Advice for Upcoming Meeting...

[Believer]

Namaste,

why judge a man based on his name and hearsay? Give him a chance to act.

Judge him on his actions later if you must.

Great advice but if your job/future promotions are on the line, it is only human to consider all possibilities. You have to be pro-active and cover all bases and not wait till the damage has been done.

Pranam.

[Aanandinii]

Namaste Satayji,

Everyone has given you great advice but I wanted to add and ask why judge a man based on his name and hearsay? Give him a chance to act.

Wear as you normally do. Judge him on his actions later if you must. Most Regural Muslims especially in IT are liberal.

Thank you so much for replying.
I wholeheartedly agree, I never judge people based on these kinds of things. Labels, names and physical characteristics have no bearing on the individual underneath all of that.
This is a large part of the reason I was so thrown by the recommendation. It never have occurred to me that my outward appearance might cause such a problem. Even though I know people do judge in this way I still tend to expect the same lack of judgement of them, and usually am not particularly concerned if or when there is some.
I try hard not to judge people on their actions either. It is a point of my daily practice.

And one more thing, if the bindi and the rudraksha do come into the conversation, one way to deflect would be to express with a smile your love for India and all things Indian and your desire to adopt some of the ways and about your trips to and friends in India, instead of using the word Hindu. That should defuse the situation and turn it into a friendly exchange.

Namaste Believerji,
Thank you! Excellent advice! This is a place I tend to have trouble, put on the spot like that I never know how to respond. I hadn't put much thought into what I might say, yet. I'll definitely keep this ready for if it does come up.

Corporate America, as I have come to know of it over the decades, is a completely different beast than situations in India or elsewhere.

This is very true, and is the reason I asked and hoped particularly anyone that has experience working in corporations here if they might respond.

~Pranam

[Avyaydya]

This is very true, and is the reason I asked and hoped particularly anyone that has experience working in corporations here if they might respond.

Namaste Aanandinii

Forget the whole Muslim thing, nowadays danger lures from a different side.

These organizations are totally result driven, there is no room for anything else. That is why he got the job. There is no favoritism.

If anything your CEO may himself have experienced some negativity by rivaling colleagues. For successful people that is only an extra motivator. So being different can slightly work in your advantage, as it is a common denominator.

The reason he wants these meetings can be several.

• Getting to know the people, take away the negative feelings that a takeover inevitably brings, as they can effect results. As he is responsible for results, and his bosses will eat him if they go down.
• At the same time he wants to get a detailed view his company. Who is actually doing what and how.
• Why? That is the million dollar question here. He will project he is Looking for areas of improvement. But this may really mean dropping activities and people to fuse them with the other of the organization. Sometime these people are flown in just for the reorganization and then move on to the next target when it is done (henchmen).

It is important to make a good impression individually and in the team. He is likely to be charming, but he can easily turn out to be the man that fires. So it is important to make clear what is the importance of the work being done for the company. If anything I would do very much my best to be perceived as both driven, competent and even more flexible. Because this person may have instructions to lay off 30% and merge the rest.

So he may be assessing who got the best motivation, competence and the flexibility to integrate in the new setup. Those that look rusted, not very motivated or less competent may lose their job. Remember that flexibility is rated higher then competence. They fire the old guy that has superior competence over an enthusiastic newby that has little. Why? The old guy is more expensive, and less motivated to change to a new situation in which he has to learn whole new skills.

Showing objections to any change (placement, organization, team, sort of work) might later cost you your job. Always say you love to learn something new. That you like your team and station, but don't mind changes either. Say: I am realistic that is how it is these days, you want (not have to) to be flexible, and (not but) it is also fun to work with new people. (prevent using tell-tale words like "have to" and "but" expressing resistence). He will be viewing you both how you interact in the group and personally. So in the group you want to show approval for others and team spirit.

Let me be honest, Aanandinii, Anglo American corporations are the worst in the world, but since the last few decades their mentality has been spreading like a disease. It is all about profit, but not the profit of the company but shareholders. Nowadays the interests of the company mean nothing, because the companies are often owned by shareholders that are banks, investment companies, private equity firms. These shareholders only demand one thing: double digit profit. They do not care how or whether it ruins the company. Because when a company earns less than double digit profits, they have ways of making double digits by liquidating it, Then they invest their money in companies that again make double digit profits. The terrible truth is that they make clever schemes to ruin sound profit making companies for higher short term gains, thus destroying peoples jobs large scale.

That is corporatism today. Make no mistake about it. Companies are bought to make quick profits not as long term investments. If they think they can make a profit by fusing two organizations, fire 30% to create a leaner organization with the same combined market share that can be sold off at the stock exchange for a higher price, they do it. The business activities themselves mean little to them unless they are extremely profitable as this makes them sexy (easier to sell).

To survive such thing one has to be lucky first of all. If you work in the wrong area, too bad for you. If they destroy the whole company, too bad for you. If they want to sack 30% to create a leaner organization, you may have some influence by trying to look like someone who is motivated, competent, in for change, easy to place in other teams. Chances are always better if one can relate to someone, but do not overrate it here. Don't forget these people are themselves under immense pressure. Just do not irritate him and try to create a good atmosphere. Because that also is sign how you react to new environment.

Turn things into your advantage where possible. If he would ask if anyone had ever been bothered about your looks, say: No, I would not look this way, if I had felt that. But that won't likely be the most important questions. Be smart do not give him reasons to fire you. If he needs to fire 30%, he is looking for those that give him a rational reason, as he has to appease his conscience too. He has no choice, he is got to reach his numbers. If you see that things are moving in the wrong direction, you might want move on if there is an opportunity. Even If they say people will not be fired, that does not mean they will not be fired next year.

Of course I can be wrong, but I would not gamble on that. We live in absurd times these days. The financial system has gone haywire. There is so much money in the system that investors have to find often absurd ways to make the money go around, because these days even profit becomes less important, it now is cash flow. Keep that money moving double fast and thus make double profit. That is why crazy bubbles are/were created, like giving people without a job a mortgage. It did not matter, because they would sell that mortgage within a month to some other investor (like pension funds), and he would be stuck with it.

Pray to the Gods that they may guide you through the storms of life, but also act wisely.

[ShivaFan]

Do you work in the United States for a corporation?

If that is the case, and a Muslim CTO was shown to have discriminated you or fired you because you were a Hindu .... well, let me put it this way. If it were me, I would be laughing all the way to the bank. Because it is a crime to do such or fire you in such a manner. Not only would the corporation fire the Muslim CTO immediately to avoid severe fines and legal consequences, they would also pay you a handsome compensation because they know you could sue them for a huge amount of money much larger than the compensation.


I pray, "Let a Muslim CTO fire me for being a Hindu! I could use the money and in the end have even greater job security!"....


But of course, you may not live in the United States.... then my advice is to consider moving to America just in case.