Patience and Perseverance

Patience and perseverance are virtues that a manager imbibes over a period of time depending on the situation and the environment he operates. A good manager would have cultivated the right kind of knowledge, talent, wisdom, trust and attitude.

I will relate this character to someone whom I have known closely and worked with – Ajay used to head a beverages company in a southern state in India. We worked at a time when weather forecasts and therefore predictions were a bit uncertain and abstract. We needed to wade through this period of uncertainty and come out well in our business. I am writing below a very critical character trait that every aspiring leader has to necessarily build on and posses to move up the ranks.

I observed that Ajay had all the traits of a good business leader – but the enduring quality that I noticed in him and that remained with him is his ability to persevere in his thoughts and actions and his ability to be patient in trying and tough times. Let me try and illustrate some of his character traits in the ensuing paragraphs.

Be a keen listener

It is important that a manager hears the “unsaid”. In critical moments and trying situations the calm and the composed manager picks up every detail of points discussed and use them to frame his thoughts and actions.
Ajay conducted weekly meetings with his sales organisation and ensured attendance of the other functions as well – he wanted to hear from the “others”. Sales organisations in a consumer products company are considered “one up” over the rest of the functions. Ajay was different; he heard the others and needed to understand the pulse of the market. He heard all of us before he decided his strategy.

Being patiently attentive is an important attribute of a good leader – while he could chart the course of a discussion, it is useful that the leader ensures that every member has a say.

Remain calm and composed

Ajay was responsible for selling a very seasonal product and 60% of the revenues of this were achieved in the summer months – it so happened that in one of the year, the rains set in earlier than expected, impacting the sales significantly. The head office did not take the sales drop kindly and deputed some of their best minds to coach Ajay and his team in the art of selling. Ajay had a fairly cherished professional background and this kind of tutoring that he and his team were subjected was uncalled for. But he took them in his stride, counselled his disturbed team and executed his plan according to the needs of the market and he understood them well. Ajay could have been a fall guy, if he had taken the corporate managers head on and questioned their wisdom – but he chose to retain his character and importantly ensured that his team remained composed and calm. As someone said “Courage is not limited to the battlefield – the real test of courage is much quieter. They are the inner tests like enduring pain when the room is empty or standing alone when you are misunderstood.

Think objectively

One another important attribute of a patient leader is his ability to think clearly, unfazed and uncluttered. There are leaders with creative ideas and strategies but they fail in their communication and lack the ability to share their ideas in a structured manner with a larger audience.
Ajay had an uncanny ability to think and act objectively – the unseasonable rains had impacted the sales of his products and to undo the impact Ajay had to work out a different strategy – he assessed the market dynamics and strategized and when the chips were down and turbulence around, he gauged the market situation differently and presented his solution


Perseverance

I picked this quote from a book, it says and I quote “I do not think that there is any other quality essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost anything including nature.”
Patience and perseverance go hand in hand – one need to be extremely well prepared, planned and informed before executing a task at hand. A lot of hard work and thinking goes behind executing a task – you need to have the ability to take failures in your stride as you look at the larger picture ahead. And you would be well equipped to achieve your goal, if you have the ability to endure long hours and assess all alternatives, however trivial they might be.

Perseverance as exemplified by this worthy man’s quote “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Geniuses will not, unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Educations will not, the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Message clearly

As someone said “the ability to simplify is to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.’ Ajay personified this statement aptly. In a number of situations in the work place a firm stand had to be taken and conveyed with assertion. Ajay would endure the time spent in understanding and hearing his team and peers and would convey his decision well crafted and in simple terms. Many contemporary managers actually either are unable to reach a decision or leave it to their next level to take a decision.

I have gained immensely working with him and I hold him in high regard for having made me a better individual.