My name is Yawar Baig. Mirza Yawar Baig. My motto is, “I will not allow what is not in my control to prevent me from doing what is, in my control.’ My mission is, “Opening the world, one mind at a time.” Welcome to our channel, “Leadership is a Personal Choice.” Because it is. I speak to audiences around the world and I can tell you that if I asked anyone from any country, of any race or religion, at any economic and educational level to tell me in one word, the biggest problem we face, they will say, “Leadership.” So, what is the solution? It is to understand and accept that “Leadership is a Personal Choice.” Leadership is not about status, designation, salary, perquisites, rank or power. It is about accepting responsibility for action. It is about saying to yourself, “This is my job and I am going to do it.” And then to find ways to create impact, no matter how small or limited it may seem. It is really as simple as that. It is my hope that over the coming weeks, months and years, as you listen to these podcasts and watch the videos, you will stop and ask yourself only one question and that is; “How can I make a difference?” And then that you will do what you can do, where you live, in your circle of influence, using your resources, to make a positive difference in your world. Please note, I am not talking about you telling others what to do. I am talking about you doing what you can do. I am doing what I can. I am inviting you to do what you can. And if you need my help, you only need to ask. The thought that drives me is: If not now, then when? If not me, then who?
Results come from sustained work over a long period of time. Dreaming about work is not work. Thinking about work is not work. Talking about work is not work. Writing about work is not work. Posting on social media about work is not work. Only working every day without fail, is work. Work is what you can measure, so ask yourself, ‘What are my metrics for my work?’
It is not how much you have, but how much you want, which determines satisfaction and peace of mind.
The first thing to learn therefore is to listen to some hard talk without flinching. In the ring, the one who wins is not the one who can hit hardest but the one who can take a hard hit and remain standing. That is life. The race doesn’t end when you fall but when you fail to get up. Resilience is to get up after every fall.
At age 70 I decided to go back to college. In this episode, I talk about my return to formal education – an 8-week immersion Arabic course at Middlebury Language Schools.
Constantly update your knowledge and experience. Admit a mistake if you make it and show how you learned from it. Don’t make excuses or try to shift the blame to someone else. Honesty always pays. Honesty is critical to building credibility which is the lifeblood of consulting. Without credibility you are nothing and will never succeed. “Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.” Gucci family slogan
Winning is about dedication. It is about concentration. It is about focus. It is about making tough choices willingly. It is about stepping forward and saying, ‘Choose me not because I am cheap but because I can give you the best value.’ Winning is not an accident. Winning is not a mystery. You will win if you are serious about winning. Winning is inevitable but only if you do the right things. So is losing. The choice is yours. Because……….
For in the end, people work for themselves, not for others. They work for others who appear to be enablers to help them achieve their own goals. I don’t mean to sound cynical. This is the reality as I have experienced it and something that shows us what we need to do to influence others. Show them how they can win by working with you and you will have all the followers you need. The key acronym is WiiFM – What’s in it for Me. Assume that everyone wants to know that. You can bet your last buck that they do. Even if they don’t it doesn’t hurt to let them know how they can achieve their personal goals by following you.
I was 24 when the plane landed with me but without my luggage in Guyana in 1979. My first move from home and I lost every possession I ever had. I felt light and thrilled – though the loss of my graduation certificate did occupy me for all of ten minutes. Then I reasoned to myself that nobody in Guyana was likely to have heard of Osmania University anyway so what did it matter? It didn’t. What did matter was that I had an opportunity to start life on my own – alone, without anyone to support me. Just the way I liked it. Today, decades later, I have yet to change my mind about this.
So, ask yourself, “In terms of the challenges that I face today, what do I need to do if I want to be a ‘Master’ and not a ‘Victim’? What is the investment that I need to make to succeed?” Free fall and flight feel the same in the beginning. But it is the end which spells the difference between life and death. Ignoring the law of gravity does not change the result.
To question is indeed a virtue. All progress depends on questioning; on not accepting status quo; on not accepting that change is impossible. The most heroic effort depends on believing that success is possible. I may not know how or why or when. But I know that it can be done. That will happen only when I say to myself, “I have not succeeded YET.”
As you work towards a great goal you will become restless, irritated, and impatient and inclined to take shortcuts and cut corners – all for the excellent reason that you want to see the project up and started as soon as possible. But in this urgency, there will be the tendency to accept compromises. I am […]
A word about writing a life goal for yourself: Only you need to see it. Only you need to be inspired by it. So, write something that is big enough to inspire. “I want to become a leadership trainer.” Ugh! Big deal. Who cares? “I want to become Mickey Mouse.” Now that is something. A name that instantly conjures up an image of a face and makes you smile. That is worth working for. So, in 1983, I wrote “I want to become the best and most powerful leadership trainer the world has ever seen.”