Sincerity does matter by Bhagwat Yagnik

PUNE, India - Aug. 20, 2013 - PRLog -- t is amazing how often I have deliberated on this topic at various platforms. For me, it is not just a conjecture, but an essential building block in our professional growth. Today a professional is constantly trying to cope up with preposterously ambitious corporate world with global dreams, stifling socio-economic environment, and radically evolving technology. The entire work environment is going through a transformation. Companies are stumbling with constant struggle between (1) temptations of seeking unprecedented business opportunities across geographies and (2) to also remain sustainable in vulnerability of current economy and financial crisis. The complete scenario has an overwhelming impact on the behaviour and conduct of an individual at work. Moreover, the very sense of urgency encourages short-cuts and enticement to reward speedy results. Such unrealistic demands also lead to compromised processes and synthetic performance. Today a manager is investing most of his time in managing perceptions rather than doing a quality job. There is constant emotional struggle to prove his worth of existence in a corporation. Further, to remain visible to the power corridors of the system, a professional tends to compromise on his basics and what gets flattened most recurrently is the ‘sincerity’ towards performing his job.

How we define this as a concept?
In any establishment, we perform a role at a given position. We are in an organisation to discharge a purpose. A role is much beyond a Job Description and Key Performing Indicators or any such bookish measurements. A role, in my opinion, is the obligation towards the purpose for which a person is inducted in the system. The purity towards the role obligation characterizes our professional sincerity. When we do what is “Right” to do for that role and when we act according to our conscience. Evidently, there are many other factors too that are required to establish our professional growth like qualification, talent, skill, and the relevant experience. Nevertheless, it is the sincerity that will ascertain whether the talented professional will accomplish something credible as he ascends the ladder in corporate world. A young professional, after entering a company, soon discovers that his or her ethics, ideals, goals, core values, often contradicts with the internal practices. He very quickly learns to compromise with his basics to remain qualified in the corporate system. He learns to resonate with his current work environment and expectations of the superiors for his survival. The very enforced reconciliation then leads to an internal duel and encumbers his confidence to stand for “what is right” and soon he masters the art of “Window-Dressing”. His entire focus revolves around achieving ‘approving-nods’ from his superiors. That’s when he learns his first lesson on negotiating with his own conscience. His own personal integrity and professional uphold comes under emotional scrutiny. With all inner dissonance he learns to accommodate himself. Is it essential to compromise for the survival? The answer is big “No”. Majority of enterprises do have internal politics, camps, rivalries, and pampered egos. However, it is not necessary that an individual is admonished for adhering to his basics. But his own unrealistic aspirations and self-indulgence to mimic others reinforces him to adapt to available short cuts and imaginative faster tracks to climb the growth leader. Therefore, by the time a young professional reaches to the middle management level in corporate hierarchy, he is no longer confident of his own inner capabilities to multiply himself for steep and demanding competition for the top slots. In my career, I have counselled many professionals who got stuck at middle management level despite having brilliant credentials and lost it forever. Why such people get side-lined after rising so fast in their career? Why they do not remain the same professional anymore? The answer is in his systematic drifting from own convictions. What I call “Internal barrenness”.

How you preserve your professional sincerity?

We are responsible for our own destiny. My personal advice to the young professionals is to be honest, responsible and respectable towards self and the role. Learn to stand for your accountabilities and decisions. Excuses and manipulations are not going to lead you anywhere. Take complete charge and identify with the role. Do not evade accountability because of the fear of failure or sense of feeling besieged by the influence around you. You need to be straightforward at work with your choices. The buck stops at you. Career building is much beyond mere maintenance of the job and there is no point blaming things around us.

Enrich your fundamentals. It is important to incessantly renew your conceptual knowledge base. Subject matter understanding is an essential element of your professional triumph. Nothing can beat knowledge. Your ability to apply yourself at work will be directly proportionate to your self-sufficiency on fundamentals. I would propose all of you to plan a calendar to refresh your core subjects, brush-up your functional concepts and recent developments. Learn everything about your business and about competitors. You have to continuously transform repertoire of accessible information to amass your wisdom. Reflective knowledge is like having deep pockets of wisdom. It lightens your insight.

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