Small fish in big pond – Part I

I have completed 9 months in corporate world post my MBA. As expected am a very small fish in the big pond, totally un-noticed by all but the good thing is am still floating. J

One thing I have learnt in last 9 months is that it is very important to listen to the right people, people who have experience and command respect. Listen to them carefully and learn from them.

For instance, there is so much to learn from sports. And thinking of what I have learnt from watching sports, couple of names which come to my mind are Sachin Tendulkar, Imran Khan and Roger Federer.

Everytime I watch Roger Federer play , I cant help but think about his mental frame of mind. This guy has just one aim whenever he steps on to the court, to give his best and Win the match.  Any budding or professional tennis player would dream of playing a grand slam final, but this guy thinks above one level, to win that. And he cries if he fails to do so. That is the bar he has set for himself. Anything less than that is not good enough for him.

I remember meeting one very nice marketing professional when I was travelling from Chennai to Delhi in January end. The talk was regarding climb the corporate ladder and he was sharing his experiences with me. When I told him about my office life and how am dealing with it, he told me that the first important thing is to understand your capabilities and trust them. He told me that if you think you can do job ‘A’ then go and tell it to your clients/manager that you can do it and then complete it. But if you are unsure never commit anything. That is ‘100% success rule’, do what you say. It doesnot matter if you say No to 10 things but it matters a lot if you say yes to 1 thing and fail to deliver it.

Second important thing which he told me and I still remember was to be very clear of choices you make in the professional life. Make a choice, then stick to that choice and set it as the topmost priority. Let everything else take a backseat.

In his words “The first step towards success is to be true to yourself in setting the bar and making the choices. Because in the end its you who has to achieve that bar and stand to the choice”.