The Girl at the Library: A Short Story

It’s already getting late. I have to rush. Even if I catch the bus, the heavy traffic....phew. Oh hurry up, I am getting late.

All the rush is for a girl at the library. She is fair with blonde hair in her twenties. There is something special about her. I wish I had all the words to describe her beauty.

It’s amazing! How she picks the book, which I plan to read that day. I wonder how interests and preferences of two people match so accurately. I always get astonished as to how she knows in advance which book I am to read that day in the library. This is not about one or two days but each and everyday.

I always look at her but she always neglects me, sometimes I feel as though she looks at me as of “not her kind”. Every day, I don’t get the book because she reads the book which I planned to. And I am very stubborn by nature. So even I read the same book. How? Thing is that, I read the book but standing behind her. But never even once, she caught me reading her book from behind. May be she knows it, but keeps quite.  I think she likes me.

It’s been many months and I have read many of the library books with the help of her. Some times I get angry at myself and think why I am doing this. But I like it, the way it is.

But how long would it last this way. I wanted to say something to her. Like asking her for a date and explain her how I read many books with her help. She would laugh at me, even think I am crank. But I wanted to do it.

So the next day I decided to have a word with her. I dressed up neatly, combed my hair and polished my boots. It’s my day. I was standing for her waiting at the library. Time passed like hell, I started worrying why she is not turning up.

Oh may be, the way she knows my mind of which book I am planning to read, even she should have known my idea of asking her for a date. I started praying, “God, please don’t let her know about what I am up to, this one day.”

Suddenly the library door swings open, there she is. The moment I see her, my courage to speak starts diminishing. I start feeling nervous. I say to myself, “Come what may, I will speak to her today.” With this, I start walking briskly towards her. Even she is coming towards me.

I stopped at one point with a welcoming smile at her, who was fast approaching me. I thought for a moment, whether, even she is heading with the same intention in her mind. I stood boldly, the moment she nears me, I begin to say “hello…….” She hurriedly passed through me and was on her way to find a book.

I really felt very bad. She should have the minimum courtesy to respect others feelings. And the book she takes now from the shelf to read is “Ghost and its feelings”. Can you believe it. Any way, it was very harsh on her part to walk in and out of my body like that. I may be of different kind “non-human”, so what?

Image source: http://aura1.gaia.com/photos/48/478567/large/LIBRARY_GIRL.jpg

Industrial Giant: Jack Welch

Jack Welch joined GE in 1960. And he believed within next ten years of heading the company. It took him a decade more, but he did achieve it. He became the CEO of the company in the year 1980. Imagine how much planning, hard work and dedication that he went through to achieve this success.

He was born on 19th November, 1935 at Salem in Massachusetts. He had stammering problem in his childhood and to make him self confident his mother used to tell him that his mind worked faster than his mouth.

When his team lost the hockey game at Salem high school, he couldn’t take it. At that moment, his mother said only one thing to him “If you don’t know how to lose, you’ll never know how to win. If you don’t know this, you shouldn’t be playing.” His mother taught him how to be tough, warm, and generous and was the prime motivator for building self confidence in him.

His father was a rail road conductor and used to bring the newspapers left behind by the passengers while returning home to night. Reading newspaper at night became a lifelong addiction for Jack and called him as “a news junkie”. Jack used to deliver news papers in the evening at Salem worked at the local post office during holidays and sold shoes on commission. At early stages of his life, he was able to learn the true value of money.

Once while he was travelling with his colleague in a plane, the air hostess addressed him as “Mr. Jack” and his friend with “Dr.” He wanted to be called as Dr. Jack Welch, so he again went back to do his PhD instead of joining the job.

He remembers till date as to how he became frustrated on his first day at work i.e. on October 17th 1960. Once an explosion occurred at his office, which blow the roof off. Every company would expect their managers to come up with new ideas, but will not expect their managers to blow up a plant. This was an instant where he could have been fired out of the company, but his corporate group executive Mr. Charlie Reed comforted him and discussed with him to see that this incident might not occur in the future. The people whom he met in his life were mentors, friends, subordinates and company heads who taught, directed and supported him and made their own wonderful contributions by paving a way in his life for him to become a CEO.

He was called as Neutron Jack at the time of massive layoffs. For this he responded that he removed the positions and not the people. But one thing he used to be very impatient with the people who under performed.

He was the one of the five sector executives in the race to become the next CEO after Reg Jones. Reg Jones called once Jack and asked, if they were travelling in a plane and if they would have got killed in a crash, then whom he would recommend to become the next CEO. To this, Jack argued that would have survived in the crash and would become the next CEO of GE. That was his zeal to become a CEO.

