Friday, February 1, 2013

'Uttama'...'Madhyama'...'Adhama'...


I recollect a story that I had read as a young boy...

...That of a seasoned businessman living happily with his wife and three children. Having built a successful business, having educated his children well & having lived a fulfilling life thus far; the old man desired to induct his children into the family business.

But he also had a daunting task ahead of him, to identify the most competent of the three sons as the future leader. One who could develop the business further.

With a fair intent to give an equal opportunity and select the true leader, the business man decided to put to test all three of his sons. He asked each of them to collect a due amount from three of his customers.

The 1st son went and found that the customer was not available in the office. He returned home empty handed & disappointed.

The 2nd son too found that his customer was Out-Of-Office, but enquired to find that his customer would be back the next day. He promptly decided to stay overnight and came home the next day successfully collecting the amount.

The story wasn’t any different with the 3rd son; he also decided to station overnight to collect the due amount but effectively used the time to meet other stakeholders and gather information on the suppliers & the potential demand thereby enhancing the possibility of a larger order.  

The astute businessman was happy that his children returned home safe and extremely happy that his decision was made.

He announced his 3rd son as the future leader.

Mere execution without focus on outcome equates to - ‘Adhama’ (Inferior), execution with focus on objective to - ‘Madhyama’ (Average) and above all, execution with an intent and passion to accomplish the task, redefine objective & achieve a greater goal is... ‘Uttama’ (Superior).

Let’s build an “Uttama” team.

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