Words of Wisdom - Azim Premji to Professionals

Words of Wisdom - Azim Premji to Professionals

Here are some powerful advice from Azim Premji,Chairman, Wipro Ltd based on his successes, setbacksand the lessons learnt during his corporate journey.

Respond, don’t react

Always be aware of your emotions and learn to manage them. There is a huge difference between people who react impulsively and those who can disengage themselves and then respond at will. Bychoosing to respond differently, we can prevent another person from controlling our behaviour. I remember a small story that illustrates this well. There was once anewspaper vendor who had a rude customer. Every morning, the customer would walk by, refuse to return the greeting, grab the paper off the shelf and throw the money at the vendor. The vendor would pickup the money,smile politely and say, Thank you, Sir. One day, the vendor’s assistant asked him, Why are you always so polite with him when he is so rude toyou? Why don’t you throw the newspaper at him when he comes back tomorrow? The vendor smiled and replied, "He can’t help being rude and I can’t help being polite. Why should I let his rude behaviour dictate mine?’’

Put yourself first

This does not mean being selfish. Nor does it mean that you mustbecome so full of yourself that that you become vain or arrogant.

It means developing your self-confidence. It means, developing aninner faith in yourself that is not shaken by external events. It requires perseverance. It shows up in the ability to rebound from a setback withdouble enthusiasm and energy. I came across a recent Harvard BusinessReview which describes this very effectively: No one can truly define success and failure for us. Only we can define that for ourselves. No one can take away our dignity unless we surrender it. No one can take away our hope and pride unless we relinquish them. No one can steal our creativity, imagination and skills unless we stop thinking.

Courtesy: Executive Knowledge Lines