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Words of Wisdom by Five True Leaders and Changemakers

Words of Wisdom by Five True Leaders and Changemakers

by | Jul 18, 2017 | Feminism, Leadership, Managing Yourself, Motivation, World of Work

True leaders are people who believe that they are capable of bringing about change even in the face of adversities. But more than that, true leaders call out whatever they feel is unjust and are not afraid to have their voices heard over the injustice. Most muffled in all of history has been the voices of women who’ve done their duty as true leaders. However, some voices made it to the rest of us and there is merit in listening to and reading their words over and over again.

Gender equality and women’s rights are always on the top of our priorities at OBOlinx. Even though we are a small organisation, there are certain core principles we hold very close to our hearts. One such core principle is women’s empowerment, equality and rights. One small example of how we try to achieve the same is by maintaining an all women’s team. Not only that, we follow the work from home mode of work, because we believe that regardless of the social background, and personal limitations, women should have an equal chance at employment opportunities.

Men have always had unfair advantages over women for no real or rational reason. But history is witness to some phenomenally phenomenal women who have made the world a better place. Today we bring to you a selection of wise words which women in varied positions have spoken, and which will ring true for ages to come.

Happy reading!

From one of our favourite writers, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, on gender equality –

We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. We say to girls: ‘You can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful. Otherwise, you will threaten the man.’ Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage. I am expected to make my life choices, always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important. Now, marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support, but why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don’t teach boys the same?

Words of wisdom by feminist and writer, Gloria Steinem. Yes, it is true that only when we unlearn everything that we have learnt over the years, without questioning their validity, that true change will come around.

The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn.

And the diva couldn’t have said it better. True change begins only when we reshape our own perception of who we are. Words by Beyoncé.

Women have to work much harder to make it in this world. It really pisses me off that women don’t get the same opportunities as men do, or money for that matter. Because lets face it, money gives men the power to run the show. It gives men the power to define our values and to define what’s sexy and what’s feminine and that’s bullshit. At the end of the day, it’s not about equal rights, it’s about how we think. We have to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves.

Chanda Kochar, the CEO of ICICI bank – India’s largest private sector bank, tells us what the one most important principle at the world of work is.

We need to start work with the idea that we’re going to learn every day. I learn, even at my position, every single day.

A pioneer of the civil rights movement in the US, Rosa Parks is one of the most prominent and important leaders who fought against apartheid. When taken into custody and questioned about her act of transgression against the law (which was the fact that she did not give up her seat to a white passenger on a city bus), she said, “all I was doing was trying to get home from work”. Her action of not giving in to the injustice at play led to a boycott of the city bus services by all the black people who actually formed the majority of the working classes using the transport services. The government was forced to ban racial segregation on buses, after which they called the boycott off. And right there, a piece of history was formed.

I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would be also free.

In our own ways, we all have the ability within us to be phenomenally phenomenal. How? Just by being best at who we are.

These are words that we read or heard that forever became some of our favorites, because of how we associate with and draw strength from them. What are some of your favourite words/ quotes / lines?

How to Feel a 100% on the First Day of your New Job

How to Feel a 100% on the First Day of your New Job

by | Jun 7, 2017 | Career, Job Offers, Life, Motivation, Performance, World of Work

The day you start a new job is a rather special day. It brings along with it a chance to live your precious dreams and is an important milestone in your life. Regardless of how nervous you may be about starting the new job, it is important to go in feeling an absolute hundred percent. Feeling a hundred percent on the first day of your new job sets the kind of vibe that brings you mindfulness – something you want to aim for everyday of your brand new work life. Here are five ways you can bring that vibe about. We strongly recommend getting started on these at least twenty four hours before your first day, for optimum results. 🙂

  1. Prepare well

    Even though you may already be well prepared and all set to get started, there are a few things that will help you being even better prepared. Re-read your employment contract and offer letter to ensure you have all the documents you require, in place. Go over your job description to re-acquaint yourself with your roles and responsibilities, brush up on remembering the names of your team mates. Remember that when you look good, you feel good. Dressing well, and being presentable makes a huge difference to your confidence level. Spend some time putting your outfit in place for the next day.

  2. Express gratitude

    This simple exercise in mindfulness will have a profound impact on your energy level and confidence – exactly what you need on your first day. Just before ending your day, think about all your reasons for applying to the job, recount the struggles you faced in the process and how you overcame them. One of the most powerful and humbling feelings is to feel gratitude for your journey, and for the circumstances which brought you closer to your goals. Write all that down, and when you feel like you’re having a bad day at work, reading what you wrote will never fail to put a smile on your face.

