Assured Success by taking the right action at the right time
Figure 1. Pathway to Success
“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” – Winston Churchill
Introduction. Nothing succeeds like success, as it brings happiness in life. Success is a very essential component of our life, in every field and at every stage. All parents wish and work hard to give the best possible education to their children and want them to do far better in their careers and lead a better quality of life. As children progress to professional colleges and universities, in their home country/abroad, things become costly and very competitive. In these institutes of higher learning, young students learn basic education and theoretical business concepts of their chosen field of interest. They also learn about personality development, coexistence, and competition among students from diverse backgrounds, countries, states, social statuses, and cultural and financial backgrounds.
On completion of their academic studies, they select a career based on their choice/capability. Some do not make the right choice but take up a job for immediate take-off, hoping to switch to a better career as soon as possible. Some important aspects related to acquiring success by young professionals are given in alphabetical order in the following sub-sections:
• Alignment to Organizational Goal. As a new entrant in any organization/ Institution /department, one needs to work hard to fit well in the team and learn on-the-job from those who are already there. One needs to demonstrate a positive attitude, sense of commitment, dedication, and good application of his/her knowledge/skills. As the alignment of car wheels is important to get good performance, one must be fully aligned to the goals/objectives of the organization to attain success. As one moves up the corporate ladder, one has to keep learning new skills, do multitasking, and remain current to support the team. This helps one to stand out among equals and also contribute significantly to achieving the organization's goals/objectives.
• Attitude. In the real world, attitude is more important than aptitude, and all recruiters give more weightage to Attitude. One should develop a more positive attitude towards people and events happening around us... One needs to demonstrate positivity in one’s approach to tackling a problem, where one can convert risk into an opportunity and help in the growth of the organization.
• Be the Best. Whatever, whenever, and wherever one does a task, it should be done with one's best effort. Although one can’t always get the expected result, yet one must do the very best. It is important that one demands the best from oneself since others will demand the best. Similarly, demand best from the team. Successful people don’t simply put in hard work but their best efforts to deliver on time and within budget.
• Change Agent. Most people have resistance to change and remain content with the status quo. However, change is the spice of life, and when one feels stagnated, one should plan to shift and have a new job which has better career growth. When one moves out to other organization, one carries experience from the past job to the new job and embeds that knowledge appropriately to benefit the new organization. In a private job, one may be sent to various sites, locations, or even other countries as per one’s career profile. As one has chosen a job, one should accept the change cheerfully and move on. One should not show inertia for remaining stuck in one location and in one job because of one’s comfort zone.
• Contingency Plan. At times, events do not go as planned (Plan “A”), one should have a contingency plan (Plan “B”). It is good to do scenario-based planning and carry out “What If analysis.” It helps to immediately put Plan “B” into action if Plan “A” fails. This approach is always followed during military operations, expeditions, and any high-risk activity. In this regard,
Liddell Hart wrote, “Take a line of operation which offers alternate objectives,” As one of the eight guiding principles of military success.
• Delegation to Optimize. By judiciously delegating jobs/tasks among team members, one can get the best out of each team member. One should not try to be a “know-all” and do everything oneself, just because one thinks he/she only can do it meticulously. One should not become a bottleneck by holding back the flow of the project/job and under-utilize the talents of other team members...
• Determination. In any challenging job/task or race, it is the determined person who puts an extra bit to achieve the goal, while others may quit just short of the finishing line. In the words of George H. Lorimar, “Go to bed with satisfaction and get up every morning with determination.”
• Dreams. One must have a dream, and there is no limit, since it is not controlled by any rule or regulation. Dreams give us inspiration to climb new heights.
• Effective and Efficient. As a manager/team leader, one needs to be effective to control and direct the teammates to keep the project/task on track. Likewise, efficiency saves in cost/material and speeds up success.
