LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE U NEVER KNOW WHEN YOUR COMPANY STOPS LOVING YOU

Extract of Mr. Narayana Murthy's Speech during Mentor
Session:

I know people who work 12 hours a day, six days a

week, or more. Some people do so because of a work

emergency where the long hours are only temporary.

Other people I know have put in these hours for years.

I don't know if they are working all these hours, but

I do know they are in
the office this long. Others put in long office hours
because they are addicted to the workplace. Whatever
the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours
over the long term is harmful to the person and to the
organization.

There are things managers can do to change this for
everyone's benefit. Being in the office long hours,
over long periods of time, makes way for potential
errors. My colleagues who are in the office long hours
frequently make mistakes caused by fatigue. Correcting
these mistakes requires their time as well as the time
and energy of others. I have seen people work Tuesday
through Friday to correct mistakes made after 5 PM on
Monday.

Another problem is that people who are in the office
long hours are not pleasant company. They often
complain about other people (who aren't working as
hard); they are irritable, or cranky, or even angry.
Other people avoid them. Such behavior poses
problems, where work goes
much better when people work together instead of
avoiding one another. As Managers, there are things we
can do to help people leave the office.

First and foremost is to set the example and go home
ourselves. I work with a manager who chides people for
working long hours. His words quickly lose their
meaning when he sends these chiding group e-mails with
a time-stamp of 2 AM, Sunday. Second is to encourage
people to put some balance in their lives. For
instance, here is a guideline I find helpful:

1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.

2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.

3) Go home.

4) Read, watch a funny movie, play with your

kids, etc.

5) Eat well and sleep well.

This is called recreating. Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5

enable step 2.

Working regular hours and recreating daily are simple
concepts. They are hard for some of us because that
requires personal change. They are possible since we
all have the power to choose to do them. In
considering the issue of overtime, I am reminded of my
oldest son. When he was a toddler, if people were
visiting the apartment, he would not fall asleep no
matter how long the visit, and no matter what time of
day it was. He would fight off sleep until the
visitors left. It was as if he was afraid that he
would miss something. Once our visitors' left, he
would go to sleep. By this time, however, he was over
tired and would scream through half the night with
nightmares. He, my wife, and I, all paid the price for
his fear of missing out.

Perhaps some people put in such long hours because
they don't want to miss anything when they leave the
office. The trouble with this is that events will
never stop happening. That is life!! Things happen 24 hours a day.

Allowing for little rest is not ultimately practical.
So, take a nap. Things will happen while you're
asleep, but you will have the energy to catch up when
you wake.

Hence "LOVE YOUR JOB BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR
COMPANY"

Have a great day ahead!