A successful person moves from strength to strength, opportunities chase him (no gender bias) and his accomplishments and material gains increase multifold! A strong performer would always be a front runner. So, success multiplies for a successful person. On the other hand, success gets divided for a less successful person; he is generally laden with problems, left behind and the returns from identical efforts made by him dwindle!! If you look around, you would find this story repeating time and again world over. It is also driving divide between successful and non-successful, performer and non-performer, rich and poor to increase continuously.
Reason for such a contrasting performance is very clear – when you do it right, you are bound to get success, results, prosperity and greater strength! On the other hands, when you do it wrong, you are bound to be left as a loser, weaker or poorer. Majority of people do it partly right and partly wrong. If net sum is positive, person moves forward; but slowly and if it is negative, he would go backwards. Many tend to attribute successes and setbacks to stroke of luck or nature/god’s reward or retribution; but that is a poor excuse.
However, there is a major consequence of above – growing inequality between the 2 sections of people. History shows that it is this high inequality in families, communities, companies, countries and at international level, which is always a bone of contention, cause of several conflicts and social revolutions!
Recently published and New York Times best-selling book of French economist Thomas Piketty – “Capital in Twenty-First Century” has taken the debate on inequality by storm in USA. Book essentially focuses on gap between rich and poor, which is larger than ever before. This is a reality. Several reasons are being assigned to such inequality and suggestions being advanced like levying of wealth tax, lowering taxes on labor, socialistic model of governance etc. It is doubtful that any of these can ever address such a problem. On the other hand, such measures would lead to other sets of problems including inefficiency, corruption or loss of entrepreneurship!
So, what is the remedy?
Reorient purpose of aids and charities to uplift competence of individuals
Globally, individuals, institutions, corporations and country governments spend huge sums to help underprivileged or weaker section of people. Aids or charities given to such people are more to provide them missing means with no focus to uplift their competency levels. In the process, such aids or charities function like crutches, without which these people have difficulty to survive. Many among them might have talents, which actually get leashed by such assistance.
Therefore, there is dire need to reorient the purpose of spending such sums. Main objective should be to educate and engage them. Make them gainfully occupied, self-reliant and unleash their hidden talent. Hold them accountable to demonstrate results from such assistance.
Making true sense of Entrepreneurship and Leadership!
Our popular understanding of entrepreneurship or leadership is very parochial and outdated. It is all about securing success but not about sustaining it! It glorifies monopoly, kills competition and breeds autocracy!
Further, most lack sound knowledge why leaders and legends eventually languish; why setbacks invariably follow successes; why children of a brilliant entrepreneur are seldom equally or more brilliant! It is obvious that we are missing something very important!
Therefore, it is imperative that an entrepreneur or leader understands and puts unflinching faith on following:
- Your differentiators have to be:
Not wealth but wisdom
Not money but merits
Not means but morals - Your strength lies is your ability to create contemporaries!
If you don’t or can’t create contemporaries, you would only create adversaries!!
Many leaders fear that having contemporaries mean losing relevance; it is actually rewarding. - If your success can’t inspire others to succeed, it is superfluous.
- What you share only solidifies what you have.
- If you preach what you practice, then it perpetuates what you possess!
- If you would ignore inequality, it would only invite instability.
- You excel, when you help others to emulate you.
- What you get during your journey, give back to source in one or another form.
- Monopoly is a malady, you must save yourself from.
- Competition only promotes your qualitative performance and competitiveness.
- Judge your performance not merely by no. of times you got success; but also by no. of people you helped them to be equally successful.
So, it is time to redefine your leadership and entrepreneurship; junk the old defunct definitions. You would then revolutionize your profession, organization you serve and society you live in! This would also completely dilute the issue of ever widening inequality between doers and non-doers, performers and non-performers, rich and poor!!
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