides, to the principals, the teachers and the students of higher classes. When our first batch of students entered their 9th and 10th sta...