  3. De-stress

    Even if you may not be stressed, de-stressing / ‘doing things which make you happy’ is a great idea to conjure up the energy you want to carry with you on your first day of work. Read a favorite book, listen to some music, spend some time putting your thoughts in words, paint, garden – just anything that brings you joy. Spending a few hours on yourself creates a significant difference – for the better!

  4. Have a BIG breakfast

    On your first day of work, wake up extra early just so you can take your time getting ready at your own pace. Most important though, is to have a big, hearty, happy breakfast. Put on some music and make yourself some awesome breakfast. It is just the fuel you need before you launch into your new job, your new life, your new role!

  5. Wear your best smile

     No matter how impeccably dressed you are, a smile is what makes all the difference. Walk in with a smile everyone smiles back at. Keep it on your face all day, and put it on auto-repeat mode, until it is a part of you. A smile that is genuine is more miraculous than most other things in life. It fosters friendships, breaks barriers, dissipates anger, and opens doors where there seem to be none. Don’t believe us? Try and let us know if we are wrong.

Feeling a hundred percent on the first day of your brand new job means nothing more than feeling like you have it within you to give your new adventure everything you’ve got. It means that you appreciate the opportunity that has come your way (through your own hard work), and want show gratitude through your work ethics and self-motivation. As they say, morning shows the day!

What are your favorite things to do on/ before your first day at work?

5 Quotes that Sum up the Essence of Team Work

5 Quotes that Sum up the Essence of Team Work

by | May 16, 2017 | Leadership, Management, Motivation, Performance, World of Work

Great teams are not built in a day. It takes perseverance, patience, unmatched leadership, hard work and the many other ingredients that make up the magic sauce of Team work. To create magic as a team, it takes individual and collaborative synchronization.

Today we send some inspiration your way in the form of some very effective insights / quotes that will inspire you to be a great team player, and illustrate what real team work looks like.

1. Alone we are a drop in the ocean, but together we are the ocean itself.

“Team work is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” – Andrew Carnegie

2. Like the age-old saying goes, united we stand.

“None of us is as smart as all of us.” –Ken Blanchard

3. To begin, to forge ahead, and to succeed.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” –Henry Ford

4. Because no great team is built without a great leader. It takes a good leader to take responsibility, to share success and to never forget the pat on the back!

“If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That’s all it takes to get people to win football games for you.” ― Paul W. Bryant

5. Mistakes happen. What is more important is sticking together unconditionally because after all you are a team. You must finish well, what you started together.

“We’re a team. It’s part of our job to help each other out, and to forgive each other quickly. Otherwise, we’d never get anything done.” ― Jeramey Kraatz

But what is most important is to realize the transience of bad things, and good things. To realize that winning is great, but losing gracefully defines who you are better than a win does. No one says it better than Lance Armstrong in these very powerful, and beautiful words.

“When you win, you don’t examine it very much, except to congratulate yourself. You easily, and wrongly, assume it has something to do with your rare qualities as a person. But winning only measures how hard you’ve worked and how physically talented you are; it doesn’t particularly define you beyond those characteristics.
Losing on the other hand, really does say something about who you are. Among other things it measures are: do you blame others, or do you own the loss? Do you analyze your failure, or just complain about bad luck?
If you’re willing to examine failure, and to look not just at your outward physical performance, but your internal workings, too, losing can be valuable. How you behave in those moments can perhaps be more self-defining than winning could ever be. Sometimes losing shows you for who you really are.” ― Lance Armstrong

Love working as a part of a team? Prefer working alone? What do you think is a better way to be most productive? Share your thoughts on team dynamics and we’ll be happy to share them further!

A Conversation on Volunteering with an Ace Volunteer

A Conversation on Volunteering with an Ace Volunteer

by | May 9, 2017 | Motivation, Volunteering, World of Work

“ Volunteering isn’t only working, it is about learning and unlearning.”

She was 13 years old when she first volunteered. In her own words, “That first brush with volunteering was so breathtaking. After that I couldn’t be stopped.” While most of her peers were busy giving exams and following a routine pattern, she traveled to the rural interiors of Rajasthan and Bihar to volunteer.

Today, at 24 years of age, Bhawna Khattar, a graduate of Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication has worked with 8 incredible not for profit organizations. Her journey is one we can all admire and envy at the same time.

