AGKspeak: The mantra of success

Humility and positive attitude are key to staying ahead in the race

What I've liked
I think, I can say with a fair amount of surety (even at my age) that I have seen a Vim campaign, every year of my life. From the days of the black and white press ad to the bold step it took when it featured the husband talking about clean plates in the kitchen, the brand has surely come a long way.

Now, just how differently can one repackage the same benefit for such a long-standing brand must be a real challenge. And even more challenging will be how the leader retains its share in the Rs 400 crore branded dishwash market.

In the recent past, we have seen one pretty effective round of "vivid demonstration" ad with the Vim Challenge campaign doing its version of a Bharat Darshan followed by a "noise-free wash strategy".

But, I must say, the brand's recent communication attempt is, by far, the most effective of them all. After all these years, a really sharp key insight! I say congratulations to the team.

The thought that you could be eating someone else's food is a truly brilliant idea. So true and real. Come to think of it, that is the whole point of having a clean plate. What a lovely way to demonstrate hygiene. The new work on Vim does give the brand a pleasant high and here's hoping there's more to come.

What I've learned
Attitude makes the difference
As I go through the morning papers, and come across the views of business icons like Narayana Murthy or M S Banga, I have often wondered, whatever happened to the rest of their batch? How many of them rank among the business leaders of today?

I assume, some of them would be successful top-level managers (though lesser known) in corporations. Many others may be quite successful as entrepreneurs, though they are not written about. The rest of them, perhaps, have joined the less fortunate in the daily grind.

So what then, is the crucial magic formula which turns an IIM graduate, or any other graduate for that matter, into a top-notch performer? After all, they all qualified for the course together, lived and studied in the same campus, and were tutored by the same gurus.

So why do a few get to lead the rest? I believe it is 'attitude which makes the difference'. The world over, organisations 'recruit for attitude and train for skills'.

So what is this attitude which success demands? After watching colleagues and employees rise and fall over the years, I have concluded that there is one unfailing mantra for success, which I define as a positive attitude.

Successful people never feel that they know it all. They are always willing to be taught and are truly humble. They do not have high expectations, or rather, they do not wait expectantly for a reward, after getting the job done. And once they acquire a certain degree of success, they immediately would like to give the industry something in return.

The ones who do not make the grade are easy to spot on the campus itself. They know it all, and behave as if the world is eagerly waiting for their inputs.Consequently, they keep taking on and discarding jobs looking for the 'right' employer waiting to recognise their genius.

An attitude such as this is what I would define as 'negative'. You can be pretty sure eventually the wheels of the world grind slowly but surely in their case, crushing their ego. This is when the humble ones take over. While life is teaching the rest what the right attitude is all about, the ones who already have it, race ahead.

It's pretty ironical how it is not your fortune, patronage or expensive schooling that makes or does not make you an icon. It is how quickly you learn that your ego is your biggest stumbling block in your path to success.

Email: agkbrandconsult@yahoo.com