Over the last two years of being a full-time entrepreneur, I have come across an overwhelming number of people, places, ideas and emotions. With so much information, one needs to clear the clutter and make things simple. Just like light falling on a surface, I have divided my experiences into three categories: reflected rays (those which got rejected), absorbed (those that made sense and had an impact) while others that got transmitted (were too complex to comprehend).
To shine like a diamond, one needs to focus on the rays that one absorbs and reflect them internally. Some of the most significant things that I can remember being told and relate to are:
Mrs. J. Solomon (ex-Principal, South Point High School) – ‘Give value to the society & the society will give you 100 times in return’ –> Honesty & Integrity
Prof. H.S. Ray (IIT Khararpur professor) – ‘Always think big as it takes nearly the same effort to do something small’ -> Vision
Mr. H.K. Chaudhary (Visionary Entrepreneur & Director of Vikram Group) – ‘My servant is a nice person. If I gave him Rs. 5 lacs, he’d not know what to do with it and return the same next day. You cannot run a business with nicety and warmth. -> Professionalism & Discipline
Mr. Anindya Dutta (IIT Kharagpur senior, friend & mentor) - ‘Do something so well, that it becomes your signature. Once people recognize your signature, you can sign anything and it’ll become gold’. –>Focus
Mr. Pradip Agarwal (Dad) – ‘Whatever you’ll do, you’ll do well’ –> Confidence
With the above five qualities being imperative to success in anything in life, an entrepreneur needs to be confused, inquisitive and constantly learn and derive inspiration from the surroundings. An entrepreneur needs to shuffle from being a dreamer to a pragmatist, a dictator to a liberal and a myriad of contradictions & complex roles. It is therefore important to be like a Swan - Calm on the surface, but vigorously always paddle underneath.
What can be intrinsic to an individual may be latent or absent in others – after all we are all wired in a different manner. The basic principles that may work for an individual, do not necessarily work for a group. The challenge therefore lies in creating an ecosystem that would manage diversity and make sure that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. For this to happen, there needs to be utmost clarity with respect to the vision, targets, leadership, talents, responsibilities, accountability and incentives.
The most successful societies, organizations and teams have been those that have been able to create a system that gets people to work at the edge of their comfort zone.
Be it a poet, an artist or an entrepreneur, he needs time to reflect in peace and give shape and direction to the turbulences created by the zeal to create and innovate. For the last 6 months or so, I have been trying to encapsulate the gamut of ideas that like entropy keeps on increasing. Perhaps it would be another unsuccessful attempt tonight, but who cares.
Structuring - the quest from amorphous to crystalline continues.
1 comment:
very well written and very honest write up dude!!! Of course you do possess these qualities n in just the right blend! I will cite you a very small example, you might not even remember but it left a lasting immpresion on me about ur ability to think and lead. I think we all were in class 6 or 7 n you were monitoring the class and one of the guy felt feverish and asked the class to switch off the fan but since it was hot outside, n all the students wanted to enjoy the breeze from the fan, they insisted on keeping the fan switched on n I distinctly remember you standing tall and explaining all that "you can tolerate the hot temperature in the classroom and it will not make you sick but that fellow cant stand the fan coz it will make him feel sicker. " And you managed to keep the fan switched off for the rest of the day!!! I just want to tell you today that I really appreciate that gesture!! Keep doing the great work buddy!! :-)
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