www.sandeepatre.com

It all starts when you do something good, and start ‘being known’…

After that, two roads go from there…

On One, you work on ‘being known’ more…that road leads to fame!

And on the other, you work more on ‘what you are known for’… that road leads to reputation!    

I became an entrepreneur primarily because there was a void in the training-quality that was being provided then, and not just because I saw a market potential which could be exploited (it was only one of the reasons!).

That’s why when it comes to my work, I sulk when anyone calls me an orator…because I am happier being known for my ideas than for my words! I would rather prefer being known as ‘a trainer who speaks well’ than as ‘an orator who speaks sense’.

I came here…not to enthrall people, but to make a difference to their lives in my own little way!

Well! World likes to typecast you… stereotype you… to fit you into its pre-made categories because then it finds it easier to use you for its benefit. For that, it lays out a trap. If you fall for it then you are caged inside a cage that is beautiful and rewarding…and yet ‘still a cage’ at best! It is called fame.

You may decide rather to stay close to your core – the one thing for which you were actually here…you can sacrifice the temptation, smile the bait away and deny the ‘comfort & privileges’ which come in exchange of the compromises you are asked to make…You choose to aspire ‘to be more of who you already are’! It is called reputation.  

Popularity is gained… fame is attained… while reputation is established!

Of course! They come intertwined and one can’t decide their sequence! All that matters is…’Knowing your order of preference’.

While researching for a particular management-session which had a geopolitical angle, I looked at the world’s map…And I saw the geography in entirely new light…those lines dividing our world into continents and then into countries suddenly started making much more sense than they ever did to me…

Throughout my schooling and the formal education after that, my favorite sayings were ‘Live in the present moment’ (because my knowledge of history was as bad as Indian cricket-team’s recent performance overseas) and ‘Vaasudev Kutumbakam – the world is a global village’ (because my knowledge of geography was as bad as Kingfisher Airline’s current balance-sheet).

Blame it on the system, people or my own ignorance…at that time, all I was interested in was remembering the facts and never in how those facts matter… I was focusing on just their ‘utility’ and not their ‘significance’…And thus, all of them just remained pieces of information in my head and never got distilled into ‘knowledge’.

The truth is that, no one who wants to be knowledgeable has ever become knowledgeable… All you can do is ‘be genuinely curious’ and then the knowledge ‘happens’ to you.

But, how to be curious?

Well! As they say, “if you are trying to build a ship, do not tell your workers to go to the forest, chop wood, and build a ship. Instead, instill in them the desire for the sea…They will do the rest!”

…‘understanding the significance’…not just the utility.

Yesterday I went for rendering a training session at a major manufacturing-organization of the region… but there was a difference…There are more agencies vying for the assignment so the client wanted each one of us to conduct a sample-session so that they could pit us against each other and then finalize…

You know something… Actress Shelly Winters (4 nominations and two Oscars in acting) was asked to give audition for a role. She came there with a large bag…pulled out her two Academy Awards…and simply said “some people in this town think I can act.”… I heard she got the role without audition…!

Although we are not Shelly Winters, but due to all the work that we have done over the years (I presume ‘good’), now hardly ever anyone asks us to audition (the last time I can recall was a couple of years back, when VP of one of the national-level PSUs took my telephonic interview for 50 odd minutes before giving us an assignment!). But when this client asked us for that session a few days back, I just got a flashback…

In our initial days as entrepreneurs (almost a decade back)…we were just struggling to make a mark and thus were trying everything we could! At that time, one fine day I just hopped on to my scooter (technically my dad’s scooter) and landed at the swanky & posh HO of a telecom major without an appointment (and without a tie…! I hate ties! And only wear them when there is no choice) …

I kept waiting and as the luck would have it… my persistence got me into the GM-HR’s cabin… I introduced myself & our organization (which of course no one knew other than us) and said “we are in training & consulting…” That impressive person looked up at me and said… “Please give me the definition of ‘training’… and please keep speaking on it till I ask you to stop”…

I defined it (thankfully! I have always believed in thinking ‘about & upon’ the work rather than just doing it for the sake of it!) and kept talking further… After around 25 minutes, he just stood up, shook my hand and said “When would you want to start?”)…

It was amazing! When we were just beginners, when no one was banking on us, when even many of our close people had not put faith in us and when quite a few dear ones had simply given up on us…At such time, one stranger saw something that even we couldn’t see (because as far as I can recall, although what I had said to him was good but still it was no where near ‘great’!) Well! His trust got us going and today we have come at least this far…

There is nothing more precious than ‘someone standing by your side’, when most aren’t…

…Cut to ‘present’… I said to my colleague… “Fine! Let’s go for the audition!”

Got to keep proving that ‘someone’ right!

…as I drove back in the waning hours of the evening, I just couldn’t shed off that look in those eyes… the one that had pierced into the core of my spine …

The day was more hectic than the word can ever connote! I spoke in every corner of the city…faces in the audience changed and so did my messages…and yet as the sun started setting in my rear view, I was almost sick of speaking (and even more so of listening to myself)…

And still, the all-important late-evening session remained…The body was tired, the mind was fatigued and the words had started to get a bit incoherent…

Still, the years of experience was coming into play and I was doing all that was required (after all, the stakes are high and the participants of the session are all our blue-eyed boys – the ones who are so close to their ivy-league destination!)…

…And then, just for a brief moment, the whole day weighed too heavy for me to carry…! I got a piece of fact & figures wrong!!! It was an unusual slip and just for a second… I saw that look in a pair of eyes…in one corner of the room…

The error got rectified…the sanity restored…and the look in those eyes also got its assuredness back! And yet, ‘that look of a few moments’ in that pair of eyes just refused to leave me even much after I had left that room…

…This immense pressure… and this murderous restlessness to keep that assuredness in each pair of eyes is the hugest curse of my work……And still…my most cherished compliment…a rare privilege hard-earned!