Real Heroes make Real Impact
Tags: Passion, Life, Work, Management And Leadership, Heroes

Last two days have been amazing experience in my life. These 2 days have completely challenged and raised big question mark on the way I used to think and look at the things. My whole perspective about the life and its meaning have been influenced by some of the un-sung warriors that I have come across in the last 2 days.

These are real people with small aspirations and small dreams. The sense of achievements and pride of accomplishment give them unlimited happiness. They are real life super heroes — the heroes who have families to support, vulnerabilities or weak sides to overcome and a hope in their believe. They cry, they dance, they laugh, they fall sick and are equally scared like anyone else.

The drive, the passion and the commitment to the work is what makes them stand apart from other normal human beings. They are not spiritual gurus; however, they have a believe — a believe in God and Goodness. Their names are not on the ‘Hall of Fame’ yet, however, they are already spreading their aura all around.

Before leaving for my 2 day of self-discovery trip, I had a chance to know Capt. Aman Puri more closely. I am always a big fan of his commitment, ‘can do it attitude’ and perseverance. His love for both Video AI and Tigers fuels him, power him and drive him to conquer and win what others believe is impossible. There is nothing impossible for this man. He can see tigers in his dreams and can make sense from the most complex video feeds to detect patterns. He has defined and redefined the meaning of “persistence, perseverance and Can-do-it” by winning the gold medal in the final year of his military academy after fainting badly in in his first cross country in the first semester. An average person will give up and get scared of failures, this is where heroes are different. They are warriors, they are inspiration, and they are absolutely fanatic in what they do. To know more about this tiger, read https://colsanjaypande.com/alamein-tigers-indian-military-academy/.

At the end of Day 1 of my journey, I met 2 amazing women — both were from Reserve Forces (CRPF). The pride of the uniform, the sense of the duty and the esprit de corps were evident from the glow on their face. Without having a sign of fear on their face or eyes, these ladies were diligently checking every tourist despite of severe (sub-zero) temperature and pandemic conditions. They have families to support, their vulnerabilities are like every other human on earth, they are mothers, wives and daughters and still they are fearless and have overcome their fear factors. After seeing them working so hard, I got an opportunity to see their spiritual or devotional side. They were full devotee, they believed in the God with the same rigour and believe. They are committed and dedicated to both their “Karmic” and “Dharmic” life. Amazing to see such wonderful ladies. To me, this is what women empowerment is all about — striking the right balance — balance between Karma and Dharma.

Toward the end of my 2-day journey, I met another solider who was posted in a region with high altitude. He stopped our car to do a routine check for terrorist activities in the area. After scanning our car, he asked few questions both to my taxi driver and I so as to establish and validate our identity. After he got satisfied and made sure that we are whom we were claiming to be, I politely requested him to get his photo clicked for my son — who is big fan of army personals. He mentioned that he loves kids and love pictures to be taken, however, he refused my request with politeness and explained me that he is not allowed to get pictures clicked.

His commitment for his duty, his simplicity and his positive attitude towards work made me question the way corporates and their employees operate. Even after spending millions of dollars and getting best coaches from the world and hiring the best talent, we still fail to build the culture what armed forces have built with these Jawans.

The sense of responsibility, the ability to follow protocol with pride, and the commitment to work is un-parallel. We crib, we complain, we gossip, we highlight adversities, we want to get recognised by doing 20% of what we are getting paid for — we are for sure a very different breed. The simplicity, the tinkle in his eye and the pride for his battalion taught me a lesson which B-school has failed to deliver.

Some can argue, that forces follow command and chain style of leadership and corporates are more inclusive. Does the office politics or so-called dynamics, the biasness and the quest to please bosses to reach on the right side of the performance bell curve qualifies for an inclusive/ autocratic style of leadership?

Forces operates in a family setup, you can be happy or sad with the head of family, however, you don’t project it to others outside your family. For outsiders, you operate as a unit, tied to some pseudo random number of your battalion.

The pseudo random number is your blood group, is your DNA, is your ancestry till the time you live. You live, you die, you fight or you fight back — the number is what lives with you even after your death. The integrity and affiliation towards the work is drilled deep in the blood and the genes.

I again salute to these heroes — these are more real and inspirational than any other on-screen hero.