[Naxalite Maoist India] Lessons from Narayan Murthy for everyone..

Whether you are confused leftist trying to find a role in the political landscape of India or an IB official on his regular blog hopping sprees , given below is some advice from Narayan Murthy that some of you will find useful.

Life lessons and advice

I want to share with you, next, the life lessons these events have taught me.

I will begin with the importance of learning from experience.

It is less important, I believe, where you start. It is more important how and what you learn. If the quality of the learning is high, the development gradient is steep, and, given time, you can find yourself in a previously unattainable place.

I believe the Infosys story is living proof of this.

Learning from experience, however, can be complicated. It can be much more difficult to learn from success than from failure.

If we fail, we think carefully about the precise cause. Success can indiscriminately reinforce all our prior actions.

A second theme concerns the power of chance events. As I think across a wide variety of settings in my life, I am struck by the incredible role played by the interplay of chance events with intentional choices.

While the turning points themselves are indeed often fortuitous, how we respond to them is anything but so. It is this very quality of how we respond systematically to chance events that is crucial.

Of course, the mindset one works with is also quite critical. As recent work by the psychologist, Carol Dweck, has shown, it matters greatly whether one believes in ability as inherent or that it can be developed.

Put simply, the former view, a fixed mind set, creates a tendency to avoid challenges, to ignore useful negative feedback and leads such people to plateau early and not achieve their full potential. The latter view, a growth mind set, leads to a tendency to embrace challenges, to learn from criticism and such people reach ever higher levels of achievement.

The fourth theme is a cornerstone of the Indian spiritual tradition: self-knowledge.

Indeed, the highest form of knowledge, it is said, is self-knowledge.

I believe this greater awareness and knowledge of oneself is what ultimately helps develop a more grounded belief in oneself, courage, determination, and, above all, humility, all qualities which enable one to wear one's success with dignity and grace.

Based on my life experiences, I can assert that it is this belief in learning from experience, a growth mind-set, the power of chance events, and self-reflection that have helped me grow to the present.

Back in the 1960's, the odds of my being in front of you today would have been zero. Yet here I stand before you!

With every successive step, the odds kept changing in my favour, and it is these life lessons that made all the difference.

My young friends, I would like to end with some words of advice.

Do you believe that your future is pre-ordained, and is already set? Or, do you believe that your future is yet to be written and that it will depend upon the sometimes fortuitous events? Do you believe that these events can provide turning points to which you will respond with your energy and enthusiasm? Do you believe that you will learn from these events and that you will reflect on your setbacks? Do you believe that you will examine your successes with even greater care?

I hope you believe that the future will be shaped by several turning points with great learning opportunities. In fact, this is the path I have walked to much advantage.

A final word: when, one day, you have made your mark on the world, remember that, in the ultimate analysis, we are all mere temporary custodians of the wealth we generate, whether it be financial, intellectual, or emotional. The best use of all your wealth is to share it with those less fortunate.

I believe that we have all at some time eaten the fruit from trees that we did not plant. In the fullness of time, when it is our turn to give, it behoves us in turn to plant gardens that we may never eat the fruit of, which will largely benefit generations to come.

I believe this is our sacred responsibility, one that I hope you will shoulder in time.

Thank you for your patience. Go forth and embrace your future with open arms, and pursue enthusiastically your own life journey of discovery!

Read the full article here
http://sify.com/finance/Narayana-Murthy-on-the-lessons-life-has-taught-him-imagegallery-others-klmrm1cgdgi.html

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Posted By Cpi Maoist Naxalite to Naxalite Maoist India at 11/21/2010 11:19:00 AM