Recently I had a very engrossing debate with a close friend of mine. As usual the discussions revolved around success and characteristics of people who succeed. This friend also being from the 'StartUp' community, like everyone else from this category of people is hoping for a breakthrough in near future.
We were trying to analyse what do these 'already successful', 'brokenthrough' guys do differently from not so successful but equally talented people. After discussing a huge list of people, famous, infamous, rich, poor, mean, generous, all kinds of people, we concluded that it was just the timing which made these people successful. They made moves at the right time. Not that it was planned or anything. It just happened at the right time. We also tried analysing the traits of a failure. In most cases, it was the bad timing of their moves, risks, and even their birth which deprived them from becoming a great. Here are some examples which would make my above statements clearer.
1. In American Football, it was noticed that most national footballers had their birthdays concentrated in certain months. On further analysis, it was found that the school selection camps was the root cause of this scenario. In all schools across America, the selections were held in Springs. The teams were classified according to age. So in all age categories, kids who had completed 10-11 months of that year were slightly stronger than the ones who had their birthdays just before the spring. So invariably just because of a few months, these kids lost out on a chance to be in the school team, even if some of them might have been better players than their stronger friends. Here the timing of their birth played an important part. Those students who were born just after spring had a better chance of making to the team as compared to those born just before the spring.
2. The timing of the career moves, even if these decisions were a part of the natural progress plays an important part in your successful career. Recently I met a guy in his late twenties, working for an international lifestyle brand. His business card said that he was the 'Director'. He was introduced to me by a common friend. I later asked my friend about his 'secret' to such giant strides in his career. He told me that 5 years back he had passes out of a Tier 2 B-School. He got placed in this company as an Asst Sales Manager. Couple of years later, this company brought this multinational lifestyle product under their own brand umbrella. He was made the in charge for that particular product directly reporting to the Brand Manager. This is when the Brand Manager quit his job and created a void in the organization structure. What made the matters worse was that the company had decided to launch this product in a fill fledged manner, that too independent of the Indian mother brand. It was decided that this guy will have to be given additional responsibilities of being the Brand Manager and Sales Manager of this brand. In 3 years time he was heading the Sales and Marketing of a leading international lifestyle brand. He had never expected this in his wildest dreams. These additional responsibilities ignited the entrepreneurial fire in him and he gave in more than 100%. The brand became a run away success. A couple of years later, he was made the director of the company for the hard work he put in.His hard work coupled with a few events with a perfect timing handed him a success, which he could only dream of.
3. Recently the Sri Lanka-New Zealand test series was concluded. As usual New Zealand Captain Dan Vettori played a lone hand in what was an absolute drubbing. On checking the statistics, one realises that, he was the highest wicket taker and run scorer for New Zealand in the series. On increasing the time period of this statistics, it shows that he has been the highest run scorer and wicket taker for New Zealand in last two years. In these two years, New Zealand has won only 7-8 matches, that too against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Consequentially Daniel Vettori always gets neglected by experts and even laymen, when listing down the current greats of the game. The timing of his playing years has gone wrong for him. Had he played in early 90s alongside a stronger side, his performances would have made a stronger impact. A 'could be' great in some other era and a mere mortal in the current one.
Favorable timing is not the only key to success bit definitely helps those people who are completely prepared at that particular moment. Its like a golden opportunity which eludes the speculative people but nitro boosts the 'raring to go' category of people.
Showing posts with label success. Show all posts
Showing posts with label success. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Life comes a full circle...
This is one of those rare misty eyed posts of mine and I request the readers to pardon the charge of emotions. Well, this post clearly touches those aspects which I havent explored yet and is difficult for me to pen down my thoughts without being rhetorical.
These are not just my random thoughts and infact have been on top of my mind ever since I watched the movie Raincoat on TV. I dont wish to write a movie review, but would definitely mention some sequences which have made a huge impact. Its amazing how simple and obvious stories when put together make a very complex picture. This is what is depicted in this movie. Why is it that people who are in love, suddenly realise the importance of the social standing of their lover and make an impulsive decision which generally is deemed correct on social moral grounds but unethical and evil from love point of view.
