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The World of Work and the Game of Thrones Season Finale – A Takeaway

by sincera | Sep 1, 2017 | Career, Management, Motivation, World of Work

Season 7 of the series that broke the internet, Game of Thrones concluded recently. But here we are, thirsting for more and contemplating about what’s really going to happen. Who is finally going to lay claim to the Iron Throne and rule the seven kingdoms? Cersei? Jon Snow? Daenyrys? Or in a surprise twist, Tyrion? The White Walkers just might consume them all – this possibility cannot be ruled out either. Well, to find out about that we’ll really have to keep at making fan fiction while waiting for the final season of Game of Thrones to air next year. We love drawing parallels between stuff that causes a storm in popular media and the world of work. This post is one of those.

The Game of Thrones Season 7 finale had five specific instances we felt were very similar to situations in the world of work, and here they are.

When Jon Snow Said “…the same thing is coming for all of us.”, while appealing for a truce

What Jon Snow has been lobbying for, ever since he saw the wight walkers is for all the kingdoms to come together and fight the real enemy. Throughout this season, he has been seeing going against popular reasoning of his countrymen and making tough decisions – something that a leader would have to do from time to time. It brings to mind the role of a true leader in the world of work. One of the most important responsibilities of a leader is to bring together his entire team to unite them for a common cause – and at times, the team might very well consist of warring factions!

“…the more immediate problem is that we are f***ed” – Tyrion

Priorities, priorities, priorities. This one thing that Tyrion says, spells out the importance of priorities. True that at any given point of time there will be a hundred things to take care of. However, not knowing how to prioritize those tasks might just push you into a downward spiral. Or in the case of GOT, the Wight Walker’s swords.

Addressing what needs to be addressed immediately, and proceeding according to priorities is what makes things at work infinitely smoother.

“Together they would be difficult to defeat.” , Little Finger referring to Daenyrys and Jon Snow

Formidable partnerships bring forth magic. The fans are waiting with bated breath to know how the partnership of Daenyrys and Jon Snow is going to turn things around. Leaving the fact aside that the partnership is an incestuous one (in their defense, they don’t know yet! or do they?), it cannot be denied that it is a formidable one!

It is no different in the world of work. A good team or a good partnership can truly create magic and set a strong example. Because, together, they would be difficult to defeat.

“You don’t have to choose, you are a Greyjoy and you are a Stark.”, Jon Snow to Theon

‘You are who you are.’ Jon Snow couldn’t have resolved Theon’s existential angst in a better way. At times we are conflicted with ourselves, for whatever reason, but it also affects our productivity in the world of work. Embracing whoever we are, flaws and all, is what helps us get closer to being a true person. None of us are perfect, and no matter how hard we try, we cannot be perfect. Because we aren’t meant to be. Bringing who we are, bring our own selves to whatever we do helps us be a little better than who we were yesterday. Which is better than being perfect!

“I’m a slow learner. It’s true. But I learn.” Sansa, before Little Finger’s execution

Better late than never. Up until now, fans had been wondering how on earth could Sansa have been so stupid? But she has proven all of us wrong. There’s a lesson for all of us inhabitants of the world of work in there – to never underestimate anyone, no matter how stupid they may seem. What Sansa said is also personal motivation for all os us. We all may have our individual paces of learning, but what’s more important is to never give up. To learn slowly, but surely!

We hope you enjoyed reading our special feature on the Game of Thrones Season 7 finale as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Have you read what we previously wrote on what five things characters from the Game of Thrones series teach us about the world of work? Do spare it a read!

Tell us what you though of it in your comments below, and if you have some takeaways of your own! We always love engaging with our readers!

Importance of Mental Health Awareness at Work

by sincera | Aug 23, 2017 | Leadership, Motivation, Productivity, World of Work

While efforts for mental health awareness in the space has picked up pace, there still is a long way to go. Recent studies and research has shown the direct link between mental health and performance or productivity.

To understand why mental health awareness at the workplace is an issue to be addressed immediately one must look at the bigger picture of how serious the concern really is. Numbers are absolute, and make an impact in a way that words cannot. So here are some numbers to put things into perspective, before we delve further into the topic.

Mental Health Awareness – A Reality Check

56 million Indians, or 4.5% of India’s population suffer from depression.
While nearly 10 per cent of the population has common mental disorders, 1.9 per cent of the population suffers from severe mental disorders. [Source: WHO]
The WHO has defined sustainable development goals and elaborated the impact of mental illnesses and suicide on them. The suicide rate in India in 2015 at 15.7/100,000 is higher than the regional average of 12.9 and the global average of 10.6. Suicide is the leading cause of death among those aged 15–29 in India. [source: Mental Health Awareness: The Indian Scenario]
There is just one psychiatrist for four lakh Indians. Another expert said there were 4,000 psychiatrists, 1,000 psychologists and 3,000 social workers for the whole of the country and only 1,022 college seats for mental health professionals are set aside in India. [Source: World Mental Health Day: India’s Mental Health Crisis In Numbers]

Can the World of Work Make a Difference?

