The credit goes to the man who is truly in the arena.
- majorrajneeshdhar .
- Sep 6
- 5 min read
Have you ever watched sports, live or on television? I bet you have. There are two types of stakeholders involved during a sporting event. One is the audience that is on the sidelines and watching the event unfold. The other is the player who is always on the move to ensure that the 'show goes on'. If you remove yourself from the equation & take an eagle's view, then you can observe both these stakeholders unbiased. This, I am sure, will lead us to an interesting observation. It will become evident that both stakeholders have different mindsets, outlooks, and reactions to what is happening on the field.
Audience
They would be the smarter lot who comment on every move of the player, every decision made by the Captain & every ruling done by the referee. These will be the experts whose opinion will appear to carry weight, which is more than the officially appointed coaches. Moreover, they will be the emotional lot who will behave as if their 'life & death' depends on the outcome of the game. You will witness these people as an animated set of that will be moving and grooving as if they were on the field themselves. They are a picture of living beings trying to control the outcomes of life by being on the sidelines.
Players
This set of stakeholders will be totally different from the previous set. These are the ones who are actually moving the ball. They are responding to every move and reacting to every new possibility that springs up during the course of the sporting event. They succeed at times & they fail at times; however, the 'show goes on'. They are in the middle of all 'highs & lows', 'joy & pain' and 'right & wrong'. They are the ones who know that you fall while chasing the Goal, and you do that multiple times as you attempt to create that one move that scores. They also know that there is only one choice they have, which is to get up when they fall and play again.
Such a striking difference in the mindsets of these two sets of stakeholders in a sporting event. In life, we face similar situations where we get a choice to either be the audience and play on the sidelines or we jump in to take the reins in our hands to be the 'Player of our life'.
We always know this, but are too bothered about the people on the sidelines who always have an opinion. This makes one sway away from the path that one is moving on and drop the goals/dreams based on someone else's assessment of the game. This learning is available to us all, but we somehow miss it. It was reinforced to me during various workshops that I attended, and it has stayed for life. Whenever I face such a dilemma, I ask myself whether I am the player or the audience here. If I am the audience, then I must repose trust in the players as they know best, or if I am the Player then I must focus on the game, not the audience.
Not The Critics...Not The Audience ...but ...It is The Man On The Ground
In the army, it is said that 'It is the man on the ground whose decisions are to be respected as he knows the real situation to act accordingly'. You may war-game, brainstorm and do everything possible under the sky; however, when the operation begins then it is the situation on the ground and man on the ground who can only take the best course of action.
We can draw a similar analogy for other professions like 'Sales'. A salesman is the man who is on the ground & who plays the game. He/she must play it without bothering about the audience. All inputs, knowledge, and advice are welcome and help to prepare well, but when the ball is kicked off, then the show must go on, and the player must move with finesse.
Playing Safe Or Playing All Out
A soldier...A Salesman always has two choices: Play Safe Or Give it your all. The failure is not in trying & then failing, but it is in 'not trying at all'.
You may never fail in a scenario where you do not make a move at all. It is highly likely but will it be fun, will it challenge you or will it stimulate you-NO. Life is always meant to be moving forward and as shown in the picture above, having an inertia approach to life is painstakingly depressing. All our religious teachings, wisdom facts tell us that 'Karma is to be performed and not shirked away from'. Thus, as per me, the choice is simple 'Play & Play The Game Of Life Full On'.
Dedicated To Field People (Sales, Customer Facing Roles & Soldiers)
Once you have been in a job that requires managing clients, you would always empathise with your fellow colleagues in the same role. For example, when I got into Sales, one of my gigs was to do 'door-to-door' sales. From that day onwards, I have come to respect the Salesman a lot. Anyone out there making a 'cold call' deserves a pat on the back, and I will always treat that person with utmost humility because I have been on that side.
All such people who face unpredictable clients and especially those who make the client's wallet open - deserve all the credit. Thus, this post is dedicated to them. What sparked this post was me stumbling upon a gem, which was a speech by Theodore Roosevelt-26th US President, popularly titled as The Man In The Arena. I am thrilled to share this with you all with the hope that it inspires all Salesmen (/women) & they keep doing what they do best.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat”. ........................................................................................………Theodore Roosevelt
Take a bow & More Power To You. Check out the You Tube Link and I am sure it will move you. See It or remember the above next time when you critcs around you that it is the 'MAN IN THE ARENA' which deserves the credit.
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