Well, this now brings us to another important question, how can a person judge his/her partner's level of success. My last post talked about how relative the term success is, but when it comes to judging the success of our future partners, we take up a very cynical point of view. In the movie Aishwarya Rai's character Neeru ditches her lover because he wasnt able to prove his economical standing even after repetitive deadlines. But knowing the tendency of life to come a full circle, things go really wrong for Neeru and her supposedly rich husband. They end up in a pigeon hole in Kolkata. The surprise visit of her ex lover upsets her otherwise monotonous life where she had subsided to her fate. How awkward is it to meet your ex lover, especially when there is a huge financial disparity. How can one hold his/her own ground, ensuring not to expose their weakness. This is such a typical depiction of a human nature, where a human can never admit his mistake, especially in front of a person who was at receiving end. Why is it so difficult to accept the reality and face the consequences of his act of haste in the past. For a man, to walk upto his more successfully friend does take a lot of courage, for not all successful men are as hospitable as Krishna and not all men are as vulnerable as Sudama.
The last part of the movie reminds us of 'The Gift of the Magi' by O Henry. The story which we all read in our primary school,the story which taught us to love our loved ones more than our most loved possessions. The story which taught us to give away our pocket watches and to chop off our locks if need be. This is one feeling which we Indians swear by. The feeling which one experiences from 'giving'. Especially, for the loved ones. I feel it is important for everyone to have experienced a gambit of emotions. This comes from facing a defeat, from a broken relationship, from friendships which exist beyond financial disparities and time, from getting success when the chances are really bleak and to see someone go away when least expected. Once a person has overcome and faced even half of these situations, he would be a different person and his/her life would have changed for good...
Here are a few lines from a song from the movie. The song has been excellently sung by Shubha Mudgal, who is one of the finest singers in India.
सुबह सुबह का ख्याल आज
वापस गोकुल चल मथुरा राज
मथुरा नगरपति काहे तुम गोकुल जाओ
मनोहर वेश छोड़ नन्द राज
सर से उतारके सुन्दर ताज
राज दंड छोड़ भूमि पर वाज
फिर काहे बांसुरी बजाओ
मथुरा नगरपति काहे तुम गोकुल जाओ
These lines talk about days when, Krishna would leave his kingdom in Mathura and would go back to Gokul to meet her old lover Radha. They didn't get married, but they did share a special relationship which was well beyond the institution of marriage....
These are not just my random thoughts and infact have been on top of my mind ever since I watched the movie Raincoat on TV. I dont wish to write a movie review, but would definitely mention some sequences which have made a huge impact. Its amazing how simple and obvious stories when put together make a very complex picture. This is what is depicted in this movie. Why is it that people who are in love, suddenly realise the importance of the social standing of their lover and make an impulsive decision which generally is deemed correct on social moral grounds but unethical and evil from love point of view.
Well, this now brings us to another important question, how can a person judge his/her partner's level of success. My last post talked about how relative the term success is, but when it comes to judging the success of our future partners, we take up a very cynical point of view. In the movie Aishwarya Rai's character Neeru ditches her lover because he wasnt able to prove his economical standing even after repetitive deadlines. But knowing the tendency of life to come a full circle, things go really wrong for Neeru and her supposedly rich husband. They end up in a pigeon hole in Kolkata. The surprise visit of her ex lover upsets her otherwise monotonous life where she had subsided to her fate. How awkward is it to meet your ex lover, especially when there is a huge financial disparity. How can one hold his/her own ground, ensuring not to expose their weakness. This is such a typical depiction of a human nature, where a human can never admit his mistake, especially in front of a person who was at receiving end. Why is it so difficult to accept the reality and face the consequences of his act of haste in the past. For a man, to walk upto his more successfully friend does take a lot of courage, for not all successful men are as hospitable as Krishna and not all men are as vulnerable as Sudama.
The last part of the movie reminds us of 'The Gift of the Magi' by O Henry. The story which we all read in our primary school,the story which taught us to love our loved ones more than our most loved possessions. The story which taught us to give away our pocket watches and to chop off our locks if need be. This is one feeling which we Indians swear by. The feeling which one experiences from 'giving'. Especially, for the loved ones. I feel it is important for everyone to have experienced a gambit of emotions. This comes from facing a defeat, from a broken relationship, from friendships which exist beyond financial disparities and time, from getting success when the chances are really bleak and to see someone go away when least expected. Once a person has overcome and faced even half of these situations, he would be a different person and his/her life would have changed for good...