• Fast Thinking and Decision Making. In today’s highly competitive global market, one needs to think fast, make faster decisions, take faster action, and move faster to the market to maintain business leadership. As a manager/team leader one is expected to deliver more with fewer resources and do it fast. However, faster does not mean go out of breath and collapse in a race but to remain alert, well-informed, and take fast but not hasty decision. One must anticipate and take proactive action to be ahead of one’s competitors. This will help to study the market trends and make fast decisions for a winning strategy. In case one considers one is fast in thinking and action, but his/her organization is slow in response to any change, one may move to another organization that is progressive, and one will get more job satisfaction.
• Forgiveness. It is the best policy to forgive others and ignore their small mistakes. They will become more faithful and help in achieving success
• Goal Achiever. One must have a realistic goal and then go for it with all the available efforts and resources. Do not waver and remain focused to keep going.
• Gratitude. It is a sign of maturity and good moral values to express one’s sincere gratitude towards the organization and seniors who provide their employees an opportunity to perform and grow.
• Honesty. Being honest and loyal to the organization and teammates will strengthen trust and support for one’s growth.
• Honor own Commitment. As an employee, one is required to make a commitment and declare one’s Key Result Areas (KRAs). One should do a self-audit regularly to know how one is moving ahead to fulfill one’s commitment. All seniors, customers, vendors and business partners respect fulfillment of commitment.
• Improvement. One must work for continuous improvement. There is no limit to improvement, so go for achieving the zenith. One must be always ready to learn new skills, share with others and improve...
• Incentive for Innovation. Encourage innovation and be happy to bear the cost. Allow team members to experiment with their new ideas and show creativity. Do not warn them for failure during experiment. Give good incentive, even if it is a small idea.
• Initiative. When an opportunity / challenge come, be the first to grab it. One must lead to succeed. Instead of waiting for a business phone call, it is better to pick up the phone and ring them up. Make things happen faster. Likewise, peace or happiness doesn’t just come. One needs to create right atmosphere for it.
• Innovate to be Market Leader. To stay ahead of competitors, the team leader and the team should be continuously looking out-of–the-box and evolve innovative solutions which attract the customers. Innovations are not long drawn discovery/inventions but short and quick development of product/service to give better look and feel as well as better value for money to the customer. It could be doing different things than the existing ones or doing same things but differently.
• Integrity toward Organization. There are people who bring happiness to an organization when they join, while a few are those who give happiness as they leave the organization. One must align oneself with the policies and goals of the organization and be part of the winning team. As long as one serves in an organization, one should be seen by others as fully committed to the customers, organization, seniors, and inspiring teammates. One should never leave an organization on a bad note even if one has resigned for personal reasons or his/her contract has not been renewed for the next term. This helps during a background check when one would apply for next job.
• Join Hands. Joining hands draws a lot of synergy and ensures enduring association and business deals. As they say, “United to stand, divided we fall “.
• Leadership. As a leader of a team, it is one’s ability to lead from the front, set the pace, and take the whole team along to complete the journey/Job. In the words of Charles Cooley –
“All leadership takes place through communication of ideas to the minds of others.”
• Lessons from the Past. It is very useful to learn from the past and plan for the future. Most successful organizations maintain records of various activities of past projects/services/products. Lot of lessons can be learnt both from the failure and the success of past projects/ventures. This encourages reuse of available assets, and there is no need to waste effort in reinventing the wheel. One should make sure to pick up the best out of job done by the predecessors and give them credit for that. One should not start from scratch for the sake of one's own ego... Winston Churchill had said –
“The further backward you look, the farther ahead you can see.”
It is not to be misunderstood with slowing down; rather, he has stressed that learning from the past improves one’s ability to imagine what lies in the future.
• Life. Life is not a sprint but a long journey. Plan to have a good company, face obstacles as they may come, go around those hurdles, and reach the destination as scheduled.
• Listening to Others. If one carefully listens to the points made by others, one can pick up lot of additional inputs to make one’s point of view stronger. While listening to someone, one should also watch the body language of the person talking. The speaker will feel comforted when one listens to him/her. A good listing helps in a better understanding of the issue being discussed, and a better decision will emerge. This will also help in conflict management and maintaining a healthy work environment.
