If given a chance to ask one question to your role model, say Stephen
Hawking, Rodger Federer, Usain Bolt or may be Mark Zuckerberg or any one, then what will
it be? In all honestly most of us would like to know their secret to success. ......but, in reality all we are looking for is quick-fix or techniques to attain the
success in shortest time possible. The problem with life is, it doesn’t
work for long with quick fixes. Then, what is it that does? Well, it’s not just
one but a combination of 7 habits that needs to be followed and believed to be
a success in your chosen field and even in life.
Let’s begin
understanding with the astonishing case of an infant company which has recently
put its foot in the FMCG sector but has managed to bestow sleepless nights on
its competitors. I’m referring here to the ‘Swadeshi Brand’, or as portrayed
so, Patanjali. Patanjali, I hope is known to all. It is a recently established
brand under the leadership of Baba Ramdev who is a well-known yoga guru in
India, often seen in news for the most asinine of reasons. Patanjali is the
provider of more than 350 products belonging to FMCG sector, be it shampoos,
soaps, oats, honey, detergents, name it and you have it. Undeterred by the
presence of huge credible brands who have enjoyed the loyalty of customers over
decades, Patanjali stood tall with its comprehensive strategy of being
proactive in understanding the changing patterns of the needs of the Indian
consumer and hit the target with its precise content. The brand created a
positive environment for its products; it hit the sub-conscious mind by
inducing trial on the part of the consumer. What made the leadership so effective? What are the ingredients that mixed up together to
produce this profitable formula? We will answer many such questions when we
arrive at the end of our discussion.
Let’s have
a brainstorming and contemplating upon
the first habit of the seven habits of highly effective people advocated by the
celebrated author and motivational speaker Mr. Stephan Covey. The first habit
talks about the perks of being a ‘proactive person’. Under the umbrella of this
habit, we shall discuss about power of making a choice, monitoring our choices,
taking initiatives, how to choose between acting on or being acted upon,
listening to our language, our circles of concern and influence and their
relevant expansion, extent of control whether direct or indirect, whether harsh
or subtle, our mistakes and their respective consequences, turning a negative
situation to a positive one and keeping our commitments amidst many.
I am 100% you who is reading this NOW a
well-educated & well-taught and highly ambitious individual. Who know that pro-activity regards to being anticipatory and taking future-oriented action.
But, it does not end at that. Stephen Covey sub divides as well as amalgamates
these sub categories, which hold individual importance in themselves, to give
out an extensive analysis of Pro-activity.
Proactivity deals with self-awareness or
the ability to think about your own thought process as a separate entity. You
are not defined by your moods. You are not your feelings; you are not under
their spell. It is you who controls what kind of emotions and reactions a
stimulus will receive out of you. You are in charge here. The very fact that
these set of reactions can be evaluated by us makes them separate from our
identity. Self -awareness has always given man dominance over any other species
of animals because they lack this great power of assessing one’s own thought
process.
In this world of extensive globalization, we are bombarded with choices, alternatives, opportunities and threats. Exercising the power of making a choice comes with great responsibility and we need to respect that if we want to broaden our mental and spiritual horizons. Essential it is to acknowledge that when we start making choices based on the assessment of our behavior to different situations, we need to also keep on monitoring them.
Monitoring the choices to make sure the
performance is satisfactory is very relevant because my choice may not always
turn out to be beneficial in a given situation. A line has to be drawn between
making choices and making sensible choices which enhance performance and
productivity.
To understand it better, I
would like to share one example. Apple is one of the most powerful brands across
the globe. The essence of the brand lies in developing technology which is
premium and ground breaking. And, the brand has often managed to bewilder
consumers with its dynamic products. I don’t know how many of you are aware of
this but there was a time when Steve Jobs was adroitly forced out of his own
brand. It was somewhere around 1985. Jobs went on to find NeXT and explored new
horizons in the field of technology. But, Apple, on the other hand, was soon
having troubles without his leadership. In 1997, Apple purchased NeXT, and Jobs
became the former's CEO once again. He returned and quickly took the company,
which was on the verge of bankruptcy, back to profitability. They’re right when
they say Karma never loses an address!
Now, try to understand the emotional stress
that this kind of situation must inflict upon a person who has been forced out
of his own company which was a result of many years of labor and hard work.
Quite heartbreaking, isn’t it? Most of us would go crazy thinking about what a
big loss we’ve suffered. But, Jobs on the contrary, never looked behind. He did
not let this situation and his momentary feelings overpower his senses and his
thought process. He took charge of the situation and reacted in the most
positive and effective way possible. He believed in his talent and made a
choice of coming up with something even bigger. He did not stop his growth at
that point; instead he assessed the circumstance and turned the situation 360
degrees for himself. He is one great example of a proactive person who made
sensible choices and reinforced his identity with optimism. So, what did we
learn from this incident?
The
importance of focusing on what you can influence and how do you expand your
circle of influence. We need to make sure that we are driven by values and not
feelings. We need to anticipate reactions, empathize with people, read the
situation and then compensate weaknesses with vision, talent and creativity. ‘I
am responsible for my work’, ‘I am accountable for what I did or didn’t do’ and
‘how can I influence this situation to get a positive outcome’ are the
statements characterized by a proactive person. Proactive people aren't pushy.
They're smart, they're value driven, they read reality, and they know what's
needed.
Another important
aspect of the principle of proactivity urges you to see yourself from your own point
of view rather than judging your personality based on the projections made by
the “Social Mirror”. Why is it important, you ask? Because if the
only vision that we have of ourselves comes from a Social mirror and from the
opinions, perceptions, suggestions and paradigms of people around us, our
society- our view would be like a reflection in the crazy mirror that you find
at a fair which keeps on changing- increasing or decreasing, beautiful or ugly
(ugly most of the times, at least in my case). Hence, the social paradigm,
which is merely a projection, enjoys no attention as long as you are contented
with yourself and your identity.
When WhatsApp owners John Koum and Brian Acton were turned down by Facebook
they paid no attention to the Social mirror which apparently showed them
imperfect projections like- You’re not good enough, you lack this, you are not
up to the mark, and you failed in the interview. Instead of getting intimidated
by these opinions both of them chose to be proactive instead of being reactive
to the situation. They worked hard and developed a revolutionary messenger app
which completely turned the world of telecommunications upside down. Now,
people could send messages along with added features & benefits, without
incurring much cost. Now, who wouldn’t like that?! Six years down the lane, Facebook, one of the
leading players in the market of Social media, decided to acquire this venture
before it becomes a too big to handle competition and a potential threat to
their business at a whopping 19 billion US Dollars. And with this, life comes
to a full circle.
Now, I want to ask you what is common in the examples of Apple, WhatsApp
and Patanjali?
All the leaders chose to act rather being acted upon by people and
circumstances, they exercised the power of choice while being sober, they took initiatives, they expanded
their circle of influence as and when the opportunity came, and they all turned
a negative situation to their advantage by analyzing and monitoring their
reaction to the stimulus.
All of them preferred to ask- What should I do next to make the best of
the opportunities that lie in the future? What kind of product should I develop
which serves the customer? What does the customer actually wants? How can I
make it big for myself? These set of questions that a person asks himself
differentiates him/her from a reactive person. And that is where an average
person becomes a role model of success and power for millions to admire.
So can we ask own-self how proactive we are for a huge
exam like UGC NET? Yes I am sure you must have asked this question to yourself
many a time , still I advocate ask once again. We have still time until Dec
2016 around 4 months to be proactive and give our best to drive results.
Always
remember if you want to be effective, keep on elevating your life via conscious
endeavor choosing the correct being proactive.
****Thank You****
