The Habit of Winning
Page 1
PRAKASH IYER
The Habit of Winning
Stories to Inspire, Motivate and Unleash the Winner Within
Foreword by
R. GOPALAKRISHNAN
PENGUIN BOOKS
Contents
About the Author
Dedication
Foreword
R. Gopalakrishnan
Introduction
I: VISION AND GOALS
Breaking Stones. And Building Monuments
Climbing the Mountain
Goals: The Secret to Making Your Dreams Come True
Don’t Change Your Rabbit!
II: SELF-BELIEF
Károly Takács and the Winner’s Mindset
Break Your Mental Barriers: The Roger Bannister Story
Acres of Diamonds
Tyrone Bogues: Standing Tall!
The Water Bearer, the Cracked Pot
Good Ol’ Charlie Brown and the Uthappa Factor
III: PERSEVERANCE
‘Main Khelega!’ The Making of a Champion Called Sachin Tendulkar
The Chinese Bamboo
Perseverance and a Man Called Atapattu
The Anil Kumble Spirit
Get into the One-degree-more Habit
IV: WINNER’S MINDSETS
The Power of Positive Expectations
Who Stole My Cookies?
Changing Mindsets. And the Size-15 Shirt!
Looking through Our Own Glass Windows
So What’s Your White Rabbit?
V: GIVING
Becoming a Two-dollar Man
Bringing Back the Binaca Smile
The Long (Spoon) and Short of Life
Gandhi and the One-shoe Syndrome
VI: HARD WORK
Navjot Sidhu: From Strokeless Wonder to Palm Tree Hitter!
Lessons in Survival from Frogs and Phelps
Learning to Fly: Lessons from a Butterfly
VII: THE WINNER’S WAY
Goalkeepers and the Action Bias
Of Sharks, Pepsi and the Comfort Zone
Taking for Granted: Lessons from F Words!
Handling Pressure: The Irfan Pathan Way
How Much Is Hundred Rupees?
Of Balloons and People
The Frog and the Scorpion
Eat That Frog!
Making a Difference, the Starfish Way
How Good Are You with Bad News?
VIII: WINNING WITH TEAMS
Flat-tyre Leadership
Flying Kites; Managing Teams
Of Sales Teams and Remote Controls
Lessons for the New Leader
Catching Fish with Strawberries and Cream
The Dahi Handi Way!
IX: OTHER PEOPLE
The Twenty-one People on a Football Field
Charlie Plumb and the Parachute Packer
The Great Wall of China
The Chairman’s Questions
Leadership Lessons from Michelle Obama
X: FINDING BALANCE
The PepsiCo Chief and the Call from Coke
Enough. Do You Have It?
Pig. And Other Games People Play
Smelling the Coffee
What’s Better than Winning a Gold Medal? Losing It!
Work–life Balance and the Waugh Brothers
XI: TAKE ACTION
Begin. And End. Nothing Else Matters
Of Wake-up Calls and Snooze Buttons …
The Second-best Time to Do Anything
Acknowledgements
Copyright Page
PENGUIN BOOKS
THE HABIT OF WINNING
In a corporate career spanning twenty-five years, Prakash Iyer has worked with teams selling everything from soaps and colas, to watches, yellow pages and diapers. He is currently the managing director of Kimberly Clark Lever.
Passionate about people—and cricket—Prakash is an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and also a trained executive and business coach. He is married to Savitha who teaches underprivileged kids, and they have twin children, Shruti and Abhishek.
To Mom and Dad
‘Winning is a habit.
Unfortunately, so is losing.’
—Vince Lombardi
Foreword
I have known Prakash as a young lad in Unilever where we worked together for several years. It has been a privilege seeing him evolve from a successful manager to an inspiring leader. It would have been disappointing had he not decided to further disseminate the insights he has gained through years of leading teams across different companies and challenging circumstances. I am glad that he has chosen to do so through this delightful book full of stories and anecdotes. In a very charming and non-prescriptive manner, the book stimulates the reader to reflect on what it takes to be a successful manager and leader. These nuggets of management draw significant lessons from nature, sports and episodes from daily lives and thus are easy to relate to.
There are two schools of thought on leadership, one strong view being that leadership is innate and cannot be taught, while the other school strongly believes that leadership can be learnt. Prakash obviously belongs to the latter group and so do I. Even the clan which believes leadership can be learnt is split into two sub-clans. While one strongly relies on techniques and processes to influence its students, the other believes in shifting the onus on to the students to do the learning themselves. The prerequisite for the latter, however, involves creation of an environment that brings in engagement, immersion, reflection and contemplation. I am a strong proponent of the latter and surely Prakash subscribes to the same view. It is evident that storytelling creates a connect with the audience and is a perfect mechanism to foster reflection. The strong connection between learning and stories exist because in anecdotes, an idea is united with an emotion. Prakash has weaved a string of stories which put together practically covers all that budding managers need to imbibe to transform themselves into future leaders and winners.