As we continue writing on the theme of volunteering, we thought it would be fitting to interview someone as experienced as she. In her intense yet quirky way, Bhawna spoke of her volunteering journey, what made her take it up and why it is important to volunteer.

You have been volunteering for quite sometime now, what has the journey been like?

I have volunteered with different kinds of organizations such as Deepalaya, Teach for India, Rajasthan Bal Kalyan Samiti, Barefoot College and many more. All experiences have been extremely diverse yet, somehow connected in one way or the other. I think, the most important aspect is your own journey as an individual and how it relates to the outer world. So, slowly I have started to build connections.

For me a volunteering journey provides a first hand opportunity of looking at a situation from multiple angles rather than just looking at the tip of an iceberg. For example: If you look at education, you cannot look at education alone, you have to determine the reasons of why a child is not attending school, and in a lot of cases, the reason is ill health or malnutrition.

Adding to this, volunteering is a great way to make friends, all from different places, from different walks of life who give you more lenses. That’s how the journey looks to me, now that I look back. And I believe there is always a long way to go!

When did your interest in volunteering surface and why?

In my case, as far as I can remember, may be going back to sixth or seventh grade. I think the more important question here is- why? My reasons have been to explore. I wanted to intern at Deepalaya because I wanted to understand the usage of communication in education, then Rajasthan was because I was super-excited to live in a new place.

The reasons have always been different but the motivation has been to explore myself in new environments. Also, my college had mandatory social sector internships for us that pushed me to go for volunteering.

Do you think volunteering has helped you grow?

Of course, it has. Volunteering is much more about learning than working. It has taught me to be patient with others but more importantly, with myself. It has taught me that it’s okay to make mistakes that it’s fine to fail. I’ve learnt the value of delving deeper into subjects, to understand first and opine later. More importantly it has taught me that moving out of my comfort zone is the only way to be comfortable with myself.

I think here, it’s also important to understand that volunteering can mean so many different things, in so many different areas but one thing that remains common is the will to find more questions.

Would you recommend young adults to go out and volunteer? Why?

Yes, definitely. In fact I think it has become a “trend” for youngsters to volunteer now, don’t you think? As for the reasons, there are so many. Bu two major ones that I can think of are to remove your own boxes and not be limited by your own mind.

Like you said, today there is a frenzy to grab the best volunteering opportunities amongst students. From a very young age, kids are being pushed to go and volunteer. Why do you think that is?

Because we live in a world which talks of goals but not the process. We want to be ‘someone’, so it’s seen as a way of reaching that particular goal which to me is not volunteering at all. Volunteering comes out of one’s own will, not the societal pressures.

Do you think volunteering is tailor made only for school and college student, can professionals and senior citizens benefit from it as well?

There should be no bars when it comes to volunteering, it can help everyone.

What are some of the best volunteering programs according you?

Again, very subjective but anything that allows for an internal unlearning journey. Few places that come to my mind are Project Potential, Auroville, Shikshantar Andolan, SEARCH in Gadchirolli, Barefoot College and Pravah.

What according to you are the do’s and dont’s of volunteering?

For the do’s I think its important to keep an open mind. Be patient with yourself and others, be prepared for cultural shocks, share and express when there is a need to. It is essential to follow the rules of the community where you’re staying and most importantly take care of your health!

For the don’ts it’s important not to keep assumptions. Don’t blame yourself solely for things that go wrong, reflect and understand why. Also, don’t assume that you are a savior; try not to be the hero. Sometimes it’s not cool to be Batman! And lastly, I would suggest, just relax!

Can you tell me that one moment from your volunteering journey that made you realize that it was all worth it?

We were conducting a week long training in a government school with our 40 ‘Village Visionaries’. On the last day, we were asking everyone about their biggest learnings and one girl who comes from a community where girls who dance and sing are frowned upon said this- “Main soch rahi thi ki abhi toh mujhe rokne wala yahan koi nahi hai par jab sab dance kar rahe the tab bhi maine nahi kiya. Par sawaal ye hai ki kyun nahi kiya?” ( I was thinking that as of this moment there is no one who can stop me, but while everyone is dancing I am still not ready to do so. The question that comes to my mind is, why am I not dancing right now?) I think her questioning her own action made me so happy.

In Conclusion

We have said it before and we stand by it even now, volunteering is one of the best things that can happen to you, doesn’t matter if you are young or old. It has the power to change perspectives, break stereotypes and mould you into a different person all together. We hope that after reading about Bhawna’s journey, you are as inspired as we are and are ready to create your own unparalleled experiences.

