RESPOND INSTEAD OF REACTING - By Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro

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RESPOND INSTEAD OF REACTING

By Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Corporation

Address by Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Corporation, in the "Shaping Young Minds

Program" (SYMP) organized by the All India Management Association (AIMA) in

collaboration with the Bombay Management Association (BMA) on February 9, 2004

at NCPA in Mumbai on " My Lessons in Life"

I am very happy to be here with you. It is always wonderful to be with young

people. The funny thing bout life is that you realize the value of something

only when it begins to leave you. As my hair turned from black, to salt and

pepper and finally salt without the pepper, I have begun to realize the

importance of youth. At the same time, I have begun to truly appreciate some of

the lessons I have leant along the way. I hope you will find them useful when

you plan your own career and life 

The first thing I have learnt is that we must always begin with our strengths.

While it is important for us to know what we are not good at, we must also

cherish what is good in us. That is because it is only our strengths that can

give us the energy to correct our weaknesses. From the earliest years of our

schooling, everyone focuses on what is wrong with us. There is an imaginary

story of a rabbit. The rabbit was enrolled in a rabbit school. Like all

rabbits, it could hop very well but could not swim. At the end of the year, the

rabbit got high marks in hopping but failed in swimming. The parents were

concerned. They said, "Forget about hopping. You are anyway good at it.

Concentrate on swimming." They sent the rabbit for tuitions in swimming. And

guess what happened? The rabbit forgot how to hop! As for swimming, have you

ever seen a rabbit swim?

The second lesson I have learnt is that a rupee earned is of far more value than

five found. My friend was sharing me the story of his eight year-old niece. She

would always complain about the breakfast. The cook tried everything possible,

but the child remained unhappy. Finally, my friend took the child to a

supermarket and brought one of those ready-to-cook packets. The child had to

cut the packet and pour water in the dish. After that, it took two minutes in

the microwave to be ready. The child found the food to be absolutely delicious?

The difference was that she has cooked it! In my own life, I have found that

nothing gives as much satisfaction as earning our rewards. In fact, what is

gifted

or inherited follows the old rule of come easy - go easy. I guess we only know

the value of what we have if we have struggled to earn it.

The third lesson I have learnt is no one bats a hundred every time. Life has

many challenges. You win some and lose some. You must enjoy winning. But do not

let it go to the head. The moment it does, you are already on your way to

failure. And if you do encounter failure along the way, treat it as an equally

natural phenomenon. Don't beat yourself for it or any one else for that matter!

Accept it, look at your own share in the problem, learn from it and move on. The

important thing is, when you lose, do not lose the lesson.

The fourth lesson I have learnt is the importance of humility. Sometimes, when

you get so much in life, you really start wondering whether you deserve all of

it. This brings me to the value of gratitude. We have so much to be grateful

for. Our parents, our teachers and our seniors have done so much for us that we

can never repay them. Many people focus on the shortcomings, because obviously

no one can be perfect. But it is important to first acknowledge what we have

received. Nothing in life is permanent but when a relationship ends, rather

than becoming bitter, we must learn to savour the memory of the good things

while they lasted.

The fifth lesson I learnt is that we must always strive for excellence. One way

of achieving excellence is by looking at those better than ourselves. Keep

learning what they do differently. Emulate it. But excellence cannot be imposed

from the outside. We must also feel the need from within. It must become an

obsession. It must involve not only our mind but also our heart and soul.

Excellence is not an act but a habit. I remember the inspiring lines of a poem,

which says that your reach must always exceed your grasp. That is heaven on

earth. Ultimately, your only competition is yourself.

The sixth lesson I have learnt is never give up in the face of adversity. It

comes on you suddenly without warning. One can either succumb to self-pity,

wring your hands in despair or decide to deal with the situation with courage

and dignity. Always keep in mind that it is only the test of fire that makes

fine steel. A friend of mine shared this incident with me. His eight-year old

daughter was struggling away at a jigsaw puzzle. She kept at it for hours but

could not succeed. Finally, it went beyond her bedtime. My friend told her,

"Look, why don't you just give up? I don't think you will complete it tonight.

Look at it another day." The daughter looked with a strange look in her eyes,

"But, dad, why should I give up? All the pieces are

there! I have just got to put them together!" If we persevere long enough, we

can put any problem into its perspective.

The seventh lesson I have learnt is that while you must be open to change, do

not compromise on your values. Mahatma Gandhiji often said that you must open

the windows of your mind, but you must not be swept off your feet by the

breeze. You must define what your core values are and what you stand for. And

these values are not so difficult to define. Values like honesty, integrity,

consideration and humility have survived for generations. Values are not in the

words used to describe them as much as in the simple acts. At the end of the

day, it is values that define a person more than the achievements. Because it

is the means of achievement that decide how long the achievements will sustain.

Do not

be tempted by short cuts. The short cut can make you lose your way and end up

becoming the longest way to the destination.

And the final lesson I learnt is that we must have faith in our own ideas even

if everyone tells us that we are wrong. There was once a newspaper vendor who

had a rude customer. Every morning, the Customer would walk by, refuse to

return the greeting, grab the paper off the shelf and throw the money at the

vendor. The vendor would pick up the money, smile politely and say, "Thank you,

Sir." One day, the vendor's assistant asked him, "Why are you always so polite

with him when he is so rude to you? Why don't you throw the newspaper at him

when he comes back tomorrow?" The vendor smiled and replied, "He can't help

being rude and I can't help being polite. Why should I let his rude behavior

dictate my politeness?

In my youth, I thought of myself as a rebel and was many times, a rebel without

a cause. Today, I realize that my rebellion was another kind of conformity. We

defied our elders to fall in line with our peers Ultimately; we must learn to

respond instead of reacting. When we respond, we evaluate with a calm mind and

do whatever is most appropriate. We are in control of our actions. When we

react, we are still doing what the other person wants us to do.

I wish you all the best in your life and career. I hope you achieve success in

whatever way you define it and what gives you the maximum happiness in life.

Remember, those who win are those who believe they can.

Sent with Sai love

Sai brothers – ‘’

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