Here are a few lines from a song from the movie. The song has been excellently sung by Shubha Mudgal, who is one of the finest singers in India.
सुबह सुबह का ख्याल आज
वापस गोकुल चल मथुरा राज
मथुरा नगरपति काहे तुम गोकुल जाओ
मनोहर वेश छोड़ नन्द राज
सर से उतारके सुन्दर ताज
राज दंड छोड़ भूमि पर वाज
फिर काहे बांसुरी बजाओ
मथुरा नगरपति काहे तुम गोकुल जाओ
These lines talk about days when, Krishna would leave his kingdom in Mathura and would go back to Gokul to meet her old lover Radha. They didn't get married, but they did share a special relationship which was well beyond the institution of marriage....
Saturday, June 6, 2009
The measure of success...
Well, I would like to start this blog by acknowledging the influence of Sri Harivansh Rai Bachchan on me and my mindset in a last few days. Its been over 7 months, since I quit my job to start out something of my own. Its been a tough but a very enriching journey so far. The most important learning has been the very definition of success. I now realise how relative the term success is.
Every person has his/her sense of success and satisfaction. The question here is, when can a person start calling himself successful. When can he start taking pride in what he is doing. Many people actually like to go along with the flow and go wherever their life takes them.
I would illustrate the above points with the reference of some people whom I closely noticed over the last few months. I will call these three people Mr. A, Ms. B and Mr.C.
Mr. A passed out from IIT Delhi in 2004. He worked with a software firm for 3 years before he realised that his calling in life was something else. He ventured out in search of his ambition and started a business in the field of marketing. In a few months time, he started doing pretty well and earned almost twice as much as he was earning in the IT firm. Since then he has been very happy with the manner in his life has shaped up. He feels that the best thing about his life is the fact that he is the sole decision maker in his life and is not governed by orders. He works from 9 to 5 and parties hard on weekends. He would soon get married to a girl with whom he has been for almost 4 years. Most of his colleagues in the IT firm now have a salary which easily matches his income and also enjoy other perquisites.
Ms. B studied in a Regional Engineering College in Bangalore. Like all other alumni of her college, she got placed in TCS. She is extremely happy with the work culture in TCS and also the fact that it may give her an opportunity to go abroad keeps her enthusiasm going. She has been dating a guy from her college since the final year of her college and they are working together at TCS. They both think that their combined salary is enough for both of them to lead a happy married life. They want to stay loyal to TCS for a couple of years before taking the nuptial path.
Mr. C is a graduate from IIT Bombay from the class of 2006. He worked with Microsoft for a few months, and realised that he is good enough to have his own company. He got together with a few of his friends, and they started out in the domain of Software Service Exports. Due to their genius, they got hold of the biggest clients and grew bigger each day. They started working on their proprietary products and also received funding from PE firms. Recently they got featured in the Young Turks programme on CNBC aswell. The ongoing recession has hit their business, but after a quick analysis and correction of their projection numbers they are looking to break even by the end of this quarter. This means, next quarter onwards, their venture would have a positive cashflow. For them the sky is the limit and they are aiming for something higher than that.
Now if we analyse the above three people, they all think that they are successful. While A might think that B isnt successful enough and C might think in a similar fashion of both A and B. This is where a person needs to draw a line between happiness, laidbackness and frenzy. A is a successful entrepreneur, but his level of success does not match C on any scale. While B is working for a software firm, but along with her partner, she would be able to match the level of A's earnings. Many of A's friends feel that he could have worked a little harder to promote his company and he could have almost doubled his income. But A feels that giving 40 odd hours a week to his business is enough. Similarly, people feel that B should be a little more ambitious and should think of an MBA before actually settling in. But her priorities are different. C in last couple of years has lost touch with a lot of his friends, but thats the cost which he has had to pay for the success. But the bottom line is that they all are happy and successful.
Using the same logic to gauge my level of success, I feel I have a long long way to go. Infact, I have seen a couple of major failures in last few months, but I am sure they have been huge lessons for me. And now, I have started setting smaller goals for myself, which is the right way to go about doing things. Pressurising yourself is very easy, but taking a leaf out each failure is what makes these attempts count. In the end, it is the grit and the determination which matters. Recently someone posted the poem of Sri HR Bachchan on YouthPad. Before I end, I would like to quote a few lines from that poem.