• Love All. When one is in love with someone, he/she should expect less and give more. Love the organization, the seniors, the team, the job, and the family. Love will make one happy and successful. Remember the good old saying—“Love begets Love”.
• Manage Commitments. As a team leader/project manager, one should not micro-manage the team. Rather, one should delegate work to the team and save one's own time for other important tasks/responsibilities. The team leader should let team members discuss and distribute work among themselves and report. The team leader should rather seek commitments from team members and manage their commitments.
• Motivation. If one stays motivated in doing one’s job, the teammates will follow him/her. To keep the team motivated and best performing, one should know them well, facilitate their job activities, and take care of their welfare.
• Ownership. If one owns the organization, the team, decisions made, and the job, one will put ones heart and soul to achieve given targets without being reminded or supervised. If one owns something, one will not let it down. Ownership has a link to integrity.
• Price to Pay. Nothing comes free. There is always a trade-off, and one should be ready to pay/get the right price. Price can be monetary, physical hard work or sacrifice of comforts. Remember the famous quote – “No gain without Pain.”
• Promotion. Indeed, we all need a quick promotion to climb the next rung. One must put all efforts and resources into promoting oneself, but must not demote others. They too want promotions.
• Risk Taking. Take risks, grab opportunities, and do your best. Don’t bother what others say, and be ready to face the outcome.
• Running the Race. It does not matter whether one wins or loses; what matters is participation in the race and completing it.
• Skill Building. Do not try to be a super specialist in any one area as that would restrict one’s growth. In fact, one needs a variety of exposures to take up higher job/responsibilities. Therefore, keep learning new technologies and new business practices to stay relevant to emerging market scenario. One should keep upgrading one’s profile and enrich the portfolio to gain better mobility and success in one's career.
• Strength of Self. If one challenges oneself to take on the most difficult task, one may be happily surprised to discover what strengths one has. One should always have faith in self.
• Success is Not Final. Neither failure nor success is final. One learns more from failure than from success to get up, recoup, and try again. Success neither just happens nor comes through one’s wishes. It is always the one to make it happen by one’s determined efforts.
• Team Wins. It is not the team leader alone but the team that wins. It is all about how one grooms and deploys the team.
• Time. Time is the most precious resource, and it does not wait. Time keeps flowing like river water. One needs to plan a time-sharing and time-saving strategy. Being on time and every time is the most important aspect of career growth.
• Victory sharing. Victory comes through shared vision and collective team effort. Give credit to others, too.
• Waiting to Happen. Success happens by one’s determined effort. Instead of waiting and sulking for an incoming call, take initiative and make a call to the person one needs. Always take the initiative and be in the lead.
• Win-Win. It is a good strategy to allow others also to win sometimes. Helps for an enduring relationship.
• World of Words. Today’s world is of words. In any career, the words one speaks and writes matter a lot in winning people and doing business with them.
Summary. Today, we are living in a world of great competition, high uncertainty, geopolitical turmoil, and ongoing trade wars, where employers/organizations seek value for money, and in response, we as employees expect a good pay package to have a good social/financial status and a comfortable lifestyle. We all like to have a good job/career and quick success to have an impressive status and live a happy life. However, success is not available for free like wind or sunlight. One has to equip oneself with appropriate academic qualifications, skill sets, a positive attitude, listening to others, honoring commitments, and determination to meet the expectations of stakeholders and those who matter. Likewise, entrepreneurs and small business people need multi-skilling, multi-tasking, collaborating, and building new networks and enduring business alliances.
References.
1 . David Richo, The Five Things We Cannot Change, Shambhala, London, 2005.
2. Janson Jennings & Laurence Haughton. It is not the big that eat the small. It’s the
fast that eat the slow, Harper Business, 2001.
3. John R. Logan, Evolution Not Revolution, Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2003.
4 Norman Vincent Peale. The power of positive thinking, Vermillion, London, 1998
5. Brig (Retd) Dr Sarbjit Singh, A2Z 26 Steps for Assured Success, Notion Pre
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