Willpower, Willingness, Way-forward, and Win-Win Strategy ensure Sustainability
“The will to win, the
desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential, These are the keys
that will unlock the door to personal excellence” – Confucius
We all need to win a
game, race, people, customers, seniors, and team members for the growth of
our organization. This is also the case for all collaborations and alliance
partners. Therefore, one has to adopt a win-win strategy to accommodate others.
Sometimes we give up small points and offer concessions to business partners to win
the deal. Salient points which may guide you to success are given in alphabetic
order in succeeding sections:
· Waistline. To do well in your career, you must
stay fit, Do watch your waistline regularly and moderate your food habits and
do regular exercise
·
Waiting Time. Waiting time hangs heavy and one
often gets restless. Do not make people wait if you have given them an appointment. You must call them in and make them comfortable before any
discussion, In case you have to wait some time, use your waiting time
gainfully by strolling, lateral thinking
and recalling some of past events
·
Wake-up call. One may not succeed all the time.
Any setback/failure should be taken as a wake-up call to do better next time.
·
Walk and Talk. One of the effective ways to
stay in contact with your team members is to walk about in your workplace and
have word with them. This informal way puts people at ease and they respect you
for paying attention to their work. You can also give on-the-spot guidance if needed.
During your walk, you can quietly observe many other administrative points
requiring attention.
·
Wandering. Discourage team members or any other
person from wandering in the workplace. Work is worship and every member must
stick to one’s seat and carry on working uninterrupted.
· Wants Vs. Needs. Human needs are
essential requirements and can be planned and met, but not their wants. Too many
wants are greed and not your need. You must live within means and not imitate
others to show off.
·
Waiver. Do consider the request from others
favorably. Sometimes it is good to give a waiver by ignoring small mistakes.
·
Warehouse. Use technology to the maximum to
organize your warehouse which may hold inventory or knowledge. Make sure that
Storage, Labelling/ Indexing, Retrieval, and dispatch are optimized.
·
Warning. Organize an appropriate system to give
you early warning for any deviation in the processor or coming
events. It is the basic duty of a team leader/manager to maintain
proper discipline and work culture in the organization. For this, you must set
a personal example of maintaining proper discipline and decorum of the
workplace. A firm warning should be given to the defaulting member so that
he/she understands the importance of the work- culture and ethos of the
organization.
·
Warranty. While doing any
business transaction, seek a warranty and give a warranty for the product/
service being transacted. Issuing of warranty should be your
Quality Assurance Procedure.
·
Waste. You must not waste time, energy, and
resources while executing any assigned job/task. All resources like people and
time are at a premium
·
Watchful. Always be watchful of
events happening around you and respond appropriately. Do not get surprised as
that will put you off balance. Likewise, be watchful of changes
taking place in technology, market trends, and job opportunities, so that you
can be proactive and pick up required new skills.
·
Way Forward. Do not get stuck with
a problem. Be innovative; apply your mind carefully and with focus. You may
seek advice if needed, but you must find a way forward and stay progressive to
meet your commitment.
·
Weed out. As we know to get a good crop from his
field, the farmer regularly takes out the weeds. Likewise, if there
are some low-performing members who have not shown improvement despite guidance
and warnings, they need to be weeded out.
·
Weakling. We all know a chain is as strong as its
weakest link. So there is a need to give support for that link or replace it to
ensure the chain remains fully strong. Likewise, identify weaklings in
your team and provide support and guidance for them to come up to the desired
standard. Do not immediately reject and throw out such people as they may
require extra coaching/training and they may come up to your expectation. Training
an existing employee for improvement is more economical than recruiting and
training a fresh candidate.
·
Wealth. Wealth is not only in terms of money in
the bank or investment in various tangible assets but more important is
knowledge assets. As an organization, you must create a “Knowledge Bank” where
intellectual-property (reusable assets, SOPs, and designs) is safely stored as
organizational wealth.
·
Welcome. A formal welcome to a new employee is
the most important function of a manager/ team leader. This helps to establish
a good bond among team members. He/ She will be at ease and adjust faster in
your team.
·
Welfare. As a team leader or manager, you are to
ensure the welfare of men/women of your team. A well-looked-after team will
work more enthusiastically and can collectively overcome any difficult
situation.
·
Wellness. A healthy body and
healthy mind are needed to work to your full potential. There are a number of programs for Physical Fitness, Yoga, Meditation, and Psychological
counseling. These are available as face-to-face training or in the forms of
books, e-books, CD/DVD, or Online videos. You must take balanced and healthy
food and do regular physical exercise. You must see good, hear good, read good,
feel good and stay in good spirits. This will provide you with total wellness
for you to be productive and happy.
·
What-If-Analysis. Do not get stuck in a
situation and vacillate. Get your acts together and find a way out. If you
apply your mind correctly, there is always an alternative. Your plan should have
an inbuilt contingency plan so that if main plan “A” gets stuck, plan “B” is
initiated immediately.
·
What–When–Where–Who and How (W4 H). For a successful
execution of a plan, do a thorough analysis to determine what, when, where, who
and how the task will be done. Assignment of task and expected results must be
clearly stated and formally handed over to the person who will be accountable
for the outcome. There should be no room for ambiguity. Assignment of a task
should be as per the capability of a team member.
