Mirror, Mirror on the wall

Fairy tales, I have always had a fascination for them from the time I could remember. I was introduced to the magical world by my grandmother and for a long time I believed that all those fairy tales were true. I was horribly disappointed when I found out that this wasn’t the case and she had  infused some desi elements for realism.

My favourite was always the Snow White because I connected with her in many ways. Rapunzel was too unreal, seriously who had such long hair in the first place and it’s definitely not too great to have someone use your hair as a rope. Cinderella too didn’t excite me much as a child. For me, she was a resigned underdog who never spoke back to her stepmother or the stepsisters. She was also super careless leaving her shoe behind and then lamely marrying the man who came with her shoe. Frog Princess was again a disappointment because you soon realize in real life, frogs remain frogs. And there was nothing exhilarating to love the beast like in Beauty and the Beast. So I stuck to my favourite Snow White who gets to be the centre of attraction with the dwarves always around her for company and she also meets her prince. But as years passed by, my love for her eroded and I started liking the evil queen so much better. Later it was this evil queen who taught me an invaluable corporate lesson.

In the concrete corporate world, there are so many talented people but not all of them do well and I often wondered why. I notice this is the case for people who lack communication skills or who just do not know how to make a point convincingly. Even though these people are turbines of skill and talent, they fail miserably in selling their ideas.  They eventually get exploited by the confident empty heads who just manage to make a point effectively. I see beautiful presentations crumble and hit the dust because the presenters are nervous and not able to get to the point. So to convince the World / Management, you need to convince yourself.  You are nothing but the best and that’s what the Evil Queen in Snow White taught me-to look straight in the eye and ask the mirror…

Mirror,Mirror on the wall

Who is the best of them all?

Do this the day before you make that crucial  presentation to the Management/Boss/Customers.

Do this before you make painful confrontations.

What do you see?

Do you like the person in the mirror?

Talk till you erase the worry line, that irritating droop in your lips

Till you can do away with all the ‘errs’, ‘umms’ ‘you knows’ and the stammering

Till you have reached the right tenor in your voice, till you can hold a know-all smile in high pressure

Till you are nothing but supremely confident.

Do this till the mirror says you are the best.

And if you can master this, you can, in your corporate cubicle live happily-ever- after with or without the prince.

PS: Tip - If you do not find a mirror at disposal, you could always use your front camera on your smart phone.