Excerpts from Harsha Bhogle's speech at IIMA - this speech was part of a series of seminars at IIMA called 'Face to Face with Achievers of Excellence'.
Excerpts:
* I had this feeling of inadequacy - of how everybody else was better than me. But IIMA accepted me for who I am. That is a huge feeling.
* I will talk based on what all I have allowed to come into my system over the years.
* Ambition needs a driver - sometimes the 'ends' provide the driver.
* There are 2 approaches -
1. the end as a driver of ambition
2. the journey as a source of joy
* The end as a driver of ambition often is a source of anxiety - adds to the degree of turbulence / entropy.
Sometimes, the focus on the end removes the focus from the means - are we treading the right path?
* They gave Yuvraj Singh a different set of goals which helped him succeed.
* People come to IIMA to build careers - not to earn a starting salary.
* One of the easiest ways to excellence is to work as hard as you can and to do your best whenever you can.
* Harsha Bhogle on the tour of Australia - worked for free, wrote ghost columns for Border. Take care of the runs - the dollars will take care of themselves.
* Chase your performance goals - chase your professional goals - let the result take care of itself.
Perfect the process of performance - dont allow the pressure of the result to choke your performance.
Eg. of the above concept: The swimmer in lane 4 has no control over what the swimmer in lane 5 is doing. If he starts worrying about it (something he has no control over) then he's spoiling his performance.
* Everything I have done is because I have loved it.
* Adherence to ethics helps you to have peace of mind.
* Focus on execllence in preparation and performance. Set yourself perfromance goals, not result goals.
* Give everything your 100% - give every moment 100%.
You never know who's reading what - you never know who's watching what - you never know where's the next big opportunity is coming from - that's the beauty of giving your 100% every single time.
* Quran: Lord helps those who give their best.
* When we lose - we seek excuses. People who are excellent never say - I was great BUT..
That just means you are putting the blame on somebody else. This means, you are not great already.
* If 'being wrong' is in your possibility map, then you do go wrong..
* Never grudge anyone their success - cos when you are successful, they will grudge your success.
* How do you motivate yourself to do No. 40 after you have done 39 eisodes? You tell yourself that No. 40 is all I have wanted to do!
There is a certain pride is giving everything a 100% every moment and to everything.
* Always seek people who are better than you. The moment you surround yourself with people who are NOT better than you - you stop growing. For a very selfish reason, always surround yourself with people who are better than you.
* When I started out, I had no one to look up to. I had no heroes. So I hung around with the crew. My hero was the was cameraman who said 'I have never missed a stumping in my life'. My heroes were all technicians.
* When we reach a certain level, we start surrounding ourselves with smaller people. Or - we start hating criticism. on the path to excellence, it is always very crucial to have people around you who can tell you whether you are doing right or wrong.
DONT EVER MARRY A FAN. Marry a girl who will tell you whn you are wrong. Only then will your marriage survive.
* Arrogance often comes in the way of excellence.
* Playing non-striker: I was willing to be a non-striker. I wanted to be extremely good at something - I knew I couldn't be the best batsman. I genuinely wanted to be a great fielder. I wanted to be a very good fielder.
* Initially I tried to compete with the other commentators. They all asked 'How much cricket have you played?'
But I dropped my ego and said that what I want to prove is that I understand the game very well - and for that I dont need to have played a lot of cricket.
Besides, if I make my guests on the show more comfortable, they perform better.
So, part of my job is to make Sunil Gavaskar look better..
* If you have ego and anger on your side, you dont need an opponent. I try not to have an ego.
Subjugate the self - lose the EGO.
* I love what I am doing. I have the greatest job in the world.
* Beyond a certain level, ability or talent is the most useless virtue to have. What matters is attitude. Beyond a point, talent is not useful as it doesn't solve problems - it breeds an ego. Its important what you do with that talent.
* Some people have always used their talent to succeed. So they dont know how to succeed in case you failed.
* Everybody in the top 10% will have the same talent. So what's your USP?
You work ethic and attitude counts for far far more than your talent.
* Sachin played 55 days in a row - that's attitude! Tendulkar's work ethic, attitude and passion produced the 55 hundreds. Talent might open the firt door, second door - but surely not the last door.
* When you make a mistake, what's the first reaction? The more mistakes you make, the more you know what not to do. Excellence is as much about knowing what to do - as about knowing what not to do.If you can be excellent at not knowing what NOT to do, you will know what to do.
* Everybody in life is allowed to make mistakes - it is the second or third mistake that you are not allowed to make.
* Excellence is about desire: 'I'll not let a single ball go past me.' ; 'Hit one more to me'
* To excel in a profession, you need to know everything about the profession -
When I entered television, I told myself - I will learn everything that is needed to be learnt.
* What is luck?
You make things happnen for yourself.
It is a combination of preparation and recognition.
* Are you willing to work your backside off when no one is watching? It not only means you are ready for the opportunity when it comes - but it also means that you are earlier to spot the opportunity.
* 'During the football worldcup in 1986, Gary Linekar happened to be in the right position because he knew what the right position was.'
* Lance Armstrong: I dont win the Tour De France on the last day. I win it when I am riding in thee mountains in the winters when nobody wants to ride.
* Are we willing to work even when the opportunity is not obvious?
* Excellence raises its game when the moment comes. Excellence is about humility. If you are not humble, you will not be willing to hang around, to do the things it takes to seize the opportunity when it comes.
* Did I make my luck by calling?
* Being excellent is also about having the confidence to share knowledge - if you are not comfortable sharing knowledge, you are insecure. Excellence is not insecure.
* Some of us never know how good we can be. People who have achieved excellence have always been ready to stretch their own limits. (When will you be ready to take chances? When you are ready to face the results - when you are sure of yourself.)
'Let me try and see what happens. What is the worst thing that will happen? You'll fail. Are you scared of failure? You will also know what you cannot do. All of us learn by trying.
* Excellence is always in the present. Sometimes, we are too anxious about the future - sometimes we are too caught up in the past. You must make the most of what you have now. People for whom the past is more glorious than the present will never succeed! Excellence lives in the present.
* 'Khudi ko kar buland itna,
Ki har taqdeer se pehle khuda tujhse pooche,
Ki bataa teri raza kya hai?'
Posts
