On a more philosophical note, I read the book "One More Day" by Mitch Albom. For those of you who have not read him, his earlier book "Tuesdays with Morrie" is a classic. One More Day postulates that if you could spend another day with someone who was no more (the protagonist's mother, in this case), what would you do? Speak? Hear? Learn? The book is a page-turner while it takes the reader through a terrific roller coaster of emotions. BTW it is not a very long book, just about takes 90 minutes to run through.

The way to establish a link between the book and the HR function is of course to understand that the book emphasises the value of doing in the present what we need to do, rather than living in the past or future. Part of HR is emphasising the Here and Now of what we do. Of course at one level this translates into superlative execution of what we take on as deliverables. At another level, it also implies that the more we focus on our relationships and empathise with others, the richer our lives become. Being less obsessed with ourselves is unhealthy. I know what you are thinking :I'm not neurotic, maybe Sameer is for suggesting something like this, is he externalising his problem" ... No not at all. I am aware that in fact most people are sensible and sane. The challenge comes in dealing with strong personalities who excite strong emotions and hence can cloud judgment occasionally.