Shivaji Mohinta
Many of us during our lifetime have faced numerous rejections. It comes at several stages of our lifecycle, right from our childhood in school, college, workplace from our parents, friends, relatives and bosses.
We are often criticised and rebuked stating that we are not good enough, cannot achieve anything in life or we are simply inadequate. We are compared with others who at our age have tasted more success and made a name for themselves. There are countless stories of people ending their lives in frustration and depression due to such negative criticism or rejection. On the contrary, there are shining examples of people who treated rejection as an opportunity to come back stronger and made a huge impact in the world. We all know the positions they reached but many are not aware of the challenges they faced in their journey. Bad times can either destroy you or make you more resilient.
Here are a few whom I highly admire for showing to the world that how rejection did not become a “Stop” signal in their lives and instead they became an inspiration for millions.
Amitabh Bachhan: The greatest actor of our generation is a classic example of “Zero to Hero” phenomenon. He faced several rejections & wanted to quit the film industry at one point of time. Initially he was rejected by All India Radio and at other auditions owing to his voice and lanky looks. Then he was almost written off by doctors after an injury and later by box office failures in films, followed by creditors. His business went bankrupt to the extent that even his house was attached. His transformation thence proves, “Where your head goes, the body follows”.
Michael Phelps: This Olympian, who has won 28 medals in swimming, had at the age of 7 almost given up swimming as he was scared about water entering his eyes. His coaches gave up and said he lacked ability to focus and concentrate. He was diagnosed with ADHD. He was so dejected that he never wanted to go to the swimming pool. But with help from his mother and sister he started learning backstroke. At the age of 11 he created several national records for his age group in swimming.
Saurav Ganguly: The Indian Captain known for his aggression and credited with changing the approach of Indian cricket forever faced severe criticism in the early stages of his career owing to his princely attitude. After debut in 1992 he was out of international cricket for four years. He made his debut in test cricket and scored back-to-back centuries in England. Even after proving himself as a player and captain, coach Greg Chappel told him he was not fit to be part of the playing XI and was subsequently dropped. However, he came back strongly to prove his critics wrong. He was aptly called the “Dada of comebacks”.
Indra Nooyi: The Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo for 12 years was rejected for her outfit in her first job interview. Next time she wore a sari and got the job. This became a core philosophy — “being yourself” for the rest of her life. She is seen in a sari with bindi at all corporate events she attends. It goes to prove that sometimes our weakest point (that we or others perceive) can be our greatest strength.
All these people are from different fields but with their determination, grit and belief they became icons. The common trait they have is that they treated failure or rejection as a challenge to turn things around. They rejected the “rejection theory” to prove: “If there is a will, there is a way.” Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle has said after being dropped from the BCCI panel in 2016: “Everyone thinks doors are shut, which is true, but the windows are open.” One has to spot that window of opportunity and go after it, practice with patience and defy the stop signal of rejection.
The writer is Country Head, Greenlam Industries Limited, and a certified business coach. He can be reached at shiv_9807@hotmail.com.