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Sunday, July 10, 2016

DM Is Coming

First line managers are called by different names in different companies. Some of the designations for front line managers can be quite fancy. The front line managers in Pfizer are called DM which is a short form for District Manager. Coincidentally, the abbreviated form DM is also used for an important post in the Indian Administrative Services. The District Magistrate is an important person in districts and is considered to be very powerful person. In colloquial terms; he is often called as DM Sahib. This incident is related to the much revered term ‘DM’ in mofussil towns of India. This was shared by one of my colleagues during a sales meeting.

A PSO was going to some interior market along with his DM aka District Manager. They reached the nearby railway station only to find that the train was overcrowded. Even the first class coach was jampacked. They discovered that it was some auspicious day of a Hindu festival and people were going to a nearby bathing ghat to wash their sins.

The DM (of Pfizer) was scared to see the crowd and wanted to change the tour plan. He preferred to go back so that they could work in relative calm of the base town. But the PSO appeared to be unperturbed and insisted on proceeding as per the tour programme. The DM was not sure how to get in the train. The PSO found an ingenious way to solve the seemingly huge problem.

He went near the door of the first class coach and began to shout, “DM sahib is coming! DM sahib is coming! Make way for the DM.”


When the crowd in the compartment heard these words it apparently went into some sort of trance. People began to make way for the DM. Even a couple of policemen; present there; began shoving the people to make way for the DM. The DM (of Pfizer) followed the PSO the way a kid follows his mother. Both of them easily found their way inside the compartment. To their utter surprise, they also found that two seats were made vacant for them to sit comfortably. 

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