In our search for a formula for inspiration-so necessary
to energise cynical individuals, sluggish firms and even nascent industries and
fledgling economies my colleague and co-author of our recent book
“Inspired,” Manjiri Gokhale, hit upon a true elixir for inspiration —
passion osmosis ! And as events unfold in the current year with software
continuing to grow and other industries following in its footsteps to blaze new
trails, the value of passion osmosis is becoming very evident in the old and new
success stories that hit the pages of the business papers and, of course, the
Top 20 issues of Dataquest!
Passion is the most common word doing the rounds of
corporate circles in current times. It is as if performance evaluators have
finally hit upon the missing component of superlative execution. Passion is what
differentiates the best from the second best, the outstanding from the
excellent.
Passionate individuals can be spotted easily in a crowd.
The difference is not in the way they look or dress, but the sense of purpose
they exude. In a room full of people involved in similar tasks, the passionate
soul would be the first to raise a hand to share an idea and enthusiastically
volunteer to take up additional responsibility. These individuals also display a
high sense of ownership and will often successfully piece together multiple
aspects of a project and offer valuable inputs.
Passion is what differentiates the best from the second best, the outstanding from the excellent |
More often than not, they introduce a human element to even
the most mechanical tasks assigned to them. Given all that is positive in
passionate individuals, most good organizations quickly recognize them as top
performers and entrust them with the enhanced responsibility of leading teams.
It is here that the greatest challenge for the passionate performer begins...
that infusing passion into each of individual they lead.
This is where the importance of passion osmosis really
becomes apparent ! The ability to transfer passion through words and deeds is
what differentiates our top software leaders-Shiv Nadar, Azim Premji, Narayan
Murthy and FC Kohli have all demonstrated this ability and created worthy
successors like Ramadorai, Nandan etc and even though one cannot conclude that
the entire team of the organizations they lead have the same passion, the energy
they have transferred appears enough to take them through at least one more
generation of growth..
The transference of passion in organisations needs to
happen using a judicious mix of active and passive communication-leading by
example, and peppering delegation with sound advice and energy. Only if team
members see excellence, will they begin to emulate it. When they witness
commitment by managers and the results it brings, they too will be motivated to
put in more.
As one more year unfolds and Indian IT continues to face
many old challenges and some new ones-the urgent need to find and retain high
class talent, to build an eco-system of innovation, to integrate IT and BPO
services and provide a truly seamless end-to-end value proposition for global
customers. There is also the pressing need to keep at bay the cassandras who
worry about data and information security, the China factor, the runaway costs
etc-all these and more have to be addressed and mastered with a high degree of
energy and passion. That and only that will power us on to continuing success!