This day 3 years ago......

Here is an excerpt of the mail that I sent my Boss, 3 years ago after I lost my job in the wake of Sept, 11.

Paul:
Past few months have been quite frustrating and challenging on both personal and professional front. I wanted to send this mail long back, but as you know there is always a reason for procrastination. I happen to see a small write on IM deal won by PG in today’s Economic Times and nostalgia brought me back to completing this pending email.

I thought I had hit the biggest jack pot in life working for XXX and needless to say working for you. But the jackpot turned out to be a short-lived dream. More than the clay it is the craftsmanship of the artisan that brings beauty and adds value to the artifact. You must have heard this before, “People join companies and quit bosses”. I definitely saw a lot of value even before I made that jump to XXX. We all join dream companies, but it is the boss who can make one live their dream or make it nightmarish.

I could see the real leadership in you and the fire to achieve. More than anything you can treat humans as they deserve to be treated. Agree to disagree, treat people the way you would like to be treated are a few essential traits which only a few carry. I could not see any tinge of ego or superior-subordinate relationship in any of your dealings. You motivated me to fight the battle till the last. Right from the Phd classes that we had at the start of the day and taking ownership to fix problems at the end of the day, You are a university and there is a lot to learn from you. There was unparalleled kindness and divinity in the way you broke my exit news and how you helped me prepare and cope with it.


I am not writing this email to flatter you, but would want to let you know how you’ve inspired me through your thoughtful leadership. I am certain there only a few people in this world in your cadre with this kind of rare competence. I am very happy and feel blessed to have worked with you and how many ever births, I would ask them same, just to work with you.

The new role that I’ve assumed is not all that challenging and people are very different. I look out for XXX in the news and honestly pray that you guys win more deals. It feels like a personal victory and loss. I don’t know how and why XXX has gotten into to me so much. But I know, if it were not you, then that place would have been yet another stopover. Definitely there is a sea of difference between XXX and YYY. Competence and quality of people are galaxies apart.

Likes and dislikes have no place, when life doesn’t give you a choice. Family commitments, financial burden, and fate have made me take this treacherous path. I will remember the analogy of walking on the wooden plank, success is when you look at the other side and not down below. I will go on this path with a hope that someday I would get an opportunity to work with you.

Whatever role you assume in life, may be a father, husband, son or a boss, you a have a lot to teach this world.

Convey my regards to your family and our little family at XXX (Abhrams, Rock, Bond).

Always in my prayers,
Sekar