Marketers say "You Need It"

In one of these random weekday evenings, where I had a chance (read:no choice but) to sit and watch NDTV Profit. Ya! My dad likes such channels. Most of the dads do..
Being my usual self, it all started with commenting on anchors clothes and accent and all that - blame it on my limited knowledge on profits !!
It was a real estate show where they displayed all posh buildings, facilities with their prices and all that in all these newly developed cities like gurgaon, mohali etc. Further focusing on the show and the content, I found them talking about margins and profits, while I noted that my dad was watching it closely too. While I reached for the remote to change, he said "wait am watching".. I jus looked at him and said "Gurgaon?? How these people are Creating a Need na appa" He turned saw me and turned back..
May be he thought - This girl is brainless.. But on the contrary ! May be I was right !! He had no comments.. Turning pages in Masslows Heirarchy of Needs ! Or even primary basic needs.. Was n house just a basic need(safety to be precise).. Having house in Luxury is perfectly acceptable too ! Cause u can afford it and what else do u earn for ? But 2 to 3 houses, jus to buy, sell and buy again !! Where things started way back in trading, lending interest, has now come to a level of playing with real estate for just money. A lot of these luxury flats in multi storey apartments, remain locked. Cause owners(investors is the word for it) are waiting for the right time to sell.
And there the money goes, to builders who just build for the sake of it, those cracked out people who advertise it, those actors who endorse it and of course to NDTV Profit too.. Even made me think ! Why would someone sell houses on Profit? His selling pitch was so perfect, nice great things about the house, about never before customer experience, state of art and all that.. Yes boss ! We ve seen it all ! But is there a choice ? Flipside of Marketing !! Creating The Need.. Where marketing for awareness now part of marketing history..
Jus hoping dad's not falling for it and we don own a house in Mohali !! 😉 (I am just joking Dad! Incase u got to read this !!) ha ha ha !!

With Love, From the top !!

Lead & Inspire is the "in-thing" of today where leaders want to equip themselves to inspire. Turning back to my MBA days while we used to read in Organizational Behavior about Leaders and types and examples. I really used to wonder - do these things exist today, and does it even make a difference as to how the guy in the top was, when your salary and promotion was on time !!

Then did I realize the importance, when I got opportunities to work with people in top and help them transalate their thoughts to their employees(ya! Thats part of my job). There were leaders who wanted to connect, those who wanted to just bless, those who wanted to be the employee itself ! Thats when it struck, That man inspires.

"The One with class, who also appeals the mass"

A leader is like a cinema star, he needs to wave when he has to and let his hair down when needed !!  Balancing that perfectly - Inspirational !! Books call him Charismatic.. 
To an employees eyes, he will be that one who recognizes the difference between 'the employee' and 'the person'. The One that gives you clear expectations, travels the path with you and express a heartfelt appreciation at the end of it !! That does not mean he wouldn criticize you ! He will, not the past, but objectively your way forward.

He will be the One you want learn from and use as a role model in life. Who would not like to look into the cabin, smile and be smiled at !

After all ! The leader who makes his pastas, mixes your drink for you, dances for masala songs in a crowd & ofcourse does not make u feel bad for not leaving work at 9pm and offers you the drop back !!! Sure Inspires !! Permanently !

Cheers !

Are u Engaged Enough ??

Employee Engagement - The one aspect at workplaces that gets varied level of treatments. While certain leaders rate it to be the top most priority, others brush it aside as an unwanted expense ! Beyond all this, are companies doing it the right way is one big question mark!
Before even getting into the right ways of it, what does it mean to a company ? Though being associated with the employee engagement framework I have never been able to figure out what is the real intent..
Are we saying that just throwing parties and sponsoring 5 star lunches for employees gonna stop them from leaving the company.. If yes, that employee doesn deserve to be in the company at all !! While on the flipside constantly trying to make employees feel good seems to be the need of the hour !!
I always feel that there is the gap between the leadership team and the employees in this aspect.. Cause, what happens is that there is always a "I feed(read:push down your throat) what I feel you should eat" attitude among people who want to engage employees. Should  it not be "Tell me what you would like to eat, I d see how i can get u something close to that".. This is the huge disconnect that leads to lot of them being disengaged and leaving !  It is unavoidable for one to stop junior staff leaving and its good for staff who ve been around for too long leaving.. But the middle management, needs to be most engaged. Here engagement means involvement. What do they wanna hear, what do they wanna see, where are they making progress.. These things would be biggest motivation for employees to stay and contribute.. The need to have the pride of working on something that makes the own it up !!
Yes, parties and lunches do play a role too !! After all, all work and no play makes jack a dull boy !!
"Engagement is never a tick in the box, its like democracy - of the people, for the people, by the people !! Is it not??

Cheers