Work Harder, Smarter
Author:Azim Hasham Premji
Work Harder, Smarter
By Azim Hasham Premji, chairman, Wipro Corporation
根据权威杂志《福布斯》最新公布的世界富豪排名榜，现年54岁的印度维普罗公司(Wipro Corporation)总裁阿齐姆·普雷姆吉(Azim Premji)以380亿美元的身价仅次于比尔?盖茨，排名第二，成为印度人的骄傲。这篇文章摘自他1999年8月6日在孟买印度技术学院37届集会的演讲。
Today represents a transition from the world of preparation into the real world of contribution. I feel it is the appropriate time for me to leave with you (today's students) a few messages, based on my own experience, which might help you in your quest for success in your life.
The first message is that hard work is the most critical ingredient of success. If you wish to succeed in your profession in future, you will have to work only harder. Your peers will bring in similar credentials. The only way you can move ahead is by unstinting hard work..
There is no debate between whether you need to work smarter or harder. You have to work both smarter and harder. If Wipro has come out on top, compared to a number of other blue chips of yesteryears, it is not because of extraordinary ability or resources, but by the sheer dint of hard work.
I personally put in a 90-hour workweek. Any future leader who is not prepared to put in this scorching pace of work will be left behind.
The second thought I wish to share with you is that hard work must be towards a purpose. You have to identify a purpose that inspires you, challenges you and gives you tremendous satisfaction to pursue. Once you identify your purpose, that permeates to your very being, you will be propelled by restless intensity towards achieving it. Then, you can work with a single-minded, determined, unwavering perseverance.
When I returned from Stanford more than three decades back, Wipro was a small organization located in Amalner, a tiny hamlet in Jalgaon district. I was suddenly propelled into a role for which I had little preparation.
Initially, I found the prospect fairly daunting.
Then I realized that this enormous challenge brought with it an enormous opportunity. An opportunity to create a very different kind of organization based on values. It took a tremendous amount of effort to reach where we have reached today. But if I had not been completely fired by the vision that kept me going during difficult times, I do not know if I could have kept up the relentless work that was necessary.
The third message is that do not ever stop learning. The greatest benefit of engineering is that is teaches you the discipline of process thinking as applied to real life problems. Given the rapid changes in technology and myriad business situations that throw up new and different avenues to apply your knowledge, you have to constantly keep learning.
What is important is not your existing knowledge alone, but your ability to keep refreshing it dynamically. You have learnt to learn. But the zest to use this ability on an ongoing basis must come from within you.
The fourth message is that do not wait for opportunity to come your way. Actively search for opportunities and grab them when you see them. Long ago, I learnt that the future is not what happens to you, but what you make of it.
I have heard of young achievers lamenting the lack of opportunity in our country that drives them to seek jobs overseas. You can create your own opportunity and our country can offer whatever you want in life, provided you do your bit.
When I look back, I realize that Wipro was not blessed with the abundance of resources like the multinational corporations. What accounted for its success was its integrity, unshakable self-confidence, determination and effort to better global competition, relentless work towards achieving this and its ability to acquire world class processes, develop world class teams and attract world class leadership.
I hope you will be able to apply my messages in your lives for success and satisfaction.
I look forward with hope and expectation that you will utilize your talent in shaping the destiny of your profession and our nation.