In the 1940s, the great Indian statesman and politician C. Rajgopalachari wrote a series of weekly chapters on the great Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. These were finally put together as an enduring book. To this day, the book sells very well. Its longevity demonstrates the value and durability of stories and emotions. Think of the best lessons you have learnt in professional or personal lives. Almost always, the lesson is mostly associated with an anecdote from your experience or an interaction with somebody you respect or a story told by somebody. There are traditions of storytelling in India that have evolved over the centuries; for example, the jatra in rural Bengal, the Upanyasam in Tamil Nadu, and the harikatha in the north are regional expressions of education and entertainment rolled into one. This is so in other countries too.
The drama of human emotion is a great preservative for ideas, because both the idea and the drama get indelibly etched in your mind. Storytelling is not normally a welcome skill in management; in fact it is pejorative. But thanks to efforts by authors like Prakash, narrative and anecdotal style is gaining prominence to simplify and demystify the esoteric world of management. This is done in a manner that profound lessons are imparted with such poise and elegance that they stay with the reader. The book is fast, pacy and one-flight long but leaves enough for the reader to reflect long after completing the book.
Normally, books in this genre tell us what to do and how to do it. Refreshingly enough, this book also tells us when to stand still. I am referring to my favourite story from the book, which like other stories, leaves us with a lot to think about. In the story, the author talks about a piece of research by a team of scholars in Israel who wanted to study a soccer goalkeeper’s mindset in a penalty shoot. After analysing a number of penalty kicks from major league games, the conclusion they re
ached was that a goalkeeper’s best chance of blocking a penalty kick is to stay put at the centre. Despite this, in 92 per cent of the cases, the goalkeeper committed himself to a dive on either side! The answer lies in the bias for action that high achievers have, whether in a game of soccer or life in general. When standing still can perhaps fetch the desired result, the ‘dive’ on either side demonstrates the desire to be seen as somebody who at least tried. Standing still is scorned at when that could have been the most effective route. The author then gives practical instances of how deeply this bias runs when we look around: some of the most memorable advertising campaigns being stopped by a new brand manager so that he is seen doing something of his own, CEOs busy acquiring businesses, divesting, downsizing, etc. when doing nothing could have been the best course of action!
On similar lines, the author narrates a fantastic story of a football coach who on the first day of practice came without a football. The students were uneasy but the coach had an indisputable logic. At any point in time, only one man has the ball in a football game. It is important to learn what the remaining twenty-one should do and for that one doesn’t need a football! The urge to control the ball by every player can lead to disaster and thus team work needs to be practised from day one!
In all forms of organizations, managers face leadership issues for which they seek solutions. In the earlier part of one’s professional career, one is dealing with known issues and known solutions. The intensity of ambiguity increases with higher leadership roles and the most complex issues that we eventually start facing are unknown issues having unknown solutions. Thus, the prime challenge of future leadership is to understand the root causes of ambiguity. In a climate of uncertainty, leaders look for maps on how to get from one place to a target destination. Psychologist Karl Weick has pointed out that maps can help in known worlds which have been charted before. Where the world has not been charted, the compass is required, he argues, because amidst uncertainty, it gives you a general sense of direction. Therefore, navigating the leadership ocean requires both the compass and the map. Thus, while maps which are equivalent to the factual, functional and analytical knowledge can help us deal with relatively known problems, what differentiates leaders from others is the ability to deal with complex issues where maps will not work. The compass being talked about works at an intuitive level and develops as we learn from our own experiences and most importantly, from the experiences of others. This book talks about the many facets of leadership like perseverance, self-belief and building effective teams, each serving us an opportunity to reflect and develop our compass.
The author has done a very encouraging job and the onus now shifts to the reader to extract the most from these nuggets of wisdom and chart out their own course with hopefully an even more evolved compass!
R. GOPALAKRISHNAN
Introduction
The great painter and sculptor Michelangelo has several masterpieces to his credit. Perhaps at the top of that list is David, his eighteen-foot-tall statue sculpted in marble in Florence, Italy. Now over 500 years old, this icon of Renaissance sculpture continues to attract—and fascinate—millions of visitors every year, from all over the world. Everyone who sees it goes back impressed by the genius of Michelangelo. But I am not sure if they all also take back the story behind the sculpting of this masterpiece.
The story goes that this mammoth eighteen-foot block of marble had been lying around for several years. In fact, it had been around long before Michelangelo was even born. Some great artists, including Leonardo da Vinci, were invited to create something from that slab of marble. They all looked at it and dismissed it as flawed and worthless. Nothing could come of it, they felt. Several years later, Michelangelo got to work on that ‘flawed and worthless’ piece of marble, and went on to create a magnificent work of art. Apparently, while he was working on David, a little boy went up to Michelangelo and asked him why he was banging away at the rock of marble, and hitting it so hard. ‘Young man,’ said Michelangelo. ‘There’s an angel inside that rock. I am just setting him free.’
