Be the best that you can be

Excellence is a never ending journey in life. It is like a journey ,with no destination in sight. We can improve ourselves every day of our lives and in every way. The best examples of practising excellence ,are our sportspersons. Even the world champions in any sport, never think they have arrived. They always think, they have a lot more to learn and do to excel in their sport.

Being in the HR function, I have been asked by many employees as to -“how do i plan my career ?” . I would always say – try to excel in whatever you do. Be the best that you can be and nobody can ignore you ,in your career. Imagine a cricketer scoring consistently in domestic tournaments ,year after year. The selectors may find it difficult to ignore him for the national team ,unless they are open to public criticism ,after they have selected the team.

The path to excellence is a quest in quality. We can and may be ,we should never consider ourselves, as arrived ,in whatever we do. If we are a painter, we could be the best in the state or the country. We could even become one of the best in the world. But, the journey cannot end there. What do you need to do to remain ,on top of the world ?

The best musicians across the world in vocal or instrumental will not rest with a grammy award or any other world recognition. They are aware that although they may have attained global recognition, there is still a lot to learn and grow. They will continue to practise every single day and strive for excellence ,in whichever branch of music they pursue.

Life is no different. We may be working in any field. We may be a student, a junior at the work place or the CEO of a company. We may be running a successful business or even a sportsperson, who has won the gold at the last Olympics. It does not matter. We need to realise that the quest for excellence ,for all of us , is a never ending journey.

We need to continually strive to be the best we can be ,at a particular time . If we relax at that point of time, we may be left behind and others may overtake us. The journey to excellence is a life long one. We cannot rest ,unless we do not want to be the best.

I have met people from different walks of life. Ordinary people with extra ordinary dreams. They set their goal and work towards it, with zest. They do not rest even after they have achieved their best. This is because they realise ,that even a world record ,does not remain static for ever. What was the best and a world record in the last olympics ,may not even qualify for the next olympics.

We need to learn and grow every single day ,of our lives. We need to reset our goals ,as soon as we achieve them ,if we strive to be the best in whatever we do. There is no end game ,for excellence. There could be milestones along the way but the end will always be ,like an elusive dream. We need to strive to achieve the impossible ,by continuously striving to be the best.

Let the journey of excellence for us begin today.

S Ramesh Shankar

20th Jan 2025

Comparisons in life

We seem to be living and dying by comparisons ,every day of our lives. Unfortunately our education system is based on comparisons and so is our societal system. Even within the social unit of family, parents tend to compare and contrast between children.

We have heard parents asking us – “ Why can’t you do as well as your sister or brother ?” We even buy bigger cars because our neighbour has bought one and how can we be left behind. Life is full of comparisons from morning to night.

In my view, life becomes a competitive race only because we live by comparisons. If the neighbour’s child has got admission in a business school or medical or engineering college, parents wonder why ours could not make it. They even fail to understand that we are interested in music and not in business, engineering or medical.

The seeds of comparison is embedded in our blood stream. As soon as we are born, someone may even comment ,that we are not as fair as our siblings. As we grow up, we may be told, we are not as active and smart, as our neighbour’s child. This string of comparisons continues in school, college and even at the workplace.

Let us start from the family. Parents tend to compare and contrast between children. Sometimes even gender discrimination happens within the family. A daughter is told why she is not as smart as the son or vice versa.

This comparison saga continues in the schools. Teachers tend to compare children and ask kids poor in academics ,why they cannot be as smart as the topper in the class. This happens in all aspects of school and college life.

Both parents and teachers ,do not have the time or the inclination to explore what the child wants to excel in. A child may be brilliant in music and another may be a potential sportsperson, capable of representing the country. If both teachers and parents invest their time in assessing and the enabling the child to explore his or her talent and skill, this system of comparisons ,may not harm kids.

Even after you complete your education and get into the precincts of an organisation, leaders tend to compare employees. They wonder, why some employees always excel while others have to be prodded, to even perform. Leaders fail to realise that they have a role to play in identifying what each employee can do best. Some may be creative while others may be analytical. Many managers force creative people to do analytical jobs and vice versa. This leads to wrong comparisons and poor assessments ,ultimately leading to demotivated employees too.

Even societies and nations ,tend to compare and ridicule each other based on their, biased yardsticks of performance. While one country may consider economic prosperity as their goal, another might think happiness is the most important factor ,for their nation. There could be nothing wrong in either. But to compare the incomparable seems to be the order of the day.

Let us learn to live in absolute, from today and discover our real potential as individuals, families, societies and nations.

S Ramesh Shankar

19th Jan 2025

Way we speak vis a vis what we speak

Most of us tend to speak ,more than we listen. Although, God has given us two ears and one mouth, we listen probably half as much ,as we speak and not the other way around.

The most important thing to remember is that, the way we speak is more important than even, what we speak. I am not for one saying ,that we can speak non sense and get away with it. Here, I am assuming that most of us will speak sense ,most of the time.

But, let us examine why it is important to remember ,that the way we speak is even more important than what we speak. Let us start from the family itself. Most kids will be happy to listen to their mothers rather than their fathers. The reason for this is that ,most mothers will find the most appropriate way to discipline a child or give a feedback. Most fathers are abrupt and many a time lose their cool ,even before they give their feedback.

I should confess that we cannot and should not generalise on these things. I could be completely wrong, as some fathers are much more patient than the mothers. But, the majority may fall in the category of impatient fathers and patient mothers.

So, when a mother gives feedback to the child, the child listens and is willing to change. The reason is ,not that the feedback of the father ,was untruthful. Rather, it was because the way the mother spoke to the child and gave feedback at the right place and right time, made all the difference.

If we extend this to the organisation, the scenario is not very different. Some managers are liked by employees, while others are not. In most situations, the hard skills are similar but the soft skills of the managers are different. For example, when a manager gives feedback to an employee in private and in a congenial environment, the employee listens and is likely to improve. On the other hand, a very accurate feedback given by a manager in public and in a rude tone ,will never be accepted and acted upon ,by most employees.

Gandhiji’s famous quote states – “ The means to an end is as important as the end itself”. This is equally applicable in this context. The way we speak is as important as what we speak. We may sometimes wonder why some people are admired and actively listened to ,while others are not. The reason, mostly may lie on the way ,they deal with people rather than what they deal with.

Even a captain in a sports field is respected for the way they treat their team members and how they give feedback. The content of feedback between two captains ,may not be very different. But, one who takes care of the process of feedback is respected more than the one, who does not.

We all experience the way we are treated by others. We feel good when others treat us with respect and dignity. We feel good when language used is decent and appreciation is always done in public but criticism in private and not the other way around.

Let us learn to focus on the way we speak ,as much as what we speak from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

19th Jan 2025