Would taking acting lessons help make you a better executive ?

Taking acting lessons might be a good way for executives to be better at their job.The skill set requirements for an actor and executives find a lot of meeting points,some of which are discussed below.

1)Being in the moment 

One of the main qualities that a good actor needs to imbibe is to be constantly be in the present moment.Acting is a form of meditation where the actor has to leave his personal problems aside and get into the heart and mind of the character being portrayed.Executives often have trouble being present with distractions and stresses in the personal life to issues with multi-tasking.Research has proved time and again that the mind by nature functions best when it is focused on one particular activity.

Great actors like Robert Deniro,Al Pacino,Marlon Brando & Mohanlal have an uncanny ability to be completely immersed in their present and react to the ongoing situation in a calm and relaxed way.Being present in the moment also leads one into a zone where the mind can function from a higher intelligence.

2)Understanding different perspectives

A good actor is always aware of the emotion that is conveyed in every situation.A good actor also understands the script and story in whole and is not just bothered about his or her part in the plot.Likewise,an executive cannot function as an island without understanding the broader vision of the organization and needs to work in a selfless manner to get the respect of his team mates.

3)Being authentic

Actors have to portray broad range of emotions in a short span of time and have to be authentic throughout.Audience would be able to tell in a whisker between a genuine actor and a struggling actor who tries to be too hard.

4)Being a good listener

Good actors have to not only act but also react efficiently to other co-actors.Likewise,executives should not focus only on their side of the story or try to push their agenda on their reportees. The corporate world has a big share of managers and leaders who might achieve their targets but keep the employees disgruntled leading to higher attrition rates.To be a good listener,one would need to keep out their personal biases out and listen in a completely non judgmental way.

5)Timing 

Timing is a key factor which distinguishes a good actor from a mediocre one.Actors have to appear on the scene and move out at the right time.They also have to constantly react to the changes.Executives would need to imbibe the same qualities to stay afloat and shine in the constantly changing market place.They would need remain abreast of the latest innovations and technology.

7)Body language & Voice modulation

Good actors have to modulate their tone as per the scene.Similarly managers would need to wear different hats on any given day.There will be situations where one would need to be come affirmative in his/her actions ,words and others where an empathetic tone would do the work.

A person who has no self awareness would not be able to manage his thoughts and emotions.An executive just like a good actor would need to display heightened sense of sensitivity to situations and events around him/her.

All in all,taking acting classes and being part of dramas and films might provide a sense of direction and drive to executives who are looking to advance in their professional life's.

Minneapolis - A shining example for other metros to emulate

Having lived in Los Angeles,Dallas and Minneapolis,I can vouch for the fact that the Greater Metro Area of Minneapolis beats LA and Dallas hands down.

Minneapolis stands apart as a shining example for other metros in the US and even the world to emulate.

Key selling points of the Twin Cities(Minneapolis-StPaul) are :

1.Fiscal equalization:

Unlike other metros Minneapolis has religiously stuck to the fiscal equalization policy whereby the rich are taxed and the funds sprinkled to the lesser developed parts of the city.This has resulted in almost zero ghettos in the Greater Minneapolis-St Paul metro area & almost equal quality of life throughout the metro area.This phenomenon is in strange contrast to the picture in cities like Los Angeles,New York or Dallas where the economic divide is clearly visible geographically.Sticking to this policy has ensured that the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St Paul has plenty of well maintained parks,schools,biking trails,roads and other amenities.

The rich in places like San Francisco get into a shell and ensure that the middle income and lower sections of the society are pushed out of the metro limits thereby leading to a feeling of isolation and crime.If you earn 100 000$ in Minneapolis,you would need double that to maintain the same quality of lifestyle in a place like San Francisco.It remains to be seen on how long the real estate bubble in a city like San Fran can sustain where it has virtually impossible for a family earning 60 000$ per year to survive.

2.Blend of the urban and the rural

Minneapolis–St. Paul is the headquarters for 19 Fortune 500 companies—more than any other metro its size—spanning retail (Target), health care (UnitedHealth), and food (General Mills). In the past 60 years, 40 Minneapolis-based businesses have made it onto Fortune’s list.

If you drive an hour from the twin cities,soy and corn farmlands greet you with open arms.The twin cities offer a perfect blend of nature with its lakes,beautifully preserved parks,corporates and farms.

Minneapolis stands out as a shining example for the metros in the developing world on how to strike a balance between growing prosperity and respecting nature.To the credit of the legislators,the parks and lakes are preserved in all its natural elegance.It is no surprise that Minnesota has the 2nd highest lifespan in the US after Hawaii.Minnesotans' take advantage of the biking trails and parks to the hilt and keep themselves in shape.

