TRAITS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR - PG ANANDY NEETHIGURUSAMY

Symbols have been one of the most effective ways to communicate ideas since the dawn of civilization. Let’s look in to the symbols of Lord Ganesha to learn the traits of an entrepreneur for the discovery of his business successes.

Let’s start with the attitude of surrender, our self to the feet of Lord Ganesha.

1. SMALL FEET: The small feet of Lord Ganesha, which supports his large body, leaves him with no choice but to be firmly grounded to avoid tumbling or falling. Therefore, an entrepreneur has large responsibility of leading all the stakeholders of the company. So he has to be very firm in dealing with its decisions and policies. Any sort of leniency will make a downfall. Hence the small feet of Lord Ganesha symbolize the trait of STABLE for an Entrepreneur.

2. FOUR HANDS: To achieve great success in business, an entrepreneur must work together with the team. The four hands of lord Ganesha combined together signify the togetherness and team spirit. Therefore, the four hands represent the trait of TOGETERNESS for an entrepreneur.

3. BROKEN TUSK: Tusks are actually the beautifier for Lord Ganasha’s face. When he was asked to write the epic of Mahabharata as vyasamuni narrated it. Lord Ganasha realized the enormity and significance of the task and decided that there could not be a better pen than his tusk to scribe it. He did not bother about his beauty but understood the importance of tusk. He helped in enlightening the whole world with the wisdom depicted in the Mahabharata. He sacrificed his beauty through his tusk. Hence an entrepreneur should have the trait of SACRIFICE to be done in any form.

4. BIG BELLY: The stomach indicates the place of digestion. Lord Ganesha digests bad aspects of everyone and he blesses everyone. So, to succeed in business, an entrepreneur should be able to digest any kind of news- good or bad. Whether it is objections, disappointments or hardships, digest all resentments and hatred and move ahead until the goal is achieved. Therefore an entrepreneur should enclose the trait of ADJUSTMENT.

5. LONG TRUNK: The long trunk or nose of the Lord Ganesha can be moved into any directions to detect where the right opportunities are coming from. Hence for the success of any entrepreneur he must sense the right opportunities that are coming up well in advance. Thus an entrepreneur should cover the trait of sensing right OPPORTUNITY.

6. SMALL MOUTH: The small mouth of Lord Ganesha, indicates speaking less and accurate. A good entrepreneur is obviously the one who knows what needs to be adhered and what should be ignored, so that when he speaks, he speaks with relevance. To achieve success, he should nurture this Pareto principal 80:20 rule. That is allowing others to speak 80% and his speech to be 20%. Therefore an entrepreneur should encompass the trait of SPEAKING WITH RELEVANCE.

7. MOUSE as VEHCILE: Lord Ganesha with a huge body has a small mouse as his vehicle. It shows that he has no Ego. A shiny car or extravagant life style might impress, but to win hearts, the simplest way is through simple gestures of affection and respect. Similarly, a successful entrepreneur should be able to leave aside his egos and should be observant to understand the advantages which others overlook. Thus an entrepreneur should contain the trait of SIMPLICITY.

Each part of Lord Ganesha’s body and everything associated with our professional challenges. An entrepreneur who adopts the above mentioned traits will be of true VIGNAHARTA – “Remover of Obstacles”to any business organization and all people associated with it.