“Don’t read success stories, you will only get a message. Read failure stories, you will get some ideas to get success.”
Some real life stories inspire more than works of fiction. One such is that of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. We deeply mourn the death of one of the country’s foremost brains today, on July 27, 2015.
There is a lot that entrepreneurs can learn from the life stories of this eminent scientist, who is also respectfully addressed as the “Missile Man of India”, due to his remarkable contribution towards India’s successful missile development programs.
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Be entrepreneurial:
Kalam never believed in doing a run-of-the-mill job and encouraged others to do things differently, especially the younger generation. He believed that entrepreneurship should be included as a course in India’s, which is otherwise a rote-learning based educational system. He once said, “My message, especially to young people is to have courage to think differently, courage to invent, to travel the unexplored path, courage to discover the impossible and to conquer the problems and succeed. These are great qualities that they must work towards. This is my message to the young people.”
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Be a leader:
He inspired leadership by example. During 1980s, he was able to convince Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, to allocate funds for aerospace projects under his directorship, despite the Union Cabinet’s disapproval. These projects were instrumental in the growth of India’s space research program. “Let me define a leader. He must have vision and passion and not be afraid of any problem. Instead, he should know how to defeat it. Most importantly, he must work with integrity.” Indeed his last words were about the qualities that constituted a great leader.
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Be a dreamer:
Under Dr. Kalam’s leadership, a budget of Rs. 388 crores was sanctioned for the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) by the Union Government. The program started in 1982-83 and lasted 15 years. After India test fired Prithvi in 1988 and Agni in 1989, under this program, the western world restricted access to any technology that would help India with its missile program. Undaunted, Kalam carried on with the dream program and this pushed India to successfully develop critical technology, indigenously. True entrepreneurs dream big and then work towards turning their dreams into reality. “You have to dream before your dreams can come true.”
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Be tenacious:
After his longstanding dream of becoming a pilot with India Air Force got shattered, young Kalam got his act together and accepted an opportunity with the Ministry of Defence. He convinced himself that much better opportunities lay ahead. In his words, “Man needs difficulties in life because they are necessary to enjoy the success”.
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Be action oriented:
The former President’s autobiography, My Journey: Transforming Dreams into Actions
, is less than 150 pages! This truly demonstrates that he was a man of fewer words and larger than life action.
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Be ready to push the boundaries:
[color-box color=” customcolorpicker=” rounded=false dropshadow=false]“There is no such thing as an impossible deadline”[/color-box]
As a young student at MIT, Kalam was told by his professor to recreate an aircraft design from the scratch or lose his scholarship. Moreover, he was given only 3 days to finish a job which ideally would have taken weeks. With sheer determination, he came up with a design that won him accolades from the same professor. Entrepreneurs face seemingly uphill tasks with strict deadlines in a “succeed or perish” environment. The key is to apply oneself and work towards a solution. “There is no such thing as an impossible deadline”.
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Be responsible:
On 11 January 1999, an accident occurred at Arakkonam, Chennai. During one of the test flights, for an underdevelopment aircraft surveillance system, a plane crash killed the entire crew of 8 men. That day Dr. Kalam felt the weight of being responsible for someone else. As entrepreneurs, we lead teams. Leading teams can be challenging. Much more challenging can be sharing success and taking responsibility for failure. “Don’t pretend to be a candle, be a moth. Know the power hidden in serving.”
