Perhaps there is nobody who does not desire for ownself the best. The only exception can be the Saints or Dervishes. The rest are in one form or other, in the race to acquire the best. The best in one’s life could relate to numerous things, the spectrum of which can range from the worldly allurement to the highest ideals of life and living. The positioning on this arch of the rainbows of possibilities is driven by each individual’s orientation; the determinants are age, marital status, family background, economic conditions, etc.
All human are born equal. The climb from infancy, childhood, adolescence to adulthood brings to surface the many inequalities. All things never remain equal. They change. Irrespective of what one is in pursuit of, the need to continually embrace changing realities, is a prerequisite. The cause for quest has to be an impelling passion.
Those who sit by idly, with hope of circumstances to meander through the funnel of time, and present thereafter opportunities, would essentially be those, who have closeted themselves in ivory towers, distancing from reality or to put across more pertinently, being away from the theater of action, will not give any choice or opportunity, to get the best. A runner-up, is only the second best, and not ‘the best’ while there can be no argument against the thought that it is better to be ‘second best’ by participation, then not to be in the run for acclaim.
To acquire, the best in class, one has to jettison, extirpate and flush, all thoughts that are impure, unclear, bitter and envious from inner-self and replace these with supreme behavioral traits that would normally be in attendance to those who are looked up to as an epitome of human grace and virtuosity.
To obtain the best in life, does it necessarily require anyone to have the best of characteristics, both qualitative (unseen) and measurable, like height, weight, good looks, etc? Again, history proves this to be a wrong assertion. An army general is perceived as someone who would be tall, well-built, sturdy and commanding; nay, look at the life of the diminutive and short statured (physically only) Napoleon Bonaparte; even Adolf Hitler was short; Churchill was bloated (besides his ego) and mostly bursting through his jackets; George Bernard Shaw did not have the looks of George Clooney - the only common thread between these men and many unnamed here, is that they made a bid to get the best -- most succeeded; those who lost, actually fell to the excessive presence of human vanity, in their persona.
From the annals of human history, as well as, from corporate history; we all know and learn, that acquisition of a goal or set of goals demands great sacrifice. Our Quaid, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela and others made huge personal sacrifices to achieve and realise their vision and objectives. Once committed, there was no looking back. The quality of commitment made to ownself creates the necessary enthusiasm to follow through the dreams into reality.
As a professional, in any field or activity, if the efforts to acquire stardom, is through whining and reviling, then obviously, success will be beyond the horizon. Most of us at work stations, know and recognise with full consciousness, that good actions never yield bad results and bad actions never produce good results. None can expect to reap harvest of sugarcane, if the sowing has been of Maize. As you sow, so shall you reap. While, we do understand this basic principle emanating from nature’s basic design of things, yet in the conduct of business or even in the everyday working relationship with others, we either deliberately or unknowingly, just fail to give due credence to this basic rule. Hence, we fail to get the best from ownself or from the team.
The investment of time and effort is critical to achieving honors. The element of obstinate persistency towards realization of objective, is a cardinal element, any lack thereof, will eventually derail the effort.
Managers who want the best from their teams, must firstly treat the team with kindness, once done, he/she is likely to find a fire filled team, imbued with enthusiasm, to obtain the best result. It is dependent upon the manager to ensure that each face in the team has potential to launch a thousand ships.
To get the best is not just about how good one is, it is much more about, how good one wishes to be in the journey towards attainment of goals, many a times, a good combination of excellence in most factors and mediocrity in some, is always a valid strategy for enforcement.
Failures are a reflection of our willing surrender to a mind that connives with lethargy and laziness to communicate internally, it is not possible; it cannot happen; it is not do-able, etc. These and many of such type of responses, have nipped the bud of creativity.
Failure and repeated failure, has to be better than past failures. That’s the journey to excellence. The pursuit of best demands that words must never outstrip action. They must naturally remain aligned.
In a book I was once reading, there was this beautiful picture of the leaning tower of Pisa; beneath the picture was an interesting interrogative remark, “would anybody hire this architect again? I answered to myself, of course I would. That’s the best leaning any can unarguably do, without tripping- architecturally, it is an impossible feat. And, it is the best sight.
Franklin D. Roosevelt had once commented, “one thing is sure, we have to do something. We have to do the best we know how at the moment. If it doesn’t turn out right, we can modify it as we go along”. That brings into my frame of thought the significance of training and development. No ‘one time’ training can make any the ‘best for all times’. The re-tooling process has to be a life time engagement, of being best today, has to be carried in time, to be the best in future too.
Focus, hard work, sacrifice and consistency are some important traits to have in personal armory, if the quest in life, is for the best.
The writer is a senior banker and freelance contributor