Creating a strategy for growth

“I don't think this seed will stand a chance mother,” said the girl as she planted the seed half-heartedly. The seed heard it and couldn't help but agree. It looked withered, dry and deformed.

“She is right” said the seed as it contracted itself and shivered. As it contracted, the pain increased and in the pain, unknown to the seed, things changed. After the spell of rain, a tentative root emerged, and then a shoot, and soon enough, the seed that had almost given up was one of the most beautiful plants in the flowerbed and became the favourite in the entire garden!

All of us are like the seed at many levels. Our growth, what we need and the environment around us are not very different either. Successful people who have grown in their lives (and, therefore, their careers), have done some of the following:

Why will you be different?

Today, we live in an age of opportunity — what were not even options in past generations can be thriving options today, with a lifetime of rewarding work and money to look forward to. This boon of opportunity is also a bane because increased opportunities are today balanced by a vastly increased number of people, who are all equally brilliant and capable, vying to become the best in what they do.

In such a situation, doing good work is important to keep us in the race, but we should also be speaking about it. I have noticed that most, if not all the people who I have come across and who have dared to be different and are successful, have adhered to the simple but timeless values. They are honest, ethical, not always successful in the short-term, but are firmly convinced that their cause will be for the greater good, without affecting anybody unfairly.

If these were the boundaries, how would you be different in what you are doing today and let it be known that you are indeed different?

Making others win

Personal growth today is seldom at the cost of others, more often, it is because of others. Senior leaders may have risen because they were great taskmasters or content experts. But those who land the enterprise-wide positions with the largest span of authority and responsibility are those who take the team with them. What would you have to do or stop doing, for your team to say that you have been the cornerstone of their success?

Different facets worth exploring

Also, spare some thought for what you want to nurture and grow. Of course, work and the tasks that go with it are important, but beyond that, what else?

The very fact that you are able to read this paper is a testament to the many gifts you have received; something that millions of others of your age do not have — the ability to read, the good fortune of a job, access to newspapers.

For all these benefits, can you grow spiritually by also giving back to society and see personal growth through that?

Creating a strategy is one thing, but executing it is quite another. However, I strongly feel that if the end serves a larger purpose and is framed ethically, the means to achieve it will also be large-hearted and ethical. I have made a few small baby steps in mine and I wish you the best as a fellow traveller.

(The writer works with the Infosys Leadership Institute. The views represented here are not necessarily those of his employer. He can be contacted at >pradeep_chakravarthy@infosys.com )

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