Recently, I watched this video of Harsha Bhogle's speech at IIM-A., a speech about talent and the attitude which decides the direction of the talent. Here's the url to those who've missed it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-R8gfbump0
Re-iterating his words, it happens umpteen number of times that we see somebody around us being able to do a certain something at ease and wish we were like them; that we were as talented. At such a weak moment, we donot pause for a moment to even think that it is their attitude with which they have reached that stage; with which they are so good at what they do!
Harsha Bhogle illustrated the example of a person we regard as a legend in today's time – Sachin Tendulkar. I remember, back when I was in middle school - high school, come cricket season, and we used to have arguments at length over one's favorites in the team; a fight for whose idol is the best. Come to think of it, it now strikes me how Sachin has continued to take that stand in people's hearts till date. To top it all, people today quote "I was an atheist until I saw Sachin on the field today". Such is the power of attitude! Of course, while it might be impractical to imagine that with the right attitude, every person will evolve to be World famous like Sachin; it is also pessimistic to rule out the happening altogether! Worst situation, you end up with a clear conscience, a satisfaction on having tried hardest, and a confidence soaring among the clouds…and that doesn't sound bad, does it?
I have seen so many people claim that they have no talent; had a few other people even explaining all that they know and ruling every one of those thing off as something ordinary. A few others have said things like – 'I used to be extremely good at this when I was younger; but I'm out of habit now', etc etc. The right attitude, in my opinion, would be to revive the interest in whatever way is possible, since situations do change as we grow and evolve.
Every time we see somebody excel at something, we think to ourselves…wish I was like him/her; wish I could do something like that; etc etc. The next time we come across such a situation, one should simply stop and genuinely appreciate the goodness that embraces the other person and basically acknowledge the age old preaching that no two people are alike in all manners; and that each person is definitely blessed with something special of their own and inspire oneself to recognize that and exploit it in the right way. That, is attitude.
P.S.: Dedicated to all the elders in my life who have, and continue to inspire me with each talk I have with them; even if it is on the phone.
Special dedication to Amma and Pappa who have always encouraged me to think and reason the way I do
7 comments:
That speech has been a hot topic of discussion in our group. My opinion is, that is a typical 'management talk', needless to add, I don't agree with his point.
Yes attitude is important but talent is more so. Actually what makes no. 1 different than no. 2 is Talent. (Think of Fed, people can argue other's don't have attitude to bit him, but the simple explanation is Fed has a talent. See this video just for an example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u7D3iQxlUo)
We can dissect his speech part by part, but I don't think that is needed. (If you can identify management talks you surely can see what I am saying)
Again, talent is most important, attitude is icing on the cake is what I beleive.
@Nile: I dont completely disagree with you at all. Talent is definitely required to excel in something... but I have to say that its alone not sufficient. There are so many people we come across who are good at something; but somehow never pursue it.
Undoubtedly, legends of the type of Federer, Sachin, etc couldnt be what they are without their respective talents and that is absolutely unquestionable.. What I have tried to highlight here (not a very successful attempt, I guess from the way you've flared out of the blue :D :)), though is that not every person can reach the top and be World famous. We however, can find our peace of mind in pursuing whatever we find ourselves to be good at. And the first step to that is drawing inspiration from people who know what they are good at and humbly strive to be better at it; rather than crib that we are good at nothing, or dont have the time to try and be better at something.
It wasn't the management talk that struck to me. It was more the words...the location is then irrelevant. There was a time when I used to claim too, that I had been keeping so busy that I couldnt spare time to write, and later claimed that I just lost the hang of it. I dont remember very vividly, but had a few people around me encourage me to find that time to pursue what is close to me... and this was what ran through my mind when I heard his Harsha Bhogle's words...ain't that a new angle to it? People give speeches all the while... its just important how you phrase them in a way that targets not just the current and relevant, but even the future and prolly the irrelevant listeners too!
Would love to see what your thoughts are on this view :)
I agree with your response above. Attitude(positive) _is_ important to reach some success.
Harsha talks about attitude 'is most important when you are in that top 2 (or 5?) percent. Which I don't agree with.
Because you started with Harsha's link (though later _I_ couldn't find if you are backing it or not :P) my comment went in that direction. :-)
Its a thought provoking video Sush. I totally agree with you. I dont know if its a typical management stuff or not. But I do believe tat attitude scores more than talent. Even without talent you can almost do great with the right attitude but not vice versa.
@Nile: Does that mean you just read the first line or so and stopped yourself from reading the rest cos you saw the link? :D
In all references, by attitude, I mean only the positive form.. I'd rather not know of the others is my belief :)
@Pri: I couldn't agree more. The reason it was branded off as management talk was it was used to inspire people to fight for that 1st or 2nd position. But, as I said in my earlier comment, it wasnt the intent of the speech, but the words that struck to me, and I tried to bring it down to the ordinary human level out here :)
>>@Nile: Does that mean you just read the first line or so and stopped yourself from reading the rest cos you saw the link? :D<<
Naah! But yes, that link dominated my thought process. :P
(btw, I am so sorry for the way I wrote 'I', damn! I should have used html tag! :-( )
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