·
What is–in-it-for-me? People will not work
for your interest until they see something for them in it. This is a human
angle, as everyone is busy in own needs and priorities. Therefore the art of
being successful is to understand others' needs and play that tune. It is well
said --
“Nothing is
interesting unless you are interested.”
·
Why and Why Not. It is good to be inquisitive and ask
why and be sure of the task being assigned but not to ask why just to resist
and avoid the task. Be positive in your attitude while questioning the
purpose/objective of the task. When you have decided to undertake some
project/task, others may ask why you are doing this. Your response should be–“why not.” This will send the right
message across the organization and to your distractors.
·
Wife is
an Institution. The wife is the most essential part of a family. In fact, a
wife is an institution that brings up her children to be the best in every walk
of life. She may be doing a job, caring for the children, and carrying out
many tasks to run the house as a sweet home. In the present era, a wife does a
lot more than her husband and she must be openly praised wholeheartedly and
thanked for all that she does.
·
Willpower. The will to do is more important than
the skill to do. A determined person finds ways and means to overcome skill deficiency.
It is willpower that keeps you going even when you are almost exhausted.
During a race, many people give up just sort of the finishing line as they lack
willpower. To make hard decisions or to work through various odds, you need
willpower more than the skill. The one who has willpower would say firmly-“I will do it” while others may say “I will try.” Remember
a good old saying –
“You will be what you WILL to be! When the Spirit rises to
Command, the Gods are ready to obey!” – James Allen
· Willingness. Always step out and willingly take extra responsibility as that will be appreciated by seniors and teammates. You will enjoy working on that task. An unwilling person cannot perform to his/ her full potential.
·
Win-Win. Winning and losing are two sides of the same coin. You
should be determined in your approach to go through all odds and make it
succeed. Every win boosts your morale to try another win and keep going.
Infect, a failure should only remind you to recoup and try next time harder and
win. Most of us are not trained to take losing games in the spirit of
sportsmanship. It requires maturity to play gracefully and accept the outcome -
win or lose. Sometimes, you must let other partners also win. In a business alliance, you should adopt a win-win strategy so that business
deals can sustain longer.
·
Withdrawal is not Defeat. To maintain harmony
and good work culture, sometimes you may change your stance and withdraw and
try later. Infect, withdrawal is not a defeat, but temporary side-stepping to
diffuse an awkward situation and respond appropriately at a suitable time.
·
Within. Always be responsive
to the happenings within the team/organization. A team leader/ manager
should be easily accessible to all team members. You need to build
trust among team members for maintaining discipline within the team.
·
Witness. Do not just witness a wrong happening
around you, instead, be responsive and responsible for taking proper action.
·
World of Words. Today’s world is of
words. Good words attract customers and friends while harsh words create enmity
and anger. Therefore, choose good words while speaking or writing and make
people happy.
·
Work Culture. It is very important to have a work culture
that is conducive to high productivity and quality. It should be the culture
to report on duty on time and leave the workplace at the closing time and not early,
·
Workaholic. It is good to follow a popular theme – “Work is worship” and every team member should work diligently and must
not waste any time is gasping or walking about and disturbing other teammates.
If you are efficient and plan your time well, you should be able to complete
your assigned task and any chosen extra bit within working hours. You should neither
stay late in the office nor carry office work to your home. Once you reach home or
you are on holiday, spend maximum time with the family and clear the backlog of
some household affairs.
- Work Flow. A workflow is the process of various
jobs being carried out by various teams in an organization. There may be
interaction among various sub-processes and processes. Any process requires
regular monitoring and timely correction if needed. A team leader/ manager is
responsible to streamline workflow within the organization so that available
resources are optimally used and productivity is enhanced.
·
Work with Joy. Some work to live, while others live to work. If you are self-motivated, you work joyfully and will not get tired of work. You will require no
supervision and will earn praise from all.
- Worry. The good old saying is ever true--Worry does not Mend Matters, rather, – “Worry spoils the curry.” In fact, worrying is a low form of mental activity which is waste of time and self-created unpleasantness. Medical science says worrying about things that you cannot control creates an impact on Your health. Too much worrying may cause a chemical reaction that may affect your nervous system, the heart and may cause psychological disorders. So don’t worry just smile away.
·
Worst. Everything may not go as per plan and
as per clock. When things go wrong, ask yourself what the worst can happen. Be
calm, prepare to accept reality, and respond carefully.
·
Wow, factor. If you and your team
can bring out innovations, it will give a pleasant surprise or wow factor. You will be
admired by the team, seniors, and customers.
To read more, you may
refer to my books/ebooks “ A2Z- 26 steps for Assured Success”.
and “Career Challenges during Global Uncertainty”, available
on www.amazon.com or
www. amazon.in
Brig ( Retd) Dr
Sarbjit Singh, Former Exec Director, Apeejay College of Engineering and
Hony Advisor School of Engineering and Technology,++ Apeejay Stya
University, Sohna, Gurgaon, Haryana, India 122103.
Contact:
drsarbjit@gmail.com
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