Figure
1. Elements that lead to Success
“Your
attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”
– Zig Ziglar
“Success
is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”
– Winston Churchill
“You
can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.”
– Rabindranath Tagore
1.
Introduction.
We are all always keen to succeed in our careers, and it is
well established that a positive attitude
and alignment with the organization lead to success. For this, we are expected to develop the required skill sets and a positive attitude, stay calm in disturbed situations, and put in determined effort to
achieve a defined goal. It is equally
important to control anger and be tactful so that others do not take our
behavior as arrogance. Whether one is a school teacher, professor in College/university, site engineer,
designer, production engineer, law practitioner, press reporter, marketing
representative, or sales manager, doctor in a hospital, or any such employee, one
has to deal with human beings who are very demanding and in a hurry. Some
salient points to help in our role in various stages of our career are given below
in alphabetical order:
2. Five A’s. These are basic principles of human/personal management. If followed
sincerely, these will improve our control over our body and mind to enhance our
productivity and get better cooperation from others:
· Accept.
We must accept others (family members, teachers,
work partners, seniors, and the organization) as they are. To have proper alignment to organizational
goal, one should accept the ground reality, rules, regulations, and policies of
the government as well as instructions or procedures/processes and business
practices of the organization. This will make us happy with our present
position/status without conflict with the organization or people at the workplace. One will
get more time to focus one's mind and energy on the job/task at hand and enhance
productivity, leading toward success. Likewise, accept our parents, relatives, and seniors as they are, since they are our well-wishers who want us to rise. Good
old saying is ever true—“If you cannot change the world, change yourself. For
this, one should be adaptive to the environment around him/her.
· Acknowledge.
We should always be gracious in acknowledging others' contributions and thank them unconditionally. When someone gives us support, we must acknowledge and thank
him/her. When one is standing in a queue
at a bank counter, one borrows a pen from someone to write a cheque, and as one
finishes, one returns the pen by automatically
saying “Thank You.” One can try this on one’s
team members, family members at home – spouse,
parents, brother/sister, or in-laws or children., We often take them for granted
and forget the basic courtesy of thanking. Thanking costs us nothing, but it pleases the other person. Such courtesy pays rich dividends even in normal correspondence, say
an office letter, memo, email, or greeting card/message. It also relates to
returning a greeting, say “Good Morning” in response to “Good Morning.” Try to
thank 2–3 people (anybody) daily and see the effect in 15 days.
· Action.
Action is a must to make things happen. Therefore, one must take appropriate
and timely action to complete an assigned job. We all know “God helps those who
help themselves.”, Remember, inaction breeds laziness and may cause depression.
Therefore, be active, rather proactive, and get into action. Those who act are
the winners or leaders, and those who keep thinking, hesitating, vacillating, or
looking around for outside help remain stranded/spectators. Our plans must be actionable, and we must act in the right way, at the right time, at the right place. If one
does not act in time, others will act, and the hesitant will be late to react. Our
ideas and plans must be actionable, else they remain a theoretical exercise.
· Admit
Your Mistake. If
one is wrong in one’s action, he/she must admit the mistake unconditionally,
whether one is in the workplace, party, club, picnic, classroom, or home. As a
senior or junior, as a parent or spouse or child, one could be wrong/harsh
when he/she actually should not be. At times, it may happen in a hurry or
just as an argument. Saying sorry is
not retreat or defeat or weakness, but wisdom and maturity to patch up. One may try it and see the effect in just 15
days. People will be more comfortable working around you and have better trust, leading
to a good work environment and success.
· Appreciate. One should always admire/ appreciate others’ ideas/ achievements. We all expect someone to admire us,
cheer us up, and enable us to perform well. A team leader/manager should not
criticize people beyond a point as it would hurt other people and he/she will
become immune to it. It is a good gesture to appreciate/admire even for a small achievement
by the team member. Do remember the old saying --
“Criticize
in private and praise in public.”
One should appreciate what others are doing instead of finding faults or criticizing to pull them down. If the team leader gives support to them, they too will do for their leader. One may try this principle at one’s workplace and at home, and he/she will notice that within 15 days, the work environment will have improved.
· Acquire
by Hard Work. Getting
resources as readymade stuff (inherited) does not give the same
satisfaction/strength as one would get through working hard to acquire
it. Therefore, do not look around for help or wait for lady luck to smile on for
wealth, property or status. It is like working hard for four years and passing
eight examinations (semester-wise), and earning a degree. Similarly, to climb the
corporate ladder, one has to sweat it out to move from one rung to another.
· Accessible
to Team. As a
manager/team leader, one should be easily accessible to team members as this
improves mutual trust, which is most essential for team success.
· Acceptable
to Team. A good
leader leads from the front and has willing followers. When one comes from an outside organization or gets promoted from within the organization, one must
quickly align oneself with the team in the new role. It will ensure that he/she
is easily and quickly accepted as their leader.
· Accommodating.