3.Highest employment rate for the millennials in US

Most impressive of all, the Twin Cities have the highest employment rate for 18-to-34-year-olds in the country.If you are a student,a single bed room apartment is available starting from 800 $ to 1300 $.Student's find it easier to start with part time jobs as they work their way up the career.3 bed ,4 bath homes are available in the range of 250 000$ to 340 000 $ in plenty in great schooling districts all over the metro area.If you are ready to work hard,opportunities are plenty in the Twin cities.

4.Workforce 

The saying in the metro area is that it is very difficult to get someone to move to Minneapolis and it is even more difficult to get someone to leave Minneapolis.People fear the winter and refrain from moving but once they move in,they swear to never move out.Most of the corporate sector has managers in the 30's and 40's who were born in Minnesota and passed out of its colleges.They never care to move out of state.This ensures that the Twin cities has a rich talented workforce.

All in all, a great place to live and raise a family !!

Does the big US banks needs to be broken up?

With the US Presidential elections looming,the question on whether "The Big US banks needs to be broken down " becomes relevant again.

Here are the top six and their total assets:

1. Bank of America Corp., $2.264 trillion
2. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., $2.246 trillion
3. Citigroup Inc., $1.957 trillion
4. Wells Fargo & Co., $1.260 trillion
5. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., $937 billion
6. Morgan Stanley, $831 billion

After the 2008 financial recession,the Obama administration introduced the Dodd Frank legislation,which is a massive piece of financial reform legislation as a response  The act's numerous provisions, spelled out over thousands of pages, are scheduled to be implemented over a period of several years and are intended to decrease various risks in the U.S. financial system.

However statistics reveal that the despite the legislation,these banks have continued to get bigger.

Failure of these banks could take down 50% of the US economy along with it.

These banks have often indulged in blatant misuse of power they have gained by monopoly in the market. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined 10 firms a total of $43.5 million for allowing their equity research analysts to solicit investment banking business and for offering favorable research coverage in connection with the 2010 planned initial public offering of Toys"R"Us.

FINRA fined the following firms.

Barclays Capital Inc. – $5 million
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. – $5 million
Credit Suisse Securities (USA), LLC – $5 million
Goldman, Sachs & Co. – $5 million
JP Morgan Securities LLC – $5 million
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. – $4 million
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. – $4 million
Morgan Stanley & Co., LLC – $4 million
Wells Fargo Securities, LLC – $4 million
Needham & Company LLC – $2.5 million

We haven't seen any of the executives of these banks being forced to face the law.Due to their size, these banks often get away by paying the million dollar fines and still reap rich profits.

The US election campaigning mechanism doesn't help the process either with Super PAC's financing the candidates they prefer.It's an indirect way of ensuring their sustenance.

Any one having a decent credit score can purchase a house in the US by putting down a down payment of 3-5% of the total value of the house.This system works as long as the economy does well.However in case of a recession,when people lose jobs ,they end up being homeless in a short span of time.Lack of a strong family system in many cases leads to depression and suicides.

Those in favor of the big banks argue that the banks reflect the state of the economy.Bigger the companies in the economy,its only natural that the banks would be huge in size.They also argue that breaking down the banks will not increase the quality of service or security of data.

 It would be interesting to see if the next President of the US follows up on the Dodd Frank Act and ensure that it gets implemented as scheduled.At present,the intent is only being shown by Bernie Sanders.

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Ramifications of falling oil prices

The world is on a turning point with the plummeting oil prices. This has multiple ramifications across the economic & political scenario around the world.

1.China&India

With the Chinese economy slowing down, the consumption of oil has slowed down over the last 2 years. With the Chinese stock market going on a tailspin over the last few months, the FDI to the Chinese market is bound to decline.

With the other big weight India opting for nuclear energy and solar energy to replace its dependency on fossil fuels, the import of oil in these two guzzlers is further going to reduce in the coming decades.

2.Fracking technology

The US has successfully employed fracking technology to tap into its reserves in Texas and North Dakota to reduce its dependency on oil from OPEC. This has pushed in excess of oil into the market. Saudi Arabia has increased the production of oil into the market as a counter strategy to US to make it unprofitable for US companies like BP to remain profitable.However,US has so far shown no inclination to reduce production using fracking.

3.Iran back in business

The recent lifting of sanctions on Iran has allowed it further pump in crude oil to the market. The straining of relations between Iran and Saudi after the recent execution of a Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia has made Iran go on a fight mode with the Saudi’s. Reports suggest that Iran is willing to sell oil at even a loss so as to make Saudi go  off the radar completely.

4.Falling hegemony of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is expected to run out of money if oil were to stay at around the 25 $ per barrel mark for another  5 years. At present Saudi has a healthy forex reserve of more than 700 billion dollars. The Saudi government has started cutting down on austerities and subsidies offered to its public with the fall in oil prices. They would like the oil price to remain around the $100 per barrel. However this looks highly unlikely and oil prices are expected to remain in the range of 45 – 55 $ per barrel over the next decade. It has become increasingly clear that the Saudi hegemony is going to continually decrease in the coming years.