नन्हीं चींटी जब दाना लेकर चलती है,
चढ़ती दीवारों पर, सौ बार फिसलती है।
मन का विश्वास रगों में साहस भरता है,
चढ़कर गिरना, गिरकर चढ़ना न अखरता है।
आख़िर उसकी मेहनत बेकार नहीं होती,
कोशिश करने वालों की कभी हार नहीं होती।
I sometimes feel that, the success of Amitabh Bachchan can actually be attributed to his father sitting at home, writing these magical lines...
Every person has his/her sense of success and satisfaction. The question here is, when can a person start calling himself successful. When can he start taking pride in what he is doing. Many people actually like to go along with the flow and go wherever their life takes them.
I would illustrate the above points with the reference of some people whom I closely noticed over the last few months. I will call these three people Mr. A, Ms. B and Mr.C.
Mr. A passed out from IIT Delhi in 2004. He worked with a software firm for 3 years before he realised that his calling in life was something else. He ventured out in search of his ambition and started a business in the field of marketing. In a few months time, he started doing pretty well and earned almost twice as much as he was earning in the IT firm. Since then he has been very happy with the manner in his life has shaped up. He feels that the best thing about his life is the fact that he is the sole decision maker in his life and is not governed by orders. He works from 9 to 5 and parties hard on weekends. He would soon get married to a girl with whom he has been for almost 4 years. Most of his colleagues in the IT firm now have a salary which easily matches his income and also enjoy other perquisites.
Ms. B studied in a Regional Engineering College in Bangalore. Like all other alumni of her college, she got placed in TCS. She is extremely happy with the work culture in TCS and also the fact that it may give her an opportunity to go abroad keeps her enthusiasm going. She has been dating a guy from her college since the final year of her college and they are working together at TCS. They both think that their combined salary is enough for both of them to lead a happy married life. They want to stay loyal to TCS for a couple of years before taking the nuptial path.
Mr. C is a graduate from IIT Bombay from the class of 2006. He worked with Microsoft for a few months, and realised that he is good enough to have his own company. He got together with a few of his friends, and they started out in the domain of Software Service Exports. Due to their genius, they got hold of the biggest clients and grew bigger each day. They started working on their proprietary products and also received funding from PE firms. Recently they got featured in the Young Turks programme on CNBC aswell. The ongoing recession has hit their business, but after a quick analysis and correction of their projection numbers they are looking to break even by the end of this quarter. This means, next quarter onwards, their venture would have a positive cashflow. For them the sky is the limit and they are aiming for something higher than that.
Now if we analyse the above three people, they all think that they are successful. While A might think that B isnt successful enough and C might think in a similar fashion of both A and B. This is where a person needs to draw a line between happiness, laidbackness and frenzy. A is a successful entrepreneur, but his level of success does not match C on any scale. While B is working for a software firm, but along with her partner, she would be able to match the level of A's earnings. Many of A's friends feel that he could have worked a little harder to promote his company and he could have almost doubled his income. But A feels that giving 40 odd hours a week to his business is enough. Similarly, people feel that B should be a little more ambitious and should think of an MBA before actually settling in. But her priorities are different. C in last couple of years has lost touch with a lot of his friends, but thats the cost which he has had to pay for the success. But the bottom line is that they all are happy and successful.
Using the same logic to gauge my level of success, I feel I have a long long way to go. Infact, I have seen a couple of major failures in last few months, but I am sure they have been huge lessons for me. And now, I have started setting smaller goals for myself, which is the right way to go about doing things. Pressurising yourself is very easy, but taking a leaf out each failure is what makes these attempts count. In the end, it is the grit and the determination which matters. Recently someone posted the poem of Sri HR Bachchan on YouthPad. Before I end, I would like to quote a few lines from that poem.
नन्हीं चींटी जब दाना लेकर चलती है,
चढ़ती दीवारों पर, सौ बार फिसलती है।
मन का विश्वास रगों में साहस भरता है,
चढ़कर गिरना, गिरकर चढ़ना न अखरता है।
आख़िर उसकी मेहनत बेकार नहीं होती,
कोशिश करने वालों की कभी हार नहीं होती।
I sometimes feel that, the success of Amitabh Bachchan can actually be attributed to his father sitting at home, writing these magical lines...
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