Sunday, November 15, 2009

Hard Work and Success

Have you ever realized who says, "money is not everything"? Many people have asked me to focus on work. They say hard work leads to success. If you tell them luck does play a very important role, they completely disagree. The reason? They have never been in your shoes. They are the ones who sit above and preach. Very rarely do people working just like you say this, and, most of the time, it is just to bring a smile on your face when you're warped.

Recently, I heard one of the best impromptu speeches. The speaker said, "In 10 years I have grown so much within the same organization. My company has given me the chance to perform 7 different roles in 10 years. Opportunities lie everywhere. We need to be open to changes." I was impressed, very impressed. So impressed that I began ruminating. Only then did I realize that had I done the same thing, the same man would call it INSTABILITY. Now that he has done it, the definition changes. It's called OPPORTUNITY.

I had the opportunity to listen to another great speaker. She said, "Our life at work is like a marathon. We need to keep working. Continuous effort will lead to success. Wait for some more time. Don't hurry. In the long run, you will surely be happy with your work". Is that so? Does it really take so long to succeed? Is it really like a marathon? I don't know. Will the same person listen to me if I tell her the same thing about the company she works in? If I tell her, "Wait for some time. Don't hurry. It's a marathon. Everyone is working hard. The company will grow slowly. Try to understand. It's a marathon". Had I said this to one of the top heads in my company, if not for the salary hike letter, I would surely receive my termination letter the very next minute. The company would not need such laid-back, easygoing employees. Here again, we see the difference. When it comes to your personal growth in the company, it's a marathon. When it comes to the growth of the company or the top-level executives, it's a sprint.

Have you ever been tortured with lengthy lectures when piles and piles of work was pending at your desk? I have. Too much of work had been the issue. We were overloaded with work during that period. We complained with sad faces hoping that the speaker would shorten the lecture. The result? A two-hour lecture on time management when we hardly had a few seconds to spare. The speaker, or, the so-called problem solver, was someone who was hired only to deliver useless speeches. He knew about the work we did and knew the step-by-step process. The sad part, however, was that he was a man of words whose main intention was only to waste everybody's precious time. We would have highly appreciated it if the man had given a practical demo by completing the same work in a shorter time. But he wouldn't. He knew the speech wasn't practical enough to prove it. Finally, we shut our big mouths realizing the need to get back to work. Would it not have been a lot better if his position was cut down and someone work-worthy was hired?

Moral of the Story: Next time someone tells you "The only secret behind my success is HARD WORK", ask him/her "WHOSE???" It surely can't be that person's hard work.

12 comments:

  1. Sarcasm at its best huh?? :D I totally remember the times when this particular pain in the neck had very unique set of advices which basically made you feel - if you have done well credit goes to them, if you have not, the blame is laid square on you! Most jobs are thankless but if the money at the end of the month makes it a little better, only a little ! And interesting cartoon!! :D

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  2. Are you talking about our dear "Starrer"?

    Among all the people I know, he is the best one to fit in to the role you descibed above... :-)

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  3. Oops........ I got it wrong the first time.... Now I know who it is...... he he he

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  4. i sooooooo kno who this is.... he is one man who is a ##$$$$%%

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  5. hahah..good one the last para..but dunno..hard work does pay as everyone knows..what u say iss also true that someone else benefits fm o0ur hard work..bahhhh:( i am so confused....

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  6. only thing i am not confused abt is u r a good writer :)

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  7. I agree with you about some points like how people who are in the top executive bracket are allowed to make generic, sweeping statements about nearly everything under the sun while many of us have to make up for lost time. However, I strongly believe that my growth is linked to my hard work more than anybodyelse.

    Your post was interesting but if you look at it objectively, you may be able to identify areas that sprung from a sense of helplessness at work or difficulty in terms of openly communicating what you feel with others. I could be wrong but it's just my take on your post. Keep up the good writing and stay positive. Everything is meant to happen so that we learn something from it.

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  8. Ashwini, Anonymous and Shine; all three absolutely right.

    Ramesh, you just made my day.

    Yes Ramesh and Swapna...You people are right. May be I was looking only at the few who have climbed up the ladder the wrong way. Hard work does pay. Just that we need to work hard and more than that, work smart. And yes Swapna, I will stay positive :)

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  9. I loved the analogy to the marathon and also your twist to it :)As they say, Hardwork has a future payoff but laziness pays of now! ..I not only believe in it but rely on it whole heartedly..hehee

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  10. Thank you Rohit for stopping by.

    Your comment; very funny :) :)

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  11. There is a saying 'sucess is a matter of luck.ask any failure!' n i m sure who wrote this quote never succeeded.lol.nice blog

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  12. Welcome to my blog Poorni and a big thank you :)

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