Year 1988. Two batsmen from a school team of Mumbai came to limelight as they stitched a partnership of 664 runs in a cricket match. You guessed it right. Those two are Vinod Kambli and Sachin Tendulkar. A lot of cricket experts felt both of them were equally talented. Both had their share of luck and started playing for India within the next couple of years. But Sachin went on to become the legend that we know, while Kambli struggled to live upto his potential. The difference between these two: the winning mindset, feels Prem Khatri of Cafemutual.
“There are three pillars of success: talent or competence, luck and the winning mindset. In fact, one can even overcome the lack of talent or luck with the right mindset,” Prem said at Cafemutual and Aditya Birla Sun Life MF’s webinar series Lessons from the Masters. The session was hosted by K S Rao, Head - Investor Education & Distribution Development, Aditya Birla Sun Life MF.
Speaking about the process of developing the success mindset, Prem said that one of the important factors is to have the right temperament and attitude. He quoted the famous motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”
To build the right temperament, Prem feels that one should focus on 3 key factors - perseverance, patience and ability to postpone gratification.
Prem said that those MFDs who had shown perseverance and continued their business through the various ups and downs of the markets eventually achieved success. Giving an example, he said that those MFDs who started in 1994 and stayed the course are all immensely successful.
Similarly, successful MFDs have patience to build their business. They do not get disheartened if they do not get the business from potential clients in the first few meetings.
The third element in developing the right temperament is the ability to postpone gratification. He cited an experiment. At Stanford, some young kids were gathered. They were told that they can either take one sweet now or wait for some time and take two sweets. Participants of this study were monitored for a long time. And it turned out that those who waited to get that extra sweet did well on all fronts of their life. Moral of the story: They sacrificed something today for better results in the future.
Prem also talked about the professional mindset that sets apart successful MFDs. He said that those having a professional mindset believe that they are in control of what they are doing rather than feeling very helpless because of the circumstances. Such MFDs have a bias for action. Rather than leaving everything to chance and making excuses, they like to believe that they can write their own script of success.
Further, MFDs having a professional mindset look at solutions for clients rather than just offering products. They focus on the relationship, trust and behavioural aspects of clients rather than focusing on transactions. Prem added that while short-term success is sweet, it is equally important to sustain success for the long-term.