A Conversation on Mentoring with an Expert Mentor

A Conversation on Mentoring with an Expert Mentor

by | May 4, 2017 | Career, Leadership, Managing Yourself, Mentoring, Motivation, Volunteering, World of Work

Mentoring is not just a duty; it’s a place for both, the mentor and mentee, to feel safe, reflect and feel empowered!

When you decide to take on, or accept a mentee, along with your role as a mentor comes responsibility, trust and commitment. It is a relationship premised on mutual give and take as any other relationship. Being a mentor is no easy task. It is a role that one must assume with full responsibility for, only after careful consideration.

Given the importance of mentoring in our careers, we thought of writing another blog, documenting the perspectives of a mentor herself. So we tracked down Pratibha Pathak, an associate coordinator for a not for profit organization called Pravah. An extremely energetic and compassionate being, Pratibha has been mentoring young adults on both personal and professional fronts for the past few years. Over an hour-long conversation, she spoke about a number of topics, such as, why mentoring is important, what are the qualities of a good mentor and her journey as a mentor.

There is a lot to take away from this conversation!

You have been mentoring for quite sometime now.  Each one of your mentees has a different story, a background and set of problems. How has the experience been for you as a mentor?

It’s been very different. I joined Pravah as a volunteer and had no idea about the concept of mentoring then. I had never been mentored by anyone previously either, so it was a lot more difficult for me. It was during my interactions with people in SMILE, an internship carried out by Pravah, that I finally learnt the basics of mentoring. Later, when I joined in an official capacity, I started my journey as a mentor. Even then when I had got a hang of some basic mentoring skills, I still didn’t know what I was doing. But one thing was certain, being a mentor meant I had a responsibility to perform.

Slowly I realized that mentoring is not about telling any of these kids what they ought to do and what not, it is a space that needs to be created for any mentee to be themselves. Yes, you’re right, each one of my mentees have a different story to tell and that made mentoring all the more challenging yet exciting enough for me to pursue.

Pravah has a unique system of mentoring everyone, from the founder to an intern. You have had mentors as well, how has that been for you? Do you think their mentoring skills have influenced yours in any way? If yes, then can you explain how?

Yes, I have had mentors both through formal and informal channels. Whenever I feel someone can help me, I reach out, doesn’t matter if he/she is assigned to me or not. I think the conversations I have had with my mentors have helped me grow and ease out the unnecessary pressure I have been forcing on myself. Also, I use to have a very narrow vision, I think that got widened in the process as well.  So yes, I would say my mentors have been an integral part of my journey.

As for answering the next part of your question, I think yes, my learnings from the conversations I have had with my mentors have impacted my mentoring skills. It has helped me grow and a lot of other people as well. My mentors have influenced me in the way I speak to my mentees. I’ll give you an example for this, I have always been a curious person, so you can understand I have this need to know everything. But when you become a mentor, you have to understand that a mentee doesn’t always want to share what’s on his/her mind all the time, so there is no point forcing it out. This was something I learnt from my mentors. Today, I have come to a realization that the essence of mentoring is to let things be until the mentee is comfortable and is ready to talk.

The process of mentoring is all about give and take. Do you think you have learnt some things from your mentees as much as they have learnt from you?

I think my biggest reflection as a mentor is how similar all of us are, and by us I mean both the mentors and the mentees. This I understood not just through my reflections, but also from my mentees. I think in terms of factual experiences, we are all different, but mentoring made me realize that emotionally we are all the same. I’ve learnt that it is important to constantly go back to who you are as a person when you try to help them. Mentees will never understand what you as a mentor are saying if you somewhere can’t connect yourself to their story and that is why it is important to reflect on yourself. This is what I have learnt.

Each mentor has a different way of approaching and mentoring someone. What is your mentoring process like?

First of all, I think having a mentoring “process” as such is a foolish thing. We have to understand that every single mentee, no matter what their age, is different. So simply put, there is no one process. Having said that, there are some common things that I do with all my mentees. First, it is important for me to let them be. I never question them, until I feel I have understood them to a certain level. The time my mentee is sharing is the time for me to just simply understand, and not prod around as that can completely backfire. Apart from that, the golden rule I believe that always works is investment and care.

There could be times when personal judgments or biases cloud your advice for a mentee, how do you tackle that?

Openness! That’s it. If you are not open to hearing the other person’s views then mentoring is futile. I think it is acceptable to disagree, but a mentor must respect the mentee during that process. It is very important to approach the conversation positively and understand what is it you want to take away from the conversation, as a mentor. Only if a mentor is open to the idea of the other person being different, can he/she break down biases, or at least keep them at bay.

