Stephen Covey, the author of
’Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ is no more with us.
But he will be remembered by millions for what he taught us which, according to
him, ‘all that people had to do was form habits out of their best instincts.’
Pondering over the reasonably
successful career that I had, rather than ‘beginning with the end in mind, I
recall, beginning from the end (of my career), how I could succeed in my career
by following what I would call the TRIUMPH formula, my own seven habits.
I write this article as a humble dedication
to this great Management Guru – some humble thoughts from an ordinary mortal
‘to Fortune and Fame unknown.’
…………………………..
As an ordinary man,I could succeed
in my career getting opportunities and challenges throughout my career and I
which I readily embraced. . While looking back, I find that what helped me was
the TRIUMPH formula – This word has seven letters and i would call it the seven
habits, which are explained below.
Thinking
If you want to improve, you have to
make thinking a habit. When you start thinking, you get several ideas, you get
clarity about the subject you think about, you get a deeper understanding of
the subject. I used my leisure time to think on various aspects with regard to
my own improvement. Gradually, the thoughts began to appear to me every time i
had time to think of, the leisure time.
Thus I could think of something
while traveling in a bus on way to my office, on return from office, while
sleeping and while awake during sleep due to broken or disturbed sleep. This
way, some one could say that I productively used my time. Many times, when my
sleep used to get cut off around 3 or 4 0′clock in the morning, thoughts used
to rush to my mind. in fact, I was very particular about putting down these
thoughts in writing, the moment I landed at the office – either scribbling on a
piece of paper or so, sometimes dictating straightway to my P.A. The result –
the bulk of my writings running over seventy pieces, turned to be nicely
written articles. And no wonder, these got published in quick succession too.
I recall what Tom Peter had said in
his Tom Peters Seminar. According to him, Samuel Johnson, said: ‘all
intellectual improvements arise in leisure.’ another example of this, he says
is that ‘when stuck, Thomas Edison would unfailingly take a nap.’ and again he
says, according to a US poet laureate, ‘we don’t pay enough attention to
day-dreaming, without which no bridges would soar, no light bulbs burn, and no
Greek warships set upon Homer’s ‘wine-dark-sea.’ Abdul Kalam himself has advocated
about the benefits of dreaming.
Reading
Reading is another way to enhance
one’s knowledge as also thinking. I used to at least go through quickly the
various magazines, journals, books etc. that Prof. Menon (with whom I worked
for almost a decade) used to receive regularly. Again, reading books from
libraries is something I cultivated as a practice. When I was in the Personnel
Division of DOE, hundreds of books were available in the library and I could
say I benefited a lot by reading them.Seeing my writings, Mr.Vittal, Secretary
of the Department himself used to recommend to me the books that he would order
for the library to read. I could read and benefit immensely through several
latest management books by great writers.
Inspiration
I have derived great inspiration
from Prof. M.G.K. Menon, This was indeed a rare and great opportunity, since he
was involved in a wide spectrum of activities and had held multiple
responsibilities. But it is necessary to have the urge to learn from great
people. I used to watch carefully the way he writes, the way he makes
decisions, the way he talks, the way he delivers a speech etc. in fact, I used
to watch every aspect of his working. Even mere watching him this way was a
great inspiration. I used to read his decisions on files and also used to try
to go into the rationale for his decision.
Watching the way he communicates,
through letters particularly, made me learn many things. Each aspect of a
letter – the beginning, the words used, the style, the conclusion, rather a
deep study of it through all of which I could imbibe some of his style which
enabled me greatly to think of what way he would like a letter to be written.
And by doing this, I could attempt letters he wants to write, almost the way he
would himself write. This helped me a lot in terms of confidence building and
also making him have confidence in me about my capabilities. He used to say, as
communicated by some one else to me, that ‘ CVS knows what exactly I want.’
What a great inspiration he was for me.
Uniqueness
By uniqueness I mean cultivating
some special qualities and maintaining them. It could also mean creating a
niche for you, a brand for you and a demand for you through your abilities,
qualities and capabilities; and a self-image through which others will perceive
you. In my career I could show my talents through the opportunities I received,
and others, particularly my bosses at various times associated me to work with
them by a so- called image and brand I could create which transformed into a
demand for my services. A major demand for my services was for working as
Officer on Special Duty In the Science Advisor Council to Prime Minister, and
in fact I had actually performed special duties which earned appreciation for
my work from all members of the Council, including it’s Chairman, Prof. C.N.R.
Rao.
Motivation
Motivation plays a very important
part in an individual’ development. Normally, one does not expect any kind of
motivation in Government. But in my case, throughout my 25 year career in the
Government, I was fortunate to get abundant motivation, not only in my actual
work, where I could excel, but also in my writings. Mr. N. Vittal was the prime
motivator for whatever little I have succeeded in my writings. A few poems, a
note analyzing the way Mr. Vittal functioned, a few articles on time
management, personnel matters etc. were all well appreciated by him through
encouraging remarks to spur my activity in this field further. I could write
fifty odd articles. A compilation of all my articles on HR was liked by him and
he readily gave a foreword for a book containing all those articles.
Even, after my retirement, after a
lapse of over a decade, I started writing, made possible by an iPad gifted to
me by my son. And again, it was Mr. Vittal, who continued his motivation for my
writings, appreciating the few short pieces that I mailed to him and prodding
me through his advice: ‘Dear CVS, keep writing.’ Of course, the best motivation
is self-motivation (driven by an “I can do” attitude) which also I could
practice. in fact, I am motivating myself at the age of 75 by engaging myself
in thinking and writing on whatever comes to my mind.
Perseverance
You have to practice patience and
perseverance. Because all efforts by you may not produce quick results as you
expect. At the same time, continuous efforts with focus on your goals will
certainly take you there. in my case, I persisted in my efforts to get my
compilation of articles on human resources published as a book, come whatever
may. And after several attempts spanning over a period of three years, my dream
came true. I became the author of a book! One can recall what Confucius said:
‘our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.’
My immediate boss was thrilled and said to me: ‘I say CVS, I always knew you
will be persistent.’
Humility
One should be humble always,
irrespective of whatever one may have achieved. People will always respect a
humble person. Mr. Narayana Murthy referred to him as an ordinary individual.
Not only that, humbleness, and the associated simplicity should always be your
hall mark. in my case, many of my subordinates still respect me, since I had
always treated them as friends first and then their boss, allowing them freedom
to indulge in jokes in the workplace. If you read together the first letters of
each of the above qualities it will read TRIUMPH, and so it was.
About the author: The
author of this article is Shri C.V. Subramaniam. He retired as Director in the
Department of Information Technology, GOI and has held several important
positions in the Government. He has published 70 plus articles in various
leading news papers and has also published a book on Human Resource
Management.
Courtesy : http://www.gconnect.in/
