Hard work doesn’t give shine; being smart and savvy do!

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Hard work in any walk of life is desirable; but that is not good enough to give you the required visibility, shine and success! There are regular debates, at times acrimonious ones; whether employees of an organization should work hard and long hours as opposed to what is smart working. Most corporate managers take an easy approach by demanding hard work, since they are reluctant to spend energy and ideas to make their employees smarter. That’s no doubt parochial.

Smart and savvy employees are great assets to an organization. They can make their organization full of life and thrill, and a great place to work at! They are definitely the ones, who grow and prosper and also take others along!!

Let us try to conclusively establish should hard work not be replaced or be supplemented by smartness and being savvy?

Hard work hurts in longer run!

Hard work alone does not augur well. It defeats the very goals of an organization, unless there is a definite program to stimulate minds of hard working people.

I have witnessed in many organizations that hard and long hours of work had led to following effects on employees:

  1. Losing initiative.
  2. Having no or little creativity and innovativeness.
  3. Poor work-life balance.
  4. Getting into comfort zone.
  5. Frail agility.

Productivity of hard working people is bell shaped, which is poor in beginning phase and again peters out towards the end.

You don’t need physique or beauty to be smart!

Smartness is not necessarily genetic or privilege of few and famous! Smartness can be fully cultivated and harnessed.

All you need is the will to do following things:

  1. Take pride in every little thing you do.
    Remember, taking pride means boosting your esteem and not ego!
  2. Break what you do as a ritual and do one thing new every day; small or big does not matter!
  3. Don’t do what most people do. Go off the track little.
  4. Minimize conflicting thoughts in your mind.
  5. Think of others for their comfort; but don’t think what they think of you.
    Be yourself; be self-assured!
  6. Always plan how would you participate in a meeting or discussion and try to be in first few to do that.
    Never take a hard stand in the discussion; but where you are sure, take a clear or firm stand.
  7. Learn to physically present yourself smartly.
  8. Make sure that what you communicate is short and sweet; but do it by looking into eyes of people you are facing and with smile.
  9. Demonstrate that you consider difficulties as challenges and are ever ready to face those.

You don’t need degree from a premier institute to be savvy!

You don’t need any special qualification or high IQ to be savvy! Yes, experience would help you to be more polished.

Remember that Life is actually very simple; our perceptions are complex! So, do simple things as follows:

  1. Observe more and brood less.
  2. Listen more and talk less.
  3. Practice to be candid and composed.
    These come when you overcome your fears and frustrations. Believe that no one is perfect. Only efforts are in your hands; not the effects! So, never be overly concerned, if you have some deficiencies.
  4. When your mistake comes to light, be prompt to admit it and correct.

In short, change your working style. Replace hard working by “Smart, Savvy and Sincere working”. This can bring you glitter and glory like never before!

Comments

6 responses to “Hard work doesn’t give shine; being smart and savvy do!”

  1. Murli Lohia Avatar
    Murli Lohia

    Transferred from Facebook

    Prakash Desai commented on a link you shared.

    Prakash wrote: “Very True.”

    1. Murli Avatar

      Thanks for yr affirmation!

  2. Rudra Avatar
    Rudra

    Or as they say… don’t work harder, work smarter!! (Inopportunely, this is not the case with many organizations)

    All I can say after reading your entire post is that if only at-least few of the managers read this and understand, I (people like me) would soon be touching the limits of the sky!! 😀

    Incredibly remarkable post!! 🙂

    1. Murli Avatar

      Many thanks for your valued feedback! You have orchestrated your views very well.

      Yes, irony is that one who needs most counsel would also avoid it most – the company bosses or managers in this case!!

  3. Shashank Pise Avatar
    Shashank Pise

    One more apt article. The steps to be followed are simple, but I feel that you should also get an opportunity to work on new things. Somtimes in the name of business opportunities and professional approach an individual is compelled to work on whatever is available , where there is very little opportunity to showcase the talent. This needs to change a bit. But having said this one should not stop following the steps mentioned by you. Those are lifelong assets. Thank you.

    1. Murli Avatar

      I really appreciate your valued views and feedback!

      Yes, it is best if you can get opportunity to work on something new. If you don’t get it, please don’t hesitate to demand it. However, allow your talent to surface and be showcased regardless of the type of work in hands. True talent in not contingent to type of opportunities!!

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