It’s the Heart that Drives...

The Heart Of Work by S V Nathan, is a compilation of real life stories — real life incidents from the author’s life and career that made an impact, the ‘moments that mattered’, which, though they seemed ordinary when they happened, ‘blossomed into a world of profound wisdom’ later, giving new perspectives, serving as an anchor rooted in values

"As the author propounds, 'The heart has a huge influence on what happens to us, what happens around us and what propels us to action.' He has hit the nail on the head with the title, ‘The Heart of Work’ "

What an endearing book! A ‘people’s’ book to the core, The Heart Of Work gets to the ‘heart’ of the matter, and touches the heart of the reader through its every page. A book filled with stories of individuals who, knowingly and unknowingly, serve up lessons to partake of, nuggets of wisdom to glean. Author of the book, SV Nathan, is Partner and Chief Talent Officer at Deloitte India, and National President, National HRD Network.

The tagline of the book reads, “How to unlock your true potential using the power of insight,” and this insight the author shows, can be derived from everyday experiences, from the people you interact with on a daily basis. The incidents and moments he derived his lessons from range of his childhood days, from the examples set by his father, mother, grandmother, reasonings and behaviours shown by colleagues, seniors, bosses, subordinates, drivers, even the security guard. His first place of work, though, finds repeated mention and incidents that happened there seem to have had a profound effect on him.

The author has woven these experiences in a first person account that keeps your curiosity running, until you arrive at the conclusive insights he shares, very much like his grandma who enthralled him with stories and their moral implications. Thus we have a chief executive who set an example with a lesson in humility, his grandma who brought out the value of doing right without expectation through a much loved tale, a union leader who reiterated the importance of trust and fair play in negotiation that his father had earlier instilled, a driver who displayed the value of love for work, a security guard the value of faith, or a flight partner who showed what it meant to follow your passion.

Some of these examples reinforced values that were already imbibed, some turned them topsy turvy. Not only have these lessons stayed with the author, the simplicity and immediacy of the narration ensure that they stay in the mind of the reader too. As his statement in the Preface to the book reveals: “... I had settled for writing a few blogs from time to time, the occasional story. What I enjoyed about them was how simple yet profound happenings shaped my outlook towards work and life.” The key words here are ‘simple happenings’ , and ‘yet profound’ that define the offerings in the book.

It is precisely this aspect that makes the book ‘suitable’ for any reader, not bracketing it into a ‘How to...’ for a management or HR executive or aspirant — even though many of the stories come from the author’s experiences as an HR professional.

One of the influencers of the book is certainly his grandma, who, according to him, created magic with her stories. Here he has recreated a similar magic in his stories. Each narrative is heart-warming, many bring a smile to your face, most provoke thought and bring out an “Mmmm...” moment, but one – the last one brought tears into my eyes, as it would, I guess, in each reader’s eyes.

The leitmotif of the book is in the Preface: “... At the core, one’s work is influenced not so much by the mind but by what beats between the third and the seventh ribs on the left – the heart”. It is only when the heart is involved that you can give your all to your work, and work becomes intrinsic with the self. As the author propounds, “The heart has a huge influence on what happens to us, what happens around us and what propels us to action.” He has hit the nail on the head with the title, ‘The Heart of Work’.

The sum result is total immediacy the stories convey – you feel you were actually there when the stories unfolded. The stories come forth as they are—real-life, first-hand experiences. Nothing theoretical or contrive’. All real, genuine, life stories, life’s lessons.

The structure of the book, with chapters grouped under ten different attributes – ‘Values At Work’, ‘ ‘Emotional Intelligence’, ‘Career Building’, ‘Culture Building’, ‘Habits And Behaviours’, ‘Coaching’, ‘Hiring Right And Wrong’, ‘Recognition’, ‘Leadership’, ‘Getting Better’ — each prefaced with an appropriate quote and short explanation, followed by the narrative, and ending with insights drawn from each experience helps pep up interest and anticipation.

Written in a very simple, down to earth style, it lends fluency and felicity to the flow, and makes for very easy and comfortable reading. To say that it is minus any irking or clever jargon, or being preachy, is making an understatement. Which is also what makes the narrative so real and palpable.

Putting paid to the belief that fact is more fascinating than fiction, you find yourself glued to the book, captivated by the real-life stories, turning the pages, resolving to read just that one more story before you can pull yourself away to your more urgent chores, but putting the latter off again—the book has gripped you. You willy- nilly put off any other pressing task on hand— the urge to read just one more page, just one more chapter, eggs you on.

You also come away with the thought, what a rich and rewarding life the author would have led, to have encountered all these wonderful people he has written about in the book, their simple stories with profound motives and learnings. But then, just as beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, perspective comes from the mind of the perceiver.

Such incidents happen in everybody’s life. There is a lesson to learn from each of the tiny experiences we have in our day to day lives, which we do not recognise or choose to ignore. The author believes that readers can find their own stories, and derive their own anchors’ Professionals, new and seasoned, can find answers to what drives work and gain insight into what is at the heart of work.

With or without the insights, for the lay reader, these are surely a bunch of endearing stories that celebrate human endeavour.