Who doesn't want
to be rich, famous and powerful?
Who doesn't want
to be successful?
Success, to almost
all of us, is being rich, famous and powerful. But are these the only
manifestations of success? What happens when one hits the apogee? How does the
CEO of a mega business empire seek to continue his rise in positional hierarchy?
Does his success hit the wall? How does an individual, having become the
premier of a super power continue his success story? Has he too hit the wall? Does
the flux in the Forbes list indicate climb to and fall from success?
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| Talk on the subject at MILIT, Pune |
There is an unending list of publications
and papers on various aspects of success. Market is flooded with books that
prescribe easy ways to become successful. If all those who read it became half
as successful, with so many dying to be rich, famous and powerful, there could
be a stampede in every shop that sold such books and those who authored such
books would either have already been hiding somewhere or spending time in
captivity tutoring those who abducted them.
Amidst this maze of publications, a
research paper titled “Success that Lasts” was published by Laura Nash and Howard Stevenson in Harvard Business Review issue
of February 2004. It introduces, “Happiness, (Feelings of pleasure or contentment about
life)”, “Achievement (accomplishments that compare favourably against
similar goals others have strived for)”, “Significance (the sense that you made
a positive impact on people you care about)” and “Legacy (a way to
establish your values or accomplishments so as to help others find future
success”, as four irreducible components of “enduring success”.
According to the paper, each factor, characteristically different, satisfies
different needs of an individual and draws on distinctive emotional drives. Low
probability of simultaneous and significant achievements in each of the four
categories notwithstanding, the authors claim that deficiency in any one component makes success feel less
real.
Abraham Maslow and Success
If one delves a little deeper into the
article, on can correlate and superimpose the research findings over Abraham
Maslow's hierarchy model. While ‘Achievements’ form the building
blocks of success and caters initially to physiological needs, the
accomplishments that achieve “significance’ relate to social and esteem needs. In
further pursuits when one reaches higher in the hierarchy to sublime levels,
legacies are created. If “happiness”, is not an integral element in the efforts
of the individual, then, pursuit of success is likely to be short lived.
Secret of Success
There is something
sinister in the way success grants audience. There are millions trying ‘tested’
and ‘proven’ ways and means but don’t ever get anywhere near success whereas
there are few, seemingly with nothing, who break the ceiling. Business schools
are flooded with such case studies. Their meteoric rise, in almost all cases,
were fuelled by some USP. Like market dynamics that ensure high profit margins for
USP driven goods and services, success adopts exponential
path for ‘the
unique’ while those copying proven success formulae must
content with incremental growth. Though, copying "Habits
of the Ten most successful People " would definitely help us understand successful
individuals better, the outcome is normally a rich and happy author besides a
reader looking out for more ‘easy ways’ to be successful. Seldom discussed and often missed out is one
trait common to all successful people, their power to communicate.
The secret of an
individual’s success, embedded deep in his very being, is the manner in which he
communicates. Communication referred to here, is
not about glib smart talk, but about serious intra / inter personal
communication and resultant actions.
Much like a powerful source of light that brightens large areas,
meaningful effective actions and interpersonal communication can emanate only
from strong foundations of intra personal communication.
Intrapersonal Communication
Intrapersonal
communication is a form of self-talk between the subconscious and the
self-conscious. For it to be effective, it must originate from competencies that
have been identified or created and then nurtured and refined by meaningful
catharsis that are guided by strong belief and convictions. If an
individual finds happiness in this process, it eventually becomes a
self-sustaining reinforcing cycle that promotes continually and consistently
improving competence. The fundamental building blocks of success germinate from
unique ideas backed by strong competencies and unwavering conviction in the
probability of its success. Creating a rationale (why) is inevitable to sustain
a pursuit that would turn arduous at some stage. It is this "why"
that would fuel the fire that eventually creates legacies.
Empowering Intrapersonal Communication
The first and foremost requisite
for fruitful intrapersonal communication is ‘belief in oneself’. Despite all misgivings about oneself and negatives
one would invariably receive in the arduous journey to the zenith, it is important
to start believing in oneself, and steadfastly enough sooner than later. After all, if one cannot truly believe in
oneself, one cannot expect others to. In
order to reinforce self-belief, it is very important to repeatedly affirm faith
in one's sense of purpose and abilities. This would swiftly lead to objective evaluation
of one's own core competency and thereafter its improvement.
In order to remain committed and
to persist with the success-journey, it is important that one restate one’s
commitment as often as possible. As time
goes by one starts to hear the inner voice louder, clearer and more supportive.
Soon, self-doubts ebb away and vanish, barbs and ridicules become
inconsequential and the light within shines bright enough for others, first to
see and then follow. Then, it is time to sow goals to reap success.
Setting Goals
It becomes easy to set goals in
a clutter free realm of intrapersonal communication. While setting goals, it is often the
individual who limits his reach. There
is no end to dreaming big, thinking big and then reaping big. It is difficult to aim high and miss it, but easier
to aim low and hit it. However, it will
be easy and motivating, if goals are calibrated for the time ahead and written
down, in as much specifics as specific can be. It would definitely help if these
goals can be fed with the existing core competencies of the individual. Else time
has to be set aside for achieving requisite competencies.
The Dubious Safety Net
Conditioned by value systems, self-doubts
and fanned by fears of the unknown individuals become their worst critics and their
own nemesis. Human brain is hardwired to ensure safe, smooth and obstacle free existential
journey. While it may risk
inconsistencies occasionally, it normally forbids individuals from taking risks.
Thus, human brains are conditioned to follow the ‘status quo’ providing us a
path of least resistance. Sight of
silent suffering majority subjugated by violent minuscule minority in
communities across the world is the result of status quo brains that perpetuate
“boiling frog” syndrome across cultures.
Status quo option apparently ensures
one a safe journey in life, but it will certainly be as one faceless entity in
a teeming million. In such a journey one can forget creating a legacy or of
being any relevance. This, at its best, is existence and not living.
Success in such a
journey would be limited to meaningless longevity of life with nothing worth
the time spent. In order to create something worthy of being called "success",
one needs to get rid of the safety net, overcome fear of failure and pursue
life with hope of success. It is often said that there are no hopeless
situations but people who have grown hopeless about the situation.
Interpersonal Communication
Armed with requisite competencies, standing
atop strong foundations of value driven self-talk, safety nets can be cast off
while dealing with the world outside.
This manifests as meaningful purpose oriented interpersonal
communication. Self-belief and strong competencies naturally and effortlessly transform
one's body posters and signals it sends out.
Contemporaries and competitors would without fail, take note of the
strong sense of purpose and invincibility effortlessly emanating from such an
individual. Negotiations and bargains
naturally turn in their favour and their ability to motivate colleagues and compel
adversaries to fall in line becomes legendary. When one really stands on firm terra
firma, there is no need to put on facades to hide inadequacies. While many who
fake it, end up being arrogant, in the false belief that it could be seen as
confidence. But such masks seldom last
beyond one meeting.
Climbing
the Success Ladder
In order to climb
a success ladder, it is important for one to first decide the legacy one wants
to leave behind, to whom and to what extent one should become relevant. One must then earnestly set out to acquire requisite
competencies. The defining moment in the journey comes when one befriends one’s
own subconscious and learn to harness its might through seamless communication.
Casting out the fear of failure and setting out in the hope of success would
help one achieve success that can truly be called legacy in one's own lifetime.
The journey to success starts with the communication between the self-conscious
and subconscious.
