Some times you have to stop and think of others too!
This lesson came home in a big way today. There were some vacancies for which selection was completed recently. A junior colleague from the concerned office was on phone today to tell me something interesting. Few candidates with appropriate pull and pressure had gone around the country side claiming their sure-shot appointment. Particularly, one of them was the son of a union brass who weilded considerable clout.
There was another applicant who had no recommendations and happened to come from an extraordinaryly poor family. As this bot was literally 'fighting' for his livelihood, he performed brilliantly in the selection tests. The candidate with the clout, sure that he would sail through, was perfunctory in his performance.
My colleague's boss, who eventually had to look at all the plusses and minusses of the selection, obviously had a tough choice. Face the powerful union leader or say 'yes' to merit. After some contemplation he decide to play it straight. The union leader was called and in an extra-ordinary display of transparency, both the canidates performance was appraised to him and he was asked to make the choice. The 'boss' simply asked the union leader to choose and assured him that his choice would be fina!
The union leader spent considerable time contemplating both the performance sheets. Finally, looking straight into the eyes of the 'boss' told him to go ahead and appoint the candidate who had performed brilliantly.
" If you had told me, sir, that my candidate would be selected, after showing me both their performances, I would have lived with a sense of guilt for the rest of my life. Merit, sir, is merit." The boy from poor family was appointed.
My friend who narrated this said that he actually learnt two lessons watching this incident:
One, merit is merit.
Two, merit has its own admirers, even though other factors may have many followers.
Three, playing it by the rule is required. But playing it right is important.
Lessons for life!!
This lesson came home in a big way today. There were some vacancies for which selection was completed recently. A junior colleague from the concerned office was on phone today to tell me something interesting. Few candidates with appropriate pull and pressure had gone around the country side claiming their sure-shot appointment. Particularly, one of them was the son of a union brass who weilded considerable clout.
There was another applicant who had no recommendations and happened to come from an extraordinaryly poor family. As this bot was literally 'fighting' for his livelihood, he performed brilliantly in the selection tests. The candidate with the clout, sure that he would sail through, was perfunctory in his performance.
My colleague's boss, who eventually had to look at all the plusses and minusses of the selection, obviously had a tough choice. Face the powerful union leader or say 'yes' to merit. After some contemplation he decide to play it straight. The union leader was called and in an extra-ordinary display of transparency, both the canidates performance was appraised to him and he was asked to make the choice. The 'boss' simply asked the union leader to choose and assured him that his choice would be fina!
The union leader spent considerable time contemplating both the performance sheets. Finally, looking straight into the eyes of the 'boss' told him to go ahead and appoint the candidate who had performed brilliantly.
" If you had told me, sir, that my candidate would be selected, after showing me both their performances, I would have lived with a sense of guilt for the rest of my life. Merit, sir, is merit." The boy from poor family was appointed.
My friend who narrated this said that he actually learnt two lessons watching this incident:
One, merit is merit.
Two, merit has its own admirers, even though other factors may have many followers.
Three, playing it by the rule is required. But playing it right is important.
Lessons for life!!
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