How Personal Excellence And Care Leads To Professional Excellence
Often when we broach the subject of growth and success,or measure our achievements, we view it from the lens of professional excellence. ‘Look, how much he/she has accomplished, how they've risen the ranks,’ is the career-driven yardstick employed to define excellence. In my 18 years of working behind the scenes in the world of business, technology and innovation, managing the daily rigmarole of work and workforce, I’ve come to realize that professional excellence is preceded by personal excellence. As Greek philosopher Aristotle stated, ‘excellence is not an act; it’s a habit’ - one that you inculcate, cultivate, and practice mindfully. It’s the habit of consistently striving for personal excellence that fuels professional brilliance. But first, what exactly is personal excellence? To me it’s raising the bar of your own expectations and standards andstriving to be the best version of yourself -mentally, physically, spiritually. Personal excellence is a continuous endeavor, towards self-awareness, self-reflection and self-evaluation. It empowers you as you grow, and empowerment is the real growth. Take it as your very own SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, threat) analysis. Your ‘personal excellence quotient’ can prove to be a game-changer in your and your organisation’s success story, and here’s how.
The Mindspace: At the core of wellbeing resides mental health. A healthy mind gives birth to a healthy start of the day. Your employee (and you) will be the happiest and most productive when he/she operates in a healthy environment. Exponential growth – personally and professionally – takes place with incremental changes in mindsets. When you invest in taking care of your mental stress, you are able to free yourself of any baggage and move forward. One can take precautionary and preventive measures for the same. For instance, medical insurance for the staff acts as a safety net and brings down their stress levels. A psychologist on board helps them address and resolve their issues confidentially.
Flexible timings, especially for new mothers, cut down their stress. A 8000-step daily walking programme, for example, boosts physical health, and breaks the monotony.
The Self Care regime: Self-awareness, self-care, self-preservation - these are small but sturdy steps to the ladder of personal excellence. How do you become the best version of yourself - by creating a code of conduct that gives importance to discipline, focus, vision, purpose, a positive attitude and belief in self. Take time for self-grooming, dress up, wear a smile. Invest in reading, improving your knowledge, innovating, interacting with a diverse set of people, honing your communication skill, surrounding yourself with positive folk, observing, challenging the norms. You will be amazed how a bit of self care will attract the right attention, energy, people and business and boost holistic self-growth.
Set an Example: Excellence means going the extra mile. It also means to practice what you preach. Being disciplined and organized in your personal life reflects in the professional space. In order to engineer change, a growth oriented mindset and a mental shift, one has to break the pattern, unlearn andtransform. This step on the personal front catapults you to position of a leader, influencer, and encourage people to respond and follow.
Change is the only constant: Personal excellence takes root in being able to change with the times, to adapt, evolve and survive, to challenge yourself and step out of the comfort zone. We are fast inhabiting an automated AI-driven world, one where job profiles will demand cognitive skillset. To make your place in this world, it’s imperative to work on your skill set, to adapt, to be flexible and disruptive. You cannot afford to be an analog player in the digital world.
Work-Life balance: Personal excellence trickles down to how well do we look after our people, how we create a community of excellent workers, an ecosystem that delivers best practices, facilities, and benefits. One has to gauge the reasons that hinder growth and development, act as an obstacle in the path of personal excellence. So, how does one instill the culture of personal excellence, especially amongst employees? By introducing learning and development programmes, wellness and nutrition programmes, flexible working hours, team and confidence building exercises, health insurances, motivational pep talks, for starters. All these contribute to increasing employee productivity and organizational growth.
About the author -
Archana Gupta - Chief Financial Officer, TestingXperts, a next-gen QA & Software Testing Services provider.