His part in mergers, joint ventures, was a significant one for GE’s growth. He fought against bureaucracy for many years in the company and has succeeded in bringing a concept of boundary less organization in to the company where ideas flow freely irrespective of ranks and positions.

The four E’s of leadership described by Jack were: 1. High Energy levels, 2. Ability to energize, 3. Edge to make yes/no decisions and 4. Consistently execute and deliver on time. And he said that all these E’s are connected by one P i.e. Passion.

He bought in to the company a concept called “Workouts”, where employees/ trainees would come out with their own unique ideas and suggest it for growth of the company. And at the end, some superior managers are given the responsibility of implementing these ideas, which again will be reviewed in the next session. So in this manner, the company had progressed to become a boundary less organization. He says that being a CEO is the nuts. Every day some or the other crisis would rise up. But at the end of the day it would teach the thrill of winning and pain of losing. Getting involving every employee’s mind to actively participate in the game is what the CEO Job is all about. It is just like taking the employees along with you and showing them what they are capable of doing.

It requires lot of guts to head a company. A brave heart to battle the ups and down’s in the field of business. And that’s how Jack Welch today is considered to be the most celebrated CEO in the pages of History.

Source: Jack: Straight from the gut, Autobiography of Jack Welch

Book Review: One Minute Manager

The book emphasises on the point that human resources is an important asset. And how to manage them is what “One Minute Manager” is all about. The book reveals three techniques to become a “One Minute Manager”, they are:

One Minute Goal Setting:

Usually in an organisation, what employees want to do and what employer wanted employees to do is quite different. So that is where goal setting helps in defining individual’s responsibilities and accountability, let it be for a manager or a subordinate. It is one minute, because the goal should not exceed 250 words when written on a sheet of paper, so that it can be read in a minute. Periodically checked, it should assist the individual to know how far he/she has reached the goal and to help him/her keep track of it. Once the goal is clear, solutions to the problem would be clear. When the goal is not clear and if you ask anybody whether he/she was doing a good job, obviously the reply would be “I don’t know”. So set your goals first.

One Minute Praising:

It says catch people doing right and give a clear feedback of what he/she has done great. And praise sincerely, which in future should act as a motivational factor to carry out similar kind of performances. One minute of praising is, to look straight into the eyes of the performer, and say how it contributed to growth of the organization. One minute because, if you keep on praising, at some point of time he/she would stop performing, thinking he/she is the best. So one minute praising is more than sufficient.

One Minute Reprimand:

When an employer finds out that an employee has committed a mistake, first the employer should confirm the facts. Then tell the employee precisely what went wrong. How it acted as an obstacle in the rise of the organisation. Employer should express whatever they feel and can be angry with work carried out but not on the employee as a person.

The authors feel that most of the companies spend 50-70% of their money on salaries, but only 1% of the budget on training. Instead of spending on maintenance of the building and equipment, if they concentrated on maintaining and developing people, it would result in the betterment of both the individuals as well as the organisation.

If all three techniques utilized effectively, then anyone can become a One Minute Manager. In addition to this, the authors speak about crisis intervention, 80/20 principle, how practically one minute manager works along with suitable examples and quotations throughout the book, making it livelier. It is authored by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. And they define one minute manager as, “One who takes very little time to achieve big results from people”. The lucid language and the “message through story format” are the specialties of the book. Read the “One Minute Manager” and become one. All the Best

A P J Abdul Kalam: Passionate story of a Sceintist

It was in late 1950’s, one day at Madras Institute of technology, all the graduating engineering students gathered for a group photograph. The occasion was farewell. Suddenly Prof. Sponder signaled the photographer to wait gesturing a student standing in the third row to come and sit beside him. The student stood spellbound, unable to express his gratitude, when his professor said “You are my best student and your hard-work will help you bring a great name for your teachers in future”. The student sat beside his professor wondering how much faith and trust his professor has on him.

True to the professor’s words, the student after many years went on to become a renowned scientist in the field of rocketry. Today, proudly called as “Missile man of India”. An avid reader of books from cosmology, celestial bodies etc to classics pe nned by Tolstoy, Hardy and Scott. Plays musical instruments like veena and listens to the Bismillah khan’s music. And usually works for eighteen hours a day. The student was A P J Abdul Kalam. He was born on October 15, 1931 at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu, India.

His father couldn’t afford an amount of rupees thousand, when his son was shortlisted in Madras Institute of Technology to do an engineering course. Then Zohara, his sister by mortgaging her jewelry helped him to join the college.

He stood at 9th position out of 25 who attended air force interview at Delhi. But the intake was only eight. He was disappointed, but never lost his hopes. He fetched his first job at Directorate Technical Development and production, Dehradun.

