Management lesson learned from a Sipahi (Indian Army soldier)
There is a saying that “There is no better teacher than Travel” and I witnessed the truth of this statement last month when I visited India for my Diwali vacations and took time off to mix this pleasure trip with some spiritual visit and decided to visit Jammu & Kashmir.
I boarded a J&K transport bus and my co-seat passenger was a Sipahi of Indian Army, who was travelling on his duty, fully armoured as a part of his duty protocol; since the seat was not spacious and weather was cold I was wearing my winter gear and I requested my co-passenger “Sir, why don’t you keep your automatic rifle on floor so that we both could sit comfortably”.
The reply from soldier was prompt- mixed with pride and humbleness, “Saab Ji, I am on duty and for us, ambush can occur anytime, and God forbids, if ambush situation arises, I should be ready for action and not waste even a second in reaching out for my rifle”
He continued “Saab Ji, its one split second that decides whether we stay alive or we die”.
I smiled on hearing this and turned towards the bus window watching the scenic beauty outside but kept thinking about one big management lesson that I learned from this soldier.
“Always remain Prepared, You may never know when opportunity struck and you need to give your best shot in order to grab opportunity”.
With so much pain in outside world due to current economic challenges, so many job losses, entrepreneurs looking for venture capital, we all can learn from this soldier i.e. Be Prepared with your Pitch presentation/ business proposals or with your enhanced skill set so when Life offers you an opportunity, You are ready to Grab it with both hands.
Love what you do, make it your passion and Never ever Give up.
Post reaching my destination, I shook hands with this soldier and gave him a hug to convey my thanks for his teachings and we bid Goodbye to each other.
(Picture used for Illustration purpose only)
Somewhere back in my mind, few questions still remain….
What made this soldier, so dedicated towards his profession? What makes him sacrifice all the pleasurable things in life that we civilians run towards our whole life?
Let me tell you that soldier was not very well educated, yet he got trained in a manner that he could provide me with my life lesson.
I would encourage all my friends & Linkedin connections to share their one learning /lesson which they learned from their experience or from some stranger. It would be nice to learn by sharing our wisdom with each other.
Happy Retailing folks!!!
Love
