This Blog is purely on Recruitment stuff , Thought through and Felt through, my experiences, my reads and just a forum for knowledge share and recruitment repository..

I am a Recruiter,placing people,building relationships and improving on my network but I feel I could see more to be done. That's how I am here , putting in my thoughts at one place and good ideas about Talent Aquisition space.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

What A 4-yr Old Can Teach You About Managing Your Boss



My 4-year old is gifted at managing up, Rishika is Smart at all these and yet sometimes teaches me and my husband. Does she work? No - but as I see it, right now, I’m the boss and she’s an employee in our family firm. And I’ve noticed that she’s become quite adept at getting what she wants from upper management. But on the fuzzier stuff, I must concede that she’s mastered the art of persuasion. So, it occurred to me that we could all learn from her expertise. Consider these three techniques as performed by my pint-sized employee:

Learn how to say ‘no’ disarmingly. When my daughter doesn’t want to do something, she stares deeply in my eyes and with an ‘I’m so sorry to disappoint you’ smile, calmly says “no thank you.” It throws me off every time. First, the thank you is so polite, who can criticize that? And second, her body language and facial expressions are soft and non-confrontational. It’s hard to respond negatively to someone who is displaying no anger or tension of their own.

Translation: Employees who learn to engage in conflict without confrontation are appreciated for their calm communications skills by management.


When you want something, be a sweet but squeaky wheel. Once my daughter has decided she wants something, here’s what she does: first, she asks for your time and tells you it’s serious. She sits right down and holds your attention with her eyes. Then, she explains in detail what she wants and why it is so important that she have it. She is energetic and passionate in her description. Now, if she doesn’t get it, she asks why. And if she doesn’t like the answer, she says no more and walks away. But that’s not the end of it! Shortly thereafter, she returns, having thoughtfully pondered my denial and ready to further explain additional reasons for me to change my mind, as well as reasons why my own argument doesn’t hold water. Additionally, if I say ‘no’ yet again, she solemnly walks away, waits a while, and then comes back again and asks for the same thing in a slightly different way, hoping her willingness to compromise will pay off.

At this point, she watches me intently for signs that I am going to either cave in and let her win, or start to raise my voice and get angry. If it’s the latter, she immediately calls it quits – for the day. She knows just how far to rock the boat and has no problem waiting for a better time to try again. She doesn’t hold a grudge, she stays happy and upbeat, as if nothing has happened. In her mind, it’s a minor setback, as opposed to a crushing loss. This approach always makes me want to be able to say ‘yes’ to her next request because I’m so impressed that she accepted the ‘no’ without making a scene.

Translation: Employees who patiently promote their cause and can accept an unfavorable decision gracefully are respected and valued by management.


Use unexpected recognition as a way to score points. My daughter doesn’t butter me up. She doesn’t gush with compliments in an effort to get what she wants. But every so often, quite randomly, she will say or do something that makes me feel fabulous. One day, when I was especially frustrated and feeling overwhelmed by all that I had to do, she looked at me with a compassionate face and simply said, “It must be tough to be a mommy or u tried, Can I help you.” Ironically, it’s technically not even a compliment. She didn’t have to lie and say she thought I was a great mommy. I wouldn’t expect her to. I’m the rule enforcer - who likes that? But, she acknowledged the difficulty of my role and that recognition felt wonderful. So much so, that I canceled everything and took her out for Baskin Robbin ice cream which she likes.

Translation: Employees who convey their respect and appreciation for the level of responsibility and efforts of management are seen as good team players.

These are just a few of the ways that my 4-year old manages her boss. Why not give them a try? Just thought of Sharing... A Wise Example from my Preschooler but make me learn things :)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

No secrets to success

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure. There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs. There is nothing permanent except change. People can cry much easier than they can change Part of being a champ is acting like a champ. You have to learn how to win and not run away when you lose. Everyone has bad stretches and real successes. Either way, you have to be careful not to lose your confidence or get to confident. Perfectionism is a dangerous state of mind in an imperfect world. The best way is to forget doubts and set about the task in hand... If you are doing your best, you will not have time to worry about failure.

Not failure, but low aim is a crime.

A hero is not brave than any ordinary man, but he's braver 5 minutes longer.

It's better to try and fail than never to have tried at all

Try and Try till you succeed