Few years later he was called for Rocket engineer position at INCOSPAR and got selected. Prof. Vikram Sarabhai was one among the interview panel to select him. Who was the then mentor of Kalam and directed him in many of the projects. Kalam considers himself to be fortunate working with Prof. Satish Dhawan, Prof. Brahm Prakash and Prof. Vikram Sarabhai. Kalam was chosen to undergo training at Prestigious NASA, when a plan was put up to set up an Equatorial Rocket launching station at Thumba.

Since he was in Delhi to meet Defense Minister Mr. Venkatraman to get an approval for launching integrated guided missile, was unable to attend his niece marriage on the same day. The project was sanctioned with 338 Crores. Dr. Arunachalam, his colleague informed about the marriage to Defense Minister. Kalam was arranged with a helicopter by Defense Minister and was at the right time to bless his niece.

At school, he was canned by his mathematics teacher Ramakrishna Iyer, for entering the class room without permission. But seeing him scoring full marks in his subject, Ramakrishna Iyer later praised Kalam in the morning assembly in front of all. And kiddingly said “Whom so ever, I cane becomes a great man. Take my word, the boy is going to bring glory to his school and teachers”. The boy not only brought glory to his school and teachers, but to the entire nation called India.

Kalam received Bharat Ratna and Indira Gandhi award in 1997 Padma Vibhushan in 1990 Padma Bhushan in 1981.

He played a leading role in the development of India's missile and nuclear weapons programs which includes India’s first Indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-3), Agni and Prithvi. His father wanted him to become a collector, but his son exceeding his father’s dream, has become the eleventh president of India. Today he is popularly known as the “People’s President”. His autobiography “Wings of Fire” is a must read for people who have the burning desire to succeed in life. As a boat owner’s son, his financial freedom was limited. But his passion, hard-work and dedication made him what he is today.

Source: “Wings of Fire” by APJ Abdul Kalam with Arun Tiwari; www.encyclopedia.com, www.wikipedia.com.

Talk Show Queen: Oprah Winfrey

Correct pronunciation, stress on the right words and uninterrupted flow in the language, these are some characteristics of an orator. Buttaking the audience along, making them laugh, cry, think and feel is what definitely makes an orator a people’s person. With television as the media tool, if an orator could create waves in the pages of history, then definitely with out doubt it is Oprah Winfrey.

From Politicians, film icons to celebrities from all walks of life feel proud, if were called on to a show. And that show is “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. In 1984, Oprah hosted “AM Chicago”, which later on demand was made completely in to one hour show and renamed as the present “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. Which has became the highest rated show in television history. This show received three Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Host, Outstanding Talk/ Service Program and Outstanding Direction.

Her actual name was Orpah, since her relatives faced difficulty calling the name, started calling Oprah. Then on she was called as Oprah. Her production company is called as Harpo, which is the reverse of Oprah. By this it is clear that it is not in the name but the fire in her to succeed made her what she is today. Time magazine has rated her to be one of the 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century. In 1998, she received Life time Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Science.

"Arguably the World's most powerful woman" ----CNN

"Arguably the most influential woman in the World" ----American Spectator

"One of the 100 people who mostly influenced the 20th Century" ---Time

Forbes stated Oprah to be the only black billionaire for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively and the first black women billionaire in the world history. In addition, as of September 2007, Winfrey net worth was over $2.5 billion overtaking Meg Whitman, CEO, e-Bay. And she was the highest paid TV entertainer in America, earning around $260 million yearly as of July 2007, reports TV Guide (U.S.).

If the book club by her, praised any novel or any book, it would be an instant best seller selling millions of copy. Such was the power of the Oprah’s Book club. She proved herself to be a good Boss; by taking 1065 members of her staff employees along with their families on a vacation to Hawaii, for their part of effort to make the show a great success for two decades on TV.

The fourth most watched event in American history was Oprah interviewing Michael Jackson, which was watched by over one hundred million viewers. She starred in “Color Purple” directed by Steven Spielberg. This movie fetched her, the Academy award for best supporting actress. Recently she voiced the character of “Judge Bumbled don” in the animated movie called “Bee” in 2007.

Through her show and website, “Oprah Child Predator list” helps track down accused child molesters with in 48 hours and bring them in front of law. When people were badly affected by Hurricane Katrina, through her show she collected around $ 11 million and personally donated $ 10 million to help the people.

Despite her bad childhood and heart burns in her love life, she fought back in every possible way in reaching the zenith of success. Oprah was her best as a Host, news anchor, writer, producer, actress, publisher, socialist, philanthropist, and as an educationalist. And very few excel in what ever they take up. One among them definitely would be Oprah Winfrey. But she will be remembered as a talk show Queen for ever that is for sure.

Source: http://www.oprah.com/ , http://www.biography.com/, http://www.wikipedia.com/. Image Source: http://www.ecorazzi.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/oprahshow.jpg