Harsha Bhogle's speech on excellence

Harsha Bhogle is a man with multiple personalities. When he is not with Cricket big shots in the commentary box, he contributes as columnist to multiple news papers. I got a chance to watch a video of his speech , delivered in IIM-A, on excellence. It was the most wonderful speech I have ever heard. It was very motivating and inspiring

I have tried summarizing some of the points which he has mentioned in his speech.These are those few lines which were really inspiring.

"What is Excellence?"
Harsha says

Excellence is not a skill
Its an attitude!

Excellence is about chasing the professional performance goal and
letting the results take care of themselves.

Excellence never seeks excuses.

Excellence is the series of 100%

In life if you seek excellence, always seek people who are better than
you

Excellence is not about talent alone. Infact major part of excellence
has nothing to do with talent. It is what you do with the talent matters.

Excellence is also about learning from mistakes. Mistakes are your best
friends.

Excellence is as much as knowing what not to do as much as knowing
what to do

Excellence is about desire.

Excellence is all about having the confidence to share
knowledge

Excellence is all about accepting criticism.

" What is crucial? The End or The Path"

His views on "The End"

The end is crucial. Because end is always the driver of the ambition. We usually set ourselves the end or the result goals. The End gives us the vision. "The End" at all cost attitude that pervades is the source for all anxiety. It also
creates the temptation to do whatever it takes to win

His views on "The Path"

Excellence is about chasing the professional performance goal and letting the results / end take care of themselves. Make the process of achievement supreme and make the result irrelevant. Make perfect the process of performance and don't allow the pressure of the results to choke your performance. And that is the wonderful journey path to excellence.

"Excellence is a series of 100%"

If you give every moment 100% and then wait for the next moment and say " You know what ! this is the moment I wanted to give 100% too" and then the next moment turns up and then you say " Actually this was the moment I really wanted to give my 100% best" . And then you will find the little things in life that makes the difference between the good and great just happen.

You don't know who is watching you, where which opportunity is coming along. So always give your 100% best effort.

Can you fill 2 litres in a 1 litre pepsi bottle?
So you can never give anything more than 100%.
But you can give 100% for every moment

There is no shame in saying "Well Done .. you are better than me" When you know that you have given your 100% effort ethically.

"Excellence never seeks excuses"

The moment someone says "I would have been good But".. it means you are trying to assign the blame of your poor performance on someone else. This means you are not great already!

The moment you allow youself to go wrong , you fall into a possibility map, then you DO go wrong!

"Stop hating Criticism"

Don't live in the rarrified bubble without taking criticism.

Never marry a fan.

"Arrogance"

Arrogance is the biggest stumbling block to success.

In the path of excellence, if you have ego and anger on your sde, you don't need an opponent. You have done 90% of the job of ruining youself.

"Talent and Attitude"

Excellence is not about talent alone. Infact major part of excelelnec has nothing to do with talent. It is what you do with the talent matters.

Attitude and Passion count far more than talent

Ability talent opens the first door but it is not going to open the last door for you.

"Luck"

Luck is all bout recognizing the opportunity before it comes.

Luck is the fantastic fusion of talent and an opportunity spotted.