Walk the Talk
“Words do less than 10 things, but actions do more than 10 thousand things. Leaders don’t talk in vain; they follow with actions.”
― Israelmore Ayivor
Subhash woke up with the loud alarm, the Digital Clock near his bed kept flashing ‘6:00am.’ Subhash had not woken up this early since school days when he had to rush to school, he never was an early riser. He couldn’t wake up from bed, however he remembered the challenge of impressing Jayesh which he had to overcome. Jayesh might be just the push needed for Subhash to keep challenging himself!
Subhash always kept his clothes prepared for the next day, instead of Formal clothing what laid in front of him was a pair of Nike Shorts he had picked up a year earlier hoping he would start exercising and a White T-Shirt. He quickly freshened up, wore the clothes and slipped into his slippers. He grabbed his car keys which were placed near the door and started to open the door.
‘Wait…I’m forgetting something.” Subhash told himself sleepily. ‘I’m going walking!” Subhash had nearly walked out with his slippers, he turned back and checked for his sports shoes which were lying somewhere. Fifteen minutes later he found the Nike Shoes he had bought along with his Nike Shorts. It was a ten minute drive to the location, Jayesh had sent in the message. Once arriving he saw Jayesh stretching his limbs and warming up.
‘Good morning!” Shouted Jayesh Happily, Subhash had never seen Jayesh so happy and bright. Jayesh was definitely a morning person and loved his exercise. Under Armour was seemingly Jayesh’s favourite brand, from top to bottom it was all flashing the famous logo of Under Armour.
‘Goodmorning’ Subhash said happily to Jayesh, trying not to sound sleepy. Subhash did a little stretching of his own and was interrupted with a Tap on the shoulder from Jayesh.
‘Shall we begin Sir,’ said Jayesh with a Fist bump to Jayesh. Subhash smiled back and they started a Walk that would lead to an everlasting friendship which would take them to Success they have been visioning and imagining about.
If you can Imagine it and Visualize it, you can create it!
Lessons
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
The walks were taken everyday, 12KM in total. Jayesh and Subhash were getting familiar with each other, in the first few walks they spoke about their experiences and goals. Recruitment was never discussed in the initial stages as their friendship every morning became stronger. They would walk in the mornings, and carry on with their businesses and goals in the day time. Subhash started sleeping early, following a more healthy lifestyle. After 3 months of Walking, the introduction phase was over and the next phase began. The next three months, Jayesh was learning the recruitment business from Subhash, while Subhash was learning the Software business from Jayesh. Both were sharp and quick learners. They realised that if both of them understood each other’s strengths they could formulate Success. Subhash took extra time late evenings to study more about the IT world. The curious nature of Subhash helped him understand the demands of an IT head.
‘Lets meet at Kamla Nehru Park,Deccan at 6pm today, it’s important.” Subhash messaged Jayesh. This time Subhash was the lead in taking action.
Jayesh arrived at the same bench they sat down in their first meeting and sat down, waiting patiently for Subhash to arrive. Subhash arrived fifteen minutes later, running excitedly towards the bench.
‘I got it! I know what you need now! I have found just the right person for taking over your US projects’ Subhash said in a very hurried and excited tone handing over some papers to Jayesh.
‘And?’ Jayesh quickly added after Subhash’s statement.
‘To succeed, is to take action first!’ Subhash said happily.
Subhash was the first to take action, to plan their meet and this was a big lesson. If a person was to succeed he would have to take action instead of waiting for a response to take action. Jayesh carefully browsed the papers, it was a Curriculum Vitae (CV) of an Individual named Ashish Shende. Ashish Shinde’s CV had not much experience but had strong educational qualifications especially in Mathematics.
‘Okay, call him over tomorrow morning to Cafe Coffee Day in Aundh’ Jayesh said and shook Subhash’s hand. Subhash was thrilled, he knew Ashish was the right candidate, however there was one problem Ashish was already employed in a company that Subhash had helped him in getting. Once Subhash got back home he gave a call to Ashish. Ashish agreed at once to meet Jayesh.
First Time
“There’s a First Time for Everything.”
– Ancient Proverb
Jayesh met Ashish at 11 in the Morning the next day, and gave him a set of four questions. This time, it was not the same set of questions he had used for the last few candidates that Subhash had sent to him, neither was there was a question behind the paper. It was four extremely difficult IT related questions.
‘You got exactly Two hours’, Jayesh said to Ashish.