You may be right, but others around
us may not be. We need to accommodate others and their ideas too. This will
encourage the team to do well and bring in more ideas for improvement. Even if one
is to reject someone’s idea/viewpoint, one needs to be tactful in suggesting
an alternative that convinces the team that you are taking a holistic view.
•
Accountable.
As a manager/team leader or
executive, you are accountable for the execution of given tasks/jobs and also for your
KRA’s. Likewise, you should insist that those working under you are held accountable
in their committed KRA’s. Remember accountably cannot be shared or delegated,
only power can be shared.
•
Adaptive.
It is good quality to be flexible
and adaptive to the work environment in which you are positioned. You must make
use of what is available and quickly adapt the relevant part, instead of
reinventing the wheel and starting from scratch. You should be aligned to goals
of
your
organization and your seniors. This approach will make you more visible in the
eyes of those who matter.
•
Agent
for Change. Change
is the spice of life in all walks of life. There is general inertia to change of
procedure/process among most employees in any field/sector. It is a bound duty
of the manager/team leader to accept the change and be an active change agent.
Technologies, business models, and lifestyles are changing fast, and so you
should be changing to remain current.
•
Aim
and Follow Through. One
must have a definite aim/goal in life and concentrate all energies to achieve it.
Aimless working and too much talking lead to the dissipation of energy and
reaching nowhere. People who aim high and decide the trajectory before
shooting the arrow hit the target. If you do not aim well, you cannot beat
your competitors. As Les Brown said,
“Shoot
for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars.”
•
Alignment
to the Organization. There
should be a shared vision and mission to achieve cost–efficient success. As we
often observe, if the wheels of a vehicle are not properly aligned, the vehicle's
speed and stability are adversely affected. Similarly, if team members do not share a
common
goal, there will be delays and cost overruns. There should be a common motto and
quality slogan that all team members speak well about the organization.
•
Alert
to Emerging Situation. One
needs to be alert at all times in every job, every time, and on every day. An
alert person can look ahead and respond appropriately to any risk/issue. If one
is alert one can be proactive and will not be surprised by any emerging
situation,
•
Anger
and Arrogance. Your
control over your mind and body is essential to staying calm and reflecting good
behavior in the workplace or at any public place. An angry person often loses
his/her balance and tends to make irrational decisions or make unpleasant
utterances. If you become angry on any small issue, you will lose the respect of
team members and all those who matter. Keeping anger in your heart/mind for a long time will increase voids among friends/team mates and can be also cause
for one’s ill health, like high blood pressure or stomach disorder. When in a difficult
situation, take long breaths, remain pleasant, and smile away, or go to the gym and
box out your anger on a dummy bag.
•
Anticipate
and Be Proactive. As
a manager/team leader, one needs to anticipate upcoming events and prepare to
respond appropriately. One should not be taken by surprise and then react,
which would be like firefighting action. By proper anticipation, you can
mitigate certain types of risks.
•
Argumentative.
As a manager/team leader, one should
effectively put across one’s argument/viewpoint, and if it is a good point, it
may be accepted during discussion. Do not get into arguments with team members,
peers, and seniors. Those who are argumentative and fail to correct their
behavior will lose their popularity, friends, and family members/relatives.
•
Assert
and Showcase Achievement. To
succeed in today’s world, one should not wait and watch for events to happen by
themselves. It is good to let others know how much one knows and must not
expect one’s seniors to know all about one’s worth to reward appropriately. One
needs to showcase how good one is.
•
Assignment
and Competency. A
task assigned must be done with full energy and sincerity. As a manager/team
leader, tasks should be assigned to team members based on their choice /competence.
They will perform best since they will be in their comfort zone.
•
Attitudinal
Change. A person
with a positive attitude has no fear of any situation/task and takes it as a
challenge or opportunity. The one who has a negative attitude takes the task as a
burden or problem and keeps sulking and complaining. A person with a positive
attitude keeps trying and retrying till he/she succeeds, while a person with a negative attitude keeps criticizing the organization /team, grumbling, and gives up
soon. One can’t hide one’s attitude as the subordinates, peers, and even
superiors will notice it in no time. To improve one’s attitude, one needs to
practice control of body and mind, do introspection, and be in the company of positive-thinking people.
Summary. Success comes by good Planning, Commitment, and
Hard work. Success does not just come by wishing and without timely and appropriate
action. Therefore, one has to put in 100% efforts in performing his/her role in
the workplace and also carry out responsibilities towards their family. Hence, one must follow a balanced approach to
ensure happiness at home and high productivity at the workplace. The personal character of the team leader plays a vital role in leading a team to achieve success
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. Sarbjit Singh. A2Z 26 Steps for
Assured Success, Notion Press, 2017,
6. Sarbjit Singh. Effective time Management
is Key to Work-Life Balance. Notion Press. India,2025
7. Wayne Dyer’s 10 Secrets for Success
and Inner Peace, Hay House Inc., California, 2001
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