Life lessons from Shah Rukh Khan’s journey

Besides being the silver screen’s heartthrob, actor Shah Rukh Khan has also endeared himself to people from other walks of life. His journey from a commoner to one of the top actors of India without any so-called godfathers has been incredible.

Here’s looking at some life lessons from SRK’s journey that businesses and managers can do well to emulate.

• Be a doer: Leaders are not afraid to question, to imagine, to dream, and most importantly to believe. They are also not afraid to act, even if their actions may not result in success. The action is everything.
• Dreaming is not enough: You need to dismantle the old ideas that you cling to. I meet many successful people in the world of business and while their ideas are very clear, the way they speak of them is oddly dispassionate. The madness and passion are missing.
• Create: I get the sad impression that business often becomes numerical…it is only about millions and targets. It is so goal driven that there is a stark loss of inspiration from it. I think the emphasis on organisational goals and efficiencies has clouded the poetry of creating. It is difficult for me to relate to this starkness. I feel it lacks life.
• Imagine: Creation cannot be a managerial concept, it has to be an ‘imaginarial’ concept.
• Inspire others: To lead means to inspire. You cannot inspire people mechanically or through statistics or numbers unless they are stock brokers or bankers (with due respect). Inspiration is an emotional construct…to make people believe in anything whether it is a product or an idea or even you yourself, you need to connect the ability to imagine and dream.
• Only reality, hard work: I have never set goals. I have never set out to earn a particular amount, or to count the crores at the box office, or compare my work with another. In fact, I would go as far to say quantifiable goals are indeed illusions, and the only reality is actually hard work. Making the mistake of believing that your dreams will take flight without having to flap madly at those wings is silly. Every single moment requires diligence. Life remains ordinary if you are unable to sustain the capacity to work hard on your dreams.
• Accept failure: Leadership implies being prepared for disaster also. And it will hit you. It could come as a failure maybe or taking someone away you love. So what will you do about it? Wallow in self-pity? A little bit of crying and wallowing is ok. But the thing to understand is you have to accept it. Change your perspective, do a handstand and rebuild yourself that is what leadership is about.

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