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When Raghu and Roger came to facilitate the exercise with the leaders in our US operation, we uncovered an emotional low of a magnitude, which I had never seen before. As a backdrop to the exercise, I had asked each person to raise issues that bothered him or her.

We collated the entire set before we went into huddle. The issues and questions that came forth were straight from people’s hearts. When we read some of the questions, we realized how deeply uncertain people feel in times of upheaval. And these were the people who led employees in the trenches. It becomes critical to detoxify the workplace and the only way to deal with it is to face each question squarely, honestly and interactively. But first, look at a sample set of the questions - as they came: -

"How long can the company survive as it is presently organized?"

"Obviously, the uncertainty surrounding continued employment is extremely stressful as I represent the single source of income for my family."

"I feel tremendous uncertainty about meeting our revenue and profitability targets. The numbers were ambitious one year ago, but with the nosedive our industry has taken since and the recent terrorist attacks, the stated goals appear impossible to achieve. While this is disheartening initially, I personally feel a sense of urgency to work as hard and as creatively as possible to bring in new business. I recognize that the process will be long and arduous but we don't have a choice."

"How will the actions in Afghanistan affect our business? Will India be perceived by ignorant U.S. buyers as being 'Middle Eastern' and hold a bias against doing business with that part of the world? Will U.S. companies feel safe putting their data and systems in that part of the world?"

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Subroto Bagchi is co-founder and Chief Operating Officer for MindTree Consulting (P) Ltd. The "Making of the MindTree" is told in the first person by Subroto Bagchi. In condensed form, it was published by Business World, filmed by InfiniTV, and aired on CNBC, IT Hour. Websites: www.mindtree.com & www.mindtree.com/subrotobagchi