25 September 2010

5th Roswell Rise N Run 5K, 2010

On Sep 25th, 2010, a few of us from Equifax ran in the 5th Roswell Rise and Run 5K race. This race was to raise money for North Fulton Community Charities. Half the route was on gravel and thru the park. Speedy Gonzalez Matt Semrad came. So did Anastassia, Shannon and Megan. I posted 26:28. Matt pushed his 6 year old 60-pound son Carter in the stroller. And he still beat me by over two and a half minutes!!

Update on 10/1/2010: I got a call that I came in second in my gender/age group!!

Surprise! Surprise!! I found out the next day that I stood second in my age group! This has never happened to me before. PRobably will not happen again either. I have never been exactly the athletic types ever in my life!!

nfcc2010p1120009p1120012
p1120013p1120030roswell-rise-n-run-certificate
roswellrnr2010

Category: Running | LEAVE A COMMENT
11 September 2010

10th Annual Suwanee Day Classic

On Sep 11th, 2010, I did something I had never done – ran two back to back races – 5K and 10K. Matt got me hooked on this. Matt, unfortunately had to walk in the last quarter mile of the 5K race after sna[[ing his hamstring. Anastassia came out to run. Kumar and Joyce came to cheer us up!! I kept up with a steady 9 minute pace for both the races finishing at 28 minutes for the 5K and 56 minutes for the 10K,

p1120008p1120007p1120006
logo-block2009

Category: Running | LEAVE A COMMENT
16 June 2010

Natasha riding Magic

This was Natasha’s first horse riding event. She is totally into horses. That is about the only physical exercise she is willing to do. Left to herself, she would be with the horses for hours everyday. Here, she is riding Magic.

23 May 2010

1st Sunset Celebration for CRN 5K

On May 22nd 2010, we ran in the Children’s Restoration Network’s First Sunset Celebration 5K run. This is an organization dedicated to the cause of homeless children and their mothers. You can find more details at http://www.childrn.org. Sharmila ran too. In fact, I ran with her from start to finish. We completed in about 38 minutes. After that there was a 1K run/walk for children. Both Nikita and Natasha went for the walk. Amitesh and Esha also showed up for the race and the run.
1crnlogocolor.jpgp1110347p1110350
p1110351

Category: Running | LEAVE A COMMENT
23 May 2010

Keeping calm under fire

Some of the leaders that I have admired most have had the ability to not only stay calm under stress, but continually be outright positive. And these leaders have been across all levels of an organization. Because they have been across all levels, I think this is more of a personality trait than something one necessarily acquires as they go up. However, I have no reason to believe that one cannot strive to be so, even if it does not come naturally.

Stress gets created when the observable results are at variance with what is desired. As organizational behavior will teach you, if that accountability comes without commensurate authority, that exacerbates the personal stress.

In today’s corporate environment (most of it at least), the demand for short term accountability is extremely high. The tolerance for failure – regardless of all high words of risk taking capability – is getting narrower and narrower. A lot of this is derived not necessarily from within the organization but the tough competitive environment and the fact that business is moving at lightning speed.

One unfortunate outcome is that when a perceived failure happens, the organization demands quick answers. Quick answers, no doubt, lead to simplistic conclusions. Add the tendency to arrive at simplistic conclusions and the above discussed tolerance for failure – and that leads to another dangerous behavior – finger pointing. This is derived from a deep rooted human tendency – “I am better than others; what I control performs better than something that I do not control.”

Finally, average human being finds it more convenient to name a person as the reason for failure than understand the true nuances of processes and constraints. First, it is easier, it is more convenient and it is something most people can relate to. Person A is an idiot – Ah! I get that. The complexity of understanding constraints – some written and some not written – some internal some external – that starts becoming too complex for us  This leads to a missed opportunity to drive true learnings for the organization.

Leaders have to be doubly vigilant not to fall into this pattern of behavior. Any organization learns quickly from the top. As human beings, we all want to be leaders. In reality, we all want to be led. We copy behavior from the top very fast – perhaps believing that compliance will lead to success. In the process, we amplify the behavior at the top.

Any sign of panic on the top and the dissonance in the org below – like a bunch of dispersed ants – is immediately visible. Any signs of finger pointing from the top and immediately the organization takes a cue.

A true leader needs to address issues from the position of poise and even handedness. A calming sense needs to pervade in the organization that is under stress. Giving the entire troop a sense of purpose that they are all in it together is of paramount importance. Regardless of the level of stress, they will need to stick together and emerge successful.

But above all be aware that this is just one more hurdle of many more to come in one’s career. Crossing hurdles require cool-headed thinking and an aura of positivity around oneself.

So how many such cool-headed leaders have you seen? I have been fortunate enough to see a few in my life.