Tuesday, December 06, 2011

"People who don't feel significant, rarely make significant contributions" - Mark Sanborn

“People who don't feel significant, rarely make significant contributions” - Mark Sanborn

This quote by Mark Sanborn has made an indelible impression on my mind. I write this with the realization that I see the quote being not only meaningful but also providing visibility into things that we see around us practically every single day.

I have always found individuals who are proud of what they do, their role, the work they do and the group and unit they belong to. Invariably these are also individuals who think of themselves as significant, as important.

On the other hand there are individuals who are not so proud, they want to keep under wraps the work they do, they are not very keen talking about their real role, they do not seem readily willing to disclose the team and the unit they are part of. One part of me thinks this is simply a shy individual, another sees an individual who is not confident about himself/herself, someone who is not very sure about the work they do, someone who does not “like” to be associated with the team and the unit.

My mind then goes back to performance – which is at the heart of it all! Can such an individual who is not confident, not sure, does not like to be associated with the team and the unit be able to accomplish something substantial? With the kinds of expectations and the fact that these are also ever increasing, Can such individuals understand these goals and expectations and exceed them through their passion, hard work, determination and a go-getter attitude? Seems like a task, but in my experience it would be extremely difficult and in majority of the cases the results would be failure to perform at par.

Would these individuals who are not so proud….etc. never perform well? Not really, these individuals are also those that are amongst the once most scared and this fear makes them perform at par. But this performance would be in areas where one is seeking performance for compliance, someone who has to stick to a routine, follow a standard work pattern etc. When it comes to creating something innovative, questioning the status quo, changing things the way they have happened in the past, taking risks, taking the lead, these individuals would ideally have a very tough time. The cynicism that stitches around oneself when one is not proud of what they do, would stifle away the initiative that is required to do these things.

If we notice the pattern of things that have worked well around us and those that have fizzled out or haven’t had expected success, we could clearly notice this difference. These are also insights one needs to carry while one begins a new initiative or hires individuals for specific roles.

One advantage we have in our teams is that we largely have people of the first kind, those who are proud of what they do, sure about themselves and confident about the things that they wish to accomplish! No wonder then that we should see a lot more success in the days to come!

Be a proud Quality professional, take pride in what you do and do not hesitate to talk about your role and work with the confidence that it deserves the next time you meet someone!

My name is Naresh Choudhary, I Head the Tools Group and I am part of the Quality and Prodcutivity Unit @ Infosys Ltd.

2 comments:

Resh said...

Very true... Need to love and be proud of what we do.

Unknown said...

Excellently articulated. Truly Inspirational.