Yes it can.

Coming away from the scary numbers, let’s talk about how the world of work can make a positive difference to the existing scenario.

Why should the world of work make a difference?

Because about 8-10 hours out of 24 hours of our day is spent at work.

How can the work-space make a difference to our mental health awareness?

1. First things first, by acknowledging the importance of mental health and mental health awareness.

This made news recently, when an employee wrote to her CEO informing that she would be taking some time off, so she can come back a ‘100%’. The CEO’s response is up here for all of us to see.

Acknowledging that taking care of your mental health is important is the first step towards creating awareness. Being fit mentally is just as important as being fit physically to be at your productive best. However, it is impossible to bring about change without acknowledgment of the issue.

2. Tackling the associated Stigma

The social stigma attached to mental health comes in the way of even acknowledging mental health issues and dialogues. This continues to be one of the main road blocks towards addressing mental health concerns. Along with dealing with the mental health concerns, the individual is also at the receiving end of a great deal of social prejudice and discrimination. One way work spaces can help tackle this is by holding frequent workshops, webinars, or even focused conversations and dialogues on mental health. It is because of the social stigma attached that more often than not, mental health concerns are internalized. Addressing them by holding sustained conversations about them is the only to bust the stigma.

3. Making resources available

By creating a work environment where the employees have access to basic mental health resources, should they need it, is a great way of showing support for mental health concerns. When we say resources, we mean very simple, basic resources, which in fact should become a norm. For example, a counselor at a designated desk. If the organisation cannot afford a full-time counselor, you could bring someone on board for 2 or 3 days a week and he/ she could be made available on appointment. Similarly, other easy ways are by creating a resource pool of short video clips or documents on mental health which could be circulated amongst the employees on email.

Spending some time on creating a ‘Mental Health Directory’, can also be hugely beneficial, not just for your organisation, but for anyone who has access to this directory. Recently, students from the Azim Premji University in Bangalore, created a Mental Health Directory for the city of Bangalore, which has valuable information regarding all available mental resources in the city. Awareness centers, recreational centers, wellness centers, counselors, psychiatrists, alternative care services, rehabilitation centers are some of the many resources which have been documented within this directory.

4. Small changes to the work-space design can make big differences

When we say changes to work space design, we do not mean big, expensive changes. We mean a basic mindfulness check of your work space.

While companies invest in many strategies to support the physical health of employees, from flu vaccinations to filtered air systems, ignoring employees’ mental health means businesses risk losing any gains they make in physical health support. Depression, stress, substance abuse, financial distress, work-life balance, ADHD, and, yes, even workplace bullying are all issues with which workers are dealing and that have a large drain on productivity. – Jennifer Stukenberg, How to design workspaces that support employee mental health.

Being mindful in how the work-space is designed plays a huge role in enhancing the productivity of your employees, by supporting their mental health. The most basic checklist is as follows –

Well lit and ventilated work space.
Away from noise and distraction.
Ensuring cohesiveness by positioning the employees in such a way that they can see each other and feel connected, instead of feeling isolated.
Some green around – there are plenty of options for indoor plants!

5. Building Empathy into the Organizational Culture

How sustainable all the above listed options are, is entirely dependent on the larger culture of the organisation. Cultivating ’empathy’ as a culture within the organisation is the key to understanding mental health concerns.

Empathy is not sympathy or pity. Empathy is the ability to understand and share someone else’s feelings from their perspective. It’s about putting yourself authentically in someone else’s shoes. Asking questions from their point of view and not yours, pausing, listening and thinking about the opportunities / issues from that person’s position. Why Every Business Needs a Culture of Empathy

Without the concept of empathy, understanding mental health concerns, or working towards mental health awareness will remain a distant dream. Also, the culture of empathy really starts at the top. It is the vision of the organisation, and the outlook of those on the top to fulfill the vision which makes all the difference.

We leave you with this thought provoking TedTalk by renowned mental health practitioner, Vikram Patel, on Mental Health for All by Involving All. In his talk, Patel argues why mental health shouldn’t just be a privilege of the first world, as it is today, and should be accessible to all. He goes beyond just posing problems by proposing low cost and effective solutions to address these issues.

Are you ready to take on, what may be called as your ‘basic responsibility’ to make mental health accessible for your employees?

