A thought just woke me up now "It's been six months since I have worn any of my suits." Its 4.30 in the morning.
My dry cleaner in Mumbai would have phoned me to check if I'm all right if my suit was not in his laundry every two weeks. It could mean either I am travelling or I am jobless. I used to travel once every two months across the globe. And if I wasn't traveling, I used to meet and host almost every client/prospect offshore visit. And now - zilch.
Meaningfully, I am jobless even though I hold a plum post with a nice title. It's actually a senior one but working for a huge organization with so many tadpoles, frogs and sharks, I right now feel like flotsam. But there are so many opportunities in the organization which are opening up after meeting and talking to different people in different groups. One for e.g. would be cost cutting which would save millions for my company easily. The company makes good profits and margins as well inspite of the tremendous revenue leakage and abysmal unchecked expenses. It must be the "secret sauce" as the analysts say.
One particular opportunity opened up which is quite interesting. To be the face of the BFS vertical for all onsite opportunities. To lead the group towards closure of new openings in a consultative mode. But mainly it would involve interacting with clients which I've been missing for the last six months. And the hundreds of opportunities floating through my head are keeping me awake even in the night. For e.g. I just finished the Transfer Agency landscape analysis and I can't wait to meet all the Asian folks and shake them horribly. The Asian landscape is so terribly fragmented. E.g. You could sell 40 fund accounting systems to 40 different firms across Asia because each does its piece in a different manner. Did you know that a broker in Taiwan will not send a SWIFT message for a trade because it costs 25 cents? He will confirm trade via fax. Can you imagine the tremendous space for improvement? One thing was DAMN impressive about the Japanese. Another trivia - did you know that there is no concept of "failed trades" for the Japanese in their domestic markets? I was ASTOUNDED. And that very Six Sigma plus quality leads to problem when they interact with the international market. Ha ha ha..The concept of trades failing for various reasons internationally can't be digested easily.
And the boss pops an email last night which I checked just now - :Any luck with the onsite folks? As if I am the one who's been working here since donkeys years and he is the newbie in the organization. I sometimes feel like poking the doll.
A few other items running through my head though. But the blog is not the forum for that. I am now seriously starved for an innovative and challenging role. A starvation similar to the illusions that run through your head when your stomach has been empty for a long, long time. The growling could seriously challenge Karl Sanders from Nile and George Kollias too for passion. Net net, I don't need much sleep these days.
What is started in the dark continues in the light.
