Currently I am reading some HBR articles on Emotional Intelligence and Value systems. Both these are very current - and relevant - topics in a world where leaders are increasingly failing due an absence particularly of the latter (Values).
However, the over-riding importance given to Emotional Intelligence and Values in current Management thinking cannot reduce the importance of the 3 BASIC ingredients for career success:
1. Luck - the role played by Luck can never be under-estimated. Everybody has their share of good and bad luck which tends to impact their career.It could be anything from joining the right organisation at the right time, finding a good mentor early in one's career, and having the luck to be associated with high profile & successful projects.
2. Brilliance - the innate intelligence, also called Talent. Brilliance tends to be especially important at the beginning of the career in terms of getting noticed, and being fast-tracked by the organisation.
2. Brilliance - the innate intelligence, also called Talent. Brilliance tends to be especially important at the beginning of the career in terms of getting noticed, and being fast-tracked by the organisation.
3. Discipline - this is basically a mix of resilience, persistence, ability to face both victory and defeat with equanimity, and systematic application of past learnings. This of course requires substantial emotional intelligence.
Luck is God given - it is not within the control of the individual.
Brilliance (Talent) is also God given and partly influenced by the environment in which one grew up in one's childhood. It can be developed to a certain extent over time by conscious training. But Brilliance is also subject to the environment - a brilliant person in one office environment can turn out to be quite ordinary when he is surrounded by other brilliant individuals.
Luck and Brilliance can never by itself help build a successful, long-sustaining career. It can take a person up to a certain level, but whether he/she will remain there for long is not certain.
Brilliance (Talent) is also God given and partly influenced by the environment in which one grew up in one's childhood. It can be developed to a certain extent over time by conscious training. But Brilliance is also subject to the environment - a brilliant person in one office environment can turn out to be quite ordinary when he is surrounded by other brilliant individuals.
Luck and Brilliance can never by itself help build a successful, long-sustaining career. It can take a person up to a certain level, but whether he/she will remain there for long is not certain.
Of the three, Discipline is the only aspect that is within the control of the individual, and the only ingredient that can help sustain an individual over the long term. If you look at all the successful CEOs whether Steve Jobs or Narayana Murthy, it was Discipline which enabled them to remain at the top for a long, long time.