Ashish proceeded answering the four questions in a calm manner in the table nearby. Half an hour before the Two hours was complete Ashish handed over the papers to Jayesh. Jayesh revised the papers without any emotions and wrote something on an A4 sheet of paper which was handed over to Ashish.
It was a link to a website, Ashish had to visit the website before the end of the day in his laptop. Ashish did not waste time he took out his laptop and typed in the Website. Jayesh liked the proactive nature of Ashish. The Website contained a programming script which had a major fault, Ashish had to correct it.
‘How would I correct it without the username and password?’ Ashish asked himself. He thought for five minutes, and turned the paper he was provided. The username and password was mentioned on the other side. Ashish had passed the Awareness test, Jayesh’s favourite test! An hour later Jayesh got an Email from one of his clients with a big Thank you. The script which had to be corrected was one of the jobs given to Jayesh from a US client. Ashish had passed the Reality Test too. Jayesh was super impressed.
Ashish walked over to Jayesh confidently and asked Jayesh if he had passed the test. Jayesh told him to check his email by 9pm.
‘Congratulations’ was the Subject title of the Mail sent to Ashish. When he clicked it he smiled happily. The Body of the Mail contained his tests, what it was required for along with an attachment of his Job offer. The salary was almost double than his current job. His role was different although, it was not his current role of being a Quality Analyst but instead a Programmer. Jayesh had even mentioned why he would be an excellent programmer and not a Quantitative Analyst.
The next day morning at the usual walks of Jayesh and Subhash. Jayesh told all about Ashish. Subhash had done it, by the end of the walk Subhash knew the challenge from Jayesh had been won. But Subhash knew this was the first successes of many with Jayesh. They set up office in Jayesh’s house, For the next few months Subhash and Jayesh spent most of the day with each other along with Ashish who worked in the day at Jayesh’s house and at night at his place. The team increased with an addition of another programmer and a quality analyst. Everything was progressing, Jayesh kept getting new work from his US clients, Subhash was becoming a talent recruitment expert and Ashish and the rest of the team were enjoying every challenge they got. But something was missing….something that could take their success to the next level.
Steve Jobs
“Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.”
– Steve Jobs
Sundays were off days for the team, although they loved their work so much they used to work from their homes. Jayesh used to review weekly events to improve business, Subhash used to study different organisations various recruitment strategies while Ashish and the team used to complete the next week’s projects. One day instead of going for a walk, Subhash and Jayesh thought of watching a movie in Jayesh’s house. Their role model was Steve Jobs. Steve Job’s fighting spirit and entrepreneur brain was an inspiration in their lives since they were teenagers. They decided to watch ‘Jobs’ which featured Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs, as the DVD of it which Jayesh had recently ordered had arrived.
‘Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things – they push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.’
Suddenly Jayesh got up from the Sofa and exclaimed, ‘let’s find an office’. Subhash looked at Jayesh, and was wondering what had happened to the calm Jayesh who took the right decisions slowly and in a organised manner. Jayesh suddenly became impulsive, Jobs the movie really was a motivating force behind Jayesh. Subhash never backing down from his friend and partner’s wishes took his cell phone out and called one of his friends who was a Broker.
‘My partner and I are searching for an immediate space to rent for our IT business,” Subhash said to the broker. An hour later the broker picked Jayesh and Subhash up in his car and proceeded showing commercial spaces which would be ideal to a small team of IT professionals.
‘This is Perfect!’ Said Subhash enthusiastically. Jayesh shook his head in disagreement. This happened in a couple of spaces Jayesh and Subhash saw with the broker. Jayesh sure was stubborn and was not easy to please in anything. The broker was giving up, and it was already getting dark. Subhash persuaded to show a couple more places, and the broker agreed angrily.
‘This is Perfect!’ Said Jayesh this time shocking both Subhash and the Broker. The space was a little tiny, around 400 square feet but had a very good feeling when entering. It had a small balcony which when opened had amazing breeze coming in. Jayesh could picture desks in one side of the office and the team brainstorming sessions being discussed on another side.
While returning back, Subhash and Jayesh stopped by their usual bench in Kamla Nehru Park to review the past which brought them here. It was a crazy ride, but they were just beginning. They were opposites who together could accomplish the unbelievable.
‘White snow,’ Suggested Subhash, with Jayesh looking back at him with a confused expression.
‘Whitesnow?’ Repeated Jayesh with a Raised eyebrow.