CSVS - My learning's on what differentiates the best talent from rest!

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist. 

Unfortunately, merely ‘wanting’ something does not suffice. The universe conspires to give you success only when you work towards what you want. Like they say, ‘there is no such thing in life as a free lunch’.

Everyone aspires to reach the top in their career. I haven't seen anyone who doesn't think that they aren't good, if not better than others. However, who decides who is better and who is average? 

If you can honestly reflect upon your strengths and flaws, then you are the best positioned to judge yourself. All you need to do is to look at things objectively rather than subjectively. In the field of social psychology, this is called illusory superiority - a condition of cognitive bias wherein people overestimate their own qualities and abilities, in relation to the same qualities and abilities of other people. One interesting example is a survey conducted in Sweden and the United States where drivers were asked to compare their driving skills and safety to those of other people. For driving skills, 93% of the U.S. sample and 69% of the Swedish sample put themselves in the top 50%!

More than a decade back, over a drinks’ conversation, my HR shared with me that he was astounded by the great vibes that he got from my team members and the high retention rates. He wanted to know what magic spells I used on my employees to elicit such commitment and job satisfaction. Post that conversation, I reflected on my approach and the way I worked with my employees. I formalized my thoughts into a model that I abbreviated as the CSVS philosophy. 

C - 'Core Responsibility' - One gets hired for a "Job" and assigned a "Responsibility". If an individual delivers 100% of what is expected out of the role, then it should be just seen as a job well done and delivered along expected lines. Nothing more than meeting the basic expectations. 

S - 'Strategic Thought-process' - Strategy is not just the leadership's prerogative and can be demonstrated by individuals through their approach and thinking. For example, in an IT operations team, most people try to solve a problem quickly. However, a few of them work to eliminate the root cause so that problem is not repeated in future. These are the ones that demonstrate a strategic thought process in their own scope. Strategic mindset differentiates "men from boys"!  

V - 'Value Addition' - While people are hired for a purpose, they must reflect upon what they are bringing to the table? Individuals are appreciated in a team when they bring in 'value' above and beyond what they are expected to do. For example, bring a tech gig to their team, volunteer for community service or organize charity events. 

S - 'Self-Development' – Benjamin Franklin famously quoted, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest". This clearly underscores the relevance of self-development. Despite excelling on the three factors listed above, if one doesn't focus on 'Self-development', it can become a career limiting factor. Further, self-development is not a one-time exercise. It is a continuous process to learn new things and grow as an individual. 

Over the years, I have been using the CSVS philosophy formally/informally with my employees to reflect on their individual performance as well as help them work on areas of improvement. On the day I complete 25 years of professional life, I wanted to reflect on my approach and share my learnings. It has been my privilege to play an enabling role and create a positive impact on my teams over the last many years. My biggest joy is in seeing them do so well in their respective careers across diverse fields and companies.