It is said, “When you focus on what you want, everything else falls apart”. Look back and think for a moment, have you decided what you really want to achieve in life? Some of you would say yes, but most would say no!

Pull up your socks, be focused on the future and give directions by deciding upon the ultimate goal of your life. It holds true both for professional and personal life. Until and unless you really know what you want to achieve, whatever you are doing in day-to-day life might be unrewarding.

Hence setting goals is important. Now you would say setting goals for profession is understandable but what do I mean by setting goals for personal life – it could be anything from being a wonderful wife/husband who never gives an opportunity of complaint to their spouse to leading a stress-free life outside work. Difficult to imagine, isn’t it. Actually it is not, if you make a clear goal you will plan things accordingly, which would result in a happy personal life and positively influences your professional life too. Indeed a win-win situation. You would wonder why I’m going out of track and talking about setting personal goals on a blog where we talk about studies and career. In that case, most of you would agree with me that both are inter-related, which is why I’m talking about both sides of the coin.

Moving on to professional goals, the thumb rule is really simple – think hard about what is it you want to do in the future that would give you a kick and makes you happy. I am not saying that you imagine yourself to be the President of USA as he is one of the most powerful men in the world, but something realistic and achievable. No offence but if you think you can be the President, then go for it!

Say for example your dream is to become Google India’s head. That is an impressive dream and Google is such an amazing company to work with that most of the employees feel more at home when they are actually in office! You would instantly fall in love with Google and its more than awesome work culture. Additionally, it goes without saying how impressive the company is, that it has a turnover of multiple billion dollars, has presence in almost every country of the world and is a household name.

Say you have thought through it and have decided what your ultimate goal would be, now what next? Let’s put up a scenario here – if you want to reach the 1^st floor of a building, you take one step at a time or do you just jump to the first floor? Now please don’t say you would take a lift as that is a different scenario altogether. Here I am trying to make my point by demonstrating the example of climbing stairs, so let’s stick to it. Going back to the discussion, almost all of you would agree with me that taking one step at a time is the most comfortable and easiest way of reaching the first floor.

This is exactly what you need to do in case of setting goals for your life – make interim goals and give them a timeline. Giving a timeline to goals really help in staying focused. Also every time you achieve an interim goal you feel happy about it and are motivated to move on. To further illustrate it using an example, I will go back to the goal of being India’s Google head. In order to achieve that, one needs to decide upon interim goals. In this case those interim goals could be:

• Every third year aim of getting a designation hike
• Every year aim at getting at least 20% hike
• Every year aim at contributing at least one innovative idea that made a positive difference to the company.

What if you do not achieve your goals in the timeline you set for yourself? First of all there are slim chances of that happening because if you have a positive mindset, you almost always give the best shot putting you on the right track.

However, God forbid this happens there is no need to feel low as you get the opportunity to learn a lot of things during this course and this learning will certainly help you in achieving your goal when you try the second time around.

I would like to refer to the “Law of Attraction” which I learnt from ‘The Secret’ series written by Rhonda Byrne. My recommendation is to read ‘Secret the Power’, the second book of the series. It has helped thousands of people in achieving their goals.

So what exactly is Law of Attraction? According to this law, which holds as true as law of gravity, whatever you think you attract in your life. Your thoughts and feelings design your present and future. We should actually feel positive talking about these interim goals and should not worry about the result. If you believe in yourself, everything would be fine. If you worry then you would actually attract more worrisome circumstances! That is the last thing you should do. Take calculative risks and believe in yourself. Try to keep yourself as happy and as cheerful as possible as that will attract more happiness, which indeed would be achievement of your goal!

To further talk about goal setting, the following catalysts will give your career an accelerated growth:

• Good networking: In corporate world, networking plays a very important role. If you have a good rapport with your clients and influential people of your industry, things will be much easier. Here I am not saying that you get unreasonable and buy expensive gifts for clients or give free services, for which your company otherwise pays, to get a new client. What you should do is keep in touch with influential people, attend conferences and exchange your business cards there. Networking also means maintaining a decent relationship with your sister companies and know about their business as well. If you are part of a media agency that deals with TV campaigns, then you should have a good bonding with somebody in digital wing as well. This would give you knowledge of inevitable marketing medium and perhaps more business to your company!

• Going an extra mile to seek knowledge of your domain: Doing day-to-day work perfectly is not enough to be a star performer. In order to be that or to run a successful business you need to go an extra mile and keep yourself updated with latest trends of your industry. Read whitepapers, reports, analysis, surveys, blogs etc. Keep increasing your domain knowledge every passing day.

• Put yourself in other’s shoes: Before judging anyone, put yourself in their position and think what kind of behavior you would have expected had you been on the other side. Always and always behave in this manner, whether it is your subordinate, your colleague or client. Always follow this simple rule and you will always end up in people’s good books, which will eventually help you in being successful.

• Treat your client/customer as king: We all are majorly working for work satisfaction and money. But where does this money come? Clients of course. Hence we need to treat them with utmost importance. However at the same time we should never say yes to their unreasonable timelines or assignments they ask us to do. We should be confident enough to say no. If you make a valid point, client would always agree and would respect you even more for your approach and realistic attitude.

• Stay away from blame game: Usually in the corporate world if someone is reprimanded for anything, the blame game starts. However if you were at fault you should actually put your foot forward and except your mistake. Before such a situation arises, before it starts to pick fire just flag the issue in a subtle manner. Try not to offend anyone.