Today, the culture of mentoring has become extremely popular within schools, colleges and work places. Why do you think is there such a rise?

I feel that life is much faster and we want to do so much. Given the little time we have and today’s technology being fast paced, we aren’t really slowing down and reflecting. We aren’t creating spaces for people to have a reflection of their own perceptions. Today, I think people miss that space, in fact they need it. A space they can call their own and who better to provide it than a mentor?

How important do you think mentoring is? Does it really impact lives for the better?

I strongly believe it to be a good practice. It adds value to all stages of a person’s life. We need mentors because they help us think outside the box. There are times when we need to look at our problems from a different lens, and mentors provide us with that. Apart from this, I think they can help boost our performance and build a network of contacts that we can use in the future.

But we need to understand that mentoring is a two-way process, it’s about giving and taking energy, and if it’s not helping either the mentor or the mentee, then perhaps mentoring is not a good option. There can be cases where a mentee hasn’t come in for a conversation with an open mind or the mentor is not in a frame of mind to listen. So mentoring only works if both are on the same page.

What do you think are some of the skills a mentor must have and what must he or she refrain from doing?

I can’t generalize for all mentors, but I can tell you what works for me. Being open-minded and leaving perceptions behind while talking is the first. There is a word we use in Pravah, it’s called “Carefrontation”, it means it is necessary to both, care and confront while we mentor; I think this is a must. Honesty, enthusiasm and above all empathy is needed. I cannot stress on how important empathy is.

As for what a mentor must refrain from doing, I think being unapproachable is one of the biggest sins that can be committed. A mentee needs to feel welcomed and not feel inhibited while approaching a mentor. Apart from that, showing a lack of interest and disrespect would be next on my list.

Nothing makes a mentor more happy than see their mentee grow. Have there been any moments for you? Could you describe some?

Yes, definitely there have been a lot of moments for me. It is difficult to even choose one, but I will try. Last year, I was mentoring a volunteer from Bihar. I think I probably had just three or four conversations with him. His problem was that he didn’t talk much, either to me or anyone of the other volunteers. He felt he would be judged for speaking in Hindi; he was scared of the repercussions he thought he would have to face if he talks. After a couple of conversations with him, I saw him bloom into a different person all together. He grew more confident and he started talking, out loud! Knowing that I have contributed in some small way, is something I will always cherish!

In Conclusion

Mentoring is a hard task, it can sometimes even seem like a thankless job. The time and effort that you invest in a mentee, while leading a busy life of your own can make you question if it is all worth it? You might even wonder, “What am I getting in return?”

We agree with Pratibha when she said,

“You would be surprised how amazing it feels to see an individual prosper and know that a part of his success comes from your guidance. As you teach your mentee, you will learn too. You will gain a deeper understanding of yourself as a person and will discover strengths you did not know you had and will admit weaknesses you would want to work on.”

A big thanks to Pratibha for sharing her mentoring experiences with us so expressively. Please join us in wishing her many more successes in her career ahead – she certainly deserves it and more for all the light she spreads around her.

Trust us when we say this, the satisfaction of knowing that you are doing your best to help build another individual’s career, will make you feel content and in that moment you will realize it was all worth it.

7 Tips for First Time Managers

7 Tips for First Time Managers

by | Mar 22, 2017 | Career, Communication, Management, Motivation

This is a shout out to all you first time managers out there! You are bound to be attacked by butterflies in your tummy, and the symptoms of having cold feet whenever you set out to do something you’ve never done before. While these voyages might appear terrifying, they are a sure sign of the fact that you are growing – in your experiences, and hence as an individual. Applying this general strand of thought to the topic at hand today, this post is dedicated to all you folks out there in the world of work, ready to take on the brand new role of being a manager – for the first time ever.
Before you begin reading this though, we’d like to emphasize that this in no way is a “tutorial”. A change in perspective before you begin to read this will help you understand your new role better. Know that you have risen up in the corporate ladder to be a manager solely because you have it in you to lead, manage and have teams deliver. That said, there are things one knows about, and there are always things one can do better. This post is simply an effort to bolster the latter. Happy reading!

