Excellence begins in the heart

Abstract

The crisis of leadership in India stems from the fact that our leaders have not gone through the trial of testing their values in the real world of experience: the head and the heart. We all know the story of the tortoise and the hare in which the tortoise intelligently beats the hare in a race. The hare lost because of over-confidence. While he relaxes under a tree, the tortoise plods his way and wins the race. Moral of the story: slow and steady wins the race. Some years ago, I was told another interesting version that completely changed the way the tale can be viewed. Disappointed at losing the race, the hare challenged the tortoise once more and having realized that his earlier failure to win was caused by laxity and carelessness, he easily won the second race. Accordingly: the fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. There are some within organizations who are diligent and reliable but slow, and yet others who are methodical but fast. In such a scenario, ceteris paribus (all other things being equal), the chances are that the fast and dependable will climb the organizational ladder faster than the slow and methodical. So: it’s certainly a virtue to be slow and steady but it’s even better to be fast and dependable. Read more at: https://swarajyamag.com/books/excellence-begins-in-the-heart