THE JAR CALLED LIFE!!!

One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.

As he stood in front of the group of high-powered over-achievers, he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." 

He then pulled out a one-gallon wide-mouth mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one by one, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" 

Everyone in the class said, "Yes." 

Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more. "Is this jar full?" 

By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not." one of them answered. 

"Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question. "Is this jar full?"

"No!" the class shouted. 

Once again, he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. 

Then the expert in time management looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" 

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it." 

"No", the speaker replied, "that's not the point."

THE FINE ART OF BALANCING!

The truth this illustration teaches us is this: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are the big rocks in your life? Your children, your spouse, your loved ones, your friendships, your education, your dreams, an worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others, doing things that you love, time for yourself, your health. Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first, or you'll never get them in at all. If you sweat the little stuff (i.e. gravel, the sand) then you'll fill your life with little things you will never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff (the big rocks)." So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the "big rocks" in my life? Then put those in your jar first.

THE SYNDIAN FOOTNOTE

The anecdote that you just read underlines the need to prioritize in life and have a healthy work-life balance. This particular story might not be new to you. In fact, there are numerous versions available in multitude forms and languages across the web-o-sphere. This edition is an adaptation from http://kanalpakkangal.blogspirit.com/

Wishing you a healthy work life balance. Till the nest time we converse, Jai Hind! Jai Synd!

IMAGE SOURCE: GOOGLE IMAGES

SIBM: A TRIBUTE!!!

In a few days from now, precisely on January 04, 2011, our batch will be completing an year in the service of this great Institution. What time could be more opportune to revisit the place where it all started: Syndicate Institute of Bank Management, Manipal, Karnataka. While the adventures and escapades have been accounted for in an earlier post: ONCE UPON A TIME IN MANIPAL!!!, it is time that tributes be showered upon the Alma mater of banking for the Syndians!

The SyndicateBank website provides the following overview of SIBM:

Syndicate Institute of Bank Management (SIBM), located at Manipal, in the backdrop of luxuriant Western Ghats, is the apex training institution of SyndicateBank for honing skills in banking and management for the bank's executives and senior personnel. The Institute was set up in November 1987. The institute has a sprawling campus of 15 acres, offering a panoramic view of the green valley on the east and Arabian Sea in the west. The fully residential Institute, with all modern infrastructure expected in an Institution of this nature, like well-equipped classrooms, library, computer laboratory, conference hall and auditorium, also offers a variety of recreation facilities, including a modern gymnasium, 5-hole golf course, mini-cricket ground, volleyball courts, indoor games, jogging track and so on. Shady fruit bearing trees, medicinal plants, rose garden and other recreational facilities are provided to rejuvenate the body and mind. The hostel has 65 fully air-conditioned and tastefully furnished rooms. 

Those interested in knowing more may follow this link: http://www.syndicatebank.in/scripts/APEXTrainingcentre-SIBM.aspx. But for our batch, it means much more. And I will once again let the pics do the talking. Have a look:

PRESENT AND FUTURE TOGETHER.....

PRESENT AND FUTURE TOGETHER.....

VITHALA SIR GIVES INSTRUCTIONS ON THE EVE OF D-DAY. WHO'S INTERESTED?

JUST BEFORE THE FIRST STEP

ATTENTIVE THEY ARE! ICE-BREAKING IN PROGRESS.

WAITING FOR THEIR TURN. INSIDE AUDI BEING HANDED OVER THE RELIEVING AND MARCHING ORDERS.

STATE OF THE ART. A SESSION IS ABOUT TO BEGIN....

REFRESHMENT AREA. CAUGHT YOU TEA-HANDED, AFTER WE HAD OURS!

THE TRICOLOUR. VIEW OF THE MAIN ENTRANCE FROM INSIDE SIBM.

LADIES AND THE GENTLEMEN!

THE GANG OF GUYS!

THE HEAVENLY ABODE. IT TRULY IS!

THE FOOD FACTORY! YUMMY FOOD, MATCHLESS SERVICE. 

THE JOYRIDE CONCLUDES. THIS AUTO HAS BEEN FINANCED BY SYNDICATE BANK, WHICH WAS REASON ENOUGH FOR US TO HOP ON AND SAY CHEESE! OF COURSE, THE LADIES CRIED LATER ON, AS THIS WAS THEIR LAST HURRAH AT SIBM! 

