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My Own Seven Habits The Triumph Formula
Stephen Covey, the author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is no more with us.
But he will be remembered by millions for what he taught us which, according to him, allthat people had to do was form habits out of their best instincts.
Pondering over the reasonably successful career that I had, rather than beginning with the
end in mind, I recall, beginning from the end (of my career), how I could succeed in my
career by following what I would call the TRIUMPH formula, my own seven habits.
I write this article as a humble dedication to this great Management Guru some humble
thoughts from an ordinary mortal to Fortune and Fame unknown.
..
As an ordinary man,I could succeed in my career getting opportunities and challenges
throughout my career and I which I readily embraced. . While looking back, I find that what
helped me was the TRIUMPH formula This word has seven letters and i would call it the
seven habits, which are explained below.
Thinking
If you want to improve, you have to make thinking a habit. When you start thinking, you get
several ideas, you get clarity about the subject you think about, you get a deeper
understanding of the subject. I used my leisure time to think on various aspects with regard to
my own improvement. Gradually, the thoughts began to appear to me every time i had time to
think of, the leisure time.
Thus I could think of something while traveling in a bus on way to my office, on return from
office, while sleeping and while awake during sleep due to broken or disturbed sleep. This
way, some one could say that I productively used my time. Many times, when my sleep used
to get cut offaround 3 or 4 0clock in the morning, thoughts used to rush to my mind. in fact,
I was very particular about putting down these thoughts in writing, the moment I landed at
the officeeither scribbling on a piece of paper or so, sometimes dictating straightway to my
P.A. The result the bulk of my writings running over seventy pieces, turned to be nicely
written articles. And no wonder, these got published in quick succession too.
I recall what Tom Peter had said in his Tom Peters Seminar. According to him, Samuel
Johnson, said: all intellectual improvements arise in leisure. another example of this, he
says is that when stuck, Thomas Edison would unfailingly take a nap. and again he says,
according to a US poet laureate, we dont pay enough attention to day -dreaming, without
which no bridges would soar, no light bulbs burn, and no Greek warships set upon Homers
wine-dark-sea. Abdul Kalam himself has advocated about the benefits of dreaming.
Reading
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Reading is another way to enhance ones knowledge as also thinking. I used to at least go
through quickly the various magazines, journals, books etc. that Prof. Menon (with whom I
worked for almost a decade) used to receive regularly. Again, reading booksfrom libraries is
something I cultivated as a practice. When I was in the Personnel Division of DOE, hundreds
of books were available in the library and I could say I benefited a lot by reading them.Seeingmy writings, Mr.Vittal, Secretary of the Department himself used to recommend to me the
books that he would order for the library to read. I could read and benefit immensely through
several latest management books by great writers.
Inspiration
I have derived great inspiration from Prof. M.G.K. Menon, This was indeed a rare and great
opportunity, since he was involved in a wide spectrum of activities and had held multiple
responsibilities. But it is necessary to have the urge to learn from great people. I used to
watch carefully the way he writes, the way he makes decisions, the way he talks, the way he
delivers a speech etc. in fact, I used to watch every aspect of his working. Even mere
watching him this way was a great inspiration. I used to read his decisions on files and also
used to try to go into the rationale for his decision.
Watching the way he communicates, through letters particularly, made me learn many things.
Each aspect of a letter the beginning, the words used, the style, the conclusion, rather a
deep study of it through all of which I could imbibe some of his style which enabled me
greatly to think of what way he would like a letter to be written. And by doing this, I could
attempt letters he wants to write, almost the way he would himself write. This helped me a lot
in terms of confidence building and also making him have confidence in me about mycapabilities. He used to say, as communicated by some one else to m e, that CVS knows
what exactly I want. What a great inspiration he was for me.
Uniqueness
By uniqueness I mean cultivating some special qualities and maintaining them. It could also
mean creating a niche for you, a brand for you and a demand for you through your abilities,
qualities and capabilities; and a self-image through which others will perceive you. In my
career I could show my talents through the opportunities I received, and others, particularly
my bosses at various times associated me to work with them by a so- called image and brandI could create which transformed into a demand for my services. A major demand for my
services was for working as Officer on Special Duty In the Science Advisor Council to Prime
Minister, and in fact I had actually performed special duties which earned appreciation for
my work from all members of the Council, including its Chairman, Prof. C.N.R. Rao.
Motivation
Motivation plays a very important part in an individual development. Normally, one does
not expect any kind of motivation in Government. But in my case, throughout my 25 year
career in the Government, I was fortunate to get abundant motivation, not only in my actual
work, where I could excel, but also in my writings. Mr. N. Vittal was the prime motivator for
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whatever little I have succeeded in my writings. A few poems, a note analyzing the way Mr.
Vittal functioned, a few articles on time management, personnel matters etc. were all well
appreciated by him through encouraging remarks to spur my activity in this field further. I
could write fifty odd articles. A compilation of all my articles on HR was liked by him and he
readily gave a foreword for a book containing all those articles.
Even, after my retirement, after a lapse of over a decade, I started writing, made possible by
an iPad gifted to me by my son. And again, it was Mr. Vittal, who continued his motivation
for my writings, appreciating the few short pieces that I mailed to him and prodding me
through his advice: Dear CVS, keep writing. Of course, the bestmotivation is self-
motivation (driven by an I can do attitude) which also I could practice. in fact, I am
motivating myself at the age of 75 by engaging myself in thinking and writing on whatever
comes to my mind.
Perseverance
You have to practice patience and perseverance. Because all efforts by you may not produce
quick results as you expect. At the same time, continuous efforts with focus on your goals
will certainly take you there. in my case, I persisted in my efforts to get my compilation of
articles on human resources published as a book, come whatever may. And after several
attempts spanning over a period of three years, my dream came true. I became the author of a
book! One can recall what Confucius said: our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in
rising every time we fail. My immediate boss was thrilled and said to me: I say CVS, I
always knew you will be persistent.
Humility
One should be humble always, irrespective of whatever one may have achieved. People will
always respect a humble person. Mr. Narayana Murthy referred to him as an ordinary
individual. Not only that, humbleness, and the associated simplicity should always beyour
hall mark. in my case, many of my subordinates still respect me, since I had always treated
them as friends first and then their boss, allowing them freedom to indulge in jokes in the
workplace. If you read together the first letters of each of the above qualities it will read
TRIUMPH, and so it was.
About the author: The author of this article is Shri C.V. Subramaniam. He retired as Director
in the Department of Information Technology, GOI and has held several important positions
in the Government. He has published 70 plus articles in various leading news papers and has
also published a book on Human Resource Management.
About the author: The author of this article is Shri C.V. Subramaniam. He retired as Director
in the Department of Information Technology, GOI and has held several important positions
in the Government. He has published 70 plus articles in various leading news papers and has
also published a book on Human Resource Management.
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