A lot of the times we end up saying or doing something we regret later.  One aspect of Emotional Intelligence is self-regulation- or impulse control, or simply self-control. Recently I was discussing this subject with Prof Sudhir Jain, Director of the new IIT at Gandhinagar, who is a rare combination of an academic with international [...]

What is assertive behaviour? Assertiveness is the middle ground between aggression and passivity. It is about reasonable behaviour and finding solutions that suit both sides. Assertiveness means: Acknowledging your own feelings to yourself (“My boss gives me bits and pieces of tasks without total responsibility of the entire project, and I am feeling restless and unfulfilled”); Understanding [...]

Communication at the workplace (particularly with the boss) is as important as lubricant for our car engine. Without it our career will sputter and stall, and work life will be full of breakdowns and headaches. In quiz, you saw a few situations, which if not clarified, have the potential to worsen our irritation with time.  [...]

(Dilip Chhabria is the founder of DC Design, internationally recognised for quality services in vehicle customizing and modification) The first thing that strikes you about Dilip Chhabria as he walks into the restaurant where we are meeting him for dinner is his utter ease with himself, as he laughingly explains why he wife couldn’t make [...]

Recently I was with a group of people who holidayed together for 3 days on the occasion of their company’s first off-site. The spouses met each other and their husband’s colleagues for the first time. It was a beautiful natural setting in god’s own country – we had Kerala’s gentle monsoon breeze, verdant green swaying [...]

 In nineteenth century India, when it was not unusual for children to be married off, a young girl was just getting used to her new, equally young partner. The immature bridegroom had no idea of the rights and role of a husband, so he bought some pamphlets containing chauvinistic advice to men to dominate their [...]

 Recently, I found myself at the clinic of an expensive doctor. When my turn came to explain my problem, he was interrupted several times by phone calls, each of which lasted a few minutes. In my allotted fifteen minutes, I had barely spoken before he handed me a prescription. Should I object, and express my [...]

Here is a magical tip to manage your energies, throw your frustration out of the window and get on with life. Recently a colleague was visibly upset because she was informed at the last minute of a change in a programme. She complained bitterly that it affected her entire week-end schedule. ‘ How can people [...]