• Stay away from office politics: Here I would like to say, just don’t do it and try not to fall in its trap. By putting someone down and moving ahead by wrong means you could get short term success along with a lot of mental trauma. If you do your work well and highlight it to the senior management, they would certainly notice and reward you appropriately. If you do not then probably that company is not worth you and it’s time to move on.

Setting personal goals go hand-in-hand with professional goals, and when set right they can propel you to success. You will definitely enjoy a successful professional life along with a great personal life. After all, this is what everybody aims for!

Contributed By : Arpita Seth (Class of 2010,IBS Gurgaon).

When I was a kid, my grandfather used to tell me stories from his era. He used to boast of a simple and happy life with no stress or hurry. People were easy going, dedicated, honest in their jobs and satisfied with limited means.

But the world has grown too far from those times. Massive data is being transferred in small chips. We are constantly engaged in working even on the go, while eating and sometimes even doing our daily ‘honors’. We have learned to multitask, constantly striving to match the pace of fast moving and dynamic business conditions around us.

Change occurs mostly through evolution. If we don’t embrace it, we will be left behind unable to decipher our environment. So, new developments, technologies, processes have led to new mindsets, principles and ideals. Banks do not run on piles of files any more. Entrance exams are conducted online. Companies connect with other companies across the globe. The world has become a smaller place.

Operating businesses today, therefore, vastly differ from what it used to be in older times. There are many processes and principles that are no longer applicable to contemporary corporates. If you run your business like that in the 70’s, 80’s or 90’s, you might need to re-evaluate your current position in comparison to your counterparts.

Let’s look at some of the ‘old school’ business practices that are no longer relevant:

• Dictatorial leadership techniques and hierarchical bureaucracy: Gone are the days of ‘bossy’ bosses. No one wants to work because they are made to. Inflicting strict regimes, keeping records of in and out times by seconds, issuing warnings or the need to control every aspect of your company are ways of micro-management that is totally unappreciated or even required in today’s office cultures. Managers now believe in empowerment. Giving employees some flexibility and space to think out of the defined lines is encouraged. Following strict protocols is no longer relevant, as long as the work gets done.

• The “Flashy Executive Suites”: In times where companies have to face bigger and real problems within the market, providing big and lavish offices to its executives is not a high priority agenda. Organizational structures are becoming more horizontal. Communication and approachability of the higher management is more in demand. Also, in stressful global economy, management focuses on cost cutting rather than spending big bucks on designer offices.

• No – mistakes or no tolerance policy: Management these days acknowledge that to err is to human, unlike mangers of the 70’s or 80’s who believed in hire and fire. In fact, contemporary leaders consider layoffs as the last resort. Emphasis is laid on learning from mistakes and growing by learning.

• Emphasis on qualifications and grades over skills and experience: This is a cliché. I remember my elder brother narrating stories of how companies came for placements in their college and the best picked up the best. Toppers got placed first, but this practice is not strictly applicable today. Yes, academics are important, but placements do not completely depend on GPAs. Quite likely, a 5 pointer will land with a better offer in the end, but recruiters look for skills more than knowledge. Quick learners, problem solvers and people who take ownership are given preference than those who only have college ranks to show.

• Women are not suitable for leadership roles: I would say this was more of a social bias than a business practice. But it is completely insignificant today. The growing number of women at top positions, boards of biggest public companies is a clear indication to that. There used to be times when promoting women to top management was discouraged, but almost all companies now focus on improving gender diversity within their firm.

• Copy old theories than design new ones: Earlier businesses used to run with the sole aim of maximizing shareholder values. Tried and tested approaches of profit making and coping with competition were implemented. But globalization and Internet has changed everything. Innovation is the key to growth and survival as access to information is much easier now. The power equation has changed from seller to buyer, and relying on traditional management strategies is not enough.

• Pay employees more money and they will do more: Yes, money used to be a driving force in the old business era. Monetary incentives are still welcome but today, more importance is laid on rewards and recognition. You can retain but not motivate your employees by merely paying them extra bucks. Hence, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory is out of date. Instead, an ethical work culture driven by fair recognition, opportunity and scope for growth is part of the present-day core values.

• Management knows everything: Earlier, leadership was looked upon as someone who knew all the answers. But today’s managers don’t pretend to know everything. Collaborative learning, choosing the right people with right skills, trusting your workforce is the new approach.

• Investing in technology and not people: While this is somewhat still relevant and followed, the modern perspective is to invest in people who are creating and running the technical interface that runs your business. Without them, no technology infrastructure can be successful.

• Dress code or uniforms: Surprisingly, ties and double-breasted suits are no longer standard office attires. Except for specific occasions, companies permit employees to ‘loosen-up’. Business casuals are the new fashion trend for office-goers. There are casual Fridays, themed –working days in MNC offices. The idea is to have people relax and de-stress instead of worrying too much about following the clothing protocol.

There are many large corporations who still practice traditional management. GE, for example, co-exists with old ways in the new world. Work culture today is undergoing a metamorphosis. There is no place for slowing down. The transition is happening across industries and among all large as well as small-scale firms.

Even these management practices are not perfect and will continue to evolve, finding new ways to add value. Modern day management revolution calls for continuous innovation and transformation, keeping the customers happy and employees inspired. We could all hope the change continues to be for the larger good.

Contributed By: Isha Jajodia (IBS Gurgaon ,Class of 2010).