ef=”http://rightselection.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/culture-works-top-down-and-never-bottom-up/” title=”Permanent Link: Culture Works Top Down And Never Bottom Up”>Culture Works Top Down And Never Bottom Up

To be successful in today’s competitive world, Shiv Khera’s message is: “Live with one philosophy: I will always give more than what I can get in life. I will always give more than what I can get to my family.

I will always give more than what I can get to my organisation. I will always give more than what I can get to my country. Trust me, then you have no competition. You will become competition.”

Over the last two decades or so, Khera has donned many a cap successfully — educator, business consultant, motivational speaker and entrepreneur. His attempt to enter the Indian parliament, recently, however, was an effort in vain.

It was his first book, You Can Win that made him famous overnight. The international bestseller, first published in 1998, has already sold over a million copies worldwide. Khera’s mantra for being successful: ‘Winners don’t do different things, they do things differently,’ became a global hit.

Khera, who shuttles between his offices in New Jersey, Singapore and New Delhi, has incorporated his years of experience as a motivator into developing a core programme known as the Blueprint for Success. Barista Expresso and Right Selection Event Management have partnered to organise a daylong workshop of Shiv Khera in Dubai on May 30. City Times caught up with Khera recently, while he was in town to promote his upcoming workshop.

What is your definition of success? Is success a relative term?

Success is absolutely a relative term.

Earl Nightingale defined success, which I believe is apt, as a progressive realisation of a worthy goal or ideal. Dissect each word of the definition: Progressive means, it is a journey and not a destination. So, you wouldn’t arrive at any final place. You get from the first point to the second, from the second to the third and you go on and on; Realisation is an experience — an accomplishment. You cannot make me successful. I must feel success within myself. It is internal and not external. Many a times, what appears success externally may be total hollowness internally; Worthiness determines the quality of the journey. Can people have unworthy goals in lives? Yes, they can. But what makes the goal worthy is our value system.

Here, we are talking about universal values, eternal values, which are cross country, cross culture, cross religion. Integrity and cheating is given the same meaning in New York, New Delhi, New Zealand — there is no difference at all. These values are time tested. They are old but not obsolete.They will be here 500 or 1000 years after you and I are gone. These are not like a fad or an ad, nor are they fashion of the day. These things don’t change. If you look at people’s lives, even cheats and crooks want their followers to be honest. How come? But it never works that way, because culture works top down and never bottom up. How can a supervisor enforce a no-smoking policy when he himself is seen smoking in a no-smoking area?

Do you believe that there is a lack of honesty and sincerity in today’s world?

I am sure most people, including me, believe so. There has been certain degradation of values globally.

There are two ways of handling degradation. One, when you don’t make that grade, you lower the grade, for it becomes easy for you to perform. Second, you increase your effort to make up to the existing grade. What most people do today is to lower their standards and accept it as a change of time. None of us are perfect. There is no society, which is perfect. But then, there is world of a difference between 22-carat purity and 8 carat purity.

Meaning of success has not changed. Opinions may change but values don’t. There was a time when a person did wrong, he or she felt bad — their conscience bothered them. Today, when a person does wrong and gets caught, he or she does not have remorse for doing wrong, the remorse is for ‘why did I get caught?’. This is a big shift in terms of values.

There is difference between reputation and character. Reputation is what other people think about us. Character is what we know who we are. Character is what we would not do even if we knew that we would not get caught. Whenever we do something positive, we rise in our own eyes. Similarly, whenever we do something wrong, even if no one is watching, we fall in our own eyes.

Should there be a balance between character and reputation?

We need to build reputation with a strong foundation of character. There needs to be substance underneath.

Why does one buy branded items? Some buy because of prestige, to gain identity. Many others buy branded stuff because it guarantees you minimum standards. This means brand equity is not an abstract, it is for real. People never buy price, they buy value.

You have talked about corruption in great detail in your book ’Freedom is Not Free’. Were you talking from your experience?

I am sure it is the experience of thousands of others too. Over the years, through my seminar and workshops, I have interacted with tens of thousands of people world over. Many of them have discussed with me about the issue.

The book was written with the Indian society in mind. My main purpose of the book was to bring out the distinction between ‘partners in crime’ and ’victims of crime’. Corruption is a progressive disease. It never stays stagnant. There was a time when bribe was considered speed money — something paid to get your work done faster. Today, it has taken a new turn. ‘Unless you give me money, I will make sure that your work is not done’ – that is the demand today. It has taken the turn of extortion.

Are we all corrupt or dishonest people? The answer is in the distinction. Suppose somebody is bleeding on the street after an accident, you take him to the hospital. You know if you bribe someone there, they will take him in. Otherwise, there would be no one in the hospital who would care for the accident victim. But your principle says you shouldn’t bribe. The question is would you then bleed him to death. So, you bribe someone in the hospital. Legally, you have become a criminal by paying a bribe. But ethically, you saved a life. In this case, are you a victim of crime or a partner in crime?

If you look at the life of Mahatma Gandhi’s life, he broke every British law. Anybody who breaks law is a criminal, then Mahatma Gandhi is a criminal. Gandhi said, beyond the law of land, there is a law of humanity and that is crucial. He also said, don’t talk values and principles on an empty stomach.

You have said, ‘failure is a detour, not a dead end. It is a delay, not a defeat’. Do you believe that there doesn’t exist a term as failure?

There is a big difference between failing and failure. I might have failed but I am not a failure. If you look at most success stories, they are stories of failure. Most peoples have dreams but not goals. You hear only about self-made success stories. Have you ever heard about a self-made failure story? Never. If you fail, then the blame is put on society, home, economy, horoscope and what not, but not you. This is universal.

According to you, successful people have a sixth sense — common sense. Is there a dearth in the use of the ‘sixth sense’ in today’s world?

Many people who are toppers in school and college are lost in real life situations. Your Ivy League education may be good enough to get you your dream job, fast. Once you start working, it is a level playing field. Unless you perform, you are considered not good enough. In real life, it is important to implement practical knowledge along with your college education.

Do you believe that sincerity and honesty fall on the same side of a coin?

Sincerity is an element of integrity. It is a value. Honesty, or dishonesty, is a habit. People who keep telling lies get caught when they tell the truth for the first time. Reverse it — people who are always honest get caught when they tell a lie.

It is important to know that weak people can never be sincere and cowards can never practise morality. Sincerity involves both integrity and courage. Weak people will always let you down.




By: Right Selection