“ Crossing the boundaries” March 14 th 2012 My life My Choice

Let’s get started… The most important work that you will ever do is on yourself as a human being. AND The biggest boundary you will ever cross is your own mind. My life My Choice

Is this you? I am in my forties- I used to love challenges- but now I fear whether I can pick up new skills and build new networks?... I seem to have good team in place- but why is it that the decisions that we take go wrong many times? I have a location constraint and I do not speak Hindi but otherwise I am topping in my job. I am a woman – but I consider myself a professional first. I wonder whether there is a glass ceiling out there? My life My Choice

Defining ‘boundary’ When was the last time that you did something for the first time in your life? My life My Choice

What is common across? Salman Rushdie Mother Teresa Sonia Gandhi Narayana Murthy M S Dhoni Vidya Balan YOU CANNOT CROSS THE SEA MERELY BY STANDING AND STARING AT IT.. My life My Choice

The Professional Continuum.. Under involvement ZONE OF HELPFULNESS Over involvement

Consequences of poor boundaries Role un clarity Compassion fatigue Potential for ‘splitting’ on teams Client professionalism compromised My life My Choice

Consequences of tight boundaries Communication suffers Risk averseness sets in Low motivation to perform Limited opportunity to learn new things My life My Choice

Mid life Choices My life My Choice

Middle age is the time when… We feel we understand ourselves better… We feel we have probably achieved our initial set of professional and financial goals.. We feel we are in the process of building a stable family structure… It is also the time we can ‘re-set’ the agenda for the rest of our lives. TIME TO CROSS SOME BARRIERS… My life My Choice

How did we choose our first careers? Did we ‘choose’ at all?! Decision based on salary and perks opportunity rather than basic understanding of one’s own strength or passion areas So once these goals are met, what next? But the question remains- is it too late to try something new? My life My Choice

Not as easy as it seems.. Evaluated myself in terms of : - What have I been good at - What do I enjoy doing - What do I need at this point of time in my life Self –assessment by Marcus Buckingham Analysis and communication Influencing people My life My Choice

Career options… Public Relations Role Sales and Marketing Role in a company Training and Consultancy Teaching My life My Choice

TEACHING My Mid life Career Choice Professor and Head of Department-Chennai Business School My life My Choice

Why teaching? Utilises my natural strengths the best- academics and communication Takes forward my work experience Allows me flexible time as a home maker Am more of myself at work..there is no divide My life My Choice

Teaching- boundaries to be crossed? Work environment( team versus individual) Social life setting Lifestyle/ Pay Student relationship building( task versus people) ‘Staying updated’ on my specialisation area Gender bias versus corporate My life My Choice

My journey… As a student- Analytical skills -Engineering to Management As a sales and marketing professional-Adaptability -Gender ratios -Age biases -Travel -Food -Language As a home maker-Empathy -Religion -Culture As a teacher- Sharing knowledge -Action to knowledge My life My Choice

Which boundaries to cross? Those you believe will take you forward as an individual Challenge is exciting Self belief driven Least abrupt in process

Consider this… ‘Lack of ability to implement new learnings’- one of top three reasons why new products fail.. ‘Flatter world’- one of the pre requisites to globalisation of companies Diversity- one of main agendas in all international conferences today Corporate - looking for correcting gender ratios ‘Global Etiquette’- part of educational institutional curriculum Market research agencies- increasing usage of eclectic groups for new concept discussions ‘Blink’ and ‘Bonsai Manager’- Power of intuition

Boundaries are.. Meant to be crossed. Crossing them makes you stronger and more skilful. Always learn the lessons on the journey while crossing. My life My Choice

Ships are safest in the harbour but that is not what they are meant for..