1. Wrap your head around your role and responsibilities

The only way you’ll be able to lead and manage a team well is if you know your own role and responsibilities well enough. Work on yourself before you begin to work on / with your team. Do you own research to have a very thorough sense of the goals you are going to be working on. Ask yourself how you imagine yourself achieving them. Then ask yourself if that process can be applied to the rest of your team as well. While your approach will, of course, depend on the specific situation you might be dealing with at the given moment, having a general sense of direction is a great way to begin this new role.

2. Be Decisive

Making decisions, when you are aware that they no longer affect only yourself, can be tough in the stead of your new role. That however, shouldn’t stop you from making them altogether. Well, you definitely cannot “stop”, making decisions, but as a result of being indecisive you may end up delaying those decisions which will hamper the progress of your entire team. This will not only put the objectives and goals at stake, it will also be a reflection on you as a leader, and manager. The fact is, one can’t ever be sure enough about the consequences of any decision – which is what lies at the root of indecisiveness. All you can do is, weigh the pros and cons to the best of your knowledge and ability, and go ahead and implement the decision you make.

3. Delegate

One of the vices most managers contract is fear of delegation, stemming from the fear that things may not be done as “perfectly” as you imagine yourself doing them. Apart from being immensely time-consuming, this fear is going to unsettle the team dynamics. Understand that you are no longer an employee, working more or less in isolation responsible for delegating that tasks assigned to you. Your role has now expanded to that of a manager, which entails you assigning goals and tasks to the team as a whole, and helping them achieve these goals.
If you do feel like you can relate to being a manager who find it hard to delegate, odds are you also find it hard to not micromanage, once you do succeed in delegating. That too, can be detrimental to the progress (and spirit) of your team. Give your team the credit they deserve, and once you have delegated the task, give them the independence (and assistance) they need to be able to accomplish it.

4. Invest time “in” your team

Time management would probably figure as the prime skill for managers. And while you’re teaching yourself how to manage time, ensure that you figure out time slots for one to one interaction with your team members on a fortnightly/ monthly basis. Even if it is a fifteen / twenty-minute long interaction, it is enough for you to take stalk about progress and challenges with regard to individual team members. This helps not only you in solving problems more efficiently, it also makes your employees feel valued, and importantly, anchored. Being a manager and being a mentor should ideally go hand in hand.

Apart from individual meetings, hosting team lunches, dinners once every two or three months just to build team cohesiveness is not a bad idea either.

5. Work on your interpersonal and communication skills

How you communicate, and put your thoughts across as a manager is pivotal to how much work you are able to motivate your team to do. “Interpersonal skills and communication skills lie at the center of human-based managerial considerations. Good managers understand not only what they are trying to say but also the broader context and implications of saying it. Empathy, self-reflection, situational awareness, and charisma all play integral roles in communicating effectively and positively.”
[Source: Boundless. “Interpersonal Skills of Successful Managers.” ]

While you will most certainly have to make unpopular choices as well, you don’t necessarily have to end up being disliked by team for having implemented these tough choices. What is tougher than making those choices is communicating them ‘effectively’, and ‘positively’, as the excerpt above puts it.

6. Find yourself a mentor

Irrespective of what stage you are in your career, you will always need a mentor. More so when you find yourself stepping into the shoes of a role that needs you to do a lot of mentoring. Odds are, you already do have a mentor, if you don’t, now is the perfect time to find yourself one. When we say “find yourself one”, we do not mean it in the casual language that it implies.

A mentor needn’t necessarily be very hard to find. Think of all the people whose advice and support has helped you grow in your career. It could be one of them, or a few of them you look towards as your mentors. It need not be a very formal process, but resuming communication with them (if you’ve fallen out of touch), and keeping at it, so that you may reach out to them when you need help with tricky situations. You know that in all probability they’ve been there before you, and would know intuitively the dynamics of most situations you might find yourself in.

7. Lead by example

Be a leader, not a boss. Being a boss and being a leader could mean two wholly different things. The plan is, to show your team that you are very much a part of the team and at the helm of affairs. The best way to manage your people and motivate them to be their best is by being more of a leader and less of a boss. No to imposing yourself, stating through overt and covert ways, “who the boss is”, yes to communication, negotiation, trust and motivation. If you’ve ever been bossed by your boss, you know exactly what not to do. But, even the best of us need to be reminded at times.
The best way to get the best out of your team is to lead by example. Inspire your team by being everything you expect from them!

Don’t be too hard on yourself and try not to self-impose any pressure. Like everything else, this too is a learning process and you will learn as you grow in your new role. Don’t forget to remind yourself you’ve been chosen for this role because you CAN do it!
Have tips for the first time managers who might be reading this? Let us know!