I am working from home!

When I became a mother four years ago, I was working with a multinational organisation. I had a job that I loved and never could imagine that my becoming a mother could interfere with my career. I had no idea that my heart would begin to pull me in different directions. I had believed that I would be able to jump into my job as soon as my maternity leave got over, but I was wrong, so wrong. I discovered with experience that motherhood is something that changed my priorities for life.

Thankfully for me, the organization that I worked for allowed me to work from home (WFH) for a few months after my maternity leave was over. Although it was difficult, but it still was a big blessing for me. It allowed me to be around my baby for longer, feed him and watch him as he achieved some of his growth milestones. I could cuddle him and kiss him whenever I wanted. However, working from home came with its own challenges, such as working in an environment that was not as peaceful as my office cubicle, lacked the fancy telecommunication systems and the suave meeting rooms. The other thing that I missed out on was the ability to catch up with my colleagues and discuss things face-to-face with them.

However, what pinched me most was the perception of colleagues that when you work from home, you are not working as seriously. Interestingly, some family and friends also felt that since you are at home, your work is not as serious, which was far from reality. On the contrary, I ended up working all the time, late into the night or early in the morning and making the most of my time when my baby slept. While in office I had the chance to chat with people over a ‘chai break’, at home I began to feel guilty about getting up even to eat breakfast. On certain busy days I did not even get a chance to comb my hair. In spite of all these difficulties, I preferred to work from home since the control freak mother in me, found it hard to let her baby out of sight during the initial months.

Around the same time, I saw some of my friends in other organizations who did not have the privilege of working from home, either drop out of their jobs to become stay at home mothers or worse, suffered from guilt for not being with their kids for a significant part of the day. Often, unable to match up to the energy levels of their toddlers once they returned home from a heavy day at work. The kind of guilt mothers feel for spending time away from the kids is unique to our species. I barely see fathers feeling bad for spending long hours at work, travelling or spending time away from their children, having delegating their parenting responsibilities to their wife and other family members. Overall, I definitely felt blessed to be able to manage the two important spheres of my life.

Through these years, I really wished that more organizations offered a work from home option for their employees, be it women or men and more importantly offer it without carrying any bias, which would allow many more women to stay in the workforce through the tough years of child rearing. Secondly, I would love to see people who do not work from home treating those who do with respect. Respect for their work and for them as a person for juggling two worlds at the same time, while they themselves have to take care of just one at a time. Lastly, to all the mothers who are working from home, I would like to say…please do take care of yourself too. In our pursuit to be superwomen and supermoms we often forget our own selves. So, do make time for yourself, relax, it is okay even if everything is not as perfect as you would like it to be. While reaching the destination is important, enjoying the journey to get there makes it even better!

However, do not let the perception of you on others spoil the spirit within. Rise up and tweak the perception so that it is just right for you.

Originally published at Work from Home Divas India website (http://www.workfromhomedivasindia.in/wfh-peril-perception-dont-juggle-them-tweak-them-to-be-just-right/)

Who's the Boss?

Over my eight years of working in corporates I have had the pleasure of working with a variety of people and a number of bosses. Luckily for me most of them were genuinely nice people who were concerned about the well-being and growth of their team but some of them were a little less than nice and there are reasons or instances due to which they left a special signature on the pages of my corporate life diary. I am sure you came across some of them too or are yet to come across some of them if you happen to embark on a corporate journey. Here are a few categories I could think of:

The Gyani Baba: In a way, they are the corporate mini version of Baba Ramdev. They love the sound of their own voices. They are full of stories from their hay days on the ‘front’, love to show off their 'battle scars' and share their ‘stories’. They are sometimes interesting to listen to but when their stories get repeated the subordinates are nodding just to win some brownie points. They have an air of pride around them and demand respect. They may be great to listen to at the forty thousand feet level or more when they try to give you ‘strategic’ advice and share some 'thought capital', but when you come back to your desk, you are as clueless as you were before you decided to speak to them. Or worse, you get more confused than you ever were.

The Dictator: This type of boss is the hard task master and a nightmare to work with. They believe that a dedicated worker is the one that spends long hours in office, and likes to get his subordinates to do and re-do tasks till they are brain dead. They are aiming for perfection and in the process don’t mind their subordinates burning the midnight oil and themselves in the process. If their final deliverable is good or they are skilled at managing their stakeholders, then they are considered to be the best kind of managers by the leadership. They are hated by their juniors, but alas, you don’t get to choose your boss and if they give you a good rating, you forgive them too.

