The Habit of Winning
Page 15
If you knew today that you had only six months to live, what would you do? Whatever it is, do it now. Today. Because truth is, you never get to know when you have only six months to go.
Acknowledgements
I feel blessed to have had a wonderful family from whom I learnt my first lessons and habits in life. I was fortunate to have had some truly caring teachers who encouraged me to dream, and taught me a whole lot more than History or Chemistry. And I have been privileged to have had some terrific friends, and outstanding colleagues. And watching them all, working with them, and sharing moments of joy and despair with them—have taught me valuable lessons and helped shape the person I am. If you are friend, family, colleague or teacher—you may not find your name mentioned, but you would recognize that this book would not have been possible without you. You made a difference to my life. Thank you for that!
This book is really a collection of stories that I have picked up over the years, working alongside some truly remarkable people. And while I learnt something in every organization, every team, there was something magical about going to work wearing a Pepsi shirt. The passion, the fierce will to win and the fabulous team spirit have been strong influences. Old jungle saying: You can take a man out of Pepsi. You can’t take Pepsi out of the man.
I’d like to thank Suman Sinha—mentor, friend, philosopher, critic and guide. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Suman for over two decades now—and his passion, his focus on building teams and growing managers, and his zealous advocacy of values—have all been hugely inspiring. Forget B-schools. Proud to call myself an alumnus of the Suman School of Management.
From the time a colleague lent me a set of Brian Tracy audiotapes, I have benefited hugely from listening to a wide range of inspirational gurus including Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins and of course, Brian himself. I would like to thank them for strengthening my fundamental belief in the goodness—nay greatness—of all human beings.
R. Gopalakrishnan has been an inspiration and a role model, in all his roles: as an outstanding professional, fantastic leader, best-selling author, great teacher and a fabulous human being. Thanks RG for consenting to write the foreword to this book. It means more to me than you’ll ever know!
It was Mahesh Peri who read my blog and felt the messages there could be of interest to a larger audience. And thus was born my monthly column in Careers 360. I’d like to thank Mahesh and the team at Careers 360 for providing me a platform to share my stories. Their support—and the readers’ response to my column—have been hugely motivating.
Thanks also to Heather Adams, Debasri RC and the team at Penguin, for their ideas and support—and for making it happen.
And finally, a big thank you to the three people in my life who mean the world to me, and make my world a better place. My wife and children have been my biggest critics and my biggest fans—and my own little test lab for my stories and theories. Savvy, Abs and Tuts: this one’s for you. And sorry if I wasn’t listening when you were saying something to me yesterday. As you can see, I was probably thinking about a new story.
Promise, I’ll try harder. Starting today!
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First published by Penguin Books India 2011
Copyright © Prakash Iyer 2011
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ISBN: 978-01-4306-828-0
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