Deb Dutta

Technology Executive and Mentor for Leadership Development, Workplace Readiness and Personal Branding

Feb 25

The Continued Need for Corporate Mentors & Workplace Readiness in Asia

Wow, this is still a gem! Here is something I wrote last year that still defiantly applies…

The Continued Need for Solid Mentors & Workplace Readiness

It is an early week of a wet August in 2009 as I board a flight to Manila. As the Singapore Airline flight taxis down the rain soaked Ninoy Aquino International airport’s tarmac, I look around into the gathering dusk at the hazy silhouette of the adequately lit airport terminal – nothing much has changed since the ten years I have been traveling to this country! As I disembark, I literally zip thru immigration and customs, I thank my lucky stars that it is early week or is it that the efficiency of the airport has just got better!

I had to find out. Frankly, I have had my trysts with destiny while trudging through the crowd at this airport during previous visits and they have indeed been a challenge! My last visit was a year ago – I half expectedly start peering out of the window of the hotel car that whisks me from the kerbside lounge as I am chauffeured down the well lit streets by a chauffeur whose infectious exuberance that characterizes every Filipino has thankfully not altered one bit!

Feb 22

Where have all the Salesmen gone?

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Lately I have spoken to many of my peers in the industry and my customers on several common topics that I typically do at the beginning of the year. At the end of those conversations I have concluded that a very large risk that is threatening to plague most businesses is not lack of innovation, not eroding margins, not trade unions – it is a rapidly diminishing sales pipeline. Frankly, it is not coming in as a surprise to me. Cold calling and pipeline development does not seem like one of the higher priorities in a typical sales rep’s daily routine anymore.

Staying Strong in a Time of Weakness

It was not like that even 10-15 years ago! I remember my early years in the field in the late 80s and early 90s when the tech industry was in its infancy. The drill was strict and purely arithmetical –a rep needed to own a qualified sales pipeline that was at least 4 times the sales quota. Qualified meant sales opportunity where there is a genuine need, an approved budget to fund the need and coverage on the person who are authorized to make the purchase decision. The sales supervisor would inspect the rep’s field activity and anytime his pipeline sagged below the 4x multiplier watermark, the rep would be heading for trouble! Consequently, we all followed this mantra and whoever did so diligently, performed and prospered …. period! Continue reading »

Tagged with: Advantage • Sales • Strength

Feb 17

Let Me Give You the Bad News First!

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I am fairly liberal and open to providing my opinion about how I view situations, circumstances, opinions and propositions and how I respond to them to anyone who genuinely seeks it! Life has seen me in different circumstances at work and play – good, bad, memorable, rewarding and downright ugly! Some, I have responded to well while others have been not much to write home about. Irrespective of the outcome, I have tried hard to learn from them, to reflect upon them and to promise myself to deal with them better if I were to face them again in the future, especially the not so rosy ones!

Tagged with: balance • Candidness • preparedness

Feb 11

The Benefit and Weight of Loyalty in a Workplace Environment

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I often find myself reviewing job description documents that our Human Resources Department routes my way. I also discuss with our hiring managers regarding the customer facing and the back office roles that they propose that will enable us to execute our organizational and revenue goals. We do this as a part of our Workforce Planning process. I also get into brief conversations with prospective employees who come to interview with us. In all these situations a point of discussion is what are the key qualities that will make the new hire tick?

Uncovering Loyalty at Work

As you would expect, the flavors of the response are varied. The MBA types will call out education, communication, integrity, conceptual skills, leadership, intellect, analytics, execution et al. Others will categorize honesty, hard work, relationships, knowledge, quality of work as key attributes for success.

All these assumptions are true and why not? Possessing these skills requires tremendous resolve, focus and discipline. These make up the professional’s arsenal that will take the owner a long way. However, what is the quality that plays an equally crucial role, if not more … an attribute that all organizations look forward to in the employees and test them on it over time? Continue reading »

Tagged with: corporate loyalty • loyalty • workgroups

Feb 09

Go David … Go!

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10 Bullets for winning Professional Combats

Most of us grew up pretty awestruck hearing David’s biblical victory over the Goliath. While reading an interesting article recently I was told that Davids win all the time! “The political scientist Ivan Arreguín-Toft recently looked at every war fought in the past two hundred years between strong and weak combatants. The Goliaths, he found, won in 71.5 per cent of the cases.

What happened, Arreguín-Toft wondered, when the underdogs likewise acknowledged their weakness and chose an unconventional strategy? He went back and re-analyzed his data. In those cases, David’s winning percentage went from 28.5 to 63.6. When underdogs choose not to play by Goliath’s rules, they win, Arreguín-Toft concluded, “even when everything we think we know about power says they shouldn’t.”

As I came into work life, I have had to contend with similar circumstances clothed in more cultured attire. The years, besides giving me the hard knocks, have also lent me powerful bullets of differentiation, reasoning, timing, subtlety, confidence, empathy and self awareness which when intelligently used are truly lethal weapons in professional combat – use them well and you have game, set and match won!

So let me take you briefly through the 10 Bullets for How to Win Like David in Professional Workplace Battles … Continue reading »

Tagged with: Difficulties • Success • Victories • Workplace

Feb 02

Are Fresh Grads & Young Professionals Ready for Primetime Roles?

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2010 looks like a eventful year – the next couple of years will be even more dramatic! Irrespective of the state of the Global economy, Asia will likely continue its economic momentum into the foreseeable future. This will mean enhanced demand and expansion in the scale of businesses all over Asia – not just China and India. Industry will increasingly need trained human resources who are ready for the roles they are hired for.

While education institutions are doing their best to churn out “educated” graduates, I see a significant gap between the skills needed for them to be effective in their chosen careers and the skills they possess when they come to work!! I see the absence of a curriculum layer that trains individuals to be “work-life ready” rather than just armed with a degree.