Mein Amir Khan banana chahta hun

Each one of us has grown up watching the success of Sachin Tendulkar, Amir Khan, Dhoni and now Virat Kohli. Their standard of excellence and the artistic level of their competence leaves everyone awestruck. But rarely anyone gives a real thought to what is it like becoming Amir Khan or Virat Kohli? What sort of discipline and attitudinal strength does it call for?

We study for the exams or work on our respective jobs. But in the process, we remain connected with the world. Every now and then, we look at our WhatsApp or facebook to see if anyone has sent some message. Our attention is divided among so many things that oftentimes we are not able to do the justice with the task. On the other hand, just imagine Virat Kohli checking his WhatsApp or Facebook during his practice sessions. I am sure he would never do that. He won't be allowed to do so and even if he is allowed to do so, he must be motivated enough to stay away from such distractions. That's the difference between a common man and a god.

Second such difference is seen in their indifference to the criticism. Big players who are a cynosure of media cameramen know it well that they can be de-floored any day. Therefore, they become too agnostic to such attention and enjoy this media attention without being too sentimental about it. This indifference level reaches only after you invest so much time and effort in your job that reward of becoming a national star looks like a peanut in front of your effort. For people like Amir Khan, I think they have developed the highest level of conviction in what they do. As a result, praise, criticism, success and failure becomes irrelevant. Doing the job in an excellent manner remains their only concern.

Third such difference is seen in the form of the desire to push yourself and specialize. They do not chase multiple rabbits and completely focus on one task. Most of us end up doing n number of things simultaneously and eventually fall in the mediocrity bracket. For these champions of their field, their hobby is same as their job. In a way, they are a specialist in their field who may not be even knowing ABCD of other fields. Becoming Virat Kohli or Amir is not impossible. It may be little difficult but one can always become like them.

In the software domain, what Amir does is can be compared with a role of product manager. Firstly, one should read and gets hands-on information on a range of products. Once we have that, we need to invest ourselves completely in a product. We need to work very very hard on building the right team. The team may take months and years to form but let it be. Just like Amir screens nearly 5000 girls for a role in her movie, similarly, a product manager also needs to invest in the team formation. The product manager needs to completely immerse himself in the product, thinking about every possible use-case and every single click scenario. This and only this submission to deeper details and product features will yield us the desirable product.