It took me some successes and many failures to realize that humility is for rich and famous because poor and growing cannot really afford it. Talk to a prospective client or pitch your start-up, all growing personalities need to be grandeur, full of pride & conviction about how great they are or how novel their start-up is. Because only then can they prove their worth to those investing in them. But Ambanis, Wadias, Birlas or Tatas don’t need to do that. They are now competing in an uneven playing field where they can afford to be modest. Dhirubhai was seldom modest, Mukesh mostly is, but the question is- Can Anil afford it? I’m pretty certain that even Mota bhai would have shelled some of his humility and be going gaga over how great Jio is while selling a piece of it to Zuck. Humility, at best, is circumstantial.
It sounds strange to me when people praise Buffett to be so humble in not owning mansions or Murthy to be so kind for coming out in white half sleeves shirts. Well guess what? That’s a misnomer. They are frugal but well-versed with their commanding position, they ridicule people with absurd questions in press-conferences and even walk out of speeches if they feel humiliated by a guest who arrived late in international conferences. I, in no way whatsoever, want to disrespect anyone but put across the thought that they are not unassuming of their stature and that’s great. They asked for the position that they deserved and eventually got to a place where they can possibly afford modesty. And in fact, it’s commendable that they are living a “modest life” when they can “afford” a mansion, but that’s not the point here. Is it? (Also FYI, Buffett lives “frugally” but owns a vacation home worth $8Mn and some private jets. And that by any means is not bad. It saves his time.)
So what am I getting at? The point that I want to make is you can be modest only to people who consider you above them in some manner. For a person who is just getting started- I’d say- Don’t even try to be modest- Ask for the recognition that you deserve by telling the world the achievements that you have accomplished.
My ideology was bolstered by IPL 2020. One of my favorite discoveries from this year’s IPL was Rajasthan Royal’s Rahul Tewatia. Just as he shot to fame with a match-winning inning against Kings XI Punjab, a 2019 video showed up on internet of him asking his then coach Ricky Pointing for recognition of his 4 catches in one of the matches. Pointing mocked him saying out loud that- “Boys, Tewatia took four catches and wants a pat on the back”. Axar Patel too echoed the same sentiment and took a jibe at him- “Bhai aise kaun kahta hai.” To which Tewatia replied- “Apne haq ke liye ladenge”.
Tewatia has been playing the tournament for 5 years, but struggled to get more game-time with mediocre performance. In star-studded franchises, he was just another brick in the wall. And hence he couldn’t afford to be modest, he stood up for himself & asked people to recognize him for the good that he has done. And that’s what underdogs do. They aren’t underdogs because they win a match one fine day. It takes years and years for an overnight success. Underdogs keep asking but mostly no one listens until one fine day they win and it’s called an “upsetting outcome”.
Life will throw you big interviews to crack. You need to prove your worth & ask for better opportunities, and that’s going to happen only if you are not modest about your achievements. And never-mind what people have to say, we didn’t care much about the flamboyancy of Harshad Mehta, as portrayed in the series- 'Scam1992', when he goes to deal with his clients. Did we? Remember- “Mat kar maya ko ahankaar” is applicable to only those with Maya.