Bringing in the Mindfulness – Top 5 Quotes

by sincera | Aug 8, 2017 | Managing Yourself, Motivation, Productivity, World of Work

A while ago, we wrote about Practicing the Miracle of Mindfulness at Work. In it, we spoke about how to incorporate the practice of mindfulness into your every day routine of work. While mindfulness, in its essence really means to “be”, different people have different ways of saying it. There is nothing more inspiring than reading how other people have experienced mindfulnes, and what they understand the concept of mindfulness as. Here is a selection of the five best ones!

Like we said, the shortest definition of mindfulness is really to just “be”.

“In today’s rush, we all think too much — seek too much — want too much — and forget about the joy of just being.” Eckhart Tolle

2. To be present is probably the key to achieving mindfulness, and therefore, could be the hardest thing to achieve. To be present means to be nowhere else, to do nothing else but what the present moment asks of you. Being present means to give your entire being to accomplishing the current task at hand with all your attention, love and care.

“Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t).” ~James Baraz

3. Turn away from focusing on what you ‘don’t’ have. Make a list of things you are grateful for, and you’ll realize that the list is ever expansive.

“There’s only one reason why you’re not experiencing bliss at this present moment, and it’s because you’re thinking or focusing on what you don’t have…. But, right now you have everything you need to be in bliss.” ~Anthony de Mello

4. Mindfulness is the coming together of the conscious and the subconscious, in a way more powerful than you ever imagined. Being mindful is a means and an end at the same time. To practice being mindful means to channelize the highest levels of energy within yourself towards a purpose you have chosen for yourself.

The practice of mindfulness begins in the small, remote cave of your unconscious mind and blossoms with the sunlight of your conscious life, reaching far beyond the people and places you can see.” ~Earon Davis

5. Yes, he couldn’t be more accurate. Your entire life revolves around how you savor or rush through your cup of tea. It is only when we are able to truly appreciate what we are gifted with, that we begin to invoke more blessings. “Live the actual moment”. Is mindfulness your cup of tea?

“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future; live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh”

The practice of mindfulness has the potential to rejuvenate and restore us as individuals. Gratitude and being aware of everything, and everyone, is the key to being mindful. Or like we say, to be mindful is to be happy in the now!

Best Fiction Reads – You Deserve a Breather

by sincera | Jul 20, 2017 | Life, Restart

Very few things offer the same kind of giddy, yet delicate excitement like the time when you are in love. But one thing you can be sure will offer you not just the same, but far greater happiness and joy, is reading a book. Falling in love with the words, sentences, phrases and verse, with the protagonist, the villain or the sidekick, is something else. Discovering through the ideologies of the narrator your own ideologies. And sometimes even finding the words you’ve been struggling to find, through the words of the author; which makes you say – “this book was written for me.” Away from the world of work, we have curated a list of five beautiful Fiction Reads which will flip your world on its head.

The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes

This piece of work deserves every bit of the credit it has received. It won the Booker prize in 2011 . Barnes, a magician, plays with the concept of time as if it were play dough. He twists and turns the plot any which way he pleases – through the voice of an omnipresent narrator. A moving, hilarious, and nail-biting exploration of the self, friendships and relationships. When you make it to the end, tell us if you know the answer to the question he asks.
The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion

When I started reading this book, I said to myself, “I have never read anything like this before.” And I wasn’t wrong. Don Tillman, a “socially challenged” genetics professor who has never been on a second date embarks on a certain project to find himself a wife. He calls it “The Wife Project”, and designs questionnaires for all the potential suitors he wants to “screen”. Don’t cringe yet. Read it to find out the hilarious bends and twists of his encounter with Rosie.
The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt

This work of beauty has to its credit a very deserving Pulitzer prize for fiction. Do not be intimidated by the size of the book because you will feel sorry when it gets over. It is that good. It is the story of a little boy who loses his mother to a bomb blast and ends up with a painting. The painting decides the trajectory of the rest of his life. Every page of this book will have you laughing and crying along with the narrator.
The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Set against the background of the aftermath of the Spanish Civil war in Barcelona, this is a story of love, lost and found, and books lost and found in “forgotten cemeteries”. Passionately crafted and narrated, Carlos Zafon weaves magic by taking us around Barcelona through this story you will never forget. They don’t lie when they say, books help you see the world without leaving where you’re sitting at.
Stardust, Neil Gaiman

A must read if you are a fiction fan. Gaiman, a wizard with words is at his imaginative best with this book. No matter how old you are, you will believe in magic when you read this book. In a beautiful way, Gaiman explores the surreal, and the ethereal only by grounding it in very real and concrete everyday things – feelings. What happens when a boy goes out to find a shooting star that fell from the sky for his lover? You’ll have to find out for yourself.

If you’re contemplating a break and don’t know what to read, here you are spoilt for choices. If you’d really like a break but can’t take one – pick up any one of these books and feel yourself being transported very far away from wherever you are. Because you deserve a breather!

Words of Wisdom by Five True Leaders and Changemakers

by sincera | 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?

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