THE SYNDIAN FOOTNOTE

I consider myself absolutely privileged, lucky, fortunate and what not, to have got an opportunity to be inducted into the Syndicate Family at the apex training centre. The experience is etched in the memories of all of us and remains fresh as if it was just yesterday that each one of us became a part of the Syndicate syndicate!
A word of gratitude to the Team SIBM, the parts of which works as a synchronized whole to ensure optimization of returns that a trainee gets from his/ her stay at the campus. Administration, Faculty Members, Support-staff: Thank You!!!
During the course of serving this great Institution, there may come a few opportunities to be a part of training programmes at different TCs, and may be SIBM again. But nothing can match the charm of induction training. Would want to come back again, and again and again......

THE SYNDIAN wishes all the readers a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011. May our Institution continue to make GIANT strides in Nation's service with the combined PIGMY efforts of ours! May we all stay faithful and friendly! May hope, health and happiness prevail!

Jai Hind! Jai Synd!

GROSSING PROFIT FROM NET PRESENCE: THE PUZZLE DECODED!

Each time you receive an email from me, you shall see the following rather prolonged signature appended to the main text. It serves dual purpose of identifying myself to you as well as the subtle promotion of the Net presence of our Institution. Except for the last link which navigates you to my personal blog, all others are related to the Bank: the official website followed by the newly created twitter account, the blog and finally my profile on LinkedIn which is going to be discussed later.
Faithful and Friendly,
Ashish Rastogi
Assistant Manager
Syndicate Bank
Phillaur Branch
Jalandhar (Punjab)
Ph. 095694xxxxx, 01826222xxx
http://syndicatebank.in/
http://twitter.com/thesyndian
http://thesyndian.blogspot.com/
http://in.linkedin.com/in/syndashish
http://myexperimentswithloveandlife.blogspot.com/

This is very simple. In order to customize the way your email looks like is to click on 'Settings' on the top right of your Gmail homepage. The eighth item under the General tab is Signature. All you need to do is to type what all you wish to be appended at the end of your email. It even gives you an option to re-size the text and change colours. Paint it red and blue.... the colours of our Organization! A feature that Gmail has recently added is to include an image wherein one is required to add URL of the image and it gets uploaded easily. Just copy the following link and paste it in the space provided and then re-size the image. 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO0zK5-KcG4zT6j9VVaw4ZdYuyO1IR-vV9WIpbqjW1Pwu-kvyMt1kDslbHcKNFHIbnP3iek59eWZUaMdbxTWx9B1jWocn2YJcMq9Jm0hcekTRdLDunaJrqPz-VZgKj_6HOiwYMKVLfh9I/s1600/SyndicateBank+Logo.jpg

Similarly you can copy and paste the web links to the official website, the twitter account and the blog. Your email is now customized as per your taste. To check click 'Compose mail' and you shall see the changes reflecting you as well as our Organization!!!

When you send emails to me (which is more often a reply to my mail), you almost immediately get a reply with the subject line reading THE SYNDIAN WILL REPLY SOON! and the body of the reply being:

Keep banking with your faithful & friendly financial partner........
SyndicateBank
Now younger than ever!

Now this again is very easy to activate. Go back to Settings of your Gmail and switch on the 'Vacation responder', eleventh item from top. Copy: THE SYNDIAN WILL REPLY SOON! and paste in the subject line and copy:

Keep banking with your faithful & friendly financial partner........
SyndicateBank
Now younger than ever!

and paste in the space depicted as message.

Your Gmail account is now an advertisement of the Bank, free of cost and yet a potent tool. If each one of us does this, the effect will be compounding! Go ahead, Syndify your Gmail! 

Needless to say, those sticking with generic email ids,  switch over to synd(your name/surname)@gmail.com for obvious reasons.

Of course, we have had our share of twitter controversies taking toll of what appeared to be a promising career in politics of a rather learned man! The same is also true the once King of Fatafat (Hindi for instant) cricket. But that does not diminish the potential that Twitter has in terms of sharing with the world at large. You might be aware that Barack Obama heavily relied on 'tweeting' in his successfully orchestrated campaign for Presidency of the U.S. But what you might not be aware of is the fact the His Holiness The Dalai Lama is also on Twitter!!! 

Why not us then? THE SYNDIAN has already made its twitter debut (http://twitter.com/thesyndian). If each one of us follow it and get followed in return, the visibility of the 'Synd' again multiplies!! Besides, one can always tweet about the ongoing CASA campaign, enhanced rates of interest on deposits, Synd schemes, personal achievements of Syndians (already tweeted about Sri Bolwar Mahamad Kunhi having been selected for the Sahitya Academy Award). Think over! Or rather tweet over @thesyndian.