The Empty Vessel: This is the funniest type of boss I have come across. They have no in-depth knowledge and more often their juniors know better than them and that makes them insecure and act out in ways that can only make the situation worse for them. They like to pretend that they are knowledgeable but in reality they just try to use a few jargons to sound intelligent. These empty vessels make a LOT of noise.

The Devil: A lethal combination of the Dictator and an Empty Vessel is the worst you can have. They are indeed the Devil incarnate (remember "The Devil wears Prada"?). They do not like any viewpoint other than their own, imprison your freedom, stifle your creativity and make you update your CV on job sites. You learn over time that any discussion with them is a waste of time. Worst is when they lack basic etiquette and feel that their subordinates should be treated like slaves and not intelligible human beings who are capable of great work with the right kind of guidance and encouragement.

The Meethi Churi: They are the bosses that seem to be nice on the surface, they are the sweet talkers and often the ‘people’s person’ and very well networked, but the danger with such bosses is that you don’t get to know when they are going to screw up your rating or take away some credit that is due to you. They are not genuinely concerned about their team, but are looking to get under the leadership limelight. Underneath that  pleasant mask is a sharp toothed shark. Watch out, before they bite!

God forbid if your boss happens to be some weird combination of the above!

I know, you are remembering a few names and smiling! Have a good weekend! Or whatever your boss lets you have. ;-)

Cheers to Corporate Life!

You may also enjoy reading a similar post on The Corporate Life! Please do let me know if you have had the privilege of some other distinct species of bosses.

The Corporate Life!

It feels great to be a part of a multinational, definitely most of the time. It gives you the opportunity to work with the best and the brightest not only nationally but internationally, sets your pulse racing when you are on an exciting high visibility assignment, immense joy when you have delivered with quality and on time, there is a thrill to have successfully pleased a difficult client. There’s no greater happiness when your work is appreciated and rewarded. Great way to work yourself into an intellectual orgasm!

Additionally, there is pleasant networking at five star hotels, business class travel to various countries and an annual off-site with the team. Not to forget, the money is good too. Good enough to pay for the lovely designer clothes, the shiny shoes, Parisian perfumes, fancy bags, foreign vacations and whatever luxury money can buy. Who said money can’t buy happiness?

However, the job we have is often not just a job, it is not just a source of earning money. It is definitely much bigger than that. It forms a part of our identity, it is a part of our life, a large part of your day, every day and an important part of who you are. You would notice this clearly while introducing yourself to people outside your work circle. Some people would even feel a loss of identity or status if they did not hold the position they do.

On this career marathon you meet lots of people, some become good friends with whom you share your joys, sorrows and office gossips. Some are acquaintances, some familiar faces. And then of course there are your bosses. You may have noticed how they have an impact on your life and even the life of your family members, positive as well as negative. I believe we learn from all of them, in the form of skills and behaviours. From some we learn what to do and from others what not.

While you are in it, mind, body, heart and soul, it feels wonderful, but the moment you are disengaged, the corporate dream starts to crumble. If you ever have a chance to distance yourself from the corporate life you may start to look at it more critically and it begins to lose its sheen. The jargon, the words in fashion that once became a part of your lingo, the fake polite “How are you?” the performance appraisal system that forces the majority to be mediocre, the race for a promotion, strive to meet an important deadline even if it meant missing a birthday or family gathering.

Yesterday, I read in a post “Life is too short for a full-time job. Too short, and too precious.” and it definitely struck a chord. It made me realize how I had missed out on some beautiful things in life because I was busy working. Do give yourself the opportunity to explore your full potential if you think that you have some unexplored capabilities, maybe a long lost interest, a hidden desire or a secret wish you have locked up in some corner of your heart. I am not suggesting that you leave your job, but do give yourself a chance to fulfil those dreams. You know best how to work it out.

Grass in the corporate garden is definitely green but the other side is definitely greener. It’s got some flowers too and you have the luxury of time to smell them.

 

If you are interested in the post I mentioned, here is the link: http://qz.com/241043/i-quit-working-full-time-years-ago-heres-why-i-recommend-it-highly/