 War in the Middle East

Latest reports prove that with Russia and Iran’s support, Assad has been able to gain ground in Syria. The Americans did not expect Putin to jump into this game. However Putin has played a masterstroke here from being a political pariah to stealing the carpet under Obama.

Saudi Arabia has been reluctant to send in its army with it already being involved in a war with Yemen. However it’s a well-known secret that the biggest financiers of ISIS has been Saudi.The US foreign policy of supplying arms to Saudi has been the biggest hypocrisy of the 21st century. Next time ,the US goes on a foreign invasion,you can bet that it would face stiff opposition from Iran,Russia,China and South America.

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Being on H4 visa in US

The USCIS recently passed a law to allow spouses of H1B visa holders who are in US on H4 visa to apply for Employment authorization through an EAD,in cases where the I140 form has been approved for the H1B holder.

This change in rule has brought about a huge sigh of relief among the families of the Indian community in US.Over 90 000 applications for H4 -EAD came through by December 2015,a few months after the legislation was approved.

It was high time that the US gets rid of this no brainer restriction.In fact the USCIS should go a step further and stamp the EAD for H4 workers the moment they enter US.Countries like Canada and Australia are much more friendly in this regard as they allow both the husband and wife to work without restrictions once the visa gets through.

H1B is a work visa for high skilled workers and its not rocket science to realize that most of the folks on H1B are married to people who are graduates or even post graduates in many cases.


1.The US economy would instantly benefit by allowing the spouses of these H1B workers to work in the States.They would pay for taxes and social security.Some of them might even turn out to be entrepreneurs and employ Americans,thereby expanding the economy.

2.Getting an opportunity to work would provide the spouses to feel a part of the American life as most of them get stuck into feeling homesick,depressed or end up in cases of domestic abuse in worse instances.They feel that their prime of life gets wasted.

3.Immigrants form the backbone of the US economy.With the baby boomers retiring by 10 000 per day in the coming day,it becomes critical for US to replace these workers with a younger talented workforce.The spouses of many of these H1B workers feel inclined to go back to India or their native countries after a couple of years due to the helpless feeling of being non productive.

The US would need to loosen up these nonsensical restrictions on its immigration policies if it has to continue remaining an attractive destination for the best brains around the world.Is Donald Trump listening?

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Is the Internet making us smarter or dumber?

Is the internet making us smarter or dumber?Are the millenials becoming smarter with the smart phone or are they going south ?

The answer won't be a binary.Yes ,in may aspects.The brain is not wired to handle multiple thoughts at the same time which is exactly what a smart phone makes you do.When you log into facebook or twitter and start reading an article,a whatsapp message pops out and your brain forces you to halt the article and switch to the whatsapp.Suddenly,yet another advertisement pops up which further steals your attention and diverts you from the article.This constant bombardment of information is not necessarily good.The question is how much of this information really gets filtered down as knowledge or gets applied in your life.

Of course the internet brings with it tons of positives which the previous generation did not have access to.You could check the weather,book flight tickets,look at the reviews of the latest gadget or restaurant down the block,do a background check on someone,transfer money to family,start your video channel all from the comfort of wherever you are.

However the biggest curse of the internet seems to be the drastic drop in memory and concentration levels with the previous generation.If you talk to folks from the previous generation,we would realize that they might not be a jack of all trades but you could bet on them to deliver quality in their area of specialization.On the contrary the current generation seems to take the path of being jack of all trades and master of none.

Constantly being on the internet tends to make people easily irritable and impatient.It does take patience to lock oneself in a library without any external distraction and finish a book.

It would be interesting on how the brains of this and the future generations would evolve in the coming years with the advent of social media.

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Social media and living life in a binary mode

With the advent of the like button in facebook,users have started to look life in a binary mode.Either you like something or does not.Recent reports hint that facebook is contemplating bringing on a dislike button.It would have made more sense if facebook had an option of an equivalent of "seeing things in grey".

Everything in life has a an upside and a downside to it & completely depends on the perspective.Liking and disliking encourages kids to take a binary view of life which would negatively impact their thought process.

With all the pluses that social media brings,the binary mode seems to be one of the biggest cons.Studies prove that the time you spent on social media,higher the chances of you getting irritated and depressed easily for the simple reason that people tend to put their best selves on instagram or facebook.If things are not going well & you look at a friends profile filled with exotic pics and yummy food,chances are that you will end up depressed rather than feel good for your friend.

You might like the pic for the sake of it but your heart might not necessarily agree with your head.As a result,there are chances for people to lead hypocritical lifes where they mistake crass materialism for true happiness.This is not to deny all the great benefits that social media brings with it.

However,the millenials would do well to use this great blessing of our generation with the right dosage.

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