Amongst my many weaknesses, 1 of the major ones is social skills and handling people. I tend to get very judgmental and put most things in black and white. So someone is Right or Wrong. Hence I end up, calling Idiots, (or those I believe to be Idiots), Idiots. As is rather obvious, it ends up me alienating a lot of people. My new mature self, refrains from saying so, but I've been told that my demeanor and body language leave little for the imagination, and so I guess I'm not much better off.
Recently, Ivy became the Secretary of our housing Society. She's always hated administrative work and for 12 long years, she had diplomatically avoided becoming part of the Managing Committee or assuming any formal role. Several months ago, a grave injustice was done to a resident, and at that point she was outraged enough to gather support and reduce the injustice. (Read More)
Nevertheless, she wasn't able to bring about a change, since the member in question was part of the Managing Committee, was dictatorial in nature and the other members of the Committee were either too scared or just wanted to avoid hassles.
With the motivation of not being a mute witness to such gross injustice, she managed to motivate a few other like minded members to contest the elections and were elected. The members wanted her to become the Secretary and she reluctantly agreed, with a caveat of "Just 1 year". The Society was facing multiple issues, including, no money, no security willing to be posted here, no manager willing to work here, poor to nonexistent housekeeping, and so all. I was rather skeptical whether she and the other members would be able to do much, considering the mess that the Society was in.
They managed to surprise everyone. For starters, the Chairperson, and the Treasurer along with the other members were string in their resolve and willing to work hard. They managed to change the security and housekeeping, and improve the basic atmosphere. All this with major resistance and hurdles from 1 disgruntled but very powerful member and a few of her friends.
The part that was most impressive was the tackling of the defaulters. Several members had not paid outstanding for very long, several for years together. Personal calls made to them resulted in many of them clearing their dues within a few days.
But the part that was most memorable for me, was the way they handled people. They were sweet and polite, even in the face of ridiculous and ride responses. As an example a Member called and demanded to see the accounts, "Right Now". She went to the office, called the Member and said, "We appreciate your interest, and we'll be happy to share the accounts. Please come down". The member chickened out, realizing that the nuisance value that was being sought to be created was back firing. They were firm, and refused to be cowed down by rabble rousers and noise makers.
But what stands out is "How ?". They managed to handle all of the negativity with a smile, politeness and firmness. if only I can learn to handle people half as well as this team has, I shall consider it a major milestone.
The more important learning for me is that whilst we all know ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men (or women) do nothing’, it’s high time, we stood up and did our bit, instead of sitting back and waiting for others to clear our mess. Whether its in our society, our city and especially our country.
Recently, Ivy became the Secretary of our housing Society. She's always hated administrative work and for 12 long years, she had diplomatically avoided becoming part of the Managing Committee or assuming any formal role. Several months ago, a grave injustice was done to a resident, and at that point she was outraged enough to gather support and reduce the injustice. (Read More)
Nevertheless, she wasn't able to bring about a change, since the member in question was part of the Managing Committee, was dictatorial in nature and the other members of the Committee were either too scared or just wanted to avoid hassles.
With the motivation of not being a mute witness to such gross injustice, she managed to motivate a few other like minded members to contest the elections and were elected. The members wanted her to become the Secretary and she reluctantly agreed, with a caveat of "Just 1 year". The Society was facing multiple issues, including, no money, no security willing to be posted here, no manager willing to work here, poor to nonexistent housekeeping, and so all. I was rather skeptical whether she and the other members would be able to do much, considering the mess that the Society was in.
They managed to surprise everyone. For starters, the Chairperson, and the Treasurer along with the other members were string in their resolve and willing to work hard. They managed to change the security and housekeeping, and improve the basic atmosphere. All this with major resistance and hurdles from 1 disgruntled but very powerful member and a few of her friends.
The part that was most impressive was the tackling of the defaulters. Several members had not paid outstanding for very long, several for years together. Personal calls made to them resulted in many of them clearing their dues within a few days.
But the part that was most memorable for me, was the way they handled people. They were sweet and polite, even in the face of ridiculous and ride responses. As an example a Member called and demanded to see the accounts, "Right Now". She went to the office, called the Member and said, "We appreciate your interest, and we'll be happy to share the accounts. Please come down". The member chickened out, realizing that the nuisance value that was being sought to be created was back firing. They were firm, and refused to be cowed down by rabble rousers and noise makers.
But what stands out is "How ?". They managed to handle all of the negativity with a smile, politeness and firmness. if only I can learn to handle people half as well as this team has, I shall consider it a major milestone.
The more important learning for me is that whilst we all know ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men (or women) do nothing’, it’s high time, we stood up and did our bit, instead of sitting back and waiting for others to clear our mess. Whether its in our society, our city and especially our country.
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