If you think about it, we are all like that rock of marble. There’s genius inside each of us. There’s a winner inside, waiting to be unleashed. None of us is flawed, none of us worthless. In most cases, we are just waiting for the right sculptor to come along, chisel away at the rock and set the winner inside free.
The Habit of Winning, the book you now hold in your hands, is a bit like a sculptor’s toolkit. It is intended to help free the winner within you—and indeed the winners within all the other people you may be working with. And instead of the usual hammers and chisels, what you have in this toolkit are stories. Tales that will help you chip away at some of the unwanted bits of marble, and unleash the winner within.
There’s a leader inside each and every one of us, waiting to emerge and rise to his full potential. Never mind who you are or what you do, it’s a good thing to remember that you are a leader too. Everyone is. Some of us might lead small teams of people. Some might lead large organizations. Armies perhaps. Or even countries. But it is good to remember that each and every one of us leads a life—our own.
And in every case, the quality of the results depends squarely on the leader. As is often seen, the speed of the leader determines the rate of the pack. Also, how good a life can be, depends entirely on the leader. On you. Your life, your successes and failures, the joy and the agony are all because of you, the leader of that life. Makes sense then to ensure that you strive to become the best you can be. You owe it to yourself. And to the world around you. You are not just another piece of marble. You are a masterpiece—waiting to be set free.
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but when it comes to getting your message to register in the minds of people—or indeed in your own—nothing works quite as well as a story. Stories make ideas and concepts come alive and by shifting the action to another world and another time, they help us step back and see things from a whole new perspective. They make the impossible seem possible. And in times of seemingly unending despair, they open a window of hope. They inspire. And best of all, they are memorable. They stick. In our minds. In our heads. In our subconscious.
The Habit of Winning is all about helping that leader inside you come into his own. We all have unlimited potential, and we can all improve. This book will hopefully provide some pointers. It won’t change you. Far from it. It will merely help you become the person you are meant to be. And help you help others to rise to their full potential too.
How do you define a vision for your organization? How do you create a winning team where the sum of the parts is clearly far greater than the whole? What do great leaders do? Why do some people do far more under one leader than under another? How do you keep going in the face of adversity? How do you instil the virtues of patience and perseverance and teamwork?
And how do you find balance in life? How do you set goals and achieve them? How can you be, have and do all the things you always wanted to?
The Habit of Winning is all about bringing out the best in yourself and in the people you work with, about building great teams and winning. It is also about finding balance, being happy, making a difference. To yourself. And to the world around you.
The Habit of Winning is really a collection of stories. Stories that made a difference to my life. And will make to yours too, I hope. I have been lucky, nay privileged, to work with some truly outstanding people. And I have learnt a lot from them. Some of my most vital lessons have been not from bosses but from salesmen and lift operators, accountants and factory folks. Ordinary people and, in almost every case, extraordinary leaders.
So in The Habit of Winning you’ll find lessons from cola wars and cricketing heroes. From frogs and fish, and rabbits and sharks. And while you may have heard some of these stories earlier, hopefully they will help ignite a new passion, and a renewed sense of purpose in your mind. And in your team’s heads and hearts too. Find yourself stuck in a rut? Feel like throwing in
the towel? Hopefully you’ll find a story here that helps you get over it and emerge victorious. And if you are trying to lead your team over hurdles and barriers, hopefully you’ll find stories that help you get them to keep the faith, and discover strengths they did not know existed within them. If you are trying to communicate with your team, you might find that a story can sometimes be the best way to urge them into action. Stories can be powerful. Quite like the blow of a hammer on a slab of marble. Turn the pages, and you might find a story that resonates with the piece of marble you are working on.
Go ahead, enjoy the journey as you watch the winner inside you emerge and grow. Use these stories to communicate with yourself and your team, and watch them turn into works of art too. And keep adding your own stories to the toolkit. That will make you an even better sculptor.
It would be a pity to have to vanish from the face of this earth with the music still playing inside you. It would be a shame to leave this world with that leader still hidden inside that rock of marble. It would be tragic to have had so many wonderful pieces of marble all around you, all erroneously dismissed as somewhat faulty and worthless. Come on, unleash the leader within.
It has rightly been said that leaders create leaders, not followers. Chisel away, start now. And may a thousand leaders bloom.
Remember, it’s never too late to become what you might have been.
I
VISION AND GOALS
Breaking Stones.
And Building Monuments
It happened some years ago on a deserted street in Rome. It was a hot, sunny afternoon. A woman was walking down the street, shopping bags in her hands, whistling a tune to herself, when she noticed a group of labourers breaking stones by the roadside. Clack-clack … clack-clack … they went as their hammers pounded on the stones, splitting them into smaller and smaller bits.
Intrigued, the woman went up to one of the workmen and asked him what he was doing. ‘Can’t you see?’ came the rather terse reply, as the man looked up and wiped the sweat from his brow. ‘I am breaking stones.’