Newton’s second law states that the net force is equated to the product of the mass times the acceleration or F=MA. I have always been fascinated by the second law and have always remembered it as Force = MA (read MA as in mother). Ma plays various roles in our lives – Protector, Teacher, Best Friend, Mentor and a person whom we can run to when all seems lost. I was recollecting some instances which I realized has shaped and groomed my professional life too.
Spend Quality Time to Teach and Train New Hires – The other day I had to drop my mom to my aunt’s house when an “unfortunate” incident happened – I was behind an “L” board driver. The usual characteristics of being slow and stopping now and then and to top it I was somehow unable to overtake. Being in a hurry, I was losing my patience when my mom said – In our daily routine, since time is the most valuable thing we tend to pace everything based on our flow. Give a thought that when you started to drive for the first time it was exactly the same. Take it easy and give the person to gain some driving experience and then he will start driving like all others. When we have new hires in our team we need to ensure that we give sufficient time to train as well as give good SMART goals for him to ramp up.
Be Objective and don’t lose your cool – When it comes to handling people, there will be various emotions which will flow. Especially when the going gets tough, emotional outbursts in the form of anger, frustration etc. arises. No two situations are the same and people react differently to different situations. The key concept here is to ensure you look at the issue rather than the person and treat it objectively. Lot of heart burning stressful situations can be avoided if we become objective.
Life is Bigger – Balance Work and Life – Economic slowdown is causing stressful environments at the work front. You come back home sulking and that impacts your personal life and relationships with your near ones. Work is a part of your life and not life itself. Life is bigger and it encompasses work, family, friends, etc. The art is to juggle and balance all these spheres in life. A very important point which we tend to forget always.
Constantly Innovate – As a kid, my mom used to innovate daily in terms of cooking food and to distract me so that I eat. She had to do that because her end goal or success metric was to ensure that I eat. What I learnt – to be successful in my job, you have to constantly innovate and try out different things. Some will work in your favor and some won’t – but you have to continue the process of innovation.
Managing Time is the Key – Mother’s wear multiple hats and has different roles to play under each hat. During the 24 hours, there are periods where the demand from each role is the highest and she manages it by effectively managing time. In our professional life we also wear multiple hats and to be effective the key is to manage time wisely.
Be Sensitive and Respect People – I need not describe the warmth which we get from our mother as they are sensitive to us and respect us as individuals. Gone are the B2B and B2C concept. It is rightly said that now business is H2H – Human to Human. With new disruptive technologies like social media, interactions with customers have become more open and easier. As a business you have to be sensitive and respect your customers.
All the above points if put in action in our professional avatar will make a Forceful and positive Impact to the way how we work. I dedicate this to my mom and all mothers’ for showing us the way to be successful. A big Salute to the strength of being a Mother.
“Image courtesy of [phanlop88] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.