 

Blogger is the place where you are reading all this. September 2009, i.e. an year back was when I first blogged. The personal blog that I maintain has innumerable readers, 81 followers and counting. The blogosphere is huge and has a plethora of people dispersed worldwide ranging from retired teachers to young college goers, from professionals to rank amateurs, from celebrities to the girl next door. Realizing the strength of the medium, THE SYNDIAN was initiated. THE SYNDIAN is still a private blog meant for fellow Syndians and one cannot access it until and unless invited. Of course, THE SYNDIAN is too happy at home and does not venture out. Once it goes public, it can again become a medium for communicating with the netizens.

This brings me to the network the strength of which I most recently discovered. I made a debut exactly a week back and I am today connected to over 70 professionals in different fields, 15 of which being Syndians across the country! This was the medium which helped me connect among others, with Shri CalicutKrishnan Subramaniam, a Syndian who reached superannuation on 30/01/2010. He replied to my email. I gave him a call. And it was an animated chat for about ten minutes. He mentioned about his having served in Meerut, my hometown. I asked:"When?" He said in '79. I said: "I was not even in liquid form then, Sir!!!" Both of us laughed to our hearts' content. Net-savvy and linked, he is indeed younger than ever! Wish him all the happiness and health. May he always play on front foot!

Now let us delve into the potential that LinkedIn has. It gives you an option of creating a profile wherein apart from a summary about yourself, you can mention about your current assignment, your previous experience, education, interests etc. LinkedIn provides you an option of mentioning your Company's website. Over 100 Syndians are present on LinkedIn, some of them active others 'dormant'. If each one of us provide a link to the Organization's website, it can translate into increased traffic at http://syndicatebank.in/. Also available is an option to create a group.

I already have one: I AM THE SYNDIAN, created with the professed aim of emerging as a connected and cohesive workforce. All are invited to join. Just create a LinkedIn profile and connect!

THE SYNDIAN FOOTNOTE

The idea behind the current post is to optimally utilize the internet as a medium for Integrated Marketing Communication and rightly project our Mother Institution as indeed younger than ever! Logos of Gmail, Twitter, Blogger and LinkedIn are courtesy Google search. THE SYNDIAN holds each of these mediums in great respect and extols their virtues and does not even remotely intend to violate the copyright over images. The purpose is to benefit fellow Syndians and bring home the immense potential that each of these forums has. 

Let us all gross profit from our net presence for the Institution!

Jai Hind! Jai Synd!

TORTOISE AND HARE: LESSONS IN SYN(D)ERGY!!!

STORY 1

Once upon a time, a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and set off. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for sometime. then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he fell asleep under a tree.

The tortoise overlooked the hare and soon finished the race, emerging as winner. The hare woke up and realized that he had lost the race.

Moral 1: Slow and Steady Wins The Race.

STORY 2

The hare was disappointed at losing the race and did some introspection. He realized that he had lost the race only because he had been over-confident, careless and lazy. If he had not taken things for granted, the tortoise could not have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed. This time the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles.

Moral 2: Fast and consistent will always beat slow and steady. So while it is good to be slow and steady, it is better to be fast and consistent.

STORY 3

Now it was the turn of tortoise to do some introspection. He realized that there is no way he could beat the hare in the race the way it was. He thought for a while and then challenged the hare for another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping with his self made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on the other side of the river. The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meanwhile, the tortoise got into the river, swam across to the opposite bank, continued walking and won the race.

Moral 3: Identify your core competency and change the playing field to suit your core competency. Working on your strengths will not only get you noticed, but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.

STORY 4

The story continues. The hare and tortoise had by now become good friends and did some introspection together. They decided to run the race again, but this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. The,n the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank the hare carried the tortoise again and they reached the finishing line together. Both of them felt great sense of happiness, satisfaction and success.

Moral 4: It is good to be individually motivated and to have strong core competencies, but until and unless you work in a team and harness each others' core competencies, you will always perform below par because there always are situations in which you would do poorly and someone else would do well. Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership.

Please note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failure. Failure is an event, it is never permanent.

Moral 5: The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could.

Moral 6: When we stop competing with the rival and start competing with the situation, we perform far better. In life, when faced with failure, it is sometimes appropriate to work harder and put in more effort by working smarter. Sometimes you just need to change strategy and try something innovative. And at other times, it is appropriate to do both.

THE SYNDIAN FOOTNOTE

The current post is an adaptation of a presentation that took place at an AICTE sponsored Faculty Development Programme held in 2008. The person behind these stories and the consequent morals in management is unknown. THE SYNDIAN wishes to acknowledge the effort of the anonymous and does not in any sense wishes to appropriate the credit of the same. The intent of using this content is to benefit  the fellow Syndians become better hares and tortoises; and accelerate the process of Nation-building by Syn(d)ergizing their efforts.

