What no B-school can teach you

Vineet Nayar is president, HCL Technologies. He graduated from XLRI in 1985. The following excerpt is taken from rediff.com.

"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first and the lesson afterwards." -- Vernon Sanders Law.

These lines summarise the basic difference between a B-school and what life teaches you at work. B-schools teach you models, case studies, strategies, best practices and so on. But success has rules which are far beyond the books. To win, one has to master some 'X-factors' that define the line between the ordinary and the extraordinary.

Pride: Let's face it, we're alive for only a limited period of time and we'll spend most of our lives working. That being the case, I believe the number one priority is to do whatever we do as well as we can, and take pride in that. This pride comes from the belief that whatever we are doing is making a difference to the world. In the technology industry, it might translate into competitive advantage for some of the biggest corporations in the world. One thing is for sure. If we are not proud of what we are doing, there is a vital piece missing. A note of caution: pride is not an inheritance or a legacy. It has to be earned.

Passion: A philosopher said, "We may affirm that nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion." If we take pride in what we do, passion is in how we do it. Again, passion cannot be taught -- it is inherent. It gives you an inspired energy towards realising your dreams. No wonder the best athletes in the world are the ones who are passionate and do not treat the game as just a sport. Every time they walk out of the door, they know where they are going, why they are going, and they are already focused on that special place. Passion causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes.

Results: This differentiates a hero from an also-ran and separates efforts from achievements. Most of the time we tend to complicate our lives and forget what is important and what is not. We tend to mistake movement for achievement and focus on activities instead of results. It's crucial to align our actions more closely with pre-defined objectives and understand the relevance of our actions -- for us and for others. I believe that thinking through clearly and focussing on a singular objective is the most important ingredient for achieving results.
No management book or B-school can teach you that.