"Creating an organisation with a soul"

Vineet Nayar in an article "An invitation to dance" in the Corporate Dossier, The Economic Times,  dated  February 4, 2004. 

I read this article and wish to quote some of his valuable thoughts on this topic:

He says thus:

"The height of Everest is not in meters but in your mind. It is for you to determine whether its too high or too low to climb. The day you decide Everest is not too high, you will climb it. When we decide to allay our fears and overcome the critic with us that day we truly start dancing.

An invitation to dance is what we all wait for."

Disclosing his experience on the task of building COMNET -- creating an organisation with a soul, he and the team learnt the hard way. They had to forget and unlearn everything and question everything he claims. "It is only when we give ourselves permission to innovate, imagine and experience that we can develop the soul of an organisation."

His six simple ways to start a dance are as follows:

1. Be passionate: He quotes German philosopher George Hegel, "Nothing great has ever been accomplished without passion." He adds to this quote stating: there is no beginning or end -- only infinite passion.

2. Imaging and believe in oneself: Imagine beyond the obvious. Self belief turns imagination into reality.

3. Have a regular objective: Thinking through clearly and focusing on a singular objective is the most important ingredient of success. To achieve clarity of thought, it is essential to step out of your shoes and be a ruthless self critic.

4. Create a momentum: Often efforts fail, not because of wrong direction but because of lesser applied force, or what he calls lack of momentum. The tougher the challenge the more the momentum, change the direction every time you face a wall.

5. Dare to change: Change can happen only through observation and introspection. Dare to change without the fear of failure.

6. Be transparent : "A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." said Oscar Wilde. Trust can only be created through transparency.

He concludes by saying, "an invitation to dance is not about doing things right, but believing that its your turn to dance. The danger in life is not false hope, but no hope or low hope."

Source: Vineet Nayaar,  An invitation to dance, The Economic Times, Corporate Dossire, February 4, 2012, p. 2