Jai Hind! Jai Synd! What Else!?!?!?!

थैंक्स सिंड

सिंड है पहचान अपनी,

सिंड ही अभिमान है!

सिंड के परचम तले,

हमें चलना अविराम है!

सिंड की प्रगति की राह में,

हमारा हर आगाज़ है!

सिंड है वो पंछी जिसकी,

ऊंची बहुत परवाज़ है!

सिंड ही है मैत्रीपूर्ण,

सिंड ही वफ़ादार है!

सिंड से जीवन में खुशियाँ,

सिंड से रोज़गार है!

सिंड से भविष्य सुरक्षित,

सिंड ही आधार है!

सिंड से आँखों में सपने,

सिंड ही पालनहार है!

इसलिए,

सिंड है हमारा मज़हब,

सिंड ही अराध्य है!

जय हिंद के पश्चात अब,

जय सिंड ही का नाद है!

Hindi, besides being our official language happens to be my mother-tongue. But, it may not be so in your case. So for the reader who stands on the other side of the language divide, here is an attempt to present the essence of the above piece in English. This is not by any means a translation, and may not match the standards of grammar and semantics. Here it goes:

“Synd is our identity and recognition. Synd is our source of pride. Under the direction and flag of Synd, we have to march relentlessly, without stop.”

“All our initiatives are on the course of Synd’s progress. Synd is that bird, which can fly very high into the sky with our efforts.”

“Synd alone is friendly, Synd alone is faithful. Synd is the cause of happiness in our lives; Synd alone provides us employment.”

“With Synd standing solidly behind, our future is secure; Synd in fact is the foundation of our existence.”

“Synd is the source of all our dreams, big and small. Synd is the giver of bread and butter.”

Therefore,

“Synd alone is our religion and faith, Synd alone is our deity. Jai Synd now comes only next to Jai Hind.”

While the previous post (I AM THE SYNDIAN – CELEBRATION OF THE SERVICE SPIRIT) was aimed at projecting the Institution and the employee (The Syndian) as service-oriented and customer-centric; the current post tries to express gratitude to the Institution for being a source of fulfillment of all our needs, physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization (Maslow’s Hierarchy). It is also an expression of unequivocal commitment towards the cause of Synd.

Jai Hind! Jai Synd!

HT-MaRS CONSUMER SATISFACTION SURVEY 2010

Dear Syndian,
Synd Morning!
I am sure that you would have avidly read the HT-MaRS Consumer Satisfaction Survey with the aim of scouting India’s best banks. I have sifted grain from chaff and am presenting our Bank’s performance vis-à-vis the competitors. Hope you will find time to go through!
We hold a joint Ninth position with Bank of Baroda, but actually at least 11 banks are better than us!

Axis Bank leads the pack, closely followed by HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. Indian Bank is the best Public Sector bank (overall fourth), followed by IOB, SBI and Canara Bank tied at fifth position. PNB stands at sixth rung, followed by Union Bank of India and UCO Bank jointly placed at seventh place. Central Bank of India comes at a close eighth position. The top 20 banks of India, according to this survey held at 18 major state capitals and business centres across the country are as follows:

1. Axis Bank

2.HDFC Bank
3.ICICI Bank
4. Indian Bank
5. IOB, SBI and Canara Bank
6. PNB
7. Union Bank of India and UCO Bank
8. Central Bank of India
9. Bank of Baroda and SyndicateBank
10.Vijaya Bank
11.Allahabad Bank
12.OBC
13.Bank of India
14.Corporation Bank
15.Dena Bank
16.United Bank of India
Places (out of a total of 18 covered in the survey) where we have done well include Jaipur (best bank in the city), Indore (second best), Ludhiana (fifth best), Patna (seventh), Bangalore (ninth) and Hyderabad (tenth).

Ranks that customers have accorded according to areas in banking to us…..
Overall experience with bank staff: Joint sixth with UCO Bank (8 banks better than us)*
Overall branch facilities: Joint seventh, again with UCO Bank (7 banks better than us) *
Account opening process: Eighteenth position (18 banks better than us) *
Turnaround time at banks: Joint tenth with Bank of India (11 banks better than us) *
ATM users: Last of the lot (19 banks better than us)
(* Inconsistency in our position and number of banks ahead of us is due to joint positions held by competitors, just as we do in many cases.)

Clearly, time to pull our socks! Let us all rededicate ourselves to the cause of being ‘faithful and friendly’.
Regards,
Faithful and Friendly
Ashish Rastogi