Success. Everyone wants a piece of it; everyone wants to be successful in their career. But what's the formula to achieve it? Allow Prajeet Budhale, author of Infin-eight, to break it down for you because this entrepreneur, effectiveness consultant, executive coach and business mentor has a trick or eight up his, well, pen! Excerpts:
1. How did you first get into writing? Who or what was your primary inspiration, and what does writing mean to you?
While working with more than 180 clients as a consultant in the corporate field, life can sometimes be hectic. I was waiting at the airport due to a delayed flight one day and was wondering what I would tell people if I had to share my ‘essence of success’. It started out as a social media article, but I later realised that there was more material to it than what a single screen can hold. Also, due to the premium nature of our services, not everyone can benefit from our insights. I believe this book is a good way to get my ideas out to professionals who cannot attend the programme but can get access to the same concepts in an affordable format. The book is also a reflection of the key principles which helped me become successful in life.
2. Your book, Infin-eight, has secured a spot as a national bestseller in the non-fiction category. Please tell us more about the book and its greater role as a compendium of knowledge.
I wrote this book to get the knowledge I've gained across to other professionals. For me, the success of the book is a representation of the fact that many people have benefited from it. While we organise executive coaching for CXOs and intervention programmes for high-end leaders, there were times when at least 6 out of 10 people said that it would have been good if they got exposed to this kind of knowledge earlier in their career. This thought stayed with me. So, when I was authoring the book, I made sure to bring the concepts to such people in a format that helps them prepare for sustained professional success. The book covers working with professional aspirations, building people power, tracking progress and managing emotions in a simple, implementable manner. I was very happy that my book did well.
3. Your book promises 8 principles for infinite professional success. How can you be sure that these steps would be uniformly applicable to all of your readers, given the diversity in the nature of the corporate goals set by various people?
Somethings are like gravity — if you are on Earth, then you experience it uniformly. The principles outlined in the book would give similar results to professionals across different sectors and walks of life. For the past decade, as a part of Fourth Quadrant, the sole intent of my work has been to convert learning and consulting assignments to tangible results for clients. The book is based on my academic exposure to human psychology, functional experience in sales, sales management and leadership, followed by real-time implementation of these concepts through consulting with clients and organisations. As an organisation, we have conducted 42 return-on-investment projects in various areas in the last 10 years. Our research into the real-time application is very solid, which was the foundation of the book. In due course, I intend to bring skill-based books which will enable similar superlative results for readers.
4. You have mentioned that many potential leaders do not have access to adequate tools and facilities. What sort of tools/facilities are you referring to?
Education systems worldwide prepare people for their respective domains. This enables success for the first few years of their career. Once a professional moves into the ‘people management role’, the expectation from them greatly changes. They are answerable to colleagues, customers, stakeholders and shareholders. Imagine a bike or a car. The domain is like the engine and behavioural skills are like the lubricant. The lubricant by itself has very little prominence but the engine can completely collapse without a well-oiled approach to the working of the engine. I specialise in working with organisations to get their behavioural skills in order for their employees. These skills come in handy in everyday communications, leadership, management, customer management and personal undertakings.
5. Many authors of this genre claim to have been written after careful interactions with the audience, feedback from readers, real-life experiences, etc. What makes your book stand out?
Most books on business or those in the ‘self-help’ category take you through a series of well-researched concepts and ideas. But if you sit back and think, there is too much of responsibility on the reader. The reader has to draw out the synthesis and come up with an action plan. When I was authoring my book, my priority was simple – to make the book a guide which takes you through a step-by-step approach and doesn't leave too many things to judgemental discretion? The objective of this is to enable readers to use a simple framework to define success in line with their personal aspirations. It is a ‘workbook’, where you work with the concepts and at the end of every chapter, you have a clear idea of how to apply it in real life.
6. What is the guarantee that your book will be helpful 5 years down the line, considering the highly competitive and evolving nature of the corporate world?
I like what RBI ex-governor Raghuram Rajan said in one of his interviews — if you kept technology aside, not too many things have changed about a human being. I think it is so true. Somethings don’t change. Consider this –everyone wants to make their tomorrow better than what it is today. Everyone wants to find ways to make the most of their life. Everyone wants to lead a life of fulfilment and contentment. Everyone wants to feel happy, peaceful and successful. The book has an expiry date — the day these facts about human beings become redundant. My guess is, it will not happen too soon.
7. What primary/secondary sources did you refer to when writing the book?
There are many perspectives I considered when authoring the book. I wanted to ensure that the book is not based on my bias about the business world. I based the book on my personal experience, professional feedback from stakeholders across sectors, colleagues and friends who volunteered to critic the writing and so on. I strongly believe that to ensure we have anything worthwhile, we need at least four perspectives to come into action. I followed this principle throughout the writing process.
8. You have stated that readers who aspire to succeed should not dwell about 'shining achievements of the past.' Why would dwelling on the past prevent one from reaching their full potential?
Consider this — if Apple, when they made iPhone 5, had said that this is the best phone ever and stopped innovating, would they be successful? Celebrate success but remember that you are celebrating an event of the past. To succeed in the future, you need to work towards the future. The past is an indication of the future but not a guarantee of it. If we succeeded in the past, we should take a lesson from it and keep moving forward. Conversely, if we failed in the past, we should also take a lesson from it and keep moving forward. Both ways, keep moving forward to achieve your truest and fullest potential.
9. Will there be a sequel to your book later this year?
A sequel is the easiest way to encash the success of the book. But that’s not for me. I have done complete justice to my readers at the very first go. I have provided a complete success toolkit through my book. I am already working on the next book, which is based on the science of business skills. I am hoping to get a definitive skill book which will enable professionals to communicate effectively. For me, my reader is my customer and I am not leaving any stone unturned to get a practical and implementable business skill guide delivered to them shortly.
