Sweet is the smell of success and even sweeter is Leadership, perhaps. Sustained progression to leadership can definitely be much sweeter but the one inherited, definitely not so much.
Success starts from the decision to handle challenges and continued mastery of success brings one to the cusp of true leadership. Those finding comfort in their present state of affairs will never dare to get any higher just because of their fear of the unknown.
We find excuses for not doing things rather than building the courage and the desired momentum within to try out different roads on the path to success. We wonder how the guy next door has things that we don’t but how many times did we care to analyze what standards he has set for himself and how he manages his time. By managing time, I am not referring to working 18 hours day, running 2.5 shifts. I am only pointing towards hundreds of other activities that cultivate imaginative thinking and awaken our thought process where these creative juices could start to flow in larger volume.
Most of us have an ill-founded perception that those above us in financial stature have done something wrong or do continue to exploit those below them. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I have personally met an innumerable number of times, and do continue to enjoy at frequent intervals the company of, some of the self-made billionaires that we do not know much about.
One thing I have found common, amongst them all, more often than not, is that they are more than willing to share their personal life’s struggles and oddities and how they broke those barriers to come out on top. It is these gentlemen billionaires who run the tightest ships that any industry has ever known.
These are hard-core, ‘down to the basics’ billionaires, who are always available to each and every one of their employees and give unequivocal attention to detail so much so that they do, at regular intervals, dirty their own hands on the shop floor in order to motivate the bottom rungs of their organizations and make them feel important.
Allow me to share one actual incident of immense courage, dedication to duty and the most important of all, morale boosting examples set by a true leader: This incident relates to the highly unfortunate and yet factual aftermath of the Indo-Pak war in the year 1970 when the then senior most officer of the Indian Armed Forces, the Chief of Army Staff was elevated to the rank of Field Marshal.
This particular officer named S.H.F.J. Manekshaw was visiting injured soldiers in an army hospital when he came across one with seven bullet wounds. The Field Marshal embraced this soldier with a bear hug and said to him: “My boy, you sure are on your way to bigger things like I did. I took twenty one bullets in my career and have become Field Marshal”. This may not mean much to the common man but the fact remains that this highest decorated officer could re-impose the fighting spirit and dedication in a seriously hurt soldier with his words of encouragement in such simple fashion.
We need not go far to find many more live examples of courage and dedication-to-cause that changed the very structure of various governments the world over. For example, let’s discuss Nelson Mandela, the untiring savior of the masses against the all so powerful apartheid in his home country. Having been jailed for majority of his life, he stood his ground undeterred to ultimately free South Africa from the shackles of this menace of apartheid. His dedication to the cause and uncompromised focus on the goal brought his fellow countrymen on an even keel with the oppressors and gain recognition world-wide.
Mahatma Gandhi, the angel of non-violence, also commonly known as “the apostle of peace” launched India’s freedom struggle in a fashion no one would ever imagine to bear any fruit and yet he garnered enough strength through the masses that the foundations of British Empire were terribly shaken. His unwavering commitment to independence forced the British to leave India in the hands of its own people and beat a retreat.
The true spirit behind the above narrative is the keenness of the highly successful to share their success with others and their urge to implore others to continuously duplicate the process, which has always been paramount. The problem lies within ourselves because we do not dare to think out of the box and just assume that these people are unapproachable.
The fact of the matter is that they know the importance of their base, the whole TEAM that works for their organization and the significant contribution each one of these individuals makes to keep the business thriving despite all odds. They all recognize the fact that there is a lot of room at the top but not enough to sit down and relax. They know for a fact that without a strong base there won’t be a strong top and in order to keep the top strong they have to work diligently in keeping the base strong.
You too can take the pole position by helping those around you. STOP thinking that if you helped the machinist next to you in correcting his faults, he will get the promotion and you will rot in the same place. Try making it a habit to help your co-workers and see how fast you get noticed by those that matter.
If you are an opportunist, you will only run into opportunists all your life and then you may complain as much as you want but nobody would pay attention to your rants. Become a helper and more and more people will start to open up their own arms to help you in return.
Be a peoples’ person first and foremost. DO NOT think of becoming a leader as yet because you may have a long way to go but by becoming a doer, you sure can win over some hearts and start to gain recognition in a small way. Wise men have said that smaller steps take you farther. I am a living testimony to this fact and have experienced it a number of times in my own life as well as that of many others. You can’t get too far in hasty mode because either you’ll crash or get exhausted pretty soon.
