Harmony at Work

On Thursday, 3 December, Dharmaraj appeared on Rashmi Bansal’s TV programme “Stay Hungry: Cracking Careers with Rashmi”. The show airs on business channel Bloomberg UTV.

Here is the video. The following is transcript of the unabridged interview. It has been edited slightly for clarity.

Hi Dharmaraj. First of all, what is ‘Harmony at Work’? What is this program all about?

Hi Rashmi. Thank you for having me here with you. Harmony at Work offers stress management, personal productivity, and leadership training for corporates. We take our hats off to all you corporates because the pace is grueling and we’re running at top speed just trying to keep up with you.

We base our offerings on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, who wrote Autobiography of a Yogi. His teachings have been applied to daily life by his direct disciple, Swami Kriyananda. One course that Kriyananda wrote is called Success and Happiness through Yoga Principles—that’s our training manual.

Success, happiness, and harmony are things that everybody wants. There are so many powerful techniques that we can practice to achieve these.

According to a recent survey 93% of workers in Bangalore are ‘unhappy’ and they blame uncooperative colleagues or managers for this. Tell me, are there some tips you can share on how to deal with such people and make your life better?

Well that was an alarming survey result and certainly not limited to Bangalore. My colleague Haridas and I visited a company in Noida, and our friend there told us that people were leaving in busloads. He said that the company had announced layoffs, but that wasn’t making people leave. The company had also cut back salaries, and that wasn’t making people leave. But there a new CEO and he was extremely harsh to people, and that was what was causing them to leave.

What can be done in that situation? Probably not much. The spirit of the organization always comes from the spirit of the leadership.

Now when dealing with difficult colleagues, however, there is something you can do. Remember you’re under no compulsion to spend an excessive amount of time with them. If somebody is nasty, just walk away. Take some time for yourself, recharge, and shake that negative energy off of yourself. And remember too that you can spend time with positive people, or at least neutral people. And see also if you can’t possibly have some compassion or at least tolerance for this negative person. After all, what is it that’s making them so negative? The only thing is, you may have practice your compassion from a safe distance.

Can you give us 3 tips on how you can reach your highest potential in your job or your chosen profession?

Your highest potential implies more than you already are. So how do you become more than you already are? The secret to that is energy. Find ways to increase your energy, and pour that energy into your work. Think of new ways to do things, think of new ways to reach your customers and your clients. Also, share that energy with the people you work with. That’s one of the secrets of leadership. Think: what can I give this person? How can I help us all towards our goal?

Another thing that’s needed to go higher is to go deeper—into the realities around you, and also inside yourself. Concentration is needed for this. In fact, concentrated energy is the major key to success in everything you do. And to increase your concentration, meditation can be a powerful tool.

Can you give us 3 tips on how to deal with work stress and not take it home with you?

The key here again is energy. Often we feel stressed just because we are drained of energy. We need to find ways to rejuvenate ourselves.

For example, a bank manager friend of ours told us that when he comes home from work, the first thing he does is go straight into his bedroom, and he practices the 10-minute recharge routine that Harmony at Work teaches. When he finishes that, he releases all his stress from the day, and he comes out and actually has some energy to share with his family.

Another thing to remember in dealing with work stress once you’re at home is that none of us can hold the whole world on our shoulders. There’s really only so much that we’re responsible for. So give your concerns, your responsibilities, and your worries back to the universe for the evening. They’ll be waiting for you back at the office tomorrow morning.

Give us 3 tips on creating harmony at work.

I had a feeling you were going to ask that. Let me read to you from this article by Swami Kriyananda that’s on our blog:

Politeness is something people often reserve for strangers or for people they meet seldom. It will help to keep the “machinery” of your daily relationships running smoothly if you are polite and considerate also to those you work with daily.

Make a point to look consciously for good qualities in your co-workers. In disagreements, try to see also their point of view. When you win a point, never beat them down by saying, “I told you so!” Give them a graceful way out.

Be kind to your fellow workers. Help them whenever they need it, and when the opportunity presents itself. If you act thus, they will respond to you in kind. A pleasant atmosphere in the workplace will bring blessings to everyone there.

Can you tell us what is the 10-minute recharge routine you teach in your program and demonstrate one such exercise?

I’m really glad you asked that because now I can share a technique so that this isn’t just all talk. The 10-Minute Recharge routine consists of some of Yogananda’s energization exercises and also a meditation technique. Let me show you one of these energization exercises. Join me. This exercise requires a double breath, which is a short, and then along inhalation through the nose, and then a short and long exhalation through the mouth. (demonstrates) Are you doing it? Now as we do this double inhalation we want to tense the whole body, and visualize that we’re drawing energy into the whole body. And then, as we throw the breath out, we release all the tension. So again, one more time. (demonstrates) This is an exercise you can do while standing, while seated, while walking—anytime you need to recharge yourself in 5 seconds, what to speak of 10 minutes.

(Editor’s note: You can download a slide show of these exercises.)

We have an email query from Vidhu in New Delhi: I am a fresh graduate from one of the top colleges in India. I got a job from campus with a very reputed organisation and I thought it was a dream come true. But in 4 months I am bored stiff. Trouble is they pay me a lot of money and I have no idea what else I want to do. Please advise!”

Well Vidhu, you’ve answered your own question partly: even with all this money that they’re paying you, you’re bored stiff, and it’s not your dream come true. So the question is, what is your dream? Take the time to discover what that dream is. For example, what were your favorite subjects in college? When you were young, what things did you like doing? Take some time to look inside yourself. Read different books, maybe even write in a journal, and ask yourself, “what is it that I want to do?”

Meanwhile, the job that you’re working at can give you the money that it will take to make a change when you’re ready.

And remember also that it takes courage to follow your dream. I’ve always loved these lines from a song by Swami Kriyananda:

Follow your dream, though it lead to worlds unknown.
Life’s but a shadow, once our dreams have flown.
What if men cry, your dream is not our own,
Your soul knows the answer, go on alone.

We have an email query from Sonia in Mumbai. “I was recently laid off at work. My boss cited poor performance as a reason even though I have always been a conscientious worker and it’s simply because the company is not doing well. I am feeling very let down and depressed. Please advise.”

Hi Sonia. I’m very sorry to hear that. It sounds like you’ve been treated unfairly and unkindly. You know, in these situations it’s best to stick to the truth, as you’ve put it: you are a conscientious worker, and the company is going through bad times. It’s their loss.

Nowadays my colleague Haridas and I meet a lot of people who have been laid off of work. One thing Haridas says is to remember that your next job is already waiting for you. All the people there are looking for you, just as much as you’re looking for them. They need your talents, and they need your help! They’re calling to you.

So, in your job search, put out energy. As Yogananda used to say, shake this world until has to give you a job. Send out emails, make phone calls, post to LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Put out as much energy as you can. And then when you’re waiting for replies, visualize these new friends of yours who are calling to you. And mentally call back to them, saying, “We need to find each other!”

Are there any books you can recommend to our viewers looking to be happy and fulfilled at work?

Everything that I’ve been sharing with you has come from Swami Kriyananda’s course, Success and Happiness through Yoga Principles. It’s really a manual for living, and for working. A friend of ours recently went through the 26 lessons of the course. She said that it gave her the skills and the confidence to apply for a job that was beyond her wildest dreams, which she got. And, as a side note, she also quadrupled her salary.

You can read more about the course on www.materialsucess.com.

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Tags: career advice, energy, frustration, graduation, IIM-A, introspection, leadership, mba, meditation, negative emotions, productivity, stress, techniques

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 9:32 am and is filed under career, interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.