And the river flows....

In people management there are two types of success. A person may think himself to be successful by climbing the ladder, pushing others aside. Or a person can earn success by climbing the ladder and taking others along. The second type is rare. But the rare phenomenon is precious. Without moral authority, success is never complete. Every organization, small or big usually have both these types. Small islands of first type in the sea of second type; usually. Organizations need second type people to survive. The illusion that the first type is better to keep control sometimes allows these islands to grow.

 Let us analyze the logical fallout of the first type. The first type shows confidence and even over confidence but at the same time makes a circle of like-minded people. Within a small organization there become “his” people and “other” people. His people gets all the benefit and other people get what remains. First type is always fearful of the fall from the height. So does not allow anyone to prosper. The liberties are the first casualty. Keeping an eye on people, or hiring eyes to keep an eye becomes necessary. As a result, it lacks inclusiveness. Motivation level of the team goes down. Authority shrinks to a few hands and empowerment becomes a mirage. Failures are either hushed under the carpet or circumstances and other people are blamed for the failure. Debate and giving true opinion slowly dies out of fear. The team despises the leadership and the gulf between individuals widens. When the testing time comes, the team fails miserably because of lack of motivation and because of lack of belief in leadership.

The second type on the other hand climb the ladder because of their knowledge, energy, humility and ability. They value people. They are not fearful. They encourage empowerment. They train people and ask them to try and work independently. They develop synergy. They promote a culture of constructive debate to find new ways of doing work, to reach to the higher avenues. They hire people better than themselves to help them progress further. This starts revolving the wheel of fortune. The people work as one team in easier times and more so in difficult times. Team always shows positive attitude and energy and the fear of failure becomes nonexistent. Team respects the leadership and believes things are in good hands. Failures are not hidden but debated to identify weaknesses and take actions to correct the course.

In professional life, no matter one is stuck on the island or floating on the sea, positivity should prevail. Be like a river. With full of energy and determination. Powerful waves break all the boundaries, overcome all the hurdles, no matter how strong the dam is, but the tide cannot be stopped for long. Either the gates are opened so that the water is allowed to pass through, or the Dam cannot withstand. The river has to flow, even if it has to change its course, but that too with energy, determination and force. Flowing is natural, stopping is death. Sometimes the waves are calmer but even then the power within is not lost.

Successful people have one thing in common, they do not stop. They do not accept failure and keep striving, changing their strategy to reach the goal, learning from failures. No matter how long it takes, they never lose hope. During their course they keep their viaticum with them i.e. moral value, hope and humility.