MN Express

Photo by  Michael Held  on  Unsplash It is said that all the best literature comes out in times of despair. Tragedy breeds ideas and reflections form human nature. For humans, the sense of meaning takes precedence over the sense of being. Like, everybody, I was at home initially quarantined for about 14 days.  A time which gave me respite from my ever busy yet predictable schedule of juggling between office, home, family, jogging, cycling and book reading. A pause that gave me insight into what is important and what matter most in one’s life. I thought to start the ‘War and Peace’ by Leo Tolstoy-the thickest book in my collection. I always dreaded this book for its weight, like a heavyweight wrestler inviting me to the ring. So, lockdown was the best time to do a ‘one on one’. I realized one thing that lockdown does; it messes your schedule. Except for my work, I tried to keep it on, but it slipped by pushing my morning runs with mid-day cycling. In about one w...

Dr. Moin Uddin December 30, 2014 Two days back it was saddening to see Karachi timber market burning to ashes in less than 10 hours. The provincial government of Sindh is still pondering on the estimation of direct losses in shape of timber lost but also the affected people who were directly related to timber trade and needless to say about the plight of the unfortunate people who lived in vicinity of timber market. The scenes of people crying for fire help in the middle of night was depressing as well as raises certain questions about our collective social responsibility towards health and safety aspects of business, trade hubs, clusters and civil society residing on the fringes of these areas. As always we see government announcing a meagre sum of Pak Rupees One Hundred Thousand for each affected person and our one and only Malik Riaz, Chairman of Bahria Town offering much heavier sum than the government as a support to affected people. Although the purpose here is not to compare...

In hard times, the soft stuff often goes away. But emotional intelligence, it turns out, isn’t so soft. If emotional obliviousness jeopardizes your ability to perform, fend off aggressors, or be compassionate in a crisis, no amount of attention to the bottom line will protect your career. Emotional intelligence isn’t a luxury you can dispense with in tough times. It’s a basic tool that, deployed with finesse, is the key to professional success [1] . Emotion can override our thoughts and profoundly influence our behavior. Developing emotional intelligence skills helps us recognize, contain, and effectively communicate our emotions, as well as recognize the emotions of other people. These abilities have been proven to surpass high cognitive intelligence (IQ) in predicting success in all types of relationships, at home, at work, and in all other areas of our lives [2] . Emotional Intelligence or Social Intelligence is an area of high